Evening Star Newspaper, October 6, 1937, Page 10

A—10 = / THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY; OCTOBER 6, 1937. u THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY October 6, 1937 THEODORE W. NOYES...oco..... The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th St. and Permsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t. Chicago Office: 435 North Michizan Ave. Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban. Regular Edition. The Eveni| d Sunday Star D A ber month or 15¢ per week ‘The Evening Star 45c per i0onth or 10c per week The Sunday Star 5c per copy The 3unday Star _. B¢ per copy Night Final Edition. 70¢ per month t 55¢ per month Collcction made at the end of each month or each week, Orders may be seat by mail or tele- Dhone National 5000, Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, Dally and Sunday.. I yr. $10.00; 1 mo, 88c Daily only 1 9r "86.00i 1 80c Bunday onlyZZZZT 1 yr. $4.00; 1 mo., 40c All Other States and Canada, Daily anq Sunday. 1 v 2 Daily only_. 1y $8.0 Bunday only_ Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press i3 exclusively entitled to the use for republication of ali news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this Daper and also the local news published herein, All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved Peace—Deeds or Words? In his most notable presidential ut- terance on foreign affairs, Mr. Roosevelt at Chicago yesterday sounded a clarion call for peace. He had a dual purpose. He desired to reaffirm to the American people his “determination to pursue a policy of peace” and to advocate “a concerted effort to uphold laws and principles on which alone peace can rest secure.” The President does not formally com- mit this country to international action to check “the spreading epidemic of world lawlessness.” But he leaves little doubt that he is prepared to throw the full weight of the United States’ influ- ence into the scales against aggressor nations that have turned the covenant of the League, the Briand-Kellogg pact and the nine-power treaty into scraps of paper; nations that “without a decla- ration of war, and without justification of any kind, are ruthlessly murdering civilians, including women and children, with bombs from the air” and nations which, “in times of so-called peace, are sinking ships by submarine without cause or notice.” Mr. Roosevelt refers, also, to nations which are “fomenting and taking sides in civil warfare in countries that have never done them any harm” and to nations which, “claiming freedom for themselves, deny it to others.” If the President’s scathing indictment of treaty breakers, trouble breeders and ruthless warmakers had actually men- tioned names, he could hardly have pil- loried more plainly the peoples and methods in Europe and Asia ahich have flung the world into the welter of blood and tears, of mass murder, misery and alarm in which our vaunted civilization today has its terrorized being. Mr. Roosevelt was talking at Chicago. He was talking to Tokio, Rome and Berlin— to those capitals in particular, but in general to “the peace-loving nations” which he would rally, before it is too late, for the defense of “every treasure garnered by mankind through two mil- lenniums.” To Americans, the President addressed & special admonition. If “men exultant in the technique of homicide rage so hotly over the world that every precious thing will be in danger"—if such comes to pass, he said, “let no man imagine that America will escape, that it may expect mercy, that this Western Hemisphere will not be at- tacked, and that it will continue tran- quilly and peacefully to carry on the ethics and the arts of civilization.” Not since Woodrow Wilson'’s message to Congress in April, 1917, have more prescient words fallen from the lips of a President of the United States. They are grave words and were meant to be. They are words of warning, and were intended to be. They are words that needed to be uttered from such a place at this critical hour. But if they re- main mere words, it is painful but necessary to reflect that they will not advance the cause of peace an iota or in even infinitesimal degree break the will or power of those who prefer war and are now using it as an instrument of national policy. The Chicago speech, unless its noble sentiments are trans- lated into collective world action to rub out international gangsters, will, like a thousand peace pleas before it, be as chaff in Lake Michigan’s winds. It will not ground a single Japanese bombing plane at Nanking or spike a Krupp gun 8t Shanghai. It will not withdraw a solitary platoon of Mussolini’s Black Ar- rows from Franco’s army or demobilize one of Goering’s air squadrons in in- surgent Spain. It will fill no Japanese, Italian or German statesman with any sudden respect for the sanctity of in- ternational law. In our justifiable pride in Mr. Roose- velt’s valiant plea for peace, amid our fervent hopes that it will not prove to be just one more salvo of sounding brass and tinkling cymbals, this iron fact, however dismaying, needs to be remembered—that world peace