davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1931-12-03

Moonlight in the suburbs!
After you have been living out in the
less well lighted communities for g
year or so you suddenly wake up, sons
moonlight evening, to the fact thaI
this is something new.
Why, this light is moonlight!
In the city one never sees the light
Of the moon in its sheer beauty.
In town the street lights are so vel
placed that the rays of the moon al
ways have competition.
Moonshine is diffused by electric anc
gas light. 1t comes to earth through
a blanket of artificial rays, and is never
seen there in its pure form.
Ordinarily the city dweller does moi
stop to realize this. He. too, sees the
great round moon riding high in the
sky.
IT'S moonlight" he says trium-
phantly.
But he simply doesn't know what
moonlight is, until he moves out tt
the suburbs, where street lights are
fewer and farther apart and individ.
ually do not possess SO much candle
power.
Then, one evening, he will wake uI
10 real moonshine, the sort the ancients
knew, the kind spoken about in THE
Merchant of Venice"
How sweet the moonlight sleeps upor
this bankl
Here we will sit and let the sound.
of music
Creep in our ears: soft stiffness anc
the night
Become the touches of sweet har,
mony"
Happy ''essica and Lorenzo! Wert
thou allVe at this hour, methinks those
FAIR lines would have to be revised. il
this wise:
How sweet the moonlight sleeps upor
this bank!
Here we will sit and let the sound,
of radio
Blare IN our ears: loud noises and tn,
Become the touches of jazz music"
Happily for the suburban world th,
full moons OF Autumn and Winter looI
down upon streets, lanes and avenue,
OF closed houses, each one with radio
believing, no doubt. but its sound.
confined to its own four walls.
Thus moonlight in the suburbs be.
comes the same moonshine which
pretty JesSica knew In Venice. II /,
verify the anne as Shakespeare Linn.
self saw as he leaned from his window
in Stratford.
These few street lights here have
their advantages. One, and no doub,
the greatest, is this primitive night
which clasps these homes as witt
wooly velvet.
Night in the city more nearly de.
serves the rating given by the bare
in another connection:
This night, methinks, is but tn,
daylight sick;
1t looks little paler; tbs a day
Such as the day is when the sun 1!
hid" -
in the suburbs, however, where VIZ
now have the happiness to reside
moonlight is an all-enveloping, nobl,
luminosity. utterly undeserVing of thu
Grass superstition which once attached
to it.
This glow is no reflection of tn,
sun, but light in its own right Nol
is 1t pale. Every shrub in yonder Dor.
der stands out as under the glow O.
mans latest form of mercury tube.
There is no touch of madness In thi.
light; 1t IS as sure and steady as any
possessed of certain luminous quality
all its own.
This Is the real moonlight, deal
Evening star., 1931-12-03
America at Geneva.

Announcement that Great Britain
will be represented at the Geneva Dis
armament Conference in February by
Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald.
Foreign Secretary Sir John Simon and
four other cabinet ministers, and that
France is sending Premier Laval, will
Immediately revive interest in the per-
sonnel Of the American delegation. In
addition to the formal British and
French announcements. Foreign Minis
ter Grand recently confded in Wash
ington that he would undoubtedly head
the Italian mission in Geneva.
Thus far President H over has inti-
mated that he had decided upon the
selection Of only one American repre-
sentative Henry P. Fletcher of Pennsyl-
vania. All along it was understood that
because of preoccupationS at the State
Department Secretary stimson could
not be spared from his desk TO head
the American delegation. Incalculable
events in the Far East, presumably
were the matters that made the Presi-
dent loath 10 dispense with the services
of his cabinet premier for so long q
period as Geneva will entail
Now that Great Britain and France
have designated the chiefs of their re-
spective governments as their disa-ma-
ment spokesmen, and Italy is dispatch
ing her foreign minister to the confer
ence, it is much TO be desired that Sec
retary Stimson may find it possible to
60 to Switzerland at the head Of out
delegation. Japan and China are b.
wsy of composing their differences III
20 far as these ever will be reconciled
Col. atkinson acquitted hiuiselfFin full.
Evening star., 1931-12-03
SHOOTING STARS.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
Sympathy.

