davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1931-12-04
Reparations Seen Root
OF Financial Distress
To the Editor of The Star:

To the Editor of The Star:
The splendid spirit displayed by the
average American in these times of
financial distress Is most admirable.
But while we are at this why not look
into one of the principal causes? The
root of the whole matter may be sum-
med up in one word-reparations The
four billions of dollars that have been
loaned to Germany by Americans
through our bankers is jeopardized
through the continuance Of the repair
ations, and unless these reparations
are removed these vast sums may be-
chasing power of these many Americans
is being affected. And then think, too,
of the goods that Germany is compelled
through the reparaticns to give to
France, and how these goods are COM
peting with American manufacturers,
and thus seriously affecting our labor
market
Reference to the financial columns
will show how disastrously these Ameri-
can investments have been affected
upon the recent statement of the French
premier that I'VE will demand payment
OF the unconditional annuities and We
will not accede to priority being given
to these private debts lowing to Ameri-
cans) over our reparations."
Immediately upon this blunt an
nouncement of Laval these same four
billions of dollars of American invest
ments fell about 20 per cent, although
they were already being quoted In the
market at a loss in many instances Of
more than so per cent.
The fear has been expressed that If
the reparations are not voluntarily re-
moved they will be through revolution.
And no one can prophesy where 1t wiz
end. c. FRED JACKSON.
Evening star., 1931-12-04
Wanted; a Traffic Solomon.

Washington is apparently not alone
In its difhculties with all-night parkers.
New York has parking problem of
its own, according TO the Board of
Trade OF that city, which recently de-
manded Of Commissioner Mulrooney
that he Immediately clear the streets
OF the trifle of one hundred and twenty
four thousand all-night parkers on the
ground that the vehicles constitute a
IRE hazard. The police commissioner
expressed himself in agreement with
the representatives OF the civic organi-
sation as TO the desirability of enforcing
the parking regulation, but pointed out
to them that from a practical stand
point 1t was almost an impossible task
Motorists who have been tagged and
nned, he said, supply themselves with
tags and each night pin one on the
steering wheel so that the police will
not bother them, and other subterfuges
are used by motor car operators to
escape the regulation. Besides these
tricks Commissioner Mulrooney cited
the very obvious fact that there are
not sufficient garages in the city to
house the automobiles, and the large
fees now charged in garages work hard
ship on the owners Of ths machines
The commissioners statement is al
most identical with that made by ths
Evening star., 1931-12-04
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES Z. TRACEWELL.

q frowning Astonishment at such Q
boorish command.
Why do we select one thing In prefer
ence to another?
Here on the bulletins, with their little
white movable letters, are vastly more
foodstuf1s than any man who ever
HVed could consume at one sitting.
Even the Roman Emperor (for a day or
two) who was 8 feet tall and who ate
81 pounds OF meat for dinner and drank
= gallons OF wine to wash 1t down
could not eat the half OF what Is avail
able at the average cafeteria.
! Here are chops with gay papers
around one end-"with pants on" as
one facetious eater asserts. Why should
any one select chops in preference to
turkey?
The pressure of the crowd has some
thing to do with it. One looks at chops,
at turkey, at fish, mt beef, at stew, at
ham. at chicken.
One thinks rapidly, Chops, turkey,
fish, beef, stew, ham, chicken"
One decides turkey, then revokes
turkey, decides upon chicken, thinks
chicken not enough, not really meat,
revokes chicken. seizes upon ham,
thinks ham too plebeian, revokes ham,
wildly grasps at stew, thinks stew too
everyday, as it were
Roars out wildly, "Chops!"
Then looks around triumphantly, as
II every one in the line ought to ap-
plaud or something.
We have said that man may get out
OF sympathy with eating.
1t Is true.
Appetite has little to do with, lit The
envious may say, as the envious always
say, that one Ia suffering from indiges-
tion or has eaten not wisely the day
before or Is finicky.
Finicky, of course, as every child
knows, LIS the way one eats when 1t Is
not the way the reproving person, who-
ever he or she may be, eats.
It Is possible, however, to be mildly
out of sympathy with the whole matter
OF eating. as done in civilization, with
out being in any way a sufferer from
anything.
All you have to do Is watch some
body eating corn on the cob
There are some people who shuttle
the white Of a fried egg sideways In
their mouth as they are talking.
This sight Is guaranteed to put all
but the most adamant out OF sympathy
with the theory and practice OF eating.
Then, too, there Is the philosophical
approach Sometimes the most un-
philosopher-lik person will have an in
tensely philosophical approach to eat
ing.
The sight of people eating, either
singly or In long rows, amuses him. 1t
rouses within him depths of reflection
to which he is at other times stranger.
Then he will see those who eat as
just so many bags to be filed. ana he
will rightly regard this as an impossible
task.
Three times day in provincial dis
tricts people gather to fill up, and five
or six times In more cosmopolitan areas.
Mankind has made eating a rite. but
ical.
No one is offended at that, but still
the sight Of another eating at times
may strike man as intensely comical.
The sight of fat stranger solemnly
attempting to open a red-hot baked
potato will send philosopher off into
peals Of inner laughter.
The solemn, rhythmical wagging of
jaws Is enough to make a monkey
laugh If viewed properly and one is in
the mood for it.
| Laughter goes we'll with meals.
Evening star., 1931-12-04