has been broken or is menaced by elements that know and esteem only force. And that the force they have loosed upon man- kind cannot be overcome by words, no matter how golden or right-minded. It would be shutting our eyes to stark real- ism, to let wishful thinking usurp the place of common sense, to view the Chicago speech in any other light. —_—————e— Inexcusable. ‘Though people speak with the tongue of men and angels, if they have not information they are like sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. The unfortunate part is that others misinformed as them- selves may interpret the tinkle as the ring of truth. Practically the first thing Representa- tive Virginia Jenckes of Indiana did on returning to the Capital from her vaca- tion was to assail t{:enmrde( Educa- ) tion as “inefficient” for failure to pro- vide free hot lunches and for the boiler trouble in several schools that resulted in parents threatening to keep children home until repair work was complete. All of this proves to Mrs. Jenckes that the control of the schools should be under the Commissioners and she indi- cdtes that she will introduce a bill to that effect. To those who do not know that the Board of Education has never been granted funds by Ccngress to handle the lunches since they have been op- erated, but that the funds when last provided by the Government were through public welfare and relief chan- nels, the first charge might appear valid. To those who do not know that the school boiler repair work is done by the District repair shop, which already is under the control of the Engineer Commissioner, not the Board of Educa- tion at all, the second indictment might appear valid. As it is neither of them is correct and all that Mrs. Jenckes has accomplished is to give those who do not want to contribute to the free hot lunch fund what would”seem a good excuse not to do so. Every one is entitled to an opinion in the controversy as to whether the schools should be under political control, but no one has the right to interfere with a worthy project by throwing over it the cold water of misinformation. It is regrettable coming from a member of Congress; from a member of the District Committee who should know whereof she speaks, it is inexcusable, Crop Control. President Roosevelt is coming back to ‘Washington intent upon having crop control legislation enacted. In North Dakota he expressed his criticism of the Supreme Court for holding the original crop control law, the old A. A. A, uncon- stitutional. By inference, he criticized Congress because it failed, before it ad- Journed in August, to put through the new crop control bill. Crop control legislation, of the Roose- velt variety, calls for the payment of farmers for refraining from producing. Most of the Roosevelt proposals call for 2 handout of some kind, for the ex- penditure of money taken from the people in taxation. And so it is with crop control, and so it was with the old A. A. A, when the farmers were paid 80 much a head for not producing pigs, 50 much an acre for not producing wheat or cotton or tobacco, and so on down the line. The crop that Mr. Roosevelt was able to produce through this expendi- ture of Government money was & crop of votes for himself and the New Deal. The production of any crop, the Presi- dent said in his North Dakota speech, is like the production of any widely used manufactured article. He took shoes as an example, If the American manufac- turers of shoes should persist in produc- ing shoes, with their factories running three shifts, the market would be glut- ted with shoes, he said. Of course, they would. The President, however, did not say that the Government was not pay- ing the shoe manufacturers for not mak- ing shoes, nor paying the workers in the shoe factories for not making shoes. How many farmers would join in the crop control program which the Presi- dent desires if the Government did not pay them for doing so? That is a ques- tion. And yet it is urged by the Presi- dent and others that it is because of crop control and only through crop control that prices of the farmers’ commodities can be kept up above the cost of pro- duction. The contention of the ad- ministration apparently is that the American farmer is a “dumb kluck” who does not see, first, that overproduction is ruinous and, second, that curtailment of crops‘is advisable to prevent over- production—unless he gets paid for cur- tailment. Who is going to pay the bill for the crop control program? Why the Amer- ican people, of course—not Mr. Roose- velt. They are going to pay twice over, or maybe three times. They are going to pay in higher prices for food. Surely the prices of food today are high enough, as many a housewife can testify. They are going to pay in taxes taken out of their pockets by Mr. Roosevelt and his New Deal administration. The taxes may be concealed, they may be the Government’s sales taxes, which Mr. Roosevelt and others seek to disguise as exclse taxes. But the people, all the people, are going to pay these taxes. Mr. Roosevelt and his administration are boasting today that the Government revenues are going