davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1923-12-07
The Message and Radio.

President Coolidge, in reading his
message to Congress, was heard by a
greater number Of people than. ever
before listened TO such an address.
The radio multiplied his audience by
thousands. In other times i. a Presi-
dents message would be heard by a
relatively small number of persons
crowding the hall of the House of
Representatives, but this address was
heard by crowds gathered in many
places in Washington, in New York.
Chicago, st. Louis, Kansas City and
in hundreds Of cities and villages.
Development Of radio and increase in
the number, Of broadcasting stations
and receiving sets made this possible.
Radio works toward the re-estab-
lishnent Of the influence Of the spoken
word in public life. For generations
the influence of the speech has been
declining. A man with his own voice
could reach 50 small a part Of the
public that the effect Of his speech
was limited, excepting in so far as
newspapers would broadcast" 1t In
print. -.,s
It has been said that public interest
in a public mans speech has declined.
That depends q good deal on the
amount Of interest felt in the public
man. There Is always wide interest
in the President and in a candidate
Evening star., 1923-12-07
The Aqueduct Bridge.

Congress is asked for an appropria-
tion for taking down the Aqueduct
bridge. Some of the money spent in
removing 1t will be returned, in a
way, the government being able to
find use for the stone Of the piers
and the thousands of tons of ripra p
stone in building the sea wall Of Ana
costa Park.
The ancient bridge should be re.
moved. 1t can serve no useful pur-
pose. Many persons will regret the
passing Of the landmark. War was
because it could not carry the traffic
which sought to use it. because of
congestion at the NJ street and Canal
road end Of the bridge and because
the bridge was not safe one. Efforts
were made every now and then over
half a century by engineers to patch
and bolster up several of the tall
piers, but the old structure never rose
above suspicion. 1t has filled its span
|. of life and might better pass from the
scene.
All persons who have a romantic
feeling for the old bridge should make
a picture of it before 1t goes. Any
old bridge which has done the best
it could for many, many years to
serve the public and which has car
ried us across the river on delightful
picnics and brought us back very
tired and very happy deserves a
tender thought as it is about to pass.
Evening star., 1923-12-07
Trouble Brewing in Mexico.

Disquieting news comes from Mex
ico city, telling Of the beginning OF a
revolt against the Obregon govern
-ment under Cen Guadalupe Sanchez
in support OF the presidential candi-
dacy OF Adolfo de la Huerta. Obregon
has designated Gen. Gales as his
choice for the succession. This is re-
sented by several groups, notably the
Huerta following. The revolutionary
movement indicates Il disposition to
force the issue by anticipating the
election AND perhaps to start civil war.
Mexico under Obregon's adnlinistra-
ton has prospered. 1t has established
relations with other countries. Indus
tries have been revived. The dam
ages of years of revolt and turmoil
have been, in large measure repaired.
It would be most lamentable now for
tho, factional differences to.result in
actual warfare. which would set Mex
fco back seriously and precipitate- in
ternationai problems of a grave ma
ture.
With the domestic politics Of Mexico
the American people have no concern.
It is of no moment to US which party
prevails or who is chosen as the head
Of tho state: tits, however, of cons.d.
erable moment that Mexico should
continirs in the path OF peace and pro-
zression. American interests in Mex
ico are heavy and they are menaced
by the prospect of civil war.
The. hopc.of the people OF. this coun-
try now is that this threat may pass
and that orderly elections may be
held, with u general acquiescence in
the result, whatever it may be,
whether through the choice. of Gales
orSUf Huerta.- ..--.. -
Evening star., 1923-12-07

