davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-23
New Wool Coatinps
and Suitings

Rough, hubby coatings from the
foremost manufacturers in Amer
lea. You will see them used in the
most expensive coats, yet they cost
but $3.50 to $3.50 a yard.
woOLENs-THIRD FLOOR
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-23
Scores of Distinctive New Designs
Printed Rayon Crepe
48c yard

thrilling of all the
cong of soft supple quality will
wear! 6inches guaranteed fast color
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-23

"Oid Tyne" Patchwork
Quilts, that lend an Early
American atmosphere to
your room. Unique de-
signs in rich colorings. IL
81 inches.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-23

Highly tempered coil springs, together
with resilient elastic felt and modern
tape tufting, make this a mattress of
supreme comfort. Rose, blue, hello and
green ticking. All sizes.
THIRD FLOOR
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-23

All-Wool Ensemble Blan-
kets, with blue, rose.
green, hello and tan
grounds and wide con-
trasting borders. Extra
large, 72xS4 inches.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-23

Turkish Bath Mats. OF
thick, absorbent quality, gen
erously sized and in attrac-
tive patterns. Green, Gl
gold, lavender and blue. !
Dish Towels, of part linen
crash with colored borders
and tape loop. A splendid
towel for hard, siren d
uous wear. 8 for $500. ~
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-23
Sale! Famous Page Sheet!
Choice Of SIx99, 1889 or $3.50 Inch Sizes


crisp
Mail and phone orders filed by Jane Stuart NAhOnd $780,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-23

The first cable message sent under the
Atlantic, on August Is. 1853. carried the
words, GLORY to God in the highest:
on earth, peace, good will toward men .
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01
Auto Congestion Here
Blamed on Tram Fares

To tbs Editor OF The star:
There are many people who drive to
work in their autos and leave them
parked in the streets in the downtown
section until they quit work in the eve
ming. all day long. The high car and
bus fares are more to blame for this
feature of all-day parking than any
thing else If fares on street cars and
buses were reasonable, many who own
autos would leave them at home and
use the street cars to go to and from
work.
Automobiles are continually on the
increase. and BUSES and taXlS are bid
ding successfully for street car traffic,
and in many places they have actually
driven many of them out of business
on account of their high fares. The
large number of District and Federal
Government employees here who earn
good money are able to own autos and
use them to and from work, and some
regulation was actually needed to pro-
hibit all-day parking in the downtown
section which interfered with those
who used autos to make purchases at
the stores and business houses.
In order to relieve some OF this
downtown auto congestion, some big
stores provide free parking space for
those who deal with them, and even
have demolished good residences to
make parking space available for them.
Fiye-cent car fare works in New York
City and it probably would increase
street car traffic here. Why not try it
for a time? H. t. McCONVEY.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01
SHOOTING STARS.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.

Rules Suspended.
It's just for the sake of the rhyming
You venture a song of the May;
It's all for the lifting and Ginning,
To a tune that, informally gay,
For the poisoning trees,
And the wandering bees,
And the wild birds all singing
whatever they please,
With a quantity melodious twist
To a tune that informally gay,
Set pace that you cannot resist
When you venture song of the May.
When the delicate perfumes are bring
ing
A message of tenderest cheer
It's just for the sake of the singing
That welcome resounds far and near.
The rollicking rill,
AS it leaps from the hill,
Doesn't claim to show any particu-
lar skill
AS it echoes in murmuring low
The tunes that it learned on its way;
Yet there sounds IN its bubble and now
A typical song of the May
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01
A Tribute to the Bench.