up. Something like a billion and a quarter dollars more is being taken from the people and ex- pended by the administration. It seems a strange boast and one that will not be appreciated by those who have to pay more for nearly everything they buy. Control of production is just another way of saying curtailment of production. Curtailment of production means cur- tailment of the production of weajth. It is an effort, on the part of the ad- ministration, to create wealth by not producing. It sounds like something out of “Alice in Wonderland.” In the end the country will be the poorer and the people, too. In the meantime the crop of New Deal votes may be increased. ———————_ Tacitus. Imagine, please, a citizen in quest of serenity. His world is hectic with troubles. But he does not wish to add to the confusion by parting with his sense of proportion. As a social duty, then, as well as for self-preservation, he reads old books—books like Tacitus’ “Annals,” in which another age of transition is represented. The experience is worth the bother it involves. “Greatest of the Latin his- torians,” as Lord Macaulay considered him, Tacitus might as easily have been a prince of novelists. His style is dra- matic. Perhaps he deliberately desired to stimulate passion in his audience. With & power all his own he‘pflnu his characters so that they demand to be ) loved or hated. No one reviewing them can remain exempt from their compul- sion. They have a magnetic vitality which cannot be resisted. Of course, Tacitus has a plan, “a method in his madness.” He is, frankly, a propagandist and, therefore, cannot be trusted in every particular. Yet there is no efficiency in attempting to deny that he is skilled in psychology. Gib- bon said of him: “He displays profound insight into the motives of human con- duct.” A large share of what modern students think they know about the ‘Roman Empire from the death of Augustus in 14 AD, to that of Nero in 68 traces back to the text of the “An- nals.”, Unfortunately, there was no con-~ temporary to tell the tale with a friendler hand. Posterity sees only the face of the imperial moon. " But probably it does not matter very much. The empire is dust and ashes. Out of the wreck there came values which are immortal. The point that merits urging is that turmoil and suf- fering brought these aspects of civiliza= tion into being. A law of life is con- cerned in the process—the principle of struggle which is expressed by Hjalmar Bergstrom in “Karen Borneman”: “Nothing new can come into the world without pain.” To which might be added the observation, patently justified, that nothing old remains without fight- ing for its existence. The philosopher is never discouraged. He dips into Tacitus in search of a reality which is everlasting. And he finds in the “Annals” the element he needs for the peace of mind he wants. Certainly it is & bitter medicine. It may be that that is an aspect of its virtue, ———— It is desired by J. Edgar Hoover that everybody step forward and have his fingerprints preserved for reference. The idea is a good one, but it should have been put into practice at least a genera- tion ago. e A great question reduces itself to simple terms when eminent European statesmen gently but firmly inquire who is playing with a submarine in the Mediterranean. —ve—s. Less will probably be heard of the Ku Klux Klan while more serious ques- tions are discussed in connection with a membership in the United States Su- preme Court. s A good radio announcer is careful when he discusses politics, but generous to the point of carelessness in promoting the article of commerce which inspires his eloquence, oo Airplane experts insist that there is no reason for crashes by students who seek proper flelds and submit to ex- amination. Aviation is no longer a matter of play. o —————— Japan will expect no benefits from the holidey trade so long as she has made its transactions relate to such serious business. —_——— President Roosevelt is a busy man at present and may not find time to ex- tend his personal congratulations to some of his appointees. Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Self-Consideration. I help reform, as best I can, This world we're journeying through. I like to tell the other man Of things he ought to do. I often think that by this plan Improvements we may view. If I convince the other man Of thinks he ought to do. I quite forget my list to scan Of cares that rise anew. I'm busy with the other man And things he ought to do. If each his own defects would scan; Joys would not be so few, And none would tell the other man Of things he ought to do. o Too Much to Expect. “You are a man of courtesy.” “I try to be,” answered Senator Sorghum. “What would you do if a woman were to be the opposing candidate?” “You've got to draw the line some- where. I'd give up my seat to a lady in a street car, but not in the United States Senate.” Jud Tunkins says the man who is most anxious to push ahead of every- body else is the one who is most likely to eat the unripe persimmon. Thinking and Speech. To think before you speak brings luck Unless it works this way: ‘The more I