Evening Star Newspaper, April 22, 1940, Page 8

The Foening Star With Sunday Mornine Editlon. THEODORE W. NOYES, Editor, WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY_ April 22, 1940 The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Maip Offce: 110 & ana Pennerivania Ave. 'w York Office: 110 East 42nd Chicao Omce. 435 Nortn ‘Michixan Ave. Delivered by Carrier—City and Suburban. Regular Edition. ing and Sunday 75 per mo. or 18c per week o Evening Star 43¢ ber mo. or 10¢ per week e Bunday Star 3 - 10c per copy Night Final Edition. Fisht Binal and Sunday Star ieny Final Star Rural Tube Delivery. The Evening and Sunday Star The Evening Star___"_ 7110 bc per month e Sunday Star S 10¢ per copy Collection made at the end of each month or esch week. Orders may be sent by mail or tele- paone Natienal 5000. 85¢ per month 60c per month 85¢ per month Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. ily ard Sunday_.1 yr. $12.00; 1 mo. '1%2 iy enly - de 8.00: 1 mo., 7 junday only__. ¥ $5.00: 1 mo.. B50s Entered as second- matter post office, Washington D. C. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press i3 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 rights of publication of specia) dispatehes herein also are reserved. = = ‘Educational Orders’ When the Senate Appropriations | Committee begins consideration of certain cuts made by the House in the War Department appropriation bill, it is certain that Army officials will make a determined effort to effect restoration of a little-publi- cized but all-important item labeled “Educational Orders.” The history of these orders goes back twenty years ~—to a period when memories were fresh regarding the sorry lack of in- dustrial preparedness which existed at the time of our entry into the World War. Congress agreed with our national defense experts that steps should be taken to prepare in- dustry as well as the military and naval establishments quickly and efficiently in another emergency. There was born out of | this agreement a far-reaching in- dustrial mobilization plan, an impor- tant phase of which was to be the awarding of certain orders for mili- tary supplies to various manufac- turing plants primarily for educa- tional purposes. Congress placed its.stamp of ap- proval on the educational program by authorizing the expenditure of a total of $42500,000 on the special | 'oq e subjected to “rigid” inspec- orders, to be spread over a three- year period. Of this authorization, $26,000,000 was appropriated for 1939 and 1940. The remaining $16,- 500,000 was sought by the War De- partment in its 1941 supply bill, but the House slashed $14,500.000 off the item, upon recommendation of the House Appropriations Committee, which felt that the money could be better used for actual production of | ordnance and for equipment needed by the engineers and Signal Corps. But the House committee, in its laud- able desire to minister to the imme- diate, peacetime wants of the Army, apparently lost sight of the original purpose of the educational orders program. This purpose was to pre- vent a recurrence in any future na- tional emergency of the deplorabie confusion, waste, inefficiency and grave delay which marked the con- version of our peacetime industries into producers of implements of war. It is said that there are more than & thousand necessities of war, from | shells to gas masks, which cannot be | turned out readily except in a few ‘ factories. The educational orders awarded in 1939 and 1940 have pro- vided numerous plants with valu- able experience in producing hun- dreds of these war materials. Thus, the machinery for manufacturing vital items has been expanded and craftsmen needed in an emergency to man the machinery have been given valuable training. This edu- cational program is just as impor- tant to future security as the strengthening of the military and naval branches of national defense. It would be unfortunate if Congress failed to recognize that fact in an era of world history already replete with tragic lessons in unprepared- ness. Dr. Thomas A. Groover The use of X-rays In medical sci- ence long has been known to be dangerous to those attempting to operate the mysterious forces which they represent. Many of the pio- neers paid with their lives for their discoveries, and to the list of these martyrs the name of Dr. Thomas A. Groover now must be added. A native of Georgia, the dead phy- gician came to Washington in 1893 when twenty-three years of age. He still was only a young man when the work of Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen, the great German physicist, then experimenting in the laboratory at Wurzburg, engaged his interest. He understood, of course, that risks were involved in dealing with such power as X-rays contained. At the start, however, the peril