was collected from taxpayers. and met
with an equal SUM from federal funds.
much Of the ground lost by the Dis
trict during the war and postwar
periods in matters Of. municipal up
keep and extension might be regained.
Mr.. Zihlman takes firm stand for
the extension Of sewer and water.
facilities and street making and street
paving to which taxpayers are en-
titled. He believes that the work of
enlarging the water plant should be
pushed to completion without delay.
He favors, as does every one interest
ed in the matter, a high.pressure wa.
ter service for the FIRE. protection Of
downtown Washington. In which sec.
ton, in addition to private property,
are hundreds Of millions of dollars
worth Of government property and
thousands Of tons Of irreplaceable rec
ords.
He favors the opening Of 14th street
through the grounds Of Walter Reed
Hospital to provide another highway
from Maryland through the northern
part Of the city.
Mr.. Zihlman revives the question of
alley dwellings, and this question.
though quieted for a time, will prob
ably come to the front again. A law
Of 1914 directed the closing Of dwell
ings in alleys not Of a certain width,
which did not run straight from street
to street and which did not have sewer
and water and gas or electric light
ing. Postponements were made in the
execution of the law because OF hous-
ing shortage. and an ingenious con-
struction Of the law made 1t possible
that nearly every alley in the city
conforms to its terms. If an alley had
the required width, or If 1t ran
straight from street to street, or if it
had water or sewer connection, or If
it had gas or electricity 1t was held to
be exempt from the operation of the
law. Only about hundred OF the esti-
mated 10000 alley dwellers in the city
came within the scope Of the law as it
was construed. There IL still opposi-
ton to the use of alleys as sites for
dwelling houses, and sooner or later
that opposition will find expression in
law. -.
Evening star., 1923-12-07

Of one Of the major parties Tor the Of
fee OF President, and a very large
number OF persons will crowd to-
gether anywhere and at any time to
hear such a man speak. They feel
that they can better get the meas
ure" of the man by hearing and see-
Ing him than by reading what he said.
On the other hand, great numbers of
people feel, that they can take that
measure more surely by reading what
he writes or says than by listening to
him. . ''E.
Probably several millions heard Mr..
Coolidge by means of radio. Listening
to the speech. gave them satisfaction,
and perhaps every "listener-in" told
his friends about the speech and made
comments on it. Evidently this mes
sage has had direct influence ON an
extraordinary number of people.
Evening star., 1923-12-07
District improvements.

Representative Zihlman of Mary
lapd, @. member Of the committee on
the District of Columbia, stands
staunchly for a. comprehensive plan
of Capital betterment, and thinks that
the outlook In the present Congress
for carrying out such a plan is en-
-couraging. A part of the congress
eional district represented. by Mr..
zihlman is the. -neighboring county OF
Montgomery, and as i large part of
washington-s suburban population
lives there 1t is quite natural that
this member of Congress should have
almost a residents interest as well
as an Americans full interest in the
National Capital. .
/ The most important Of all the pro-
posals Mr.. Zihlnan stands for is that
the District surplus impounded in the
Treasury should be made available
for District needs on the $3.50 basis,
which; was the law at the time the
taxes Of which this surplus 10 part
swera collected. with that surplus used
for the purposes for which the money
Evening star., 1923-12-07
Plain Speech by a Plain Man.

Foremost in the comments on the
Presidents message are references to
It's terseness of style, its crispness of
sentence construction. 1t is hailed as
one Of the most readable" Of Ameri-
can state papers, because ii presents
no inyolutions, and it's meaning is at
all points perfectly clear. This praise
somewhat reflects upon certain OF the
presidential messages of the past. But
suffice 1t to say for the present, that
Mr.. Coolidge, whatever the political
reaction from his first address to Con-
gress, has struck note that will com.
mend him to the understanding OF the
people.
Bre~lty is the keynote Of the ad-
dress. In the first paragraph, refer
ring to his lamented predecessor, he
says: He is gone. We remain" In
those five words he tells the story OF
the perpetuity Of American govern
ment, its independence and person
ality Four-word, five-word and six
word sentences are common in the ad-
dress. They are important sentences,
and occur at points that are most ef-
fective in conveying the Presidents
thought Here are some Of them: I'VE
want no more war; America must
be kept American; Our main prob.
lenls are domestic problems New
powers bring new responsibilities" :
These are not epigran,s. They are
simply the direct statements Of con-
cisely thinking man who states his
case exactly. They are the kind Of
statements that will make the mes
sage plain to the humblest citizen.
There are no unusual words that re-
ouire reference to the dictionary.
There is a remarkably high percentage
of short words, monosyllables in large
part. ....'
In one respect this message is diff
fereut from many others that have pre-
ceded it. In all the sixteen printed
pages of the official text, covering sew
eraI columns OF newspaper space, the
first person singular pronoun, which
heretofore has so literally sprinkled
the texts OF presidential utterances,
occurs only thirty-seven times. Though
it is stamped with his personality. Mr..
Coolidge has not made his message
notable for it's capital Is.
Evening star., 1923-12-07
Is the Ford Boom Collapsing?