plan which Japan now threatens tc
quibble to death. Even II the scheme
had been accepted as a whole at Toxic,
actual conditions would not in all prob
ability have undergone any change seri-
ously jeopardizing Japan's stranglehold
in Manchuria. The Paris pact providing
for withdrawal of japanese troops within
the South Manchurian railway zone,
for cessation of military operations by
both Japan and China, and for inde-
pendent examination Of the whole con-
troversy, would not have altered by q
jot or little the grim fact which
Japan has accomplished.
That fact is that she is today in in
vulnerably intrenched occupation OF
be dislodged from the three great prov
inces Of Fengtien, Kirin and Heilung-
kiang only by force, that is, war. That
fact is that since last September she has
through concerted military movements
possessed herself, in succession. of the
three capitals and strategic centers Of
those respective provinces-Mukden
Kirin and Tsitsihar That fact Is that
Japan has done all this, with q help
less League Of Nations and reluctant
United States looking on, viewing with
alarm and doing nothing.
Yesterday Gen. HOMO, commander
in chief of Japanese military forces
in the occupied provinces, issued
what amounts to a proclamation OF
the annexation of Manchuria. 1t was
addressed to foreign newspaper men
at his headquarters in Mukden. 1t
announced, with SNUG complacency,
that Japan intends to establish and
maintain for the benefit of all countries
the principle of the open door in the
new territory that has now fallen into
Japanese hands-Chinese territory, ter
ritory the size of France and Italy COM
bined and territory containing 10000, 900
inhabitants. With disarming candor
Gen. HOMO even informs the world
why japanese boys" have taken Man
churia-"they are aware that Japan
wants room to breathe"
Such is the result of less than three
months of decisive war and irresistible
diplomacy which Japan has conducted,
not alone against defenseless China,
but against a Western world which
naively imagined it could stay the
advance of infantry, artillery and
bombing planes with parchment in the
form OF the League covenant, the nine
power treaty and the Kellogg pact.
Paris skepticism about the virtue of
disarmament conferences with the
Manchurian fiasco staring baffied ma
tions in the face is more than COM
prehensible.
Evening star., 1931-12-04