think, the more I'm struck By things I shouldn't say. Thoughtless. “When Henrietta and I were married she made me promise to quit smoking.” “And you kept your word?” “Yes. But I was careless. It didn't occur to me to ask Henrietta never to begin.” “To get angry in an argument,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “merely causes men to exchange vocabularies instead of ideas.” Uncivilization. The Indian gravely smokes his pipe of peace, ' But travelers observe with much re- gret A lady Indian’s thralldom does not cease. She doesn't even smoke a cigarette. “’Tain’t how smart a man is,” said Uncle Eben, “dat counts in politics as much as how smart he kin make folks imagine he is." »L, NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM BY MARGARET GERMOND. THE WINDING ROAD UNFOLDS. By Thomas Suthren Hope. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. A Scottish youth went forth to war in 1917 in response to the irresistible urge of man to take up arms for his country. He was one of the countless number of lads under military age who feared that fate might never again afford them an opportunity to participate in an ad- venture which the warriors of the Middle Ages—and those of even later times— looked upon as the most glorious ex- perience of man. It is the way of youth to be thrilled by the fireside reminis- cences of fathers and grandfathers who were acquainted with war, to forget the word-pictures of battered, mutilated hu- man beings and to be inspired by tales of the glory of conquest. Jock, the young Scots private whose story is told in these pages, was sixteen years old when he volunteered and passed muster without official discovery of his true age. The sincerity of the spirit of high courage and adventure which led these lads to volunteer—just as it has led the under-aged since the dawn of war his- tory to join their elders on the field of battle—is evident in these few lines from the diary which Jock kept and upon which the recollections so simply and forcefully told are based: “July 20, 1917, Ypres. Arrived at Ypres, the Mecca of all good soldiers.” “July 22, Ypres. Still at the ramparts, Ypres, and thoroughly enjoying myself. Lucky to be with Mac and the boys. It's all so exciting. An Australian division next door to us.” A “July 30, Ypres. Potidjhe dugout. To- morrow is the ‘great day.’ Feeling fine and lodking forward to going over. Weather very hot.” It was fifteen days later when Jock again made a note in his diary. And in those fifteen days he had received his baptism in the ghastly business of war. Fifteen days in the Ypres salient had wiped out illusions about the glory of experience on the battlefield. He had seen the glassy, staring eyes of dead companions; the “curious jerks” of the limbs of fellow soldiers caught in wire entanglements and slaughtered by Boche machine guns; the outlined details of a head battered in by a rifle butt; the “peculiar stumbling of wounded men,” and he had felt the splash of cold blood from the bodies of dead Germans placed on the edge of a shell hole to give better protection to those within. Five months is for the most part but a negligible span of time as life is measured in a world at peace. The same span in the life of a soldier in the Great War was measureless. Years, generations, centuries were lived in the endless horrors of the trenches. “Jour- ney's End,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “What Price Glory?” and a host of other war books have told the story, and still it is without end. Savage is the indictment not only of war but of statesmanship—or lack of it—that was powerless to prevent four vears of use- less slaughter, vet what has the world gained by knowledge of the futility of that costly experience? The same lust for power and blood is today being satisfied in several parts of the world, and statesmanship once more is prov- ing itself unwilling or unable to do any- thing about it. Perhaps the experiences suffered by such noble lads as Jock are not regarded as important in the conduct of rela- tionships between nations. Perhaps a lad who served only five months before being wounded and sent home when his age was discovered is not supposed to be able to tell the horrible story of war. But perhaps some day statesmen will discover the fact that the plain citizenry of civilized nations has become en- lightened through the books of men who have stripped war of its glory and presented it in all of its naked, ruthless brutality. This book may be in a sense just another war story. It is a good one, ixevenheless, and will bear serious read- ng. & * X X x LITTLE DIXIE DEVIL. By Bernie Babcock. New York: Arcadia House. Billy Camelton, the heroine of this rather charming novel, is a wealthy Southern girl, an orphan and the pride and terror of three aunts to whom the traditions of name, family and ladyhood are sacred. Their lives revolve around this capricious niece, whose safe and suitable marriage is the goal they hope to reach as quickly as possible after she returns from school. That Biily might have other ideas has not entered into their calculations, for the very good reason that