davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1927-11-11
Traffic Lights.

The District Commissioners have in
dicated that they will allow Traffic Di
rector Harland to proceed with his
ambitious program for traffic light in
stallation. Despite the protest of the
engineer of the Public Utilities Com
mission. who had disapproved add
tional automatic electric signals be
cause of the delay to busseS and street
cars, the Commissioners yesterday ap.
proved in principle the expenditure of
approximately $270,000 to carry out
the traffic office plan. BY this deci-
sion the Commissioners not only pro
vide for indisputable traffic benefits
for the city, but are acting on the
theory that a bird in the hand is worth
two in the bush by spending the
money already available for signal
purchases. This fund. if not spent be-
fore December 81. will be unavail-
able for the purpose for which it was
raised.
Washington is blessed with an un-
usually fine and we'll considered traf--
tic light installation. The extension of
the system will be worked out on the
same sane basis. 1t takes only a
drive along North avenue in Baltimore
or Market street in Philadelphia to
realize by comparison the excellence
of the local method. In the two cities
mentioned the motorist is stopped, al.
most invariably, at every corner,
while in the District it is possible to
drive the entire length of one Of the
lighted streets without a stop.
OF course, traffic light installations
are not designed for speedy transpor-
tation. They are meant primarily for
safety. In most other cities the safety
factor is the only one considered, but
in Washington the system has been
so synchronized that both safety and
speed are assured. No automobile
driver will protest speed and safety
in his motoring, SO that the extension
of traffic light system in the National
Capital has the solid support Of the
entire motorist body.
Evening star., 1927-11-11
UNITED STATES
in WORLD WAR
Ten Years Ago Today

Gen. Pershing tells newspaper cor.
respondents at the front that troops
and supplies are arriving in greatly
increasing numbers. lie states that
the submarine to date has not claimed
the life of a single American soldier
on troop ships bound for France.
The first American officer and
private wounded in the war have been
mentioned in French dispatches and
presented with citations. Sc
cret Service agents unearth huge
stores of food and supplies in New
York City. Total estimated value of
$75.00O.0 900. enough food of substantial
kind to feed an army of 10000 for
several weeks. The baking in
dustry of the country Is to be put on
war basis on December 10. under
governmental regulations. Loaves to
be standardized and bakers must ac-
cept a formula prepared by the Food
Administration. President is
expected to propose definite plan to
the American Federation of Labor
whereby strikes may h avoided and
war production speededzap.
Evening star., 1927-11-11
War Debt Retirement.

