The Colorado statesman., 1922-02-25

| tne responsibility lot tne nccluent.
The snow-burdened roof fell in and
claimed its toll of human victims.
one has full realization of the
| fact that he will be criticized and
perhaps condemned for saying any
thing against the methods of local
government in the capital of the
United States. Any man who tells
the truth about conditions here is, in
the vernacular of the day. instantly
called u knocker. One ventures the
danger of being so-called in setting
forth a few truths in his correspond
ence concerning conditions in this
town.
Nobody knows today where the fault
lies In this particular case of the thea
ter disaster, but If finally the respon-
sibility Is placed. it is fairly safe
assumption that nobody Will be pun
ished. Washington loves investiga-
tions, and congress is particularly
fond of them. They investigate, in
vestigate and investigate, and 1t is all
taken out in investigation.
AT this writing the streets of Wash
ington are almost impossible because
of the quantities of snow and ice
them This happens, of course, after
every snow storm in any city of the
United States. but in Washington no
householder and no building owner is
obliged to clean his sidewalks. Snow
and ice four feet deep may be allowed
to lie in front of any residence in
this city, and the owner or tenant of
the building can sit smiling and i'm
mune from any fear of being hailed to
court for u condition which imperils
the limbs and perhaps the lives of the
passers-by.
Theater Aisles Crowded.
In the theaters in Washington, or
in some of them at any rate, chairs
are frequently placed in the aisles for
the use of the members of the audi
ence who have not been able to Sc
cure the regular seats. Recently there
was an extremely popular play pre-
sented in one of the Washington the
alters; the house was packed: chairs
we're placed in the aiSleS and every
one of them was occupied. If there
had been a pane another disaster
would have been added to the record
of like happenings.
Congress has never seemed to care
much about the city in which it gov
erns. The late Senator Gallinger of
New Hampshire tried in vain every
succeeding winter to get congress TO
insist that Washington householders,
and property owners generally, should
be compelled to keep their sidewalks
clear of dirt in summer and snow and
ice in winter.
Senator FrelinghuySen of New Jer-
sey, after the disaster at the Knicker-
booker theater, stood up in the senate
to say that to his personal knowledge
there were many unsafe buildings in
the city of Washington, unsafe be-
cause they were fire traps, and also
because of hasty building operations.
1t has been suggested that if MEM
ber of congress had made such state
ments as this prior to the time of
the Knickerbocker theater tragedy, it
might never have happened. Wash,
ington is always ready to put bars
and heavy paddock on the door after
all of the property within has been
stolen.
Jazz Nuisance Can't Be Stopped.
Dance halls are allowed in residence
districts in the city of Washington.
Here is a little story which points
out the condition of helplessness in
certain matter on the part of the
authorities in Washington. In dance
hall in residence district In this
town jazz music. produced by all the
Internal appliances possible to jazz,
is played every night in the year ex-
cept for short period in the summer
time. All the neighbors are kept
awake. and when at nine O'Clock each
evening the din starts up the babies
in the blocks for some distance around
oDout rouse themselves to add
their more than petulant complaints
to the discord of jazz.
This thing was so nerve-wrecking
that 1, being venturesome and new to
the complaint business in Washington,
went to the chief of the department
of health to ask him if the nuisance
could not be stopped. His reply was
that if the neighbors should die of
nervous prostration and their deaths
could be traced directly to the jazz
bands nightly discord, the authorities
could not put quietus on the So
called music.
Blow for Many Midshipmen.
Inc country, IN contemplated
action of the Navy department,
will be able to see one Of the
direct results of the conference on
Limitation of armaments. Only 15C
midshipmen at the Naval acad-
emy of the class of several hundreds
which will graduate next June will
be allowed to enter the service; the
others who graduate will get their di-
II.