davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1931-12-20

not suppress those deeper and finer
emotions that the day suggests and in
spires. No matter how impenetrable the
darkness, the light shines on and, in
deed, the light is made the brighter by
reason OF the darkness. Nothing Is
more descriptive of the ministry of Jesus
than st. Johns word concerning Him,
The light that lighteth every man that
cometh into the world" Again he says,
In Him was light, and the light was
the life Of men" At no time possibly
in our experience have we so needed
light on our darkened pathways as in
this present hour We need it to see
our way and to guide our steps. With
out it We are filled with ominous fears
and we hesitate to pursue our course.
We know Of no substitute that has
proved SO adequate to the needs of men
as this light of which we speak. 1t is
never more valuable or more indispensa-
BILE than in times when the shadows
are heavy and the darkness forbidding
The only darkness that can obscure this
light proceeds from those who are un-
willing to recognize its value and pur-
pose. An uncomprehending and unre-
spending darkness, that refuses that
which the light gives, presents a Situa-
ton that Is tragic in the extreme
Charles Dickens illustrates this in a
striking way in his Christmas carol
The character OF old Scrooge, soured
and embittered, with heart and mind
out OF tune with the Joys Of the Christ
mas season, is wholly representative of
that kind of darkness that does not
comprehend or recognize the value OF
the light. The transition In the life Of
this old reprobate comes in a period of
sleep when in vision there is unfold
ed to him the folly of his course
Awakening from his slumber at the
dawn of new Christmas day, he feels
the thrill of its spirit. and casting aside
his old conception of its meaning he
enters upon its joys with the zest and
enthusiasm of youth. 1t marks new
day in his life. He comes at length to
understand the meaning Of the light,
and his soul that had been flooded with
darkness was filled with love for Him
who designs to be the source and in
spiration of all that makes life worth
while We need in this old world Of
ours today a better understanding and
finer appreciation Of the light that
shineth in darkness.
Evening star., 1931-12-20
THE CHRISTMAS LIGHT
BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D., ILL., d.
Bishop Of Washington

Iert: "The light shineth in dark
ness and the darkness comprehended
1t not. st. John,i5.
No season in the year is so widely
recognized by men and women and lit
Tie children the world over as that upon
Whlch we are now entering Christmas
mas literally cast a spell over the hearts
ana MINDS OF men. While customs and
uSageS may differ, there is that in this
slaosome season that makes the world
great fellowship. More than any other
Gay IN the calendar it seems to en-
phaslze the commonness of our hu-
manly and the commonneSS Of the
impulses that move us. 1t provokeS in
us thoSe qualities and virtues that per-
tam 10 youth. Christmas is the worlds
ciilulood day Even age, with its null
tlplled cares and physical weaknesses,
pays homage again to the spontaneous
Joys ana practices that pertain to youth.
Inc effect which this day produces upon
the hearts and minds of men the world
over is utterly unique: there is nothing
comparable to it. To refuse to yield to
Its gracious impulse means to deny our
serves one OF the most profitable and
exhllaratlng experiences we may enjoy
The central theme of Christmas Is
focused in the life of little child, born
IN stable in remote corner Of the
world nearly two thousand years ago
In the recorded history of mankind no
single incident has so affected human
thought, or, indeed, the life of the world,
as has the birth of the child Jesus in
Bethlehem's stable. No matter what
our Judgment may be concerning the
meaning of His life and its glowing
ministry. we cannot resist or set aside
the extraordinary effects which His ad-
vent has produced upon the thought
and practices OF men throughout the
centuries Even in the bitter conflict
of the World War the spirit of this day
so touched the hearts and wills of COM
batant forces that the guns themselves
were silenced and the spirit of fighting
yielded to the spirit of peace.
Christmas day may find us this year
less able to express in terms of gen.
erosity those impulses that have char
acterized us in other and better years.
Our generosity may be restrained and
our merriment shadoWed by the misfor-
tunes that attend a period of enforced
idieneSs. notwithstanding this. We may
Evening star., 1931-12-20
SHOOTING STARS.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.

His Annual Program.
The rrst week in December Mr.. Grow
cher sits and scoWls.
His line of talk is something like a dis
contented owls
He says this shopping early cry is all a
needless row.
If he we're running things there'd be no
Christmas anyhow.
The second week he takes look into
the windows gay.
His smile is supercilious as he ambles
on his way.
If early shoppings mentioned he will
give surly shrug
And end the conversation by remarking
I'm mug!
The third week he will turn his eyes
away and grit his teeth
And try to look annoyed when he OBJ
serves holly wreath.
If you mention early shopping he will
resolutely bawl,
i've not shopped early, and don't
propose to shop at ALL"
But the fourth week finds him saying,
as he joins the struggling line,
y must make few exceptions for some
special friends of mine
And while loading up with bundles he
remarks with many a sigh.
Next year I'm going to start my
Christmas shopping in July
Evening star., 1931-12-20
Survey of American
Fishing Industr,
BY HARDEN COLFAX.

