davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1927-04-04
Sir Isaac NewtOn's
s'BIunder" Exposed
To The Editor of The Star:

To the Editor of The Star:
Here is Sir Isaac Newton's blunder
in plain English: Hold a tack over
magnet and release it. 1t will fall to
the magnet. Then hold the tack to
one side near the magnet and try to
throw it past the magnet. 1t Will so
to the magnet and increase its We
looity as it moves. 1T could not go TO
a perihelion point near the magnet.
then through that point and onward
past the magnet into the space be-
yond, as Newton imagined the earth
does in passing from July l through
perihelion at January /, then onward
into space again. The increase of
velocity is toward the sun only. The
earth would merely fall to the sun
like the tack to the magnet. As
matter of fact the earth is repelled
away from the sun at perihelion like
a comet. Force repels and does not
attract
This little magnetic trick of New
tons has been covered up by over
two centuries of so-called mathe-
matics, with first premise true,
second premise imaginary and con-
clusion wrong. AS Mark Twain says,
it is easier to believe than not to be-
lieve.
But watch repelling force drive the
comet and tail away from the sun in
June and leave out the mathematics.
If Sir Isaac Newton had lived little
longer he probably could have seen
that force repels and does not attract,
and the progress of man would have
been far ahead of the present age.
ID. A. n. GROVER.
Kansas (titE Mo
Evening star., 1927-04-04
Misuse of Words.

A striking instance of the misuse Of
words is the selection of the term
cathedral of the motion picture" for
New Yorks largest edifice devoted to
that form of popular amusement.
To say nothing Of the questionable
taste involved in using a strictly re.
ligious designation for a theater, the
term is not correctly used in any
sense. The. word comes, from the
Greek through Latin, from "cathedra, +"
meaning seat. A cathedra is the Of
fetal chair or throne of a bishop,
professor or teacher. or any person in
high authority. The usage Of the
word is entirely ecclesiastical, how.
ever.
A cathedral" according to Web.
ster is properly. the church which
contains the cathedra, or bishops of
fetal chair or throne; improperly, in
non-episcopal churches, any of the va
rious large or important churches"
Thus it is seen that even a great
church building of another denomina-
ton may be improperly called a cathe.
dral. This being true. the selection
of the term for place of amusement
must be regarded as striking at the
feelings of thousands of persons.
Metaphorical use can scarcely jus
tify the application of term that has
been so long and so specifically con.
nected with the things of the spirit.
The term temple" has a wider appli.
cation and might more properly be
used in relation to a movie" theater,
Such striving after effect must be
frowned upon, not only by those who
believe in the proper use of our com
mon tongue, but by those who feel
the truth of the saying, Render unto
Caesar the things that are Caesars.
and unto God the things that are
Gods"
Evening star., 1927-04-04

uncommon development. There are
radio widows" just as there are golf
widows" There are more radio
widowers than golf widowers. Be.
tween the two pastimes a good many
women are left fiat" socially.
The national commission now seek.
ing solution of the wave-length prob
lem has, Of course, nothing to do with
this phase of the matter. 1t does not
deal with programs. 1t has no bear
ing on the domestic equation, which
has been somewhat disturbed by the
development of the radio. 1t has it's
hands full with the puzzle that has
been given to it by act of Congress,
and there is no umpire to whom these
family differences over radio pro-
grams can be referred. il is TO. be
hoped that common sense will pre-
vail and that the radio, which has such
great potentialities for giving pleas
ure, will not be abused through
selfishness or inconsiderate absorption
on the part of its devotees to the point
of wrecking homes and swelling the
crime records.
Evening star., 1927-04-04
The Naval Oil Reserves.