Sympathy.
You're kind of sorry for the boys
Who won't get fancy Christmas toys,
Who live in humble homes and hear
Old-fashioned tales of Christmas
cheer;
Who hang their stockings up with care
On Christmas eve. When day dawns
fair,
A happiness complete they find
In homely gifts by love refined.
You're kind of sorry for the boys
Who have to laugh and make noise,
To help along the Christmas cheer
And yet you're sorrier still to hear
From that small lad who finds with
ease
The means to gain whate'er may please
And wears a smile of scorn because
He knows there is no Santa Claus.
Evening star., 1931-12-03

1t Is clear that the commissions
attempted compromise is not accept
able to the congressional bloc which
sponsored the Muscle Shoals bill vetoed
by President Hoover. The end of the
controversy is not yet in sight" The
Newark Evening News sees ''the cham
pion white elephant as having become
more gigantic as a result of this four
months study" and declares that
Muscle Shoals retains its headache
character"
Declaring stoutly for private owner
ship, even against the recommended
farmer ownership, the New York sun
argues: There is not the slightest
ground for supposing that any cumber-
scme, top-heavy aggregation of farmers
can be expected to run the plants at
Muscle Shoals as economically and
efficiently as they could be operated by
flrst-rate industrial corporation.
If such an organization Fas the commits
sion favors can be formed; if 1t can
take over the property without calling
on the Government for subsidies. it
should be favored only in the event that
no competing industrial organization
offers better terms" The Sun also ex-
presses the belief that "tenuous as are
public hopes that the United States may
be about to get rid of this white
elephant, those hopes are at least the
stronger because of the commissions
findings"
The Lowell Evening Leader, noting
that, "in order to put its recon-
mendations into effect, the President
must have the authority of Congress"
afflrms that "the committees report
does not settle the matter" and sug-
gests that, as TO the outcome, much
may depend on the influence which the
Republican insurgent wing is able to
exert" while the advocates of public
ownership and operation will use every
means in their power to advance Their
ideas"
Evening star., 1931-12-03
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TR1CEWELL.

| reader, the sort one never finds In the
| city, with its rows of street lights, its
| faring automobiles, its houses closely
set.
This is the moonlight Adam and Eve
saw when they walked In the garden
| of Eden.
Socrates in Athens knew it.
Seneca saw 1t at Rome, and Napo-
leon in Egypt.
1t was-and is-the moonlight un-
adulterated by too many of mans
lights, marvellous though these inven-
| tionS are.
Viewed from the stars, no doubt our
brightest glares seem vastly insignifi-
cant. Street lamps, as seen from in
comprehensive heights, undoubtedly
would impress the eagle-eyed observer
as sad affairs.
They would appear, in the glow of
moonlight, as do those automobile
! lights, so powerful in the dark in the
| clear light of the morning traffic, when
some careless motorist has forgotten to
switch them off.
Not a rabbit could stir. In this light,
without every hair on its little body
being outlined.
This is no night for rabbits.
| And yet they come out, for they
must eat.
Bright eyes gleam, intent upon them.
| Rabbits, beware! The old conflict is
at hand, which Nature put into the
world at the beginning, and seems to
show no signs of taking out of it.
| Thing eats thing; life depends upon
| life.
| Out of the death of one comes life
for another. 1t is Natures sad law
Can it be that Nature puts no such
stock in life as living things do?
Maybe to her. stern mother life is nc
better than death, but only different
How the city man changes the course
Of has life, without realizing it!
| Rain no longer makes him wet; he
| comes and goes in automobiles, some
covered immovable awning of fused
! glass and steel.
| Cold does not cool him, because he
possesses neat hotwater heater in
his car, which throws beams as warm
as sunlight upon him.
The night means nothing to him
his street lights are many and large
and together they make a new light in
the world. continuous night light, not
! splotched here and there, as in cities
of old and suburbs of now but one
continuous, intermingling street of
light, subdued in spots, but still ap-
| parent.
| Men and women who are brought up
to these things scarcely know that any,
thing else exists. Only now and then
rebel buys himself a great island, and
banishes electric lights from it, goes
back to coal oil" lamps, revels in the
| primitive.
| One must be a millionaire to pur-
chase an island. Danish electric lights
| go back to kerosene lamps
| Back to the suburbs, however, is easy
enough, and there you have sunshine
that is sunshine, moonlight that Is
moonlight, fresh air that is fresh and
sleep that is sleep.
! Moonlight in the suburbs-that light
which Archimedes saw in the days
when all land was suburb because
street lights had not been invented
1t was the light which lit the an
cient world, which gave point to the
! stories Of the great god Pan. and the
satyrS and the nympths.
That same moon rises now, In Its
season, round, luminous, beautiful
only one must go to the suburbs and
| the country to see it.
Evening star., 1931-12-03
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