young ladies of her social status are not supposed to have ideas. Unfortunately for the dear aunts, Billy has a number of ideas and not one of them includes marriage. Shocked by her audacity and awed by her beauty, Aunt Nan sends for the bishop—the bishop and a bottle of smelling salts constituting first aid for all of her ills. The result is that the bishop, a chaperon and a host of eligible suitors are engaged to iron the independenge out of Billy’s character and turn her into a model wife. A grand debut party is arrangeéd and all of the eligibles are in attendance. But two invitations have been answered with regrets. To Billy the most impor- tant person in the world is Jane Bierce, her schoolmate and dearly loved friend. Jane is not able to come to the party, and neither is her distinguished brother., But as a gesture of friendship (Billy has never seen him and heartily dislikes him) he sends a unique Egyptian stone, the ancient emblem of immortality. It is set in a silver ring, especially fash- ioned for it, and Billy is advised to know that it is a token that will enable her to recognize the immortality of love. The party and the schemes of aunts and bishop fail, of course, and then Billy bestows her affection on an Army officer. The course of love runs smoothly and the date for the wedding is about to be set. Then things happen which open Billy’s eyes to the truth. Fear- lessly and with complete honesty she faces her problem and handles it in her own way. A postponed visit to Jane in New York affords an opportunity for the reas- sembling of her naturally abundant re- sources. Social work appeals to her and she enters whole-heartedly into a.dem- onstration of strikers which lands her in Police Court and then in jail. She ac- quires many experiences and much knowledge in the course of a few weeks and then new problems arise which re- quire more than money to settle. Billy, however, is adept at getting to the bottom of things, and without too much effort she finds her natural place in the world which she knows more about than on the day school closed. Mrs. Babcock, Who is one of Arkansas’ most talented writers, has made her a delightful character, with plenty of wit and common sense—except in matters of genuine love. She may be summed up as typical of the sweet girl graduate of modern America. Friendly Snakes. Prom the Worcester Gazette. A California forester insists that rat- tlesnakes are friendly. Yes, so are nations st peace conferences. Music is a thing so precious that the average listener should not subject him- self to its influence too often, for fear of dulling his enjoyment. The professional player and singer must do so, and, in & sense, must lose something thereby. Fortunately the average listener is not subjected to this wear and tear of the musically inevitable, but. he runs an- other danger altogether. What is his situation? A veritable deluge of music salutes him day and night from radio, phonograph, orchestra, singer, He cannot get away from music any- where. Now it may be submitted that music was never intended for a steady diet, that it cheapens it and makes the hearer insensitive to its best qualities. In the old days of classical music they handled things better. The concert hall, the chamber music room, was not a place for everyday music. It was the room to which a few people repaired from time to time to hear the best. In the old days no one thought- of music all the time. The idea that all one had to do was to turn a knob, or push a button, to get a steady flow of music, had not been born. That was to come in a mechanical age, and was to be worked out in a really stupendous way. ‘ * kX % There can be little doubt that music, as an art, has suffered from the new plethora. The older way of hearing music was better. Every concert was an event, then. It had novelty, something of the strange and unusual, the appeal of the thing which is not commonplace. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Too much music has somewhat the same effect. It dulls, whether the lis- tener admits it or not, the keen edge of his appreciation. If he has music thrown at him from every angle, all day long, and far into the night, he comes to regard music as just everyday, not as something rare and fine. Such universality of musical sounds, far from being a benefit to humanity, is & distinct loss, not only to hearers, but to musicians and composers, as well. It may be believed that the never ending demand for music and more music, to keep up with this constant playing, puts a premium upon careless work. When players know that people are surfeited with music, and probably will not listen to them critically, in any event, they will be inclined to let down in their efforts toward perfection. When composers realize this situation, and are not free to compose as they choose, mainly to please their inner voice, they may turn out stuff that_is | commonplace. ® x * ¥ What shall the individual music lover do? After all, music is his. He is the great critic. For him all composers create, for him all players play, and singers sing. He already knows more about music than he