What the commercial catch of fish
in the waters Of the United States has
been doing toward maintaining the
level OF business and employment is
disclosed by Department of Com
merCe report showing that the catch
in II months amounted to more than
5000, 100000 pounds and gave employ
ment to more than 100000 persons.
H. R. Fielder, chief of the division
of fishery industries, made the survey.
He says that in the United States and
Alaska some $4,000 persons were en-
gagged in catching fish, 1000 more on
the carrying crafts and $4,000 others
in manufacturing and WholeSaling fish
products. The value to the fishermen
of all the fish caught in year was
more than Sl23,000,000 a value more
than doubled by the time the fish
reached the wholesalers. Then the
process of freezing, canning, curing and
the development of by-products Is
we'll as the value of equipment, made
this half-ab billiondollar industry
The industry as carried on all over
the United States was surveyed and
the Bureau of Fisheries report on the
subject also covers a survey OF fish
cries in the Virgin Islands and Porto
Rico Furthermore, it deals with the
progress being made by the bureaus
experts in freezing oysters so that they
may be made a year-around product.
Taking up the various sections OF
the country, the report says recent
progress In the New England states
has been particularly noteworthy Not
so much can be said for the catch OF
the Middle Atlantic States, which, our
ing recent years, has recorded a de-
crease. This is also the case with the
Chesapeake Bay States. The South
Atlantic and Gulf States snow an IN.
crease, as do also the Pacific Coast
States. The report characterlzes the
catch in the Great Lakes dStrlct as
"fluctuating. and calls particular at,
tention to the freShWater mussel Shell
fishery of the Mississippi River and its
tributaries This industry, centerlng
particularly in Arkansas, produces az an
nuallv between 45,oO0,o00 and 50,o0o,-
900 pounds, valued at JUST less Ihah
$l.000,000.
Listed in the order of the Importance
of their food values, the report says
that l8 products account ior Sv per
cent of the catch of the United STATES
Chief among these were salmon, oysters
haddock, halibut, shrimp tutla, i. hanS
Holsters and cod. On the otner nana,
the yield Of non-food flshery ploouoU'
in the United States ana AiaSAs 1'ol
Evening star., 1931-12-20

phasize again the unique status Of
Washington among all the cities of the
world? Those who are exempted from
the payment Of income taxes will con-
tinue, to all intents and purposes, as
members of the community In which
they gain their livelihood. But be-
cause of the constitutional limitations
imposed by the boundaries Of the Dis
trict they escape-and very justly so,
as matters stand-the responsibility of
contributing, except through tiny
portion of their Federal taxes, to the
support Of this community.
During the so-called debate in the
House on the tax bills residents of the
District were advised to get out of town
if they did not like the rule by Con-
gress. Does any one in the House
realize just how many of them are get
ting out of town? In the last ten
years the population of the District of
Columbia increased II per cent. The
appropriations for the District In
creased 1870 per cent, with the Federal
contribution less in 1880 than in 1920,
And in the same interval the popula-
ton of Arlington County increased 62.5
per cent, the population Of Montgomery
County 40 per cent, the population Of
Prince Georges County 386 per cent,
the population OF Alexandria County
339 per cent, the population OF Fairfax
County 165 per cent, and the popula-
ton Of the metropolitan area II per
cent
What accounts for this great in
crease? It resulted from that very
exodus from the District of Columbia y
of which Mr. Frear, as yet, says he has
not heard
Whether people are leaving the Dis
trict because they do not like Congress
or cannot pay increasing taxes is not
important. The important fact Is that
they are leaving and the expenses of
this city are increasing of the
Federal Governments own fine plans
for its development-far beyond any
proportionate increase or ability to pay
on the part of the population. Did
the Mapes Committee give any consid-
Grafton to that factor? 1t did not.
Yet that factor is highly important
not only as it applies to the income tax
bill, but to the proposed estate tax bill,
the gas tax bill, the automobile weight
tax bill
The District of Columbia. in addition
to being the seat of Government of the
United States, is the metropolitan CEN
ter of a large population that con-
tributes nothing in local tax revenue
toward its maintenance.
These facets of a many-sided problem
will be considered by the Senators who
must judge as to the soundness OF rea-
sons advanced for increasing the tax
burden on the relatively small propor-
tlon of the members of the Capital
community who live within the boun-
daries Of the District of Columbia.
Evening star., 1931-12-20

mally amounts to just under 100000, 900
POUNDS, valued at something above
S5,o00,000. this group including men
naoen, used for fertilizer and in animal
1eedlng, as well as fresh-Water mussel
Snells. The fisheries of Alaska en-
ployed some $4,000 persons. who pro-
duced more than 600,o00,O00 pounds,
Valueo at more than $12,000,000.
The value of all the canned fishery
products and by-productS in the United
states and Alaska was $107,000000, a
slight decrease from the figures OF the
preceding year. This canning was done
at 464 establishments in the United
States and Alaska OF these canned
products salmon led the list, with sar-
olnes and tunafish following.
FINALLY. the direct dollars and cents
Value OF the chronological investigations
OF the Bureau Of Fisheries as they re-
late to the by-products, Is shown by
Mr.. Fielder to be of increasing impor-
lance: In one instance only, we are
TOLD. these Investigations found an out
let Tor half million gallons of fish oil
Tor poultry feed at price considerably
ABOVE that ordinarily received for this
on when used in the arts ard indus
rtrles. Markets were extended, manu-
1ecturing methods improved and new
possibilities explored.
tCopyriEht, 1sSl.)
Evening star., 1931-12-20

Ushering in movie Is far better
than ushering in a legitimate theater,
A MT play Is likely to run indefinitely.
put most movies change weekly. II
has been whispered that all the road
companies that played and probably
still are playing "Abies Irish Rose" were
made up OF ushers who had worked in
the New York playhouse where the
original cast capered. After few years
uSherlng, the help knew every line. But
there's change in the movies and at
least 1924 a week
CaShlerlng seems to be about the
worst Job in the movies. A cashier
usually isn't kept on duty very long.
She has short hours and a relief She
gets So a week salary, but she has the
fun OF handling all that money and. II
a philosopher, the fun of seeing the
types who attend these entertainments,
admittedly designed to please persons
registering Blnet age of years,
Another group out ot luck from the
point Of view of seeing the show for
nothing is composed of the doormen.
Ihey work the longest hours, 81