The retirement of the complete issue
of the second Liberty loan. set for
Tuesday of next week, prompts con-
Sideration OF the general subject of
war-debt retirement. And though, as
Senator Smoot viii testify, the general
subject Of national finance is correctly
deemed to command no burning popu-
lar interest, there are facts and fig
ures here involved which read suffi-
ciently like fairy story to appeal to
even a Philadelphia audience. Those
figures are these:
On June 80, 1916, the gross debt Of
the United States stood at $1,225, ,145,-
6ss. In August, 1919, a little more
than three years later, that debt had
swelled to the figure of $26. $50, ,701, GAS.
That was the peak. The Nation set
about the business of retrenchment.
The effect of its efforts is as fol-
lows: To date net reduction of the
gross debt by $S,22S, ,210, ,037-the total
now standing at $18.368, ,491 ,611-has
been effected. OF $21 ,432 1888, 730 WORTH
of war bonds sold. $10.2S8, ,S50,4S have
been retired. The difference Of up
ward of $4,000, 100000 between the re
duction in war bonds outstanding ant
the net reduction OF the total debt il
accounted for by the conversion of thu
bonds into other securities bearing
substantially lower interest rates
Which brings US to the matter Of in
terest.
Interest payments by the Treasur.
during the last eight years have to
tailed $7,504,519,646. The peak wa:
reached in 1923, when $1,055, ,0SS,4S'
was paid. In the fiscal year OF 1872
$787,01s,57s was paid. The averag
gate of interest in 1922 was 4.29 pc
cent as against 4.043 per cent in 1921
BY debt retirement and lowering tn
Interest rate a permanent annual ir
terest saving Of approximately $3.50
Ov0 900 has been achieved.
These are cold. bare figures. But t
Evening star., 1927-11-11
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Philadelphia courts decree were to be
generally enforced any number of
Washington statesmen might find
themselves disqualified. Many men,
bers of both houses who've become old
timers on Capitol Hill long have lived
here in their own dwellings,. Henry
Cabot Lodge looked upon Washington,
rather than Nahant, as his real home.
Philander G.. Knox registered Pitts
burgh as his home, although he lived
most of the time either in his big
Washington house or at his estate in
Valley Forge.
About a year ago Senator James
CouZens, Republican, of Michigan re.
fused to contribute to the Detroit
Y. NJ. G. A. because "Y" officials had
withdrawn an invitation to William
Green, president of the American Fed.
GRAFTON of Labor, to speak in the "Y''
auditorium. The other day Couzens
sent his check for $500 900 to the De-
trolt community fund, doubling his
usual subscription. because of YOUR
policy of not soliciting subscriptions
from Workmen, owing to the unem-
ployment existing in our city"
capt. Andy" Furuseth, the grim
VIKING of the Seamen's Union, which
IS fitting at the Shipping Board for
trying to convert American sailors
into involuntary servitude." is 73
years old. but is as full of fight as a
mariner 80 years his junior. Senator
henrik Shipstead of Minnesota, a fel.
low scandinavian, says Furuseth is
the smartest man in the United
states. Capt. ANDY" was born in
Norway, but has lived in this country
~ years. He sailed before the mast
while still boy and knows the sea.
mans trials and tribulations from
stem to stern. By coincidence Furu
seth now takes up the cudgels against
the Government department at the
mead OF which workingman of the
sea is also stationed. T.'V. O'Connor.
chairman of the Shipping Board, is a
longshoreman by trade and the re.
Vered president Of the Dockers' Union.
The spirit of William Jennings
bryan must have lowered DER a spell
binder who was Grating in Washington
TINS week on the subject of progressive
encroachment of the Federal Govern.
ment upon States rights. 'If that
INVASION Is not checked" he decaimed,
there will be no angel to roll back
the stone from the tomb of our lib.
critics; there will be no Easter morn.
ing after the crucifiXion of the Con.
sututlon" Senator Ashurst of Ari.
Zona, one of the acknowledged mas
ters of English in Congress, believes
the language is original, and described
It, In any event, as brilliant. But
some OF those who heard 1t thought it
reminded them of something which
had thrilled them before.
tCopyriGht. 1877
Evening star., 1927-11-11