was not appreciated sufficiently and there- fore was not guarded against as later it was to be. Dr. Groover was injured before he learned how to prevent such an accident. Cancer, the disease which he had pledged himself to fight, attacked the fingers of his left hand. His arm was ampu- tated, and he was warned to discon- tinue his researches if he wished to avold further infection. But he could not stop. The task to which he had set himself was too compelling to be abandoned. For nearly four decades he struggled forward to the goal he visioned—the cure of cancer by the use of the beneficent strength of X-rays skill- fully employed. If he did not win a final triumph, the fault was not his own. Rather, it derived from the prodigious difficulty of the problem ’ to respond | he wished to solve. Dr. Groover gave himself completely to the cause. He suffered cruel pain as well as a bitter disappointment. But he did not regret the decision he had made. Death did not frighten him. All that disturbed his tranquillity of mind was his natural anxiety to do his best. Those competent to judge realize that he did not fail. It was his privilege to prove a number of things, not least of which was the essential nobility of the human soul in a world which increasingly demands self-sacrifice of its most heroic per- sonalities. Fire Safety: iroposals Prompt attention should be given by the Commissioners and Congress to the recommendations of the Dis- trict Goverpment Committee, headed by Captain John L. Person, for im- proving fire safety measures, for they support belief that present in- spection and enforcement machin- ery is lamentably weak. The report, drafted as one of the direct results of the tragic White Court Apartments fire, proposes considerable enlargement of building, electrical and fire inspec- tion services, but wisely does not stop there. It also urges strengthen- ing of inspection procedures, tight- ening of regulations and of the law, and various means of plugging loop- holes by which it is believed many owners or managers of multiple- family buildings may be escaping | even present requirements. While an outlay of an additional $91,200 for extra personne! is sought, this would be for a one-year period and intended to permit the in- spection services to clean up a huge backlog of needed inspections with- in that time. What permanent in- creases in staff may be needed is left for more deliberate considera- tion. Captain Person’s group noted that fees have been collected in the past in a *“great number” of cases where no inspection could be made. No such condition should be permitted to exist. Licenses likewise would be required of rooming houses, not now subject to this means of forcing com- pliance with fire escape rules. The committee is on sound ground in recommending that a complete survey should be made of multiple- occupancy dwellings, all of which tions, followed by action to force correction of any hazardous features. While some of the requested addi- tional clerks and inspectors would be used in this work, it appears significant that police assistance would be sought in making up a list of such buildings, indicating that the building inspection staff may not now have such a list. In this connection, it is suggested the extra staff would permit an in- vestigation and reorganization of the Building Inspection Division “to provide an effective and. efficient filing and checking system to insure that inspection in every case is car- ried through to a proper conclusion, and that inspectors are adequately trained and familiar with the build- ing code and its requirements.” Amoné the most trenchant re- marks of the current year is the | statement recently made at the con- vention here of the American So- ciety of Newspaper Editors to the effect that it is not the press of the United States, but its people who are guaranteed a free press by the | Bill of Rights. Mons Monssen At the navy yard at Bremerton, Washington, on May 16 a new de- stroyer will be launched. It is to be sponsored by the widow of Mons Monssen in his name. But the average American citizen may need to be told who he was and why the service to which he belonged desires to remember him. The man himself never sought celebrity. He was born in another land, came to the United States as a boy, enlisted in the Navy in 1889 when he was twenty-two years of age. Aun article written for Sea Power by his friend, Capt. Wilbur R. Van Auken, tells the story of the deed which should insure for him the enduring gratitude of his adopted country. On April 13, 1904, the battleship Missouri, a unit of the Atlantic Fleet, was engaged in gunnery practice off Pensacola. Three rounds had been fired from the two guns of the after twelve-inch turret. In preparation for firing again, one of the guns was being