What is your question? Whatever
it may be, unless 1t be a request for
legal, medical or financial advice, 1t
will be answered without cost to you,
and you will receive in reply a personal
letter Write your question clearly and
briefly, inclose 2-cent stamp for return
| postage and address The Evening Star
| Information Bureau, Frederic J.. Has
kin, Director, Washington, D. C..
@. Can a player who has been sent
out in foot ball game return in the
same haf?-D. L.
in the half during which he was with
drawn.
Q. When was the maximum member
ship of the G. A. r. attained?-W. II.
! A. 1t was largest in 1890, when II
reached 409.48s.
@. What is the length of the United
! States shore line on the Great Lakes?-
E. B.
A. 1t amounts to 3774 miles.
Q. What is the cost of production of
2-cent stamps?-H. H.
A. The approximate cost of the
stamps per 1000 is 6la cents.
@. If chains touching the ground are
used on gasoline and oil trucks to pre-
vent fires caused by static electricity,
why do so many new trucks lack this
chain?-A. r.
A. A dragging chain accomplishes
this effectively and thus avoids pos
sibility of a static spark from the tank
| truck to an object connected to the
| ground that might be brought near it.
| Cnph q cnark Rra y,y1Iaec
| 1t happens to pass through an atrnos-
! phere that Is an explosive mixture of
| fiammable Vapors and air. II the oil
| truck Is transporting oil that does not
| give off explosive vapors at ordinary
| air temperatures static spark from 1t
| Is not likely TO start fire. II the truck
| Is transportating a volatile fammable
| liquid such as gasoline, spilled liquid
| may be ignited by static spark. This
| hazard may be avoided by maintaining
the tanks tightly closed except fame
arresting vents, to prevent spilled liquid
and by grounding the tank before any
liquid is allowed to flow out and keep
! ing the ground connection while liquid
| is flowing.
Q. What does the name Honolulu
mean?-C. s.
A. Homo means harbos; lulu, smoosh
| or quiet.
@. Which State received the greatest
variety of early immigrants?-W. K.
A. No other colony had SO many i'm
migrants of different races and re-
/ igions as Pennsylvania. There were
Dutch, Swedes, English, Germans,
Welsh and Irish Quakers, Presby-
terians, Catholics, Lutherans, Men
nonites and Moravians.
| @. Is rice paper made from rice?-
! N. D.
| A. Rice paper is made from the pith
! of small tree known botanically as
Aralia papyrifera.
@. Are there any private holdings In
! Yellowstone National Park?-E. P. w.
| A. Yellowstone and Hot Springs were
! set aside as Government reservations
before any private claims were made on
the land. Practically all other national
parks contain some private land. This
! land Is being acquired by the Govern
ment when satisfactory arrangements
can be made.
O. Is there any difference in appear
ance between an American-cut diamond
and European cut diamond of the
same siZe?-C. G.
A. A local jeweler says that the cut
of diamonds Is standardized and there
should be no difference In appearance
between an American-cut and European
Evening star., 1931-12-03
Air Travel Grows
As Rail Lines Decline
From the Schenectady Gazette.


1t may be surprising to some who
know of the plight of the railroads, due
to decreasing patronage, to learn that
our air lines are showing contrary
condition. The latter are not merely
holding their oWn-they are showing
gain.
Statistics compiled by the Aeronau-
tical Chamber of Commerce of the
United States show, for the first nine
months of the year, an increase in
passengers carried of over 6 per cent
compared with the same period of 1890.
The figures are 4S,5o7, against 327,21I.
Steamship records show a loss of pas
SengerS of 43 per cent in westbound
traffic and of 10 per cent for those east
bound, and over IL per cent on railroads
for the first seven months
Further, mileage flown this year
shows gain of At per cent, with well
over 81 100000 miles. Airmail gained
1872 per cent, with 6,983, 900 pounds
And air express showed the most notable
increase 2l2 per cent, with $4,000
pounds.
Without doubt this competition has
hurt the railroads little and there is
ample reason for it. Where time is the
greatest essential there is a natural re-
sort to air lines on the part of
merchants who want speedy delivery at
distant point. Fast as trains NAV be.
there Is no comparison with airpianes
In time necessary for transportation
between New York and Chicago, for in
stance, or between the former and the
West or Gulf Coasts.
The fact there is any gain whatsoever
in aerial transportation should be taken
as promising sign. 1t is an indica-
tion of what to expect with the return
OF real prosperity. And as a supple
ment to land and water systems, airship
transportation is destined to play an
important part in the development of
commerce in the future,
Evening star., 1931-12-03