The Navy has formally come into it's
own again. Without blare of trum.
pets, full authority over the great
naval oil reserves in California. Wyo.
ming and the oil shale reserves in
Utah and Colorado have been restored
to the Navy Department, from which
they were taken and placed in the In.
terror Department in 1921 by an execu-
tive order signed by the late President
Harding. President Coolidge signed
the executive order giving the admin
1stration and conservation of these re-
serves back to the Navy Department
March IL, in conformity, it is said.
with the decision of the Supreme
Court of the United States holding the
lease of the California reserve to Ed
ward L. Doheny illegal and tainted
with fraud.
In measure, the order of the Presi-
dent writes a finale to a policy adopt
ed under the last administration that
led to one of the greatest Government
scandals in history. The oil re.
serves were set aside by Congress for
the use of the Navy. It was a meas
ure of national defense. When, at the
instance of former Secretary Fall of
the Interior Department, these re-
serves were transferred to the juris-
diction Of his department, the first
step was taken in a disposition of
these reserves which clearly was not
within the intention of Congress when
1t created them.
The country will have confidence in
the administration of these reserves
by the Navy. There are honest differ
ences of opinion as to the best policy
to be followed with regard to the oil
now in the ground in these reserves.
But there is no doubt anywhere that
the Navy win safeguard the interests
Of the country to the best of its ability.
The Supreme Court, it is true, has
not yet passed final decision in the
suit to hold invalid the lease of Tea
pot Dome, the naval oil reserve in
Wyoming, to Harry f. Sinclair. But
in view of it's determination in the
Doheny case, 1t seems clear, unless the
court can be convinced that the two
cases differ essentially, that the lease
Of Teapot Dome will be terminated by
the court. The executive order signed
by President Coolidge covers Teapot
Dome as well as the other reserves.
Evening star., 1927-04-04

A statement just issued by the
Treasury Department regarding the
income tax returns and payments dur
ing the first three quarters of 1925
shows an extraordinary increase in
the number of persons who during
the past year. were paying taxes on
annual incomes of more than S1,o00,-
900. For the tax year of 1924 there
were only rs Americans in this class
For that Of 1925, the returns for which
were filed in 1926, there were 207 an
increase of 122. This is new high
record for this category of taxpayers,
but it is to be noted that it only
slightly exceeds that made in 1916,
when 206 million-dollar incomes were
reported. 1t is not determined wheth-
er the falling off since 1916 up to date
has been due to an actual diminution
in the size Of personal incomes or to
concealments consequent upon the
high rates of taxation during and fol-
lowing the war. The reduction in the
rates upon all classes Of incomes ef-
fected in the course of the recent
changes in the law may have brought
fuller returns. Or it may be that
there was in fact a flattening of the
curve of personal revenues during
that period. II that is the case there
has been a remarkable advance in
American prosperity in the last TWEEN
ty-four months.
A phenomenon of importance in
American economic conditions has
been observable of late, the steady in
crease in the number of wage earners
who have become substantial owners
of corporation securities. Many
thousands of employees have been per-
mitted and aided to buy the stocks of
their respective employing companies.
A condition Of virtual joint stock own
ership has developed. This has its
significance in many ways. 1t is in
the first place a bridging of the gap
between capital and "labor" 1t is,
dn duNdICS III the
extension of responsibility for indus
trial and commercial development to
all the participants. 1t is a marked
gain in thrift, inculcating the habit of
safe investment in income-y yielding Sc
curities.
OF course. multimillionaires are not
made by this process alone. The in,
crease i'm the number of million-dollar
incomes cannot be traced evenremotely
to it. But that the average of Individual
incomes has been raised through this
participation, through wisely guided
investments, is not to be denied. Some
of the rich may be growing richer in
this country, but assuredly the poor
are not growing poorer. and more
Americans than ever before, actually
and in proportion to the population,
are directly and increasingly inter.
ested in the maintenance of stable
conditions and in the advance of pros
perity.
Evening star., 1927-04-04

best to meet the problem which his
schooling presents.
The average American parent is too
willing to place his child in the edu-
cational mill" and then leave the re-
suit to fate and the teachers, uni
! formly expecting a finished product"
to be turned out at the end of the
course. So the Ludwig Won Beetho-
vens Of this world suffer nightly when
the peculiar talents they possess are
submerged in a flow of knowledge
which is more or less foreign to them.
Parents commonly fail to differenti-
ate between the two great divisions Of
the child mind-the mind that is math-
ematical and the mind that is literary.
This may not be either scientific or
precise, but every educator will rec
ognize the essential character of these
two types. Early in the school life
the average child likes" either math.
ematics or English. The first will ex.
eel in problems. algebra, trigonome.
try, while the second will get the best
marks" in reading, writing, English
composition and history. Later in
their schooling the first boy will take
to chemistry and physics, stunning
English as much as possible, while the
latter viii reverse the process.
Where many parents and some edu-
Gators fall down is in their failure to
grasp the essential differences in these
two minds, and their consequent in.
sistence that each child must master
the subjects that are difficult to him.
Beethoven shows them for once and
all how wrong they are and how little
is to be gained by holding back a stu.
dent on account of his weak points.
This does not mean, of course, that
any child is to be denied the mastery
to be gained by a successful struggle
in overcoming, but it should mean
that no child is to be made to feel
inferior simply because he cannot sue.
cessfully be master of all subjects.
Evening star., 1927-04-04
He Could Not Add.