loaded. “The shell was seated, two sections of the powder charge were being rammed home, when a burst of flame shot back into the powder chamber, igniting these charges and the remaining two sec- tions of the powder tray in the rear of the gun. . . . All in the turret were killed instantly. ... And down straight into the handling roam, over thirty feet below, flaming powder touched off all the ready powder charges awaiting their turn to be hoisted. A second terrific explosion and the entire turret and handling room were a mass of flames. Five officers and twenty-four men were gone; eight more of the crew were to die later. It looked as if the ship were doomed.” Then into the inferno jumped Mons Monssen, chief gunner’s mate. Capt. Van Auken says: “He quickly opened the magazine door, slammed it shut behind him and fought in the dark to save the ship. The wooden bottoms on the brass powder tanks were burning. BMt he opened the valves in the magazine and flooded it from the sea. Higher and higher rose the water, ovér the four- foot tanks, to his neck; and there they found him floating, exhausted the | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D, C., MONDAY, APRIL 22, 1940, THIS AND THAT By Charles E. Tracewell. g but alive. . . . The ship was saved.” President Theodore Roosevelt thanked the hero “personally and officially . . . for what he did and for the example he set the service.” When the Medal of Honor was grant- ed him, he was called to the White House to receive it. But he was not spoiled by his fame. Instead, he continued to be just the sort of person he always had been. “His modest manner made him be- loved by all his shipmates.” In 1920 he was commissioned a lieutenant; in 1925 he retired after thirty years of duty. Up to the last his blue eyes were bright, his mind alert. Why mention Mons Monssen now? Why pay homage to his memory in a new destroyer at this time? There might be many explanations. Per- haps the fact that he was born at Bergen, in Norway, has something to do with the decision. e ———————— Another Pension Drive The fact that more than two hun- dred members of the House of Representatives have signed a peti- tion for early consideration by that | body of the Rankin bill, which would commit the Federal Govern- ment to a discriminatory pension outlay of $100,000,000, does not nec- essarily mean that all the signers are in favor of the bill. But it must be remembered that this is an elec- have real influence in political cir- cles. When the bill reaches the floor, the acrimonious debate which is cer- tain to follow may be expected to acquaint many persons for the first time with some of the unsound fea- tures of the measure. bill is designed “to provide more ade- quate compensation for certain de- pendents of World War veterans,” but one must look beyond the in- nocuous title to comprehend the full pendents” are widows and orphans— from service-connected injuries or forces without incurring disabilities of any Kkind. from providing “more adequate com- pensation” for dependents of men who died in line of duty, the Rankin bill would drain the Treasury of badly needed millions for the relief and thereby would tend to impede relief efforts for groups having more logical claims to Government aid. It is for that very reason, perhaps, that members of the Disabled Amer- concerned over the implications of | the Rankin bill. | introduction of the bill and the per- sistent drive to obtain action upon it indicate a “bigger and better pen- sions” trend that may be hard to handle in Congress. Significantly, this is the first move to extend pen- sion benefits outside the properly circumscribed “service - connected disability” class of World War vet- erans and their dependents. Passage of the Rankin bill, more likely than not, would be a stepping stone to- ward a general pension scheme for all World War veterans and their dependents, the ultimate cost of which, it has been estimated, would be in excess of thirty-five billions of trying to provide for the social se- The House can render the country an important service in these times of national deficits and world chaos by voicing a forthright “no” to this latest pension scheme. No Decision Among the more interesting hu- man guinea pigs of the world are New York’s so-called behavioristic twins, Jimmy and Johnny Woods. They are being used to determine the value of proper guidance in fit- ting a child for the struggle for ex- istence, and have spent two years of their lives in a child development clinic, where one received the bene- fit of the latest theories in scientific juvenile training, while the other, to serve as a contrast and possibly as a horrible example, was allowed to do pretty much as he pleased. Of intense interest, therefore, was their reaction on a historic occasion, their eighth