realizes, if he has listened hon- estly, and not too long. Form, theory, construction, harmony, time— These and many other elements of music are part of his mind, heart, bone and muscle, if he hes listened with ap- preciation and with all his ears. ‘That is why an honest average listener to the world’'s best music is a genuine critic, one upon whom the art depends, in the last analysis. He finds that too much music, too often applied to the ears, leaves him 8rogey. So the only thing for him to do is to g0 back to the way they handled the situation when Mozart was a boy. * ox x X Our great average listener\will do well, therefore, to listen to his radio not every hour, not every day, but only & few days a week, at appointed times, just as if he were going out to a concert. Thus he provides himself anticipation, beloved of men and gods. The radio itself has tried to meet this very human thing by interlarding music with vast amounts of plain speech. Unfortunately, the tail wags the dog— the spoken word has seized upon the entire venture, and from being deluged with music, the listener is overwhelmed with words. If one operates a phonograph, and de- sires to play on it only the really good music, whether symphony, song, light opera, grand opera, the best of the popu- lar, the really worth while dance music, it will be a good thing to make the oper- ation a thing of only the now and then, not every day, or so many times a day, so many hours a week, a vast array of hours during a year, in the same me- thodical spirit one eats or takes baths. That is not the way to hear music. * X X x Many people suffer from musical in- digestion without knowing it. \ No wonder! The professional musician perhaps must have no repose, but the amateur listener, upon whom all music rests in the last analysis, has no such incentive. The great average listener can stand only so much music. Just what this amount is, measured by time units, depends entirely upon the in- dividual. No person can speak for an- other. It is equally impossible to forecast how many repetitions of the same theme an individual listener can stomach without being turned against it. These are personal matters, which the good listener will regard strictly as his own. Not even the master musician can dictate to him when it comes to such matters of individual taste and capacity. The listener is entirely within his rights. It is not a question of “knowing what he likes—" that is absurd—or of “understanding” music. It is more a matter of proper and real appreciation, without which the greatest pure music is just a bore. Proper appreciation real- izes perfectly that too much of anything is bad, or, what is worse, boresome. melody, WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. While the United States Government would undoubtedly prefer to be spared even the remote risk of Anglo-American official unpleasantness over the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Washington officialdcm expects no embarrassment to result from their presence on our soil. The question of whether Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt will or should entertain the visitors is a bridge which White House and State Department will cross when they get to it. It is the practice of the President of the United States, hallowed by habit and tradition, to extend hos- pitality to distinguished foreigners. The abdicated King of England and his American consort certainly come within that category. As British subjects, it would accord with the rule to have them presented by his Britannic majesty’s Embassy, either at their own request or orf Sir Ronald Lindsay’s initiative. This is the established precedent, but it is not binding on the President, so F. D. R,, who burns no slavish incense at the shrine of hide-bound custom, may do the purely human thing and bid Edward and Wallie to the executive hearth and table, regardless of the diplomatic pro- tocol. As there's nothing in the past anything like the Windsor case for Uncle Sam to go by, there's a good deal of head-scratching and heart-searching among Secretary Hull's experts as to exactly what should or shouldn't be done. LI Britain, government and nation alike, continue unrelenting in their attitude toward the former monarch. The single exception is the man in the street. While he, too, for the most part is unforgiving, Washington's information is that an Edwardian party might spring into ex- istence overnight if the populace got it into its head that the ex-King and his wife were the victims of persecution. That, John Bull thinks, simply would not be “cricket.” The Chamberlain government, conscious of this situation, did not dream of interposing any ol jection to the Windsors’ trans-Atlantic trip, although Downing Street would probably have been pleased if they'd sought travel diversion somewhere else and in territory not so close to a great British dominion like Canada. Both London and Washington expect the Yankee sojourn of the Duke and Duchess to take place in such ® whirl of pub- licity and blaze of excitement that there’s only slim chance of an interna- tional complication. * ok ok X