Evening star., 1926-09-13

Disfranchised District of Columbia s
denizens make proud showing in
"Who's Who in America that au-
thoritative compendium of the great
and neargreat. Vol. IA, 1926-1927. Is
Just off the press. Although the Dis
trict's population is tiny compared
to most of the States, Washington1ans
rank sixth in number of American
immortals, with ! ,451. and trailing. In
the order named, New York, Massa-
chusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania and
California The first words in the
new "Who's Who are to the effect
that the names in it ''are selected not
as the best, but as an attempt to
choose the best known men and wom-
en- of the country in all lines OF useful
and reputable achievements" That
seems to have disqualified Mr.. Jack
Dempsey and Mr.. Gene Tunney, while
Miss Gertrude Ederle had not arrived
on the English side Of the Channel
when "Who's Who" went to press.
Rudolph Valentino, actor, IS included,
but Babe Ruth was overlooked.
X X y r
Editors of the Dictionary of Ma
tional Biography proudly record that
of the total number of 26,915 names
listed, 24,112. or 1858 per cent. are
natives Of the United States. Foreign
birth is attributed to 9.53 per cent,
persons were born at sea and 2S8
do not report as to place OF birth.
OF the foreign-born who's Who
Americans the most came from Can
ada, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland
and Russia. Thilty-siX natives of In
dia and 25 natives Of Turkey made the
necessary grade for inclusion. An in
tensive effort was made to ascertain
the value Of an education as the foun-
da.tion for eventual canoniZation in
who's Who" The publishers come
to the conclusion that Education
| pays" Their figures based on the
1922-1923 editiom show that college
graduates totaled 64 per cent of the
whole number of names. But there
were 1880 notables who reported the
advantage of only common school
education. Prof. Visher of Indiana
University made a. survey regarding
occupations and environment of IA
theirs of American notables. Business
man fathers number 35.2 per cent; 34.3
per cent We're professional men; 23.4
per cent We're farmers: 6.3 per cent
We're skilled or semi-skilled laborers,
and only 0.4 per cent were unskilled
Workmen. Seventy-three fathers were
reported as 'men of leisure" Eleven
per cent of notables had clergyman
fathers.
returning to Mexico with a mandate
American demands. one wonders
whether he's authorized to go as far
with President Gales as Robert Ian
sing, former Secretary of State, once
went with President CarranZa. The
story goes that Mr.. Lansing lost his
patience with Carranza's "stalling"
over the liberation Of the American
| consul. Jenkins, who was captured by
Mexican bandits. The American Army
| was through fighting in France, but
not demobilized, and much of it was
back home. One day the Mexican Am
bassador at Washington was called to
the State Department and informed
| that Uncle Sam was tired of promises
about Jenkins and wanted deeds.
When the Mexican envoy expressed
astonishment at this unexpected evi-
| dence that the United States meant
business, it was quietly explained that
we now possessed a big Army which
could be easily utilized wherever it
was needed. Consul jenkins was re-
leased before the week was over. Lam
sings effective diplomacy on that oc-
casion is said to have been one of
the reasons why he and President
Wilson parted company.
| y X n y
Here's a picture Of Senator "Bill''
| Borah at home in Idaho. drawn by
Milo NJ. Thompson, editor of the Boise
Statesman:
Borah comes and goes unobtru-
sively and takes his place among
| Boise people as if he had not been
| away most of the time for a dec
ade and a half The Senator wan
| ders about, alone for the most part.
| He mods to all. He shakes hands
with many. amiable affable. for
saking his Washington manner of
studied avoidance. At lunch. on
days when he Is not out speaking
at some church. grange, hall or
fair ground. he sitH In o. @Kelly's
IS