Congress. The others are the two
Freds, who have been at the head of
the respective Naval Committees Of the
House and Senate-Britten of Illinois
and Hale of Maine. Neither Britten
nor Hale achieved the en,inence in the
ring which Senator Barbour attained
Hale never used his fists except at col
iege and in later life for keeping At.
Brltten at one time was an amateur
lightweight who might have been a
Senny Leonard IL he had not given up
ngntlng Tor politics. Barbour only mar
rowly escaped professional career
under Queensbury rules. Jim Corbatt
spared with him once and said he
was the best amateur heavyweight he
ever encountered. Jim Jeffries roughed
around with Barbour and tried to en-
gage MIN Tor regular workouts. Corbett
declared that in years time he could
take the burly Jerseyman and lick him
into shape to knock out Jack johnson.
X
When the American delegation laws its
cards on the table at Geneva in Feb
ruary It'll tell the world that Uncle Sam
has relatively little interest in military
disarmament, because the United States
Army Is already down to the bone. This
country, OF course, relies upon its DO
tential man power, /. e., the forces it
could raise in an emergency. A glinmer
OF what Gen. Douglas Macarthur, chief
OF stan, thinks we ought to have UP
our sleeve Is contained in his annual
report just issued Claiming that we are
running far behind in munitions re-
serves. Gen. Macarthur reports that
the Armys effort has been to maintain
a reserve OF shot and shell sufficient for
force OF two field armies, or 1,0Oo, 900
men. Through lack of sufficient appro-
priations, he says that the land defense
establishment has fallen "far below this
level in certain essential items"
&x
Lieut.. Col. Carey H. Brown. former
engineer Of the National Park and
Planning Commission at Washington,
Is prominent delegate to the Presi-
dents Home Building Conference. Col
Brown left the Army couple of years
ago to become executive director of the
Rochester, N. Y, Civic Improvement
Association and is making a notable
record in the city by the shores of Lake
Ontario.
A AWashington lawyer, who is generally
addicted to the truth, narrates that a
prisoner In the dock was recently
warned by the prosecuting attorney that
anything you say will be held against
you" The culprit pondered second or
two, and then sighed: "Greta Garboi"
(Copyright, 1917
Evening star., 1931-12-04
SHOOTING STARS.
BY PHnANDER JOHNSON.

Joyous Abundance.
Oh, libraries fair
Are put up everywhere,
And they add very much to the view.
Their shelves will display
An extensive array
OF enlightening worksRld and new.
The true student will wait
Till the hour has grown late
And read with enjoyment complete;
The days as they fly
Unobserved pass him by.
He would much rather study than eat
So why should fear
Though fresh eggs may be dear,
And the beefsteak a luxury rare7
Why bother my soul
With the price paid for coal
When the library's heated with care?
I'll get me book
In well lighted nook
Afar from all talk unrefined
About things you eat.
With economy neat,
I'll subsist upon food for the mind.
Evening star., 1931-12-04

the anti-prohibition wing is stronger
than the prohibition xtsne q q. 3ss.s
Assuming, on the other side OF the
question, that those who 20 along with
the Democratic chairman really repre-
sent the conservative wing of the party
ne Rochester Times Union believes that
the night that Is now being projected
is between the Progressive Democrats,
ANXIOUS 10 stress economic issues, and
the conservative Democrats, anxious to
lay the emphasis on prohibitfon." That
paper Is convinced that ''the Champions
OF Things as they are In the economic
world hope to profit by appealing to
tle CITY voters on a non-economic is
sue Ihe Fort Wayne News-Sentinel
concludes: TITS fight to pucker tn.
DroWs OF any dispassionate observer on
tne side lines. Both sides put up some
good points" f ''-'-'
Senator Robinson and other Demo-
cIasic leaders feel that the injection OF
s,lis nt question INTO the party platform is
Salt Lake Deseret News While the t
Charleston Is. c. Evening Post tbinks
tne referendum will not solve the
problem OF prohibition as an issue for
Ine Democratic party" and that Mr
haSxoo is letting his personal persua-
SION run away with him, and is NOT
considering with sufficiently circ,In.
Spect view the best line of policy for
the democrats to pursue next year"
IN olscounting the QUESTIONABLE the
Aollene Reporter and the Lexinoton
Leader place emphasis on the proba-
nllty that supporters of the Democrats
ucket In 1928 would still be wet, Wills
the omaha World Herald contends that
tne democratic party has never made
practlce OF permitting the creators of
ies campaign funds to write les Mat
ioI. ~ S, ano the San Francisco Chron-
to tell the Democratic conventio,, IN
ADVANCE what to do by his aupeal In
tne contributors to the frankly wet cam
paign fund Of 1928 recalls the hysteri-
cai cnarges OF Democratic spokesrnrn
IN otner years that the Republican, noIi-
cles have been dictated by Campaign
contributions" t"Asn
Tne Davenport Democrat emphasizex
the fact that there are manv oths1
issues on which the party NAV take a
ssano next year that will win it millions
OF sympathizers. A'''o''S
IT might be said" observes the Char
r.ee observer, that the bulk of the
questlonnaires went to those States IL,
which the Democrats claim the right -
name the candidates and write the
platIorms Of the party, but which fire.
quently give their electoral votes to the
republican candidates. The FIVE States
asked TO cast one-half the votes ia the
haskon referendum have 144, or 30 Der
cent OF the Nations 444 electoral votes.
And YET the result of the questionnaire
Will ne heraided as true expression Of
q cross-section of the national Demo
cratic party"
Evening star., 1931-12-04