Beethoven. The great composer,
could not do the simplest problem in
multiplication, indeed could accom-
plish addition only with mistakes. In
The material on exhibit at the Library
Of Congress in connection with the
hundredth anniversary of his death
ia q, paper showing how the composer
was required 10 figure the pay of a
servant. Being unable TO multiply
SO by 4, he set down, four times, the
figures SO and then proceeded to add
them, his total coming to pa.
So the great brain that could un-
failinely handle The higher mathe-
natics of musical composition funk.
ed" niserably on a problem that any
child in the fourth grade Of the public
schools could successfully solve, This
paper, in the great mans own hand
will serve as an excellent lesson, how
ever, to all parents and others who
will not take the trouble to figure
out-a problem in higher addition, in
dAed-just what the particular bent
O. their own chlds mind is and how
Evening star., 1927-04-04
Money Map Reveals
Various Dark Spots

From the Dayton Daily News.
One way to judge the health of busi-
ness is by the dollars checked through
the banks. A fast flow of money
means, as rule. good business Now,
we can take the map of the United
States. which the Federal Reserve
Board makes by Federal Reserve dis
tricts. and see by the shadings how
the different sections and States are
faring as compared with the CORE
spending period of year ago.
Map-makers all assign their crepe
color to the least fortunate. The
black part of the map just now is ex.
actly where one would eXpect-down
in the cotton belt. As much cotton as
usual is being sold there, but the price
is SO low that the tide of dollars re.
quired to float it is far below last year
Some parts of this region have a ray
of white in the eXpanse Of black, show
ing less shrinkage than the maximum
from last year. In this shading. sur
prisingly, we find New York. There
had been rumors that business was
little off there Falling industrial
prices would cause a loss, even if
actual turnover of goods were as
usual. West Virginia, in the soft.coal
belt, naturally shows dark. Soft coal
~ n NCpi CSoCu lilOuStlE. Even
cite, facing more and more competi-
ton of oil, gives eastern Pennsylvania
a clouded look. 1t looks in fact
equally out of luck with the Northern
group of agricultural States ranging
from Indiana to Montana. The dis
trict containing such States as Ne
braska. Kansas and Missouri shows a
slight Improvement over a year ago.
Ohio with q gain of to 10 per cent
in money turnover. as against this
time last year. is bright spot on the
map. New England shows still better,
but that is because New England a
year ago was so very low in q bust
ness way The twelfth district. con-
tanning California, is also a heavy
gamer over last year. Hiram John
sons tariff on lemons, for which he
traded his position as q progressive
leader, is evidently working. The
Panama Canal has something to do
with it also.
The average is not seriously differ.
ent, either way. from a year ago. But
the present prosperity is not we'll dis.
tributed. If Mr. Coolidge wants to be
cheerfully surrounded on his Western
vacation, he would better pitch his
tent in a California lemon grove and.
not in a Minnesota wheatfield, Iowa
corn row or Arkansas cotton patch.
Evening star., 1927-04-04
Murderers in Spain.

The King OF Spain has sought in vain
for a convicted murderer to pardon. 1t
is the custom for royalty in that coun-
try to pardon murderer during Holy
week.
Delving into the realm of supposi-
ton, what if President Coolidge were
faced with the same problem as King
Alfonso? How many murderers would
he find awaiting punishment in the
United States? The contrast between
the reported situation in Spain and
that here gives an American food for
thought. Not only is it reported that
the King of Spain cannot find muir
derer to pardon, but that none was
executed in Spain last year. The
Spanish authorities are no more ten
der with convicted murderers than the
American. The implication is clear
that murders We're at a minimum in
that country across the sea last year.
The picture drawn by cold, hard
statistics Of crime in the United States
is not a pretty one. There were fifty.
seven sentences of death in the United
States in the first six. months Of 1926,
Doubling this for the year yields one
hundred and fourteen death sentences.
In some of the States the penalty for
murder is life Imprisonment. Many
murderers are never caught here.
The number of homicides in cities of
100000 population in this country
alone is staggering. In 1925 they
reached the 3,208 mark.
Spain, once a great power, in more
recent years has been considered a
backward nation. But if, with a popu-
lation of $1,000, 900, practically one
fifth that OF the United States, muir
derers are so scarce in that country,
there may be something to he said in
favor Of a lack of certain kinds of
progress.
Evening star., 1927-04-04
Disagrees With Story
On Washington of Old