Several correspondents. praising the
work of Tagore, raise the question
whether prose translations of poems
ought to be called poetry.
1t is in this matter as in so many
others, a strict definition is not so
much to be needed as liberal inter
pretation which gets nearer to the
truth.
Thus Marcus Aurelius Is classed as
a pagan, vet his golden book of medi-
tations shows a distinctly Christian
mind and spirit.
Similarly Epictetus. stole philoso-
pher. was ranked by Canon Farrar as
one Of the three great seekers after
God" among the ancients.
Only the other day a gray-haired
man was asked by a friend of his, a
priest. what he was reading. He held
out small book, with the single name
in gold on the cover "Epictetus."
God bless you. my son. said the
father, taking his hand.
In like manner, poetry is not to be
defined so much by form as by con-
tent, not by rule alone but more by
the spirit of the whole.
Much that masquerades as poetry,
even though it scrupulously observes
every law" of the art. is nothing but
so much drool. English poetry is full
Of such work. long efforts that get no.
where and that bring no pleasure or
profit to single reader.
One may take with several grains
of salt Coleridge's tiambOyant deflni-
ton, Poetry is the blossom and
fragrance of all human knowledge
human thought human passions,
emotions, language"
Science. too, has contributed to the
poetry OF human life. A radio set,
rightly conceived, is an exquisite poem,
in it's ability to transform waves from
radio to audiO frequency, from form
in which music is not heard by the
human ear to a medium which our
ears comprehend, if it may be put that
way.
This is poetry of a high order
think Of this the next time you tune in.
If Coleridge had restricted his defini-
ton he would have been more nearly
right. Poetry is the fragrance of
language" This would more nearly
have fit the case.
1t is precisely because poetry Is the
flower Of our language that prose may
be poetry, If it is properly handled.
conclusion that prose, which we use
every day of our lives. is the all-in-
elusive medium in which one may not
only express facts of law and science.
in dry-as-dust brochures, but also may
translate" metrical versions of
thoughts and emotions.
The famous gentleman in one of
Moliere's comedies declared, what!
! have been speaking prose all my life
and did not know it, Similarly,
many a human being in actual life
speaks poetry and does not realize it.
How does one know when it really
is Autumn" we asked the other day.
"When the leaves on the lilacs be-
gin to fall" came the answer. And
that answer was poetical, not only
because it was somewhat rhythmical,
but more because it breathed the spirit
Of poetry.
There are many famous definitions
Of poetry, notably those of Arnold
Wordsworth, Pope and Poe. Some
are better, others worse than that of
Coleridge.
The final arbiter, the dictionary
CWebster's), gives the following defini
tion: "Poetry--the art or work of
Evening star., 1927-11-11
Detroit's Underground Brewery.

A news dispatch tells Of the dscov-
cry in Detroit of huge illicit brewery
located underground and capable of
turning out enormous quantities of
beer, with subterranean passages lead
ing to exits through innocent-appear-
ing buildings. The find was apparent
ly the result of raid on a night club.
itself blind pig" on a large scale.
When raided the place was empty.
though there was evidence of it's very
recent occupancy by large patron
age. A thorough examination of the
premises brought the underground es-
tablishment to light, despite elaborate
barriers and concealments. Thus far
no one has been found who can be
| identified as the owner or operative
of the brewery. 1t was large enough
to keep the city of Detroit well sup
piled with illicit drink.
1t is evident from the news account
that this establishment cost a great
deal Of money to construct and equip.
| Everything was on large scale. Some
OF the beer watts were of 25 900 gallon
capacity, with numerous smaller ones.
In addition, there was stored in the
place a large quantity of hard
liquor" Whether there were facilities
for making it there is not altogether
clear. But enough is disclosed u
make it plain that this was rum
source Of high capacity and efficiency
This discovery shows one OF the
sources of supply. Perhaps there are
y similar places in other cities than DE
: troit. The profits of illicit brewing ant
Evening star., 1927-11-11
Armistice Day Plea
Against War Is Made

To the Editor of The Star:
After four years of the most desc
lating war of all history, carried on
over a greater territory, with Il great
err number of men engaged. and with
more powerful engines of destruction
than the world had ever known; after
millions of the worlds best had been
slain and more millions had been
manned and battle Scared for life:
and after material losses beyond imagi-
nation there came a blessed peace.
Suddenly, at the eleventh hour of the
eleventh day of the eleventh month of
the year 1918, the din of war and the
screeching and bursting shells were
silent, the vibrant lips of the cannon
were stilled and there settled over the
land the hush of dawn. The armi-
stice, a truce, an agreement for the
cessation of hostilities until terms OF
peace should be discussed, had been
signed by all the powers engaged In
the war. Still there remained the
ravaged earth. the drifting clouds of
poisonous gases, the desolated hearthS
and homes, the unnumbered dead the
millions of shattered lives, the NH
lions Of yearning hearts and all the
wreck of war. And still down through
the wears come the words of the brave
officer. Lieut.. Col. John d. McCrae,
voicing the appeal of the heroic dead
resting in Flanders fields:
In Flanders fields the pOppies blow
Between the crosses. row on row,
That mark our place." etc, etc.
In this appeal, the writer of the
poem pictures the scene where they
are sleeping, forces upon our con-
sciousness the fact that a short time
ago they lived and loved and were
affected bv dawn and sunset and other
charms of earth the same as we. Ihen
he asks us to take up the quarrel
passes to us the torch of freedom
with the injunction to hold 1t high ana
declares that if we break 1alth with
them, they will not sleep.
America replies through r. w. Lii
lard. He tells the Flanders dead to
rest in peace. that we have entered
the contest, that we have caught the
torch. that 10 900 900 hands will hold 1t
high and that Freedoms light shall
Americans, we stilf have our work
to do, and we must be loyal TO our
trust. In the name of the mothers
and daughters who gave their loved
ones to the deadly gases. the bullet
and the famine: in the name or the
fathers and sons whose manSled ana
broken bodies are living certificates
of their valor and of the horrors or
war: in the name OF the lmmoftai
dead slumbering in forgotten graves.
and in the name Of all the lovers of
liberty and law in every land and of
every age, let us pledge ourselves to
stand for the outlawing Of war, that
an armistice may continue forever
and that peace may abide on the
earth. j. MILFORD MCKEE.
Evening star., 1927-11-11
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

