Evening star., 1923-05-14
CAPITAL KEYNOTES
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

There may be established Great
White Way" clear across the Atlantic
ocean. by anchoring wooden ships at
intervals along route 80 miles wide.
This is proposed by Brig. Gen. Will
liam Mitchell. but Chairman Lasker
opposes the plan. Mr.. Lasker says
the government does not own the
wooden ships now anchored in the
Potomac and James rivers. which Gen.
Mitchell proposed to use.
The Lasker objection might be
overcome by the government using
some of it's other surplus ships. If
there were found merits in the
scheme. 1t is proposed not only 70
light the ocean but to use the an
chored ships as supply stations for
flying airplanes.
4 X x x
With the very rapid Improvement
in wireless teleeraphy, it seems that
the old idea of Iampposts on the
ocean is crude and outgroWn. The
radiophone can give the latitude and
longitude to any airplane a any time,
and sensitive antennae will tell in
what direction the plane is going in
reference to the station whose loca-
ton is announced.
The radiophone will soon supersede
all visual methods of guiding travel.
It's range covers the full width Of
the ocean. so that arplanes travelling
at $50 to 200 miles an hour. and with
ability to rise above all clouds. must
have means of guidance far more
efficient than sight. All clouds are
below the six-mile altitude. and al
ready airplanes easily rise above that.
The height record is nearly eight
miles-40.80O feet. The stars, or sun,
are always visible. and they are al
ready anchored.
x * K *
Tn the light OF the federal courts
decision that the Volstead law can
not restrain physicians from pre-
scribing intoxicating liquor as medi-
cine. it is significant to note two Or
three things in that connection.
The Materia Medica lists whisky
and brandy as stimulants. and about
one-fourth of the physicians of the
country approve their use in certain
cases-prescribed by competent ply
s'cians. The others disapprove Of
their use. and say that there are other
stimulants that are more efficient
with less danger of evil after effects.
That's that, for the doctors.
The Pharmacopoeia (the standard
fixer of the pharmacists) dropped all
standards for whisky and brandy in
| 1920. Hence. if a physician now pre-
srribes whisky or brandy. any drug
gist who has more greed than con-
science will be enabled to range
where he will in filing the prescrip-
ton with whatever moonshine he
finds most profitable. calling it
whisky" or brandy" for no author
ity can dispute the name
The Pharmacopoeia is revised every
ten years. 50 that the next regular
revision will be in 1890. With the
hootlegging physicians and moonshine
druggists. who Will he drawn into the
professions Of medicine and phar-
macy. in case the Supreme Court up
holds the federal judges decision il
won't make much difference after
1890 what the Pharmacopoeia SAYS:
the victims Of wood alcohol and
moonshine will be dead or stone blind
by that time.
OF the 10000 physicians in the
United States. 10000 are in states
which have local laws prohibiting the
issuing of liquor prescriptions. OF
the remaining 10000 physicians less
than S5,000 have ever called for liquor
prescription blanks. showing that
10000 voluntarily have gotten along
without ever prescribing liquor. be-
sides the 10000 above mentioned It
Is TO the benefit of the 35n0O, out of
a total of 10000, that the federal
ruling on the Nolstead law will oper-
ate. if confirmed.
The decision of the federal court
has to do only with the scope of the
eighteenth amendment. and the uues-
tlon is as to whether the amendment
authorized Congress TO deal with any
phase of the liquor question other
| than its use for beverage purposes
Many states already have laws abso-
lutely prohibiting liquor to be used
or prescribed as medicine. and these
state laws have been fully sustained
by the courts. Congress can not in
terfere with state rights except
where the constitutional amendment
clearly gives it that power.
x X = *
1t often happens that bank tellers
delve for weary hours because their
cash does not balance to cent.