To the Editor of The Star:
Some time ago there appeared in
your paper (which | have read for SO
years. an article entitled Clippings;
Telegraphic Story of disappearing
Washington. / quote therefrom;
Take. for instance, the story of
Philip Spencer. He was the son of
Garfield Spencer. His father came to
Washington as a member of Jeffer-
sons cabinet. Through his fathers
influence Philip secured a commission
as midshipman in the Navy. When
the ship lay off the coast of Brazil he
formed with two sailors plan TO seize
it, kill the officers and half the crew
and turn to piracy. The plot was dis
covered, the midshipman hanged from
the yardarm, which forced his fathers s
resignation.
Permit me to say that no one bear
ing the name of Spencer was ever
member of Jeffersons cabinet. Jeffer-
sons cabinet, 1S01-9: James Madison,
appointed Secretary of State March D.,
1901; Samuel Dexter. Secretary of the
Treasury, continued in office from
Adams administration; Albert Gala
tim Secretary of the Treasury. jan
uary 26. 1902; Henry Dearborn, Secre-
tary of War, March 5, 1901. For Sec
retary of the Navy, Benjamin Goddert
of Maryland continued in Office from
Adams administration Robert Smith,
who, too, was from Maryland, jan
uary %, 1902. In '"rhe Lives of Our
Presidents" which went TO press in
1881, from Washington to the first ad-
ministration of Jackson. no mention
of Garfield Spencer is found Beyond
doubt this incidentwas of a later date.
and have a recollection of the name
of the warship Sonners. and / believe
il was in Tyler's administration,
GEORGE DID. SELECMAN,
S55 CeStreet Northwest.
Evening star., 1927-04-04
THIS AND THAT


guests of a night club march around
the room for four hours, g. girl es.
capped, brought back two officers. and
t.j latter were blackjacked as they
entered the club.
Mary Roque's search for a new
home is of a different nature, and
may not be, strictly speaking, news.
Even a bandit, however, has to live
some place, and if we have any bandit
readers we hope he--or she--wiil
willingly follow the everyday adven-
lures of Mary.
Miss Rogue rang up J. Padding
ton Jones, d dapper young real estate
gentleman. and told him of her in
tention to purchase a new home. She,
in the depth of her simple soul,
thought that Jones would be inter
ested.
And, indeed, he seemed so. He
took at least half an hour to assure
Mary that nothing would please him
quite as we'll as showing her around
through the suburbs, giving her the
benefit of his expert knowledge as to
houses and still more houses.
Mary hung up the phone, very well
pleased. j. Paddington had made her
feel that she was, indeed, a person
of some consequence. Had she been
Henry Ford himself, Mary thought,
Mr.. Jones could not have seemed
more anxious TO sell her--er, him--a
new house
Mice man, that Mr.. J. Paddington
Jones' said Mary TO herself.
Poor Mary,
* X u X
Well, the days went by and the
weeks went by, and no gallant sales
ma n to haV.
course, Mary had told him that she
was in no particular hurry. But, ah.
wasn't he presuming just a little bit
too much on that information?
At the end of two weeks Mary got a
phone call, and it was none other than
j. Paddington Jones, just as nice and
tallative as ever.
He had been i'll, he said. and so not
able to concentrate himself upon the
search, but now that he was back in
harness again he was going to focus
his entire energies upon the quest of
just the one home in the District of
Columbia, Maryland or Virginia for
one Mary Rogue. girl investigator
The entire energies of j. Paddington,
he gave her to understand were
something enormous, so that they
simply could not fail in the search.
mistake thLt others had made in re-
gard to the glowing Mary. She
seemed so slight. so childish, that they
rather underrated her abilities. Many
persons go through life meeting and
overcoming this obstacle. The world
has fixed notions of persons and is
loath to give them up. Original men
and women who dare to be themselves
do not fit into these preconceived pic
lures. Those who "know it ALL" as
the saying is, are unable to grasp the
significance of original persons, and
generally end by regarding them as
"easy" or persons of no particular inn
portance. So it came about that Walt
Whitman was kicked out Of the Gov
ernment service for writing an "ob-
scene book" but his book today. with
his name on it in gold may be pur-
chased in every book store in Wash
ington. whereas the name of the high
official who gave him the equivalent
of the "bums rush" of that day Is not
remembered by any one.
Mary Rogue waited patiently for j.
Paddington to show her some houses.
DAYS went by, weeks, a full month,
and still no word from the nice Mr..
Jones.
Mary was having hard time to find
house, wasn't she?
Evening star., 1927-04-04
Progress Invading
LAFAYETTE Square