| poets; embodiment in appropriate
| language of beautiful or high thought,
| imagination, or emotion, the language
being rhythmiCal. usually metrical.
and characterized by harmonic and
emotional qualities which appeal to
and arouse the feelings and imagina.
| tion.'
| So poetry is the art or work of
poets! One feels as he does when he
approaches the encyclopedia for in
| formation upon something, and is
greeted by one of those See so-and
so" signs. OF course poetry is the
work of poets-surely ants do not
| write.
"Chase yourself around the block, "
replies the dictionary, or words to
that effect. Listen to the rest of
it: The embodiment in appropriate te
language of beautiful or high thought,
; imagination, or emotion, the language
being rhythmical, usually metrical,
| and characterized by harmonic and
emotional qualities which appeal to
and arouse the feelings and imagina-
| tion.'
Thus sternly regarded, poetry is
seen by the layman to be nothing to
| shy from, but as simple as prose. 1t
|
are many persons who would enjoy
poetry, yet who shrink from it's pc
rusal on the ground that it is stilted,
hard to read, unnatural.
The gift to the world of prose
| tranSla ton of poems by the poet
| himself renders the following extra
| service to mankind:
| 1t shows how poetry is not so much
metrical as inherent in the fabric of
| the work, that the poetry" per Sc,
| is in the poet, not in the flow OF
words.
A poet impreSSpS poetry upon words
Just as the lawyer imprcsses legal mat
ter with the peculiar flavor, half
pedantic, half absurd, of his profes-
sion.
Rabindranath Tagore, in his prose
transations of his own poems from
the Bengali, fulfills most, IL not all, Of
the dictionary requirements.
He embodies in appropriate Ian
guage certain beautiful and high
thoughts. thoughts which it seems inn
possible for mankind to touch without
turning them into poetry, or at least
approaching poetry, as the world to-
day understands poetics.
Tagore's language is rhythmical,
although not metrical. He has no
regular accent. but secures the equiva-
lent by the reiteration Of set phrases,
either at the beginning or end of para
graphs.
His poems are characterized by
emotional and harmonic qualities
which appeal to and arouse the feel
ings and imagination. The emotions
play a major part in the life of every
human being. no matter how much he
prides himself upon his pure intellect.
Poetry is the pure food of the emo
tions. Poetry is to our reading what
dreams are 10 life, only more so. 1t
was because this is so that Shake
speare branded life as such stuff as
dreams are made Of
Poetry. whether in the more con-
ventional forms or simply as the life
breathing through the form of prose,
lifts a reader from the mundane to
the celestial. If he rises exalted in
mind he may know that what he has
read is poetry, whether so labeled or
not. Poetry is the divine spark struck
off when the mind of the reader meets
the mind of the writer, kindling the
fire Of the emotions to white heat
1t is not so much a style as a result;
a product rather than a form
Evening star., 1927-11-11
PHILOSOPHERS
GLENN FRANK