cut diamond of the same type and size,
Regulations Tor good diamond cut are
one-third above the girdle ledge of
stonel and two-thirds below.
g. Why are motion pictures given
different endings in America and in
Europe?-B. V.
A. English-speaking peoples prefer
happy endingS; Germans like unha opy
endings; while Latins want logical end
ngs, however unpleasant they may be.
Films are often changed for export
trade with these facts in mind.
more of the Wabash?"-C. w.
A. This name was given to the late
Daniel voorhees,, Senator from Indiana,
owing to his great height and erect
bearing.
Q. Why was the lighting of city
streets at night relatively modern
development?-B. c.
A. Although gas illumination was
street Illumination, the Improvement
was opposed on the ground that such
q practice would be plasphemous, God
having divinely divided light and dark
ness, and also that people would be in
duced to stay out at night and catch
cold and fall prey to robbers.
@. What does Kipling mean when he
says the dawn comes up like thunder
outer China 'crost the bay"2-D. S.
A. The phrase Is a geographical lib
erty which Kipling took in writing his
famous poem. II you have watched
Tor the sunrise across a broad stretch
OF water you know how suddenly the
sun bursts above the horizon line It
comes with the suddenness of thunder.
This Is an example of how impossible
1t Is always to take literally q figure of
speech found in a poem.
@. Are the prisoners in our institu-
tions, for the most part, first offenderss
C. A.
A A number of institutions do not
make report Of this nature, but
among those which do it Is found that
more than half are repeaters or recidi-
visits.
@. How long have the records been
kept of births in the District Of Co
lumbia?-R. M
A. They began regularly with Au-
gust l, 1874.
Q. Who is the dean of American
college professors?-M. H.
A. DR.. Julian D. Taylor Of dolby
College, He Is now IS years q age
and has taught Latin at Colby for SO
years.
@. Why is the trail at Grand
CANYON called Bright Angel Trail?-
e. r. N.
A. When the Geological Survey was
making observations Of the district In
which the Grand Canyon is located
1t came to dirty, unsavory- looking
stream which was called the Dirty
Devil. Some weeks later the party
came to clear, beautiful stream
running down gorgeous canyon, and
to express their relief this was called
the Bright Angel Creek. The trail is
named for this.
Q. Can COW swim?-B. @. r.
A. Cattle, like most hoofed animals,
are good swimmers, and have often
been known to swim several hundred
yards. The distance would depend
somewhat on the current or roughnes
of the water.
@. What is the derivation of the
word gas?-G. NJ
A. This term was invented by the
chemist Van Helmont of Brussels, who
died in 1914. He applied it to sup
posed vapor produced from water by
cold. Its form was suggested to him
by the Greek word chaos.
Evening star., 1931-12-03
The Home Ownership Conference