Good ground for believing that the
movement to nominate Henry Ford
for the presidency Of the United
States Will die of inanition is found
in the announcement from Detroit
that the manufacturer has requested
its chief promoters to postpone in
definitely the meeting Of the Allied
Ford-for President Clubs called for
December IL. This statement was
made. yesterday by Robert r.. Pointer,
chairman of the committee on ar
raugements for the convention, who
said he was acting at the request OF
Mr.. Ford, but was not at liberty to
disclose his reasons for doing so. The
sentiment among Mr.. Ford's friends
Is reported to be that this puts a
euietus on further efforts in his be-
half.
1t is immaterial what .actuated Mr..
Ford in putting a stop to efforts to
nominate him. 1t is sufficient that he
appears to abandon a political move
which was foredoomed to failure for
lack of substantial basis. The signal
defeat suffered by the Ford boomers
in South Dakota is proof enough of
this statement.
There was community where Ford
sentiment should have been expected
to prevail, but the farmers of that
state could not "see" Mr.. Ford for the
presidency. The country would prob
ably regard Mr.. Ford more highly If
he would come out frankly and irrev-
ocably with the statement that he
will not seek the presidential nomina
tfon nor take ii il offered. That would
put an end for the rest of the cam
paign to this futile Ford-for-President
talk.
Evening star., 1923-12-07
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN

O. In addressing letters to men,
bers Of the Supreme Court what form
of -salutation should be used ?--F- W.,
A. In the case of Chief Justice
Taft, the form should be My dear
Mr.. Chief. Justice" and In the case
of the other judges, my dear Mr.
Associate Justice"
Q. How long would it take man
to count 100000 in 81 bills?-G. NJ. II.
A. The time it would take a man
to count 100000 bills would depend
on the rapidity of the count. Those
familiar with handling money can
count 10000 bills day. whereas
some experts in this line have count
ed 10000 in one day. At such rates
IT would take from twenty-five TO
fifty days = :
Q. In what battle was the artillery
fire the heaviest?-H. A. c.
A. In the battle OF st. Mihiel, the
artillery fired more than 100000
shells in four hours. This is the most
intense concentration OF artillery fire
in history. .
9. What was the name and ma
tionality of the man who discovered
the Heaviside layer?-C. L. G.
A. The Hcaviside layer, that Is,
the layer of ironized air In the upper
atmosphere, was first described by
Arthur. w. Heaviside, a British scien-
tlst, who was experimenting with
Sir William PTeece in 1892 with
parallel telegraph lines.
Q. Are there any ruins TO substan-
tiatey the story Of the. Hanging Gar
dens OF Babylon?--C-. A. a.at
derful gardens is what is stated in a
few : sentences by ancient writers
dealing largely with tradition.
Q. What can be put on windows
that Will keep. off the !frost?-LS w.
A. Ina number of experiments In re-
moving Ice or congelation of water
from window panes fourteen methods
were used. In shops where there are
so-called box windows" the con-
SeaIhS was most apparent. and III
some where there was d comparative
Iy dry heat the windows were not
materially affected. The remedies
are given in the order of their effi.
cacy: j, fame of an alcohol lamp; 2,
sulphuric acid; 3. aqua ammonia; 4.
giycerin; ., aqua regta; 6, hydro
fchiorlc acid; z. benzine; s, hydriodic
acid; 3, boric acid; 10. alcohol; II,
nitric acid; II, cobalt nitrate; l3 in
fusion OF nutgalIs, and IA, tincture OF
ferrous sulphate.
-. May search warrant be issued
FOR the search of a private dwelling
under sthe national prohibition act !?
p. d.
A. This cannot be done unless the
dwelling is being used for the unlaw-
fu1 sale OF Intoxicating liquor or un-
less 1t is used In part for some busi-
ness purpose such as a store, shop,
saloon, restaurant, hotel or boarding
house.
Q. What is the meaning of the
phrase "Obdarmivit i'm ChrIsto"?-
NJ. l. J.
A: This is the Latin version Of
Asleep in Christ
@. Who first used the expression,
base bail fan"?-B. y. S. = .
. A. In the eighties, Chris Won der
Ahe. the owner of the St Louis
Browns, called Charles Haas the
greatest fanatic in base ball that he
had ever. seen. Newspaper men be-
gan to call these enthusiastic fan
atics." and within a short time called
them merely fans"
Evening star., 1923-12-07
Editors Analyze Arguments
Both For and Against Bonus