President Roosevelt's proclamation at Chicago of America’s anxiety to keep out of war, in the Far East or anywhere else, conspicuously omitted any hint of the administration’s one overshadowing fear, as far as the Sino-Japanese con- flict is concerned. That is the pos- sibility of a boycott of Japanese goods, the prepesal of which has just aroused enthusiastic approval at the A. F. of L. convention in Denver. Mr. Roosevelt signals American readiness to support “concerted measures” for suppression of aggression. If there were a League- inspired world-wide sanctions program to isclate Japan economically, the United States might join in it. But the President's Far Eastern advisers are persuaded that for this country alone, or even in conjunction with Grest Britain, to boycott Nippon's wares would invite grave consequences, perhaps even revenge reprisals by an angered Japan, with war as the possibly inevitable result. * ok % % Dr. Glenn Frank, former president of the University of Wisconsin, will be guest of honor of the Washington Board of Trade on the evening of October 15. E. F. Colladay, president of the board, has invited a group of distinguished ‘Washingtonians, together with its offi- cers and Executive meet Dr. Frank at dinner prior to the meet- ing which he will address. Ever since the Wisconsin educator was ousted at Madison, following his feud with Gov. Phil La Follette, Frank has grown in stature as a 1940 Republican white hope. His forthcoming Capital appearance is under wholly non-political auspices, but he’s expected to discuss national prob- lems in terms that may challenge the country’s attention. * x & x Chairman McNinch of the Federal Communications Commission, charged by President Roosevelt with a Herculean mandate to cleanse the Augean stables, particularly in the realm of certain ra- dio relations with the Government, quoted Scripture at his maiden press conference the other day. He drew on the Bible, the scribes thought, to in- dicate his intention of putting an end to commission “office politics,” long no- toriously rampant. “I remember,” the diminutive but militant North Carolinian remarked, “that the Book of Ecclesiastes says: ‘Where there is no wood, the fire goeth out. Where there is no tale bearer, the strife ceaseth’.” * ok X % For this year's celebration of Navy day, October 27, the Navy League has adopted as its theme song: “The Navy and Merchant Marine—National Secu- rity and Prosperity.” The league, which played & major role in educating public opinion to support the President and Congress in authorizing and appropriat- ing for a treaty Navy, to be completed by 1942, is enthusiastic over the United States Maritime Commission’s plans to give the country an adequate merchant fleet. It believes Chairman Kennedy knows where he’s going and how to get there. * x % % In 33 and '34, when the heads of Republican postmasters were falling like Autumn leaves, to make way for F. R. B. C. Democrats and other deserving New Dealers, Jim Farley signed some 9,000 or 10,000 first, second and third class commissions. For the purpose the Postmaster General used his famed and favorite Emerald Isle green ink. As the years rolled by the signatures began to fade. In some cases they completely vanished. Not long ago one of the Post Office Department’s chemical wizards turned up with a process capable of removing all remaining traces of Sunny Jim’s John Hancock, without in any way damaging the parchments, while permitting him to re-sign on the dotted line as clearly as if it were the original scratching of his pen. He recently completed the job of attaching his name to the commissions afresh—in coal black ink, guaranteed to withstand the ravages of time, tide and temperature. The P. M. G. is now in New York for the duration of the base ball war. * X X Gilbert E. Hyatt, legislative repre- sentative and editor of the National Federation of Post Office Clerks, is being strongly supported for the Assistant Secretaryship of Labor, vacated by resig- nation of Edward F. McGrady. Minneso- tan by origin, the Minnesota State Fed- eration of Labor Convention recently passed & resolution of indorsement of Hyatt, who is also a veteran member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Fire- men and Enginemen. Of American Quaker ancestry, he has held a union card since he was 16 years old, and has mpnaged the affairs of the Post Office clerks, A. F. of L. affiliate, since 1933. Hyatt conducted on the postal men’s behalf what is described as the most remarkable radio, press and fllm pub- licity campaign in the history of or- ganized labor. * %k x As a parting ‘shot at the Black and Klan affair, what ncb:uc & judge- 'nlso coming into court wi \ (Copyright. 1037.) 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. In what State is the monument to & man killed by a hitch-hiker?—E. G. A. In Oklahoma there is a monument bearing the inscription: “September 17, 1935, Ray Evans, attorney, Shawnee, Okla. Martyr to a hitch-hiker. Evans was one of five motorists killed by Victor Lindsay, the mad hitch-hiker who ter- rorized the Southwest. Q. What caused the death of Robert Ingersoll?