The first problem confronting the
man who wants to buy home is TO
get the necessary amount of cash. Un-
less he has the cash or can get it "on
terms that dignity the same credit and
not upon terms and risks comparable
to the credit extended by pawnbroker"
the bales of mimeographed matter con-
tanning the speeches, the reports and
recommendations of the hundreds of
men and women who are in Washing
ton this week attending the Presidents s
Conference on Home Building and
Home Ownership will for him, be a
total loss. One must, therefore, look
far beyond the conference itself for
the ultimate results that it hopes to
achieve.
Like the solution of all practical
problems, President Hoover told the
conferees in welcoming them here last
evening. the facts first must be discov-
cred; they must be assembled in their
true perspective, and the conclusions to
be drawn from them must be the inexor-
able march of logic. This conference
has not been called primarily on legis-
lative questions. Its major purpose is
TO stimulate individual action. 1t seeks
a better planned use of our Nation
energies and resources, especially those
that are rooted in neighborliness and
| mutual help. The conference
represents place in our mastery OF
| the forces that modern science and
modern technology place at our dis
posal. 1t is not to set up government
! in the building of homes, but to stimu-
| late individual endeavor and make COM
nunity conditions propitious. The basis
of its action is to collate the whole OF
our experience to date, to establish
standards, to advance thought to new
plane from which we may secure a re-
vitalized start upon national progress
IN the building and owning of homes :
The conference now meeting was
| conceived in the belief that "it should
be possible in our country for any per-
son OF sound character and industriou;
habits 10 provide himself with ade-
quate and suitable housing and pref
erably to own his own home" and in
preparation for this meeting the Presi-
dent more than year ago set up a
Planning Committee, which, in turn
' directed ~ -
fact-fnding and correlating commit
tees now assembled here for report and
J discussion. The work has been pri-
vately financed and the results are re-
! fiected in a program that is bewildeline
In the number and the diversity Of the
subjects studied. Every phase Of home
4 building and planning and ownership
has been considered by men and WON
en- whose experience qualities them as
authorities. The proceedings of the
conference will fill large volume.
The value of such discussions will b,
found in centering public thought upor
national problem. The nub of tha
problem is how to develop home owner
ship through the extension of credi
facilities to the millions of worthy in
dividuals who find them, under pres
ent conditions, beyond their reach
! This does not mean the mere broaden
ing of financial terms under which (
home is purchased, but the studied ap
plication of scientific discoveries tha
tend to reduce and simplify the cos
and nature of home construction.
Evening star., 1931-12-03
Transpacifc Phone
Soon to Materialize
From the Oakland Tribune.

From the Oakland Tribune
Before long if we are worried as to
the meaning of Oriental news, We may
take down a telephone receiver and
talk across the Pacific to the Hawaiian
Islands, Japan and the Philippines.
Transpaciflc telephone conversations
are coming They will make use of
modern radio station, and with 20 ,00O-
watt equipment and new type of trans
mitting antenna will bounce" electric
waves against the surface of an upper
atmosphere said by scientists to exist
some 200 miles above the surface of the
earth.
Theoretically the feasibility of the
plan has been demonstrated. In a short
time. says the Bell Telephone System,
which is investing in the innovation,
men in this country may talk across the
Pacific by telephone which has radio
assistance.
Evening star., 1931-12-03
Highlights ON the Wide World
Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands

tree-lancing. are speed and the capac-
1ty to travel immense distances without
refueling. They could journey from
Sydney to London, for example, after
f1ll-up at Garden Island, without
taking in more oil on the way. Assum-
ing the next war is in European waters
and all the signs and symptoms point
that way-Britain mightn't be able to
detach ships to guard our Pacific trade.
In that case, the formidable r. A. N.
cruisers would be worth whatever might
have been spent on them many times
over.
Ecua dor to Profit
BY Demand for Rice.
Ell TELEGRAPH, Guayaquil.-Regardless
OF what extraneous disposition there
may be for some of our other products,
rice certainly is in demand, and those
with supplies of this cereal on hand
may very easily show a profit on the
years transactions. Argentina contin-
ueS our best customer in the rice mar
ket and the superiority of the Ecua-
dorean crop this year has created a
more persistent demand than ever from
that country.
Middle Glass Hit
BY High Rents In Dublin.
Irish Independent, Dublin-With re-
gard to housing and rents, there Is no
one worse off than the middle-class
man with moderate salary, writes an
Irish Independent representative.
Such a citizen, and there are thou
sands of them in Dublin, is forced by
convention to keep up certain stand
ard of living. He must live in a good
class house in a good-class neighbor-
hood, and for that he must pay a rent
altogether beyond his means.
House rents for premises where the
rents are not statute CONTROLLED. e..
houses with valuation of $50 or over
have doubled and trebled themselves
since the war. Such houses, which
could be rented for f45 per wear in
1914, are now rented at 500, f1OO, clio,
and even as high as fl2O.
The tenant has no redress in these
cases, the rent restrictions act does
not extend to him, and in the ma iority
of cases he considers himself lucky to
be able to get the house at all.
The large number of houses built by
private spe?ulators in the city and sub
urbs in the past 10 years has had no
appreciable effect on the rent ramp.
The reason is that the population of
Dublin has increased by leaps and
bounds since 1925, so that just as fast
as the houses were built they were
snapped up again at any rent the land
lord cared to ask.
Evening star., 1931-12-03

is typical of the advance that has been
made In recent years and is still In
progress In the application of physical
science to physiological research. 1t is
believed that by means OF this remark
able apparatus the study Of disease will
be promoted, with the prospect of even
greater success in treatment and cure
than has hitherto been possible.