District Commissioners and trafnc Of
ficials in regard to the demand Of the
Fine Arts Commission that Washington
streets and parks be swept clear Of stand
ing vehicles. From an esthetic standpoint
and for the removal of fire hazard it
Is desirable that the use of the streets
be primarily for moving vehicles, but
what is to be done with the cars Of
thousands of parkers after they are re-
fused permission to park
1t is quite evident that no trafic Solo
mon has yet put in his appearance to
solve the problem. Until he does 1t is
quite likely to remain unsolved
Evening star., 1931-12-04
Machinery Multiplies
For Doubtful World
From the Dayton Daily News

From the Dayton Daily News,
Recent international exhibitions of all
sorts OF inventions have heightened the
worries Of those who fear that ma
chlnery Is making man an enervated
button -pusher incapable of bearing re-
sponslolltty. The introduction of an
automatic tea-brewing device in Eng
land, where the concoction of this
beverage has long been a hallowed ira
oition, admirably illustrates the danger
Happily, or still more unhappily as
one chooses to see it, there is another
sioe TO the picture. The threat of the
machine is partially offset by the fact
sIat, ulSplacng men, Cney have made
IL ImPosslnie Tor such men to enjoy the
by their influence. The same naradox
incidentally, is reacting 20 some extent
against the machines. Gandhi's sug-
gestlon OF handicraft culture is taking
root. 40 'e
delaware, for instance, embarking on
comprehensive program of public
WORKS 10 relieve unemployment, shelves
machine wherever it is possible for
q NUMBER OF men to take Its place.
Even Henry Ford, one of the stalwarts
OF tne machine age, reverts to man.
power in the operation of his l2,OOo-
acre farm, simply to furnish Jobs for a
greater number of men. Human hands
viii husk the corn. There are 100 900
bushels OF carrots on the Ford farm
some $50 men have started to dig
these up. Ordinarily only hundred
ODD men, utilizing modern machinery,
would be required to Accomplish this
ana other harvest tasks.
The same scheme was followed in
CULTIVATION. Mr.. Ford makes tractors
but the bulk of the work was done with
hoes; In time he hopes to solve the
problem OF cylical employment, at least
IN the case of his own interests, by
permitting employees to work on the
farm four months through the Summer,
coming in to the factory during cold
weather.
Yet for the present at least we nave
only the spectacle of arduous labor,
which machines might perform, lifted
once more onto the human back. Thus
far, and If the pessimistic prophets are
correct 1t may be fortunately so, we
lack the intelligence to expose the race
universally to the button pushing
menace. Horny hands promise to be
with us long while.
Evening star., 1931-12-04
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS .
BY FREDERIC ]. HASK1N,