Yesterday 1 suggested that there is
tianity and the cult of racialism, and
that ventures i'm race consciousness
and race discrimination run counter
to the trans-racial philosophy of the
Founder of Christianity.
This does not mean that Chris
tianity and the church that expresses
it have nothing to contribute to our
handling of the veXatious problem of
race.
There are two major questions in
volved in the race problem
First, there is a question of scien-
tific fact.
What are the facts about the races?
Are some races by nature eternally
superior and other races eternally in
ferior? If SO. have our researches
been extensive enough and critical
enough to enable us to say with scien-
tific accuracy which is which? What
happens when radically different ra-
cial stocks intermarry? What are
the biological effects of race mixture?
Second, there is question of social
procedure.
What are we to do with the facts
about race character and race mixture
after we find them? In what temper
and by what technique are we to re
late these facts to national policies
and to world politics? Is it possible
to maintain Il temper and work out a
technique in handling race facts
whatever they may finally turn out
to be-that will diminish rather than
increase race tension and the threat of
an ultimate color war?
On the first of these questions-the
question of scientific fact-Christian-
ity has no contribution to make.
Jesus was not q biologist and He
did not anticipate the researches of
anthrOpologists. If we want to know
the facts about race character and
race mixture, we must go to the labo-
ratory, not to the cathedral. Chris
tianity is not a substitute for research.
The New Testament is neither a bio
logical text book nor manual of an
thropology. The Christian and the
atheist are alike dependent upon the
scientist for information in these mat
ters. 1t is as fruitless to loko to the
New Testament for detailed program
for race relations as to expect to find
in it's pages draft of an eight-hour-
day law or an engineering plan for the
disposal of the sewage of Chicago.
1t is on the second of these uues-
tions-the question of social proce.
dure-that Christianity has something
to say.
Christianity cannot help us to find
the facts about race character and
race mixture, but Christianity can
help us to face the facts in a temper
and with technique that will help
rather than hinder the development of
happy and harmonious civilization.
In other words, the thing Christianity
has to contribute toward a solution
of the race problem is not information,
but a point. of view.
Two things, among many others,
mark the fundamental philosophy of
Christianity-its contention that moral
values are supreme in private lives
and in public affairs, and it's reverence
for personality, for the individual hu-
man being.
These two fundamental points Of
view brought to the handling of the
scientific facts of race character and
race relations would remake world
politics and probably save humanity
from another world war.
Copyright. Mcclure Newspaper syndicate)
Evening star., 1927-11-11
Urges Standard Plan
Of Numbering Houses
To the Editor of The Star:

10 tn6 EultOr Oh Inc STAR:
In your editorial in The Star of
November 9 entitled "House Num-
bers" you have taken leadership. You
have written a comprehensive state
ment of fact. Houses should De num-
bered Enthusiastically. and, as you say,
distinctly" and ''plain enough to en-
able every person who passes to read
them readily" There seems to be no
uniformity as to house numbering. l
do not mean as to types of figures.
but as to the places where the num-
bers appear. Sometimes it is over the
front door; sometimes it is on porcH
post: sometimes 1t Is beneath the
steps. There is open a field for
standardized ton of house numbering.
First, "distinctly." and secondly, in a
place where the eye may customarily
look for it.
I have travelled afoot through many
cities and the condition which you
mention is not alone common to
Washington, but is universally neg
lected elsewhere. Builders should
heed your wise and progressive ad-
monition. LOUIS V. WOULFE.
Evening star., 1927-11-11

distilling are enormous. This place.
of course, will be closed, its contents
confiscated, its apparatus destroyed.
Perhaps the real owners and opera
tives will never be found Maybe
they will devise other ways and means
Of breaking the law, lured by the rich
gains of the illicit traffic. But such
discoveries do not discourage those
who believe in the eighteenth amend
ment to the Constitution and who
look for its enforcement. however
great the difficulties. Indeed, such
finds as that just made in Detroit are
calculated to intensity the demand of
advocates of prohibition for even more
vigorous endeavors to enforce the law.