Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-12
Delegates to Congress Speak
Universal Language.
VANGUARD ALREADY HERE
Nine Foreign Nations Will Be Rep.
resented at Gathering.
FORMAL OPENING ON MONDAY
Address of Welcome Delivered by
DR.. w. 81. Yemans-Sightseein
Trips Planned.

Volatile Frenchmen, suave I,atin-Amer!-
cans, nervously active Italians, bearded
Russians. stoid and unsmiling Britishers,
phlegmatic Germans and a large number
of plain Americans were circulating about
the lobby and parlors of the Arlington
Hotel today, speaking a musical and al
together agreeable sounding language.
They represented the vanguard OF the
delegates to the sixth International con-
gress of Esperanto and the language they
were speaking was the one the use of
which they are anxious to spread.
.'Kiel vi sanas,'' one would say on
greeting another.
Tire bone, mi dankas VIM would come
the CHEEKY response.
All of which, being reduced to it's low
est common denominator, means that the
first person inquired for the others
health and was politely informed that il
was very good, thank you.
Esperanto to English and American
eyes, look extremely awe-inspiring and
weird in print, with its many words end
ing in the consonant 81" and would seem
to be harsh in it's pronunciation, but II
sounds soft and ripping when spoken by
those who know it well. more like Span
ish, perhaps, than any of the familiar
languages.
Full of Music
Its as full of music as the laughter
Of a child said one enthusiastic dele
date today, which revealed him, possibly
as being little bit too imaginative.
Just to prove that Esperanto is prac-
ticable as a medium of conversational eX.
change between persons of diverse nation.
alities all of the proceedings of the con.
gress are going to be held in the new
tongue and none of the delegates vii
use anything else while in this city. un
less they are forced to speak with per-
The members of the committee who art
arranging for the congress are using ii In
their intercourse with one another, ano
when a Star reporter dropped in today
to find out few things he felt almoS
persona non grata.
The congress will not be opened formal
ly until Monday morning at 10 o'clock
but there will be an informal meeting to
morrow evening in the auditorium at thu
Arlington, where all the sessions will b.
held. This will be in the nature of
reception to DIR. l.. l.. Zamenhof of War
saw, Poland the inventor of Esperanto
He will arrive in this city tomorrow after
noon.
Sermons in Esperanto.
Sunday morning there will be sermon!
in Esperanto in ST. Patrick's Roman
Catholic Church and in st. Paul's Epis
copal Church. Monday morning at !
o clock there will be series of meetings
of the various national groups, at which
the speakers to officially represent each
nation at the opening session Will be Sc
lected.
At 10 o'clock the congress will be
formally opened with an address Of well
come by DIR. H. w. Yemans, L. S. A,
ISOLATION. He will act in place of John
Barrett. the president, who will be de-
tanned out of the city until Wednesday
Speeches will be made by representatives
of each country. At least twenty-one ma
tions will be represented.
An afternoon session will be held Mon
day, but each day thereafter only morn
ing sessions will be held. the afternoons
to be devoted to sightseeing. A trip to
Great Falls will be made Tuesday after
electric line will be printed in Esperanto,
as will all tickets used on the special
excursion trips which have been planned.
To Give Gas You Like It."
Tuesday night the Hickman Players viii
give an open-air performance of LAS You
Like It" in Esperanto. This will be the
first professional performance of play
in Esperanto in this country and the first
presentation of a Shakespearean play III
the language in the world. Mrs. Edwin
c. Reed, wife of the secretary OF the
committee in charge of the congress.
made the translation.
Wednesday afternoon a trip to Mount
will no 10 a u
evening John Barrett will give recep-
ton to the delegates in the beautiful re-
ception hall Of the new home of the In
ternatiOnal Bureau of American Repub-
lies Thursday afternoon trip will be
made TO the ball park, where each dele
gate will be furnished with guide to the
game printed in Esperanto. Also it IS
promised that the umpire will use the IAN
guage in announcing his decisions. A
special concert will be given by the Ma
diately after the game.
Thursday evening will be devoted 10
special features and Friday afternoon to
sightseeing. Friday night ball will be
given i'm the ballroom at the Arlington.
The congress will be formally adjourned
Saturday morning.
For Course in Colleges.
The principal theme for. discussion at
the sessions will be ways and means of
promoting the spread of Esperanto by
means of its introduction as a course in
the leading universities and colleges of
the world The congress also is designed
to demonstrate the utility Of the Ian
guage.
Nine foreign governments will be Of
cially represented at the gathering. They
are France. Spain. Italy. Mexico, Hon.
Guras Costa RIGA, Guatemala, VeneZue-
la and Nicaragua.
Previous Esperanto congresses have
been held in the following cities: Bou-
Mer. France: Geneva, Switzer-
land: Cambridge, England: Dresden, Ger
many, and Barcelona, Spain.