birthday. It was at- tended by a flock of medicog and psychologists heavily armed with notebooks and fresh pencils with which to take down the details. They had not long to wait. Johnny poked a straight left at Jimmy, who countered with a kidney punch. Scarcely was the evidence recorded when Johnny connected with a beautiful behavioristic right to the jaw, and then spoiled it by leaving Jimself wide open to a psychological counter to the solar plexus. Then followed a flurry of right crosses and left hooks which bewildered the ob- servers. Sadly they had to admit that it is still not possible to tell which one is better equipped to fight life’s battles, and called it no de- cision. — A New Hampshire settlement near- ly two hundred years old and about to be obliterated by a flood-control project, is to be re-established in all its quaintness, but with modern im- provements and room for expansion. Thus the Granite State will be the proud possessor of the very latest, as well as some of the very oldest ex- amples of American village life. Few will fail to admit that the present-day Germans possess audac- ity and effrontery in the highest degree. Nevertheless, Nazis find that bribery is as efficacious and, in the long run, even cheaper. plan involving an estimated annual tion year and the pension proponents | The Rankin | import of the bill. The “certain de- | not of soldiers who died in battle or | diseases—but of men who served | ninety days or more with the armed | In other words, far | of a restricted group of dependents— | ican Veterans are said to be greatly | There are well-reasoned fears that | curity of all citizens in other ways. | Discusses Problem Of Farm Income Parity Payment Plan Held Inadequate to Meet Real Need To the Editor of The Star: I am amazed at the labor and genius employed by Secretary Wallace to con- ceal the real condition of agriculture and still more amazed that the newspapers never see through it. In your paper today, you headline an Associated Press statement “Rural Wages Climb as Work- ers Decrease.” You then prove this point by reciting that on April 1 farm wages were 124 per cent of the 1909-1914 level, 5 points higher than on January 1 and 3 points above April 1, 1939. You further embellish the picture with the statement that persons working on the farms declined from 9,960,000 on April 1, a year ago, to 9,797,000 this year. After all of these elaborate preliminaries, the article then states: “Present wage rates on a monthly basis without board were said to average $36.41, and day rates without board, $1.55.” Instead of heading, “Rural Wages Climb,” it would have been more proper to say “Rural Wage Disgrace | to American Civilization.” These farm workers will average 300 hours per month and under the minimum wage law they would earn more than double this pitiful $36.41. But they are exempted from the minimum wage law, which is another disgrace to our civilization. that the farmers can afford to pay higher wages. They cannot even afford to pay the starvation rate of $3641 at present prices of their products. In another article on the same page Secre- tary Wallace tells how he will make campaign issues of two broad proposals for boosting farm income and easing the farm debt burden. He will compel the dealers to buy a certificate which boosts | the price from the speculative gambling level to “parity.” Now, what is this parity he talks about? He has written it three times into the law as the relative farm income for 1909-1914. wages were only $29 per month without board. According to his own bulletin, October, 1935, the farm people as a whole received a per capita annual income of only $159, while the non-farm popula- tion received $396. This glaring discrep- ancy he tries to cover with hocus pocus | of relative buying power, and everybody knows that every dollar received by the power as that received by the non-farm population, This whole parity proposition, as he | has written it into the law, is a gigantic fraud upon the farmers and if they got the whole thing, their wages would prob- month without hoard. In the next place he is going to save the farmers $60,000.000 a year by the Jones bill, which reduces their interest rate from 5.8 to 3 per cent. This would | go to fewer than half of the farmers and is of no benefit to tenants and farm hands. Besides we shall see it is only a | drop in the bucket to the $8.000.000.000 to which the farmers are justly entitled. | It is right, but only a nibble at the farm problem. Let us now see what the farmers really ought to receive. In 1938, the last year we had the figures, the national income, as shown by the Commerce Department, was $64,000,000000. This is produced income, which are honest figures, and produced income. On page 479 of Agri- lace shows the “gross income” of the farmers to