—J. L. R. A. Robert G. Ingersoll's last fllnfss began November 16, 1896, when he had a cerebral hemorrhage while on a lec- ture trip, at Janesville, Wis. The follow- ing year he developed angina pectoris, During the night of July 20, 1899, he had an attack of acute indigestion. He died the following day. Q. Is there a white buffalo?—W, M. A. Two albino buffalos have been born at the National Bison Range in Montana. A white buffalo is a rare occurrence. Even when there were millions on the Great Plains this was true and the In- dians paid high prices for them. A plainsman is said to have sold a white buffalo for $1,000. Q. Who was the first American play- wright?—W. R. A. Royall Tyler was the first American playwright, his play, “The Contrast,” being produced in 1787, Q. How long does it take for the light from Betelgeuse to reach the earth? —E. J. E. A. The distance of the star Betelgeuse from the earth is estimated to be ap- proximately 1,200 trillion miles. This is equal to 200 light years, which means that light from the star would require 200 years to reach the earth. Q. Who wrote the song, “When ti 3 Swallows Homeward Fly’'?—E. H. A. It is by Franz Abt. Q. Who is editor of the D. A. R. maga- zine?—H. K. A. Mrs. Frances Parkinson Keyes, au- thor and wife of former Senator Keyes of New Hampshire, is the editor., Q. Who invented the glass boot which is used in hospitals to restore the circu- lation of the blood?—H. K. A. The glass boot is the invention of Dr. Louis G. Hermann and Dr. Mont R. Reid of the College of Medicine, Univer- sity of Cincinnati, and the Vascular Clinic of the Cincinnati General Hospital. Q. Please give the list of the best pre- paratory schools for boys in the United States that was given in Fortune some time ago.—S. F. A. It is as follows: Andover, Andover, Mass.; Exeter, Exeter, N. H.; Groton, Groton, Mass.; Hill School, Pottstown, Pa.; Lawrenceville, Lawrenceville, N. J.; Deerfield, Deerfield, Mass.; Avon Old Farms, Avon, Conn.; Hotchkiss, Lake- ville, Conn.; St. Paul's, Concord, N. H.: St. Mark’s, Southboro, Mass, and Thacher, Ojai, Calif. Q. What is a caulifiower ear?—A. M. B. A. A caulifiower ear is an ear de- formed from an injury in boxing, and excessive growth of reparative tissue. Q. Does eighteenth century mahogany bring high prices now?—W. J. H. A. Fine examples of mahogany furni ture produced in the eighteenth centu: bring high prices. This Spring a Chip- pendale two-back settee was sold at Christie’s in London for $7,085. At the Genevieve Garvan Brady sale at Inis- fada, on Long Island. a Chippendale sofa covered in needlepoint brought $3,15 In August $34.125 was pald at ie’s for a mahogany settee and twelve chairs covered in needlepoint dating from the reign of George I. Q. Has a breakfast food ever been macle of apples?>—E. H. A. A breakfast food has been developed which is made of dehydrated, puffed apples. Q. What significance does the number seven have?—F. S. B. A. The number “7” has been regarded as mystic and sacred from a very ancient period. It is composed of 4 and 3 which, among the Pythagoreans, were accounted lucky numbers. Seven was lucky also to the ancient Babylonians and Egyp- tians. The number “1" occurs frequently in the Bible and in the Apocalypse. Q. What two famous poems were in- spired by Lincoln's death?—E. H. A. “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryvard Bloom'd” and “O Captain, My Captain,” both by Walt Whitman, were inspired by the death of Lincoln. Q. What is the meaning of quipu? —E. J. v A. It is a system of writing and record keeping used by the Incas in which they used knoted cords called quipus. Small cords with knots in them were attached to a main cord; the color of the cord, its place, size, and the number of knots were all of significance to the record or the message. The quipus had to be made up and deciphered by specially trained persons. The method of de- ciphering is not known today. Q. What is the origin of the saying that the sign brings the customers?— E.D. G. A. The saying, “The sign brings the customers” is from La Fontaine’s Fab No. 15, Book VIII, entitled, “The For- tune Tellers.” Q. Has any President's wife ever bobbed her hair while in the White House?—K. G. A. None of the First Ladies has had bobbed hair. Q. Can you tell a rattlesnake’s age by the number of his rattlers?>—E. W. A. A rattlesnake’s age is not computed by the number of rattlers. A rattler may grow each year from two to four buttons By the time a dozen have been produced the older rattlers will break off. Q. Some time ago an article called “Latins Are Lousy Lovers” appeared in Esquire anonymously. Is the author’s identity known?—W. B. H. A. Helen Brown Norden is the author of the article, which aroused so much comment at the time of its publication. Q. Who is president of the women's auxiliary of the American Bridge League?—C. M. A. Mrs. Albert Rockwell of Warren, Pa,, is the president. ! Q. What has been the increase in the number of licensed airplanes in the last 10 years?—S. P. A. In 1927 there were 1,908 licensed planes and now there are 7.424. The greatest number for the period, 7,553, operated in 1931, A ’