From the Philadelphia Public Ledger
That part of the city of Washington
having pride in it's traditions is
troubled about what is happening to
historic Lafayette Square. These
green acres to the north of the White
House are dominated by five more or
less imposing statues. Lafayette and
Rochambeau, the Frenchmen; Kosci-
usko, the Pole. and Won Steuben, the
Prussan, stand there in the heart of
Washington. In the center rides An
drew Jackson on his rearing, tearing
charger.
ghosts walk Dolly Madison lived
there. Henry Clay sauntered there.
The Blairs, the Lees, the Rodgerses and
the Decaturs and many another name
familiar to Americans are identified in
one way or another with the place.
Every old house still standing has or
deserves a commemorative tablet.
The square is about to be sur
rounded by tall buildings, steel-skele
toned and fieshed with stone or con-
crete, except upon the south, where it
faces on the White House. The east
side is being transformed, and like
wise the north A theater stands on
the ground that Henri Clay traded to
Comdr. Rodgers. The new Chamber
of Commerce and the Veterans Bu-
reau have wiped away some of the
older houses. On the southeast cor
ner rises the Treasury annex. So far
the west side of the green quadrangle
has changed only little, but the
shadow of change is over it.
There was a time when the square
might have been preserved as a memo
rial TO Yesterday. This is no longer
possible. Washington is growing,
moving and marching out that way.
In few years historic Lafayette
Square will be dominated either by
great commercial or official buildings.
Washington is about to lose some
thing that cannot be replaced, but
there is no help for it.
Evening star., 1927-04-04
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS

abrogation of the smuggling treaty
with Mexico. Live tips that our
Government was to take this action
had been flying about the Capital for
a month previous and found their way
into print. Whereupon a State De-
partment statement was promptly
forthcoming to the effect that "abro.
cation of the treaty was not now un-
der consideration. This was inter
preted, as the department intended it
should be, as a complete denial of the
published forecasts. Therefore when
Secretary Kellogg did abrogate the
treaty, some rather indignant gentle
men Of the press 4" who had seen their
early story denied. journeyed to the
State Department TO ask How Gomez"
They were told that the previous
diplomatic denial" was indeed liter
ally true, inasmuch as abrogation of
the treaty was not then under consid-
Grafton. the> decision to abrogate 1t
having already been made.
X * u
Women in public Office are on the
increase, which proves, according to
them, that women are really getting
somewhere in politics. The womans
congressional bloc in the SEVENTEEN
Congress will number four-the same
three who served in the last Congress
plus Mrs. John w Langley of Ken
lucky, elected to fill the place of her
husband, who has been recently pa
rolled from the Atlanta Penitentiary.
There are now 1873 women in various
State Legislatures. OF these 81 list
themselves as Republican, 81 as Demo
cratic and as Independent. Connect
cut is the banner State in the matter
Of feminine legislators. 1t has 16.
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and
Illinois each have 5. incidentally.
Texas and Wyoming have each lost
their woman governors.
X II * X
The Royal Astronomical Society of
London has honored itself in honor
ing Father Francis A. Tondorf with
membership in it's organization. Father
Tondorf, a native of Boston has for
many years been in charge of the
seismic observatory of Georgetown
University. one of the prides of the
Capital. lie has made some remark
able discoveries and has been able TO
tell of earthquakes and their location
in far quarters of the globe long be-
fore the news reached America Day
in and day out Father Tondorf may
be found in his simple little Office at
Georgetown watching and studying
the intricacies of the machinery of
his observatory. He is modest and
unassuming to an exceptional degree,
but his fame Is now world wide.
copyright. 1927