be $9.290.000.000. This is another scheme to cover up the fact that | they received $5.432,000.000. The *“gross income” includes all the operating ex | penses added to the net income. It is, as farm income without any explanation. In another column the “cash income” is shown to be $8,020,000,000. This is the same as the “gross income,” with $1,269,- 000,000 of products used on the farm sub- tracted. All of the operating expenses or outgo, is added to the income. Now what would be the honest parity income for the farmers in 1938? Twenty-two per cent of the adult people of the United States are dirt farmers. Over 27 per cent of the chil- dren are on the farms. Fourteen per cent of all property value is invested in farms. The average of these would be 21 per cent. Anybody who would say that the farmers are not entitled to 21 per cent of the national income in 1938 is an enemy of the farmers. Twenty-one per cent of $64,000,000,000 is $13,440.000,- 000. That is what the.farmers were en- titled to. Wallace’s proposition, which has failed for seven years, fully realized, would give them only about $2,500,000,000 more. They are entitled to over $8,000,000,000 more. If they got this $8,000,000,000, they would put half of our unemployed lab- orers to work producing the things they need to buy. This would also boost the national income and every business in our country.” This can.all be accom- plished by & minimum price law like the minimum wage law. April 16. SMITH W. BROOKHART. Calls Attention to British Propaganda Proposal. To the Editor of The Star: In view of existing agitation which may lead us into an unnecessary and foolish war, I wish to invite attention to a book published under the auspices of the British government, written by Sid- ney Rogerson and edited by Capt. Liddell Hart, an English war expert, entitled “Propaganda in the Next War.” In it a brazen statement appears, which, in my opinion, should be published so that the people may be informed how far Eng- land will go to involve the United States in her war. The statement is: “It will need a definjte threat to Amer- ica, & threat, moreover, which will have to be brought home by propaganda to every citizen, before the Republic will again take arms in an external quarrel. ‘The position' will naturally be consid- erably eased if Japan were involved, and this might and probably would bring America in without further ado. At any rate, it would be a natural and obvious object of our propagandists to achieve this, just as during the Great' War they succeeded in embroiling the United States with Germany.” (Page 148.) Shall we send forth another crop of American youth for slaughter upon the altar of British deceit and propaganda? + J. THORKELSON, Member of Congress, First District of Montana. April 19. By the last statement I do not mean According | to his own statement in those years, farm | |-farmers was just the same in buying | ably rise only to about $41 or $42 per farmers only received $5,432,000.000, their | | cultural Statistics, 1939, Secretary Wal- | | therefore, a deception to use such figures | | dollars. The Government already is | An observer who has been watching cardinals for 45 years telephoned in to say that for the first time in that period a cardinal had been seen to take a bath. One bath in 45 years! But M. W. C. of Girard street writes: “Have been mugh interested in the controversy in your column concerning the bathing of cardinals. “We have lived at the above address over 15 years and have a bird bath. “Cardinals are with us almost con- tinuously except when the water in the bath is frozen. “They bathe every day, usually sev- eral times a day—that means both the male and female. “They are not particularly a timid bird. The only bird that disturbs them in their bath is the starling, which occasionally will take possession of the bath and the cardinals simply fly away.” * X X X Since the question as to whether the cardinal ever bathes was posed here several months agg by a reader, we have taken particular pains to watch the redbirds at four bathing places available to them. We still have to see one take a bath. The other afternoon when our April snow was falling, we saw one male preening himself on an arch. He was fluttering his wings, waving his tail, and in other ways indulging in Jitterbug antics. No doubt he was enjoying the equiva- lent of a water bath. * X x x We feel it may be said that cardinals evidently are seen taking a bath less frequently than most other species. This does not mean in any sense that they are not as clean as other birds. One look 2t a redbird disproves that. Surely it is as finicky as a starling, which is one of the “bathing-est” birds we have. If evident bath-taking means cleanli- ness, the starling rates very vigh, for it loves to bathe, and does it all