With Congress- once more ''on the
job" and with the soldier bonus and
tax-reductions plans In a. clash which
promises real trouble before the stu
alton can be ironed out, editors are
carefully analyzing the old and new
arguments as to which ought to pre-
vail. Incidentally the ranks of the
anti.bohus following seem to, have
been increased. although there is a
general acceptance OF the fact that
the bonus itself will not down, and
independently financed so that the
general tax reduction will not be pre-
vented. The wage Garner Is finding ad-
ditional champions. especially among
the non-pohtical writers. and the re-
suit Is a seemingly increased breadth
Of vision that may have considerable
influence In Washington.
: The prevailing opinion seems to be
summed up by the Syracuse Herald.
which asserts, IT American sentiment
demands a national bonus, in addition
ito the various state bonuses, the
honest method Of gratifying that SEN
timent would be through the passage
or q bill which would specifically pro-
vide the necessary revenue: by the
leyying. Of special taxation for the
purpose. That Is the. one decent way
OF doing 1t. If the bonus is due to the
service men as q measure or delayed
justice the American people should
be willing to pay the cost. And If
this postulate is sound the revenue
provisions Of the bill should make
clear the total OF the burden and the
tax sources Of the payment From
almost the entire stretch across the
continent, however. comes the de-
termined voice Of the Portland (Ore.)
Journal, insisting, Grant the bonus
and let the taxes stand. 1t would se
highly desirable to cut the taxes. But
II 1t is to be d choice between cut
duty and grant the bonus. There are
man stepping around in Oregon who
profited from $1.000.000 to $1o.000,000
out Of the war, and there are other
men with .sfghtless eyebal1s, lost
limbs. shattered nerves. wrecked ca
whole reward for their gallant part
in the war was $50 a month II there
were no other reason, what they did
and what they got are ample warrant
cation to its fighting men,.
- + 4'x ~
So far as tho attitude Of the demo-
Gratis toward the tax question Is con-
cerned, the Rock Island Argus feels
some of them ARE jealous OF ,secre-
tary Mellon but there are clear
thinking men In Congress-men like
Senator Glass for. example, with his
experience as Secretary Of the Treas
ury--who win not follow the Kings
and Hulls. Mr.. MELONS plan will find
active ana important support on the
democratic side: In Congress. II the
Mellon, plan Is to be enacted into law.
however, the. Baltimore Sun insists
"the President must back IL up with
ali the. force OF his positieu and ali
the authority Of economic logic" The
Grand Rapids Press likewise feels
Evening star., 1923-12-07

