Evening star., 1926-11-05
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Fernald Of Maine the chairmanship
of public lands. The printing COM
mittee, now headed by Senator Pepper
of Pennsylvania. will have a new
chairman in the person of Senator
Moses of New Hampshire.
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There's an interesting project afoot
to establish Lincoln shrine" The
prime movers are five Civil War vet
Grams and Grand Army Of the Repub-
lie memo. H. Oldroyd. John McEl-
roy, John Middleton, Frank j. Young
and E. w. Creecy. Mr.. Creecy Is also
an active member Of the Loyal Legion.
Their proposal is that the Govern
ment, which owns Ford's Theater in
Washington, where Lincoln was shot,
shall abandon its use as an office
building and convert 1t into a dig
nif1ed museum of Lincoln relics and
memoirs. The Oldroyd collection. re-
Gently purchased by the Government,
is housed across the street in the ram
shackle building in which Lincoln
died. The place Is not f1reproof and
Is otherwise unsuitable for sheltering
so priceless national treasure. The
orginators of the shrine scheme would
like Uncle Sam to assemble under one
lroof-preferably Ford's Theater-all
the valuable Lincoln trophies eXtant.
The Government itself has number
of them, scattered throughout Wash
ington. Boxed up at the Smithsonian
institution is the chair in which the
Great Emancipator sat when assassi-
mated. The War Department has the
pistol and bullet with which Booth
shot Lincoln.
Primary slush funds are not to be
the only thing talked about in the
Senate when ''Bill' Ware, Republican
Senator-elect from Pennsylvania,
comes up for Punishment. Events in
Philadelphia on election day will be
discussed, particularly in the so-called
Zero divisions" of Wares home town.
There were rs divisions in which, ac-
| cording to police returns, Ware re.
ceived a total Of 16,709 votes and
Wilson. his Democratic opponent, a
total Of 80. In "A of these divisions
Wilson's vote was returned as zero.
In the other 80 Wilson was given only
one vote apiece. Voters in a division
!, in which three votes were Tailed for
Wilson are ready to make aff1davits
that at least six persons voted for him
in that precinct. Zero divisions" are
familiar features of Philadelphia ma
chine politics. But this time 1t is
planned to bring them to the attention
Of the Federal body which Ware is
about to adorn. Steps in that direc-
ton have already been taken.
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November 2, 1926, marked a nota-
BILE anniversary in the annals of radio
and of American politics. 1t was on
November 2, 1929, that the air was
| used for the first time for general
broadcasting, when the Harding and
| Coolidge landslide was recorded.
KDKA at Pittsburgh was the station
, which functioned on that pioneer oc.
| casion. A couple Of months later
on January Is, 1921-the first "pick.
| up" from banqueting hall was sent
along wave length. Herbert
Hoover was the speaker, in Pitts.
burgh, appealing for European relief
| funds.
Washingtonians have received
copies of magnif1cently printed and
J illustrated Sesquicentennial edition of
| the American-owned Japan Advertiser
of Toxic. Secretaries Mellon, Hoover
and Davis Nabor) and Senator Borah
contributed to the edition autographed
tributes to the importance of Japa.
ese-American trade and friendship.
(Copyright. 1926.)