the time, even in the dead of winter, so long as a | puddle of water is to be found. the pretty bird notes which one hears in early spring. this to many telephone callers, who | wanted to know “what was that beauti- ful bird song we heard this morning.” and we are glad we did, for now it seems that Government scientists, who have been keeping an ear open for | starlings, have affirmed the same thing. One scientist declares that the star- ling is an even better mimic than the mockingbird! Its range of sounds is wide, but it | seems to have the ability of throwing the voice, so that it does not come from the point it seems to come from. In other words, the starling is some- | thing of a ventriloquist. It is claimed that it has been heard to | imitate the drumming of a woodpecker. bird grows with investigation. It is one We have insisted upon | 2 | convince any fair observer that All this shows that respect for the | thing to join a popular hue and cry against something, quite another to be honest enough to study a species with- out prejudice. The starling in recent years has been more damned than any other bird, but still investigators tend to believe it is & great insect destroyer, a marvelous flyer and a singer of really pretty songs. These songs are not theatrical. It is admitted that the mockingbird, when it comes to attracting attention of hu- man listeners, will win claws down over all the starlings that ever were. There seems to be little doubt that many of these peculiarly sweet notes, at this time of year, are from the clumsy old starlings out there in the trees, or perched on the eaves. Some of these notes are mere whistles, but of surpassing sweetness, more like the tone of a mellow flute than anything else; perhaps like the notes of a recorder. Do you know what a recorder is? In music, it is an old type of straight-blow wooden flute, It was very popular hun- dreds of years ago, but only recently came into much use again. It is very popular with amateurs because it is easy to play. Its limited range is against it, and it is intensely irritating to be lim- ited to just a few notes. Usually a per- former feels that if he could get as lit- tle as two or three more notes, he could play the tune! The ocarina, or “sweet potato,” as it is nicknamed, has sprung into popular- ity in the past few months, with the inclusion of & nice little march song, “Sweet Potato Piper,” in the film “Road to Singapore.” started, however, “Snow White.” * ok ok x We advise early spring listeners to bird music to keep an ear open for starling notes. It will be difficult to trace them, but if one of the birds is seen, the unusual notes heard may safely be attributed to it. by the dwarfs in These clear notes are a spring mani- In a few weeks | festation by this bird. | they will end. The starling is responsible for many of j The jay is another bird which can make sweet music when it wants to. Ob- | son Square Garden in New York when servers are so used to hearing it scream harshly that they sometimes fail to realize that those soft gurgling tones | in Madison Square Garden, 600 tons of are coming from the same throat. Even the English sparrows, so much maligned, can and do utter nieasant notes, despite the fact that many of the books lump their musical efforts off as & “harsh chirping.” A group of these sparrows, especially after they have eaten their fill, will | sing together very prettily, in a sort of | | chorus, in which the harsher notes are | sweetened, made more pleasant to the | ear by being covered by softer ones, | These soft notes, one may feel sure, are the work of the female sparrows. whose pleasant little faces and plump bodies their vocal utterances must be equally pleas- ing. Letters to Subversive Tendencies Seen | As Real Danger. To the Editor of The Star: Jay Franklin's article of April 18 should be read by the D. A. R. and all 100 per cent American groups. It seems to me that our people’s intelligence is at low ebb when every conceivable anti- social element is labeled “communistic.” There is grave danger in this trend. It | was the deliberate creation of just such | group psychology that caused the French in their revolution to chop off the heads of every man and woman labeled “aristocrat.” In our own America it accounted for untold horror to hundreds of harmless old ladies who were called witches. Today, all contenders for civil liber- ties, for Ameritan democracy and for Christianity are in danger of being labeled subversive or Communist. Once this fever rises no one knows how fatal the disease may become. The fight against every anti-democratic tendency is likely to be charged to Communist motivation. Every intrenched greed can divert public attack and suspicion by crying “Communist.” What the Dies Committee could do to stem this trend is to define this