NATURALLY Mr.. Mellon is not going TO
regret that part Of the tax reduction
would apply to his own fortune, as II
would apply to every one else's. But
to make this private consideration
loom up as his motive is quite typical
Of the block of radicals who, in COM
bination with certain reactionary
politicians like Senator Watson of
Indiana, may yet overthrow the en-
tire program Of economy and tax re-
ductions."
The Ithaca Journal-News is con-
vinced that eff the bonus and tax re-
vision are linked together a measure
will be passed which will satisfy no
body. The bonus will have to be
scaled down to the disappointment of
program will have to be scaled down
to make even a small bonus possible.
This may not be statesmanship, but
1t Is the. kind of a solution that Is
quite impossible in the existing state
OF affairs in Washington" To which
the Tampa Times adds, THE feeling
that passage of the bonus bill is in
evitable seems to have grown from
lack of opposition" The people "are
in favor of tax re-
form" the indianapolis News is con-
WINGED. and it rebukes the politicians
who would achieve the impossible
by reducing taxes and granting a
bonus, thus Immediately pleasing
everybody, regardless of the after
effects. Figures. it Is we'll known.
will not lie. but-politicians will fig
ure."
According to Senator Curtis theory
of deferred payments, the first years
bonus would be only about 100000
ooo Subsequent Sui year1lGy 1G. payments men,
taxes would be quoted as steady or
with an upward tendency"
X X II X
The Berkeley Gazette enthusias-
tically commends, the plan to reduce
taxes on learned incomes because II
would benefit the big majority Of our
taxpayers" Replying to Senator
Robinson's declaration that, II forced
to choose, the democrats In Congress
will favor the bonus rather than re-
ductiop, the Lynchburg News holds
he 'Is not especially adept as a
political prophet. 1t is not at all
probable that the majority sentiment
Of the country will seriously enter
tain his suggestion that tax reduc-
ton and q bonus grant may both be
Afforded by the new Congress. For
in this he is proceeding upon an idea
involving a bond issue of four or five
billions Of dollars for bonus purpose,
an expedient which will add crush
ingly to the present heavy burden of
bonded obligation under which the
people of America are already stag
gering and supply another source of
demand upon the public revenues.
which, in turn. can only be supported
by public taxation"
"An appreciable reduction of taxes
is seriously needed the Omaha
World Herald insists. If this time
the plain people are to be permitted
to share of the benefit it will be
something new So far as the bonus
Is concerned, it is not q question of
impossibilities, but of method. There
are various ways of paying bonus
at the disposal of Congress- If 1t
chooses. without depriving the ordi
nary taxpayers: Of the relief to which
they are entitled,
Evening star., 1923-12-07
The British Election.

According to the figures from the
British election thus far received, pro-
lection. adopted by the conservative
party as its policy, has been defeated.
1T IS opposed by both the liberals and
the laborites. The latest returns show,
out of 4i2 members elected, the total
membership of the house Of commons
being 564, that the conservatives have
secured POL seats, the laborites 131,
the liberals, 100, with 9 independents
and / nationalist. This gives on par
tiai returns a conservative member
ship of As per cent, which is some
-swhat less than the percentage in
dicated i'll the first reports totaling 252
seats. Unless the later announce
ments show u marked difference in
trend, the conservatives, while re-
naming the plurality party in COM
mons, will be short of an actual ma
tority and the house will present de-
cided preponderance of free-trade SEN
ftiment
{: This is not surprising. as every in
atfication pointed to protectionist de-
feat. The most striking feature of
the returns thus far received is the
9 s.preponderance Of the labor strength
In the opposition. 1t now stands as
the second party, or the major of the
two opposing forces. This will be a
disappointment to the Asquith-Lloyd
George organization, which hoped to
gain opposition dominance. The lib
erals. as the figures now stand, are
relegated to third place in the parlia-
nentary equation.
The return OF former Premier AS.
-quith from the Glasgow district is re-
ported by a reduced majority, his
margin being only 1,146. On the other
hand. "a thur Henderson, secretary OF
the labor party, is beaten. Winston
Chuvchill's defeat by Il laborite. by
4,3S2. is one of the surprises OF the
election lie was held accountable for
certain war disasters and suffered ac-
cordingly. ,
If the final returns do not show a
great conservative gain in the belated
districts Premier Baldwin's ministry
will be compelled to seek liberal sup
port. 1t can hardly expect the support
OF the laborites in maintaining min
isterial majority. The ministry will,
in short, he dependent upon the
,opposition It cannot. Of course.
put through protection Legislation.
.Nhethci, it can sustain itself long in
power is u question.