Last evening an occasion OF unusual
significance and interest occurred when
the members of the District bar gave
a testimonial dinner to group of
justices of the Supreme and Appeals
Courts of this jurisdiction. Six Jurists
were welcomed to the bench and one
was hidden farewell. in anticipation OF
his prospective early retirement after
twenty-six years of service. The meet
ing was both happy and sad, but the
sadness was tempered by the assurance
that the retiring justice will continue to
make his home in Washington after he
has laid of the gown of office.
Justice Wendell Phillips Stafford,
native of Vermont. came to Washington
upon his appointment in 1904 and won
the hearts of the District people by his
gentleness of spirit, his ripeness of
Judgment. his literary talents and his
judicial ability. He has been the wise
and upright Judge" He has been the
friend of all, those who have come be-
fore him for judgment. those who have
practiced before him in prosecution or
defense. And now that he has wearied
of his long task and seeks respite in
retirement he is given sincere testi-
monial of regard and affection by those
with whom he has been associated for
nearly three decades.
Those others who we're hailed In
greeting upon their appointment or
promotion upon the District bench are
now on duty in those roles-JusticeS
Hitz and Groner of the Court of Appeals
and Justices Adkins, Cox, Luhring and
Proctor of the Supreme Court. These
men, with their colleagues of earlier
appointment, constitute District bench
of exceptional ability and character, and
it is fitting that they should be given,
as on this occasion, so genuine tribute
as that rendered last night by the bar
of the Capital.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01
Checkrein on Horses
Called Useless Cruelty
no. the Rditor OF The star:

To the Rditor OF The Star:
This is Be Kind to Animals week
The street cars are bearing the slogan
But will people be kind? Horses are be-
ing worked on the streets of the city
with iron bits saving into raw flesh in
the corners of their mouths caused by
overchecking-the most senseless form
OF cruelty, which serves no purpose and
wears out the animal more than the
work it is doing. The reason the work
animal tears" for home at quitting
time is because it knows when il
reaches the barn the torture will be re-
moved.
Many drivers think the checkrein
must be short or the animal will not
stand" Nothing is farther from the
real fact. The reason the creature does
not stand quietly is because of the
torture it is compelled to endure from
cramped muscles and smarting flesh. A
morse can be beaten into submission. but
its uneasy head still will plead for re-
lief Release the check and the horse
will gladly remain quiet. This state
ment is worth proving.
In the last issue of the Humane
Quarterly, Secretary Heap says: "A
checkrein on work horses is inexcusable
as well as cruel. 1t holds the head in
an unnatural position, strains the mus
Giles OF the neck and causes intense
pain. Its use should be prohibited by
law. In pulling load the horse must
put its head down. A checkrein pre-
vents it from doing this and reduces its
efficiency"
In the city of Berlin, Germany, every
WORK morse is equipped with q breast
collar and no checkreins are used. The
loads are immense, but when the We
hicle is standing the horses rest quietly
recouping strength for further useful
ness.
MRS. CARRIE K. HUNTINGTON.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01
Rejects Blooms Denial
OF Cherry Tree Legend

To the Editor of The Star:
Reading the pretty story Representa-
tive Sol Bloom had printed in your
Sunday paper, l was rather abashed
to think that he would expect the
public to accept one unauthentic story
to repudidate another unauthentic story.
Was Mr. Bloom present at the time
of the dear old lady's master stroke of
planting trees for a profit? Was he
present when George Washington cut
the cherry tree and would not lie about
it? No. Then isn't the idea of the
article rather inconsistent?
Who cares whether either one of the
stories is true? Naturally the COM
mercially minded man of the world
with no special bent toward truthful
ness will prefer the story of planting
trees for profit. Those of us who have
been closely associated with thousands
of our dear boys and girls prefer to
use the story that symbolizes q trait
of character of dependability.
In fact there are so many splendid
qualities of character and ability in
George washington that we know were
true that it is childish to give either
time or thought to cherry trees and
scandal. MISS P. MILLER.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01
Dust Explosions.

Tuesday a series of demonstrations
conducted at the Arlington expert
mental farm Of the Department Of Agri-
culture gave dramatic illustration OF the
fact that dust is explosive. Quantities
OF finely powdered material were det-
onated with loud noises and evidence
of great force. It was completely sue
cessful showing of the dynamic power
OF dust in certain conditions. This has
been known long time. The De-
partment Of Agriculture has for con-
siderable number Of years conducted
experiments in dust detonstion and has
accumulated valuable data on the sub
Iect that have been spread widely
through the country in warning and
guidance to manufacturers and have led
TO precautions that have undoubtedly
ayerted disaster
Explosions in mills, particularly -four
mills and saWmills. where fne dust Is
created by the manufacturing processes,
were for a long time cloaked in mys-
terry. There seemed to be no tangible
cause for them and they were usually
attributed TO boiler failures. When the
dust theory was developed and demon
strated it was found that these disasters
were due to detonations caused by The
spread Of fine particles OF matter
thSouah the air and the chance appli-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01