thing called Communism. Does it simply mean Stalinism, or does it include the anti- democratic philosophies of Rome, Berlin and Spain? Is Communism synonymous with racial bigotry, class hatred, Jew- baiting, jim-crowism, industrial strife, Ku Klux Klanism, Fascism, city gang- sterism, mob violence, et al.? It seems to me that true Americans should begin to realize that the danger to our institutions lies not in labels or stereotypes but in the subversive ten- dencies just named, and that Facism, however disguised by wearing the mark of patriotism, is the real threat to Amer- ican democracy. E. B. HENDERSON. Falls Church, Va. April 19. Disagrees With Opinion Of Fred Vetter. To the Editor of The Star: I think it would be wrong to let Mr. Fred Vetter’s letter to the editor go un- answered. He writes that it is manifest that England and France declared war on Germany and that the reason why they did it doesn't matter. I believe, on the contrary, that the reason does matter a great deal and that the man in the street ought to know it. There is danger that the pub- lic may come to believe that England and France are guilty of the war. It cannot ke repeated enough that this opinion is wronge It was Hitler who started his “blitz- krieg” against Poland—of course with- out declaration of war. Only after the beginning of the war in Poland did England and France declare war against Germany. That is the historical truth. But it was not only the erime of the Nazis in Poland which caused the war. Ask the ill-treated peoples in Central Europe, ask the Czechs and the Aus- trians, the Danes and the Norwegians; ask the millions of the German people who disagree with Hitler, ask the hun- dreds of thousands in the concentration camps, ask the Jews and the Catholics, ask any one in Germany who dares to disagree with Mr. Hitler, I am a foreigner in this country. the Editor Letters to the Editor must bear the name and address of the writer. although the use of a pseudonym for publication is permissible. Please be brief! Heaven forbid that I should interfere in the internal or foreign politics of the country whose hospitality I enjoy! But I think it is one of the most glorious | facts of American history that one of its | most terrible wars was fought for an ideologic reason to determine whether the land. of the present war. This war is a European war and every one in this country is hoping that it will remain so. The United States doesn’t participate in the war; that means she is neutral. But that doesn't mean that every American is not en- titled to have his own opinion about the question of which belligerent is in the right. Neutrality of the country doesn't mean lack of conviction on the part of every one of its inhabitants. Yes, this European war is a struggle to determine whether in the world law or force will rule in the future; it is a fight between humanity and barbarism. Mental neutrality toward this struggle is & matter of taste. April 16. FRANZ F. ELBOGEN. Urges U. §. Aid To Allies Now. To the Editor of The Star: When Italy, Russia and Japan become active allies, the bloody dictator in Ber- lin will dominate Europe with an army five times the size of the combined forces of England and France. These two countries to which we owe most of our civilization and noblest ideals will soon be exhausted and the small neutrals will, no doubt, be crushed one at a time. Should the dictators be victorious, the Monroe Doctrine will become a scrap of paper and after they have taken South America and Mexico with the help of traitors such as we have just seen in Norway, then the United States will find itself in a most uncomfortable position, thanks to the many isolationists. It is high time for these birds to take their heads out of the sand and recognize the danger of world dictatorship. Per- haps many would consider this preferable to the politics of the democracies, pro- viding an absolutely perfect human being could be found to act as dictator. How- ever, as such an animal has never been born, we must continue our faith in the democracies. It is the only known form of government where liberty can exist, and if we still love liberty, we should be willing to help fight for it now. D.W. . April 18, Seeks Eradication Of Rats in District. To the Editor of The Star: I am writing to ask if anything can be done to help rid Washington of rats. The alleys everywhere are overrun. Recently the rats have dug up some of my flowers and eaten off some of my tulip blossoms. If rats are germ oarriers, then the germs must be well distributed. Will some one play Pied Piper for Washington, D. C.? April 18. E. L. McLAUGHLIN. A The rage was really | Haskin’s Answers To Questions * By Frederic J. Haskin. A reader can get the answer to any question of faci by writing The Eve- ning Star Information Bureau, Fred= eric J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. What famous lawyer said that the administration of law in this country is & disgrace?—C. McG. A.In an address at Orchestra Hall, Chicago, Ill, on September 16, 1909, President William Howard Taft said: “It is not too much to say that the ad- ministration of criminal law in this country is a disgrace to our civilization.” Q. Which State has more cattle, Texas or Montana?—D. W. T. A. According to 1939 agricultural sta- tistics, Montana has 1,016,000 head o# cattle and Texas 6,955,000 head. Q. What are the weather conditions in Havana in the month of June?—S. 8. C. A. The prevailing average tempera- ture is 79 degrees with the humidity averaging around 75 per cent. Q. How many druggists are there in the United States?—N. B. C. A. There are 53512 druggists in the United States operating 62,134 drug- stores. Q. Who holds the record for the larg- est number of home runs in one month? —R. H. A. Rudy York of the Detroit Tigers hit 18 home runs in August, 1937, breaking Babe Ruth’s best mark of 17 in a month. Q. What is the composition of & dime?—H. O. A. All silver coins contain 90 per cent silver and 10 per cent tin. Q. From what poem is the line “I know not, what the future hath of mar=- vel or surprise”’?—B. N. D. A. It is from “The Eternal Goodness” by John Greenleaf Whittier. Q. Is it safe for babies to eat bacon?— BRI € A. Many children’s specialists advize the feeding of bacon to babies during the latter part of their first year. Q. What is used on the floor of Madi- the rodeo is held there?—G. A. A. When the rodeo is being presented dirt are put on the permanent terrazza floor and when this is smoothed out, packed and rolled it has a depth of approximately 7 inches, Q. Please give the date of the arrival of the swallows at San Juan Capistrano Mission.—V. J. C. A. The arrival of the swallows has | been observed at the monastery of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., on St. Joseph's Day, March 19, since the mission was established in 1777. The date of de= parture is San Juan's Day, October 25, but in 1939 for some reason the birds left two months e; Q. Who was the general in the battle of New Orleans whose body was shipped to England in a cask of rum?—B. W. P, A. Sir Edward Michael Pakenham was killed in the battle of New Orleans January 8, 1815. His body was cone veyed to Villere's in New Orleans, where the viscera were removed and buried between two pecan trees near the man- sion. The rest of the body was placed in a cask of rum and conveyed to Eng- land for interment. Such was the dis- position of the bodies of two or thres other officers. It it said that the pecan trees never bore fruit after that year, and the Negroes looked upon that spot Wwith superstition. Q. Name the four a‘ges of the world. | =D. M. slavery or freedom was to prevail in | Very similar is the reason | A. The Golden Age. the Silver Age, the Copper Age and the Iron Age, in this se- quence. Q. What percentage of churches are in small towns?—T. E. R. A. According to the Federal Council Bulletin, 70 per cent of the local churches in the United States are in communities of less than 2,500 popula=- tion. Q. Was Annapolis, Md., ever the capi- tal of the United States?—T. C. A. The Continental Congress sat at Annapolis in 1783-4. Q. Which universities compete for the “Little Brown Jug"?—P. F. A. The University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan contend each year on the gridiron for the “Little Brown Jug.” Minnesota has won the contest for the last three years, Last year the score was 20 to 6. Q. How many people attend the mov- ies weekly?—E. T. A. According to the Film Daily Year Book, the average yeekly attendance of United States film theaters in 1939 was 85,000,000. Q. Why is the name Bourbon applied to Kentucky whisky?—H. M. P. A. The whole northeastern portion of Kentucky in the early days consisted of & single county which was called Bour- bon County, and at that time it in- cluded practically all of the State in which whisky was made. In this way the term “Bourbon” came to be applied to the product of Kentucky, & name which 1t has continuously borne. Small Things My mind is crowded with so many things, It overflows with useless things and slight; Such as a glimpse of wide-spread pigeon wings Seen for a moment in keen winter light; A line of foam along a dawn-gray shore, Light on & sculptured dune, a little stone Lying in some clear brook, the far-off roar Of waterfalls, a lost leaf, distant tone Of a far thrush. My mind is filled with such Useless, small trifles. Sometimes I will say, “Enough! I shall clean hoyse. I have too much. _ I must throw some of these slight things away.” But then, it seems I really cannot part With one. Each one is needed in my heart. BEATRICE RAW.