Many readers send in questions signed
only with initials, asking that the an
swerx appear in the newspaper. The
space u limited and would not accom-
modate . fraction OF such requests.
The answers published are ones that
may interest many readers rather than
the one who asks the question only.
All questions should be accompanied by
the writer's name and address and 2
cents in coin or stamps for reply. Send
your question to The Evening Star In
formation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin,
Director, Washington, D. c.
@. What was D. w. Griffth's busi-
ness or profession before he entered the
motion picture field?-C. C.
A. He had been a newspaper reporter
and had abandoned that profession in
an EFFORT to get start as a dramatist
He played small parts to support him
self and began to write scenarios. In
1908 he joined Biograph as actor and
director.
@. Did Gov. Roosevelt of New York
ever run for the vice presidencyp-G. c,
A. He ran on the ticket with James
Cox in 1920.
Q. How much does bear cub weigh
when it Is born?-R. A. w.
A. At birth bear cub weighs from
to IL ounces, which Is about l-200th
to Il 25oth Of its m1ther's weight. It is
about inches long blind, and covered
with dark hair so thin that it is prac
tically naked.
Q. Where was the mortarboard first
worn?-E D. S.
A. 1t Is believed to have originated
at OXFORD University about the middle
OF the fourteenth century.
9. What was the significance of a
yellow ticket in old Russia?-L L. r.
A. In Russia Jews and JeWesses were
connned to the Pale of Settlement"
II any Jewish woman was willing to be
registered as prostitute, she was given
yellow ticket" and permitted free
and unrestricted residence throughout
the empire.
@. What is relapsing fever?-Y
A. Relapsing fever Is the name given
to specific infectious disease occa-
slonally appearing as an epidemic In
communities suffering from scarcity or
famine. 1t Is also known as famine
lever, seyen-day bilious relapsing fever
and spirillum fever.
why Is goods OF certain kind
called ''rep"?-E. r.
A. The name Is said to have been
adopted from the French reps, word
OF unknown origin, and 1t has also been
suggested that it is a corruption OF
RIB"
Q. May lawyer go from one county
10 another to practice?-H. r. w.
A. A lawyer may practice in any
county in State after being admitted
to the bar Of the State by regular pro-
cedure.
Q. How fast Is the population of the
world increasing?-E w. w.
A. The present population Of the
world Is approximately 1900, 900, 900.
Estimates Of world population before
1880 are not very trustworthy. Sir
George Knibbs, however, considers that
Michelot's estimate of zoos, ,000, 900 for
l845 Is as well founded a guess as can
be made. Accepting this estimate, 1t
can be calculated that between 1845 and
1914 the average annual increase of
the world population was about q Der
cent. 1t was, In other words, increas-
ing at rate which would double the
population in less than 100 years.
Q. Who invented chimneys?-E. McC.
A. They have gradually developed
and existed from very early period.
Evening star., 1931-12-04

The tie-up began at the soup Sec
ton, became rapidly worse at the meats
and turned into a perfect block at the
cake counter.
Every Tom, Dick and Harry in the
cafeteria line had to make up his mind
as he went along. 1t was difficult
task. 1t caused trouble.
1t is difficult job at best, even when
seated. Every one knows how the aver
age person hens aid haws over the
choice Of what to eat for the noontime
meal.
An observer might think that a hu-
man being had never seen menu
card before to watch him so perplexed
over what to eat and how much.
Here was the one big fault of the
cafeteria system. Here was a long line
of people, walking along, at the same
time attempting to decide what to select
for their lunch.
And what a time they were having
Of It'll
Breads and soup came first. The
momentous question Of whether to eat
hard rolls or soft or to take mullins,
after all, occupied their entire attention.
The man behind might be able to
make up his mind easily enough, but
the lady ahead of him was in a guam
Diary.
And because she was undecided be-
tween hard rolls and soft rolls she
stopped. Somehow 1t Is easier to de-
eide when one stops.
This stopped the man who had made
up his mind and the young fellow who
was anxious to choose mullins but had
not been able to make the muffin point
as yet. 1t stopped the lady in the big
hat, completely out OF style, who wanted
rolls coated with poppy seed. 1t held
up. seemingly forever, the gentleman
who wanted no bread at all but only
Ice cream.
At the meats, of course, the traffic
jam became worse. The selection of a
meat B always moot question. 1t may
be far day from the heyday Of the
meat diet when no household thought 1t
could exist on less than half a dozen
different meats at meal, with perhaps
couple Of potpies thrown In as entrees.
Meat still is eaten in vast quantities.
Thousands OF people would prefer not
to eat at all unless they could have
something solid" as they call 1t. Even
turkey and chicken they prefer to re-
gard as vegetable matter almost. Their
preference is for real meat, and If IL
- q heNAS Oa1 tiiC ldtC LIlab Is AlI
the better.
Here at the long cafeteria counter.
people in front of one, people behind
one, bulletin boards loaded down with
food names before one, the anticipatory
diner is up against 1t indeed as he sur
veys the words, then looks down in the
elaborate glass counter wherein the
foods themselves repose In steaming
trays.
This is food science, red hot and glis-
tening, dished up for any ignoramus
who has the price. One may not know
or appreciate what science, as applied
to food serving, does for mankind but
so long as one can point and hand over
the money all Is well.
An observer slightly out of sympathy
with eating might be inclined to think
that few people really know what they
want to eat when he happens to be In
line at the cafeteria and sees the
plain hesitation of those on either side
Of him.
For heavens sake" he feels inclined
TO yell, select one thing or select an
other, but choose something!"
Surely the line would be reduced to