miles between those points at two hun
dred and twenty miles an hour, max
ing the run in fifty-nine minutes. And
now he is enjoying his Irish vacation
SO much that he proposes to extend 1t
and set up few other marks before
he returns to this country.
/. Capt. Hawks, probably more than any
other pilot, has demonstrated the poten-
tialities of the airplane for lightning
fast transportation and by doing SO
has given impetus to the demand for
speed and more speed in the air, a de-
mand that must be answered by air
plane and motor builders. Because OF
his exploits the day is not far of when
the speed of transport planes will be
materially increased.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01
''Be Friendly" Toward
Children, Is Advised

To the Editor of The Star
l venture to say word in behalf of
the ''vandal children" SO bitterly COM
planned of by E. B. Newman III The
Evening Star.
1t is said that we each have dual
nature, good and bad. We express
either side, according to the influences
with which we come in contact. This
fact is as true of children as of adults
The influence exerted by Mr.. Newman
on the children of his neighborhood is
sufficiently indicated by the high fence,
hedges and trelliS with which he barri-
caded his property, and by his appeals
to the police for protection, with the
calls made by the police on the parents
of the ''vandals." Nothing could have
been better calculated to arouse the re-
sentiment of both children and parents
My experience with children has been
different from that related by Mr.. New
man. For II years we have lived
across the street from 16-room school,
housing some 700 children. We have
garden filled with flowers in season
upon which we have bestowed much
work and in which we take pardonable
pride Along the garden runs an alley
traVersed by scores of children on their
way to and from school. There is
suggestion of a fence, but with full
view OF every planL, ana WIN open
gate through which any one may enter.
Unlike Mr. Newman, we have never
been molested, the flowers are never
picked. and vandalism is unknown. The
day after Halloween our property is in
the same condition as on the day before.
The reason for all this is that my
wife has the faculty, perhaps rare, OF
making friends with all children. She
does not permit trespassing in the gar
den, but her warnings are given in
manner free from offense. Throughout
the II years of our residence it has
never occurred to us to call in the
police.
Mr.. Newman says, surely there
must be some way to handle the stu
alton" There is. 1t is expressed in
two words, BE friendly" I would
commend to Mr.. Newman's attention
the following, which he will find en-
graved over one of the entrances to
Union Station:
BE noble! and the nobleness that lies
In other men, sleeping but never dead,
Will rise in ma jestg to meet thine own.
This applies to men of all ages, even
boys! CLINTON Il. THOMPSON'
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

which we are indebted for these facts,
says that often these trees will appear
to be studded with nails to a height
of 40 or so feet.
And each nail contains nice grub
in cold storage, unable to get out! Re-
member that If you are ever tempted
to call woodpecker fool to his face.
The flicker is sort of woodpecker
which specializes on ants.
There were two of them in our back
yard the other evening, just at sunset.
They are large birds, hence their at
tention to the base of tree was re-
sented.
They kept pecking away until we
thought we had better go out and in
vestigate.
Here again our lack of understanding
of woodpeckers made us get the wrong
slant on the creatures.
When we got there we discovered a
swarm of ants. upon which the birds
had been feasting.
Had We let the f1ickers alone, no
doubt they would have devoured every
one.
All the woodpeckers, including the
/flickers and the so-called sapsuckers,
are fond of ants, grasshoppers and
other ground insects.
If you see them eating away, let
them alone, for they are doing you a
service.
Here is another nature note, hot off
the griddle of life:
A pair of bluejays, saucy birds. are
having great sport these days in chas-
ing yellow cat out Of a tree.
Evidently they have nest somewhere
in the vicinity.
Their idea, evidently-and 1t is a
good one-is to lure the cat into the
wrong tree.
Beth birds participate in this feat, but
the male takes the most active part.
He will perch in a branch some two
or three feet, at the most, from the
cats head.
There he will hop around, as if dar-
ing the cat to come on.
He flies to another branch, over to
one side, but even closer.
The cat advances cautiously, whiskers
taut. eyes cleaning.
The blueiay sees that the time has
come for drastic action.
He flies straight at the animal.
With swoop he goes past, ruffiing
the hair along the cats backbone.
The bluejay is now four feet to one
side
He hops to slightly higher branch,
and again launches himself.
This time he pecks the cat on the
back.
II X X
The bird is now keeping the cat so
busy that it has no time to do anything
but hold on.
And look somewhat amazed.
1t has no chance whatever of catch
ing the bluejays, and seems to real
ize it,
and seem to consult. You can almost
hear one of them say, Il think have
him scared now. Let us fly away for
time"
So, amid a f1utter of blue, they dis
appear, leaving screly puzzled cat to
an empty honor and tree.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01
Hawks in Europe.

IsprA. ~ntly not satisfied with the
many records for speed that he has
established in this country, Capt.
Frank Hawks, the flying bullet" Is
showing them thing or two on the
other side Of the Atlantic. Yesterday,
for instance, he casually few the two
hundred and e.ghty-five miles from
London to Dublin in an hour and forty
minutes, lettering the best previous
mark by more than an hour. Before
that he had climbed into his little red
ncpiane one day at London and set
out for Rome, nine hundred miles
away. He got there all right in just a
trifie over fiye hours. crossing the Alps,
which according to him make the
Rockies look like ant-hills," at an alti-
tude CT twenty-three thousand feet
without the use Of oxygen. And then.
just for good measure, on the way back
to the English metropolis he stopped
at LIE Bourget to see what he could do
about the Paris-London record. He
covered the two hundred and eighteen
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01
Urges Patrons to Be
As Polite as Clerks

To the Editor Of The Star:
So much always has been said about
the courtesy Of sales people to the
public, l am wondering II there ever
has been anything said about the cour-
tesy of the public TO the sales people.
Take for example: A purchaser or
perhaps a prospective customer goes
into a store, and smiling clerk ad-
vances with a pleasant May l wait on
YOU, please?" Is it not courtesy to say:
mo. thank you, l am just looking
around?" Or, is it more courteous to
pass on with a grim, set look and no
answer at all?
The clerk had asked a civil courte-
GUS question intending to render the
customer a service. II is the aim OF
every good salesman to be of service
to the public. The salesman displays
his or her wares in a neat and orderly
it courteous to pull and dig under"
the neatly arranged rows to examine
each and every one, when you intend
to purchase only one? wouldn't it
be much more courteous to smile and
ask the clerk to let you see a certain
article, than to try to find it your
self? When the clerk is very busy try
ing to wait on several impatient GUS
toners as quickly as possible, is 1t
courteous to keep up continual Wait
on me neXt?" Perhaps the clerk is
making change. or has several orders
on her mind, trying to use and con-
centrate all her power upon speedy
and accurate service to both employer
and customer.
When a patient clerk has as much
as he or she can attend to. is it cour-
tesy to f1ounce away grumbling to the
floor manager in sarcastic manner
about Some service here!"
You know there are many rules that
clerks have to obey in any place OF
business-these rules naturally are not
known to the public, and the public
should appreciate the fact that a firm
has a loyal clerk who is the goat
between the firm and the prospective
buyer.
Just a little patience and courtesy
on the part of the public always will
meet the courtesy and patience on the
part of the clerk, whose aim Is to please
and to give service with smile."
JUANITA RICE.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01
COrrects Letter Based
On 2.OOO-POund Unit

To the Editor of The Star:
Please permit me to correct portion
of letter of mine which you published
in The Star on April 20.
For one thing. the letter was headed,
Defends Coal Dealers on 2,000-pound
Ton Two thousand pounds is not
legal ton for coal in the District, and I
did not intend it to be designated as
a ton, but simply as 1000 pounds, the
weight by which it is being shipped
here.
Another thing I especially desire to
correct is that you cannot multiply
1000 pounds by 1.12 per cent and get
the price of 2.240 pounds. You must
multiply the price of 1000 pounds by
112 per cent to get the price of
2,240 pounds.
For example, say that the price of
stove coal is S12.55 for 1000 pounds
BY multiplying $1255 by liz. the
answer will be $14.06 which Is the
price 2,240 would be in proportion.
Trusting you will publish this at an
early date. VIM. T. w. GRAVES.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01

Sir Ronald Lindsay, the British Am
bassador at Washington, has gone to
Canada on a semi private visit to Sir
William Clark, British high commits
sioner to the Dominion. While in OF
tawa, where he expects to remain a
fortnight, Sir Ronald will, of course,
pay his respects to King Georges new
representative there, Lord Bessborough,
who recently arrived to fulfill the func-
lions of British governor general. 1t is
the high commissioner duty to serve
as the official link between the mother
government" at London and the
daughter" government at Ottawa. The
governor generals job is largely decora-
tive, as he is merely the personal rep
resentative CT the sovereign. The Brit
ish Ambassador to the United States
has no formal jurisdiction in Canada,
but Sir Ronald Lindsay is anxious to
unfurl his flag at Ottawa, where the
new Conservative government of Prime
Minister Bennett is now in Office.
X x X
There's recently been a revolution in
Washington-in the taxicab industry
and a Spaniard led it. Moreover, the
Spaniard is a woman, who drives taxi
ordinarily to be found at stand across
the street from the Treasury. She Is
Young, pretty, d UUUUGu-ildlL va CliCtOS,
and speaks English with a Maurice
CheValier accent The senorita has been
at the wheel in Washington only cou-
pie Of months. but knows her traffic
onions like veteran.
K X
A well known F street merchant long
has been famed in Washington as a
double of AL Smith. But it was only
the other night that he was made to
realize how strong the resemblance is.
He was eating after-theater griddle
cakes in a Pennsylvania avenue restau-
rant. when a group of tourists peering
through the window convinced them
selves that the idol of Manhattan was
inside. They came in, sat down at an
adjoining table and proceeded to en-
gage the pseudo Al in conversation.
Soon it was noised all over the place
that GOV. Smith" was there, and a
crowd closed in on him. The merchant,
who immensely enjoyed the racket, get
away after signing Yours truly, Al
Smith" on half a dozen cards.
Copyright, 1870
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01
Have woodpeckers any brains?

Have woodpeckers any brains?
When we saw one drumming away on
a metal downSpout we were willing to
answer that question in the negative.
And there we would have been as far
off as most human beings are when
they attempt to poke fun at others
without knowing the facts.
Looking into the matter, we discovered
that woodpeckers, comprising the great
family of Picidae. have a habit of drum
ming with their beaks in lieu of love
song.
We had been privileged to listen to
music without knowing it!
X 4 X X
After that we turned a. more appre-
ciative ear to our woodpecker friend as
he sat every morning under the caves
rafting away his tune on the down.
spout.
It was a merry staccato. indeed, a
pleasing, musical Sound-after one
realized what it was all about
Maybe this bird was the Shakespeare
of woodpeckers.
Perhaps his deft roll. resembling the
riveter'S gun" was a better sonnet
than Elizabeth Browning ever wrote.
From nonsense his rapid rat-tat-tat
had become supreme sense, in vast and
comfortable harmony with the green,
growing Spring.
The woodpecker is canny bird, after
all.
Do you know what material he uses
to line his nest with?
Chips of course.
Why should he rap away by the hour,
as he so often does, without putting his
clippings to some good use?
T-s-- Il
sensible fellow the woodpecker gathers
up his chips, as they fall, or perhaps
after they fall.
What material could make a baby
woodpecker feel more at home than
wood?
The California woodpecker, however,
takes the prize when it comes to brains.
His scientific name is Melanerpes
Formicivorus.
His achievement with acorns puts the
busy bee and the provident ant to
shame.
It is said that he takes acorns-
scores of acorns-and fixes them in
holes which he drills in the trunks of
trees.
No, he doesn't put them there for a
Winter food supply.
He migrates during the Winter.
X \
But do not be too hasty to call the
California woodpecker fool.
Remember the downSpout love call.
Old Melanerpes Formicivorus has no
use for those acorns until he comes
back the next Spring
BY that time he knows that the mag
gots inclosed in each one will be just
right for eating.
How he knows how to pick an acorn
with maggot in it God alone knows.
But that Is not all of his wisdom.
After drilling his hole in the tree
trunk and finding the proper sort of
acorn he has just begun.
The slickest thing the woodpecker
does is this:
He fits the acorn into the tree cup
end foremost. so that the insect cannot
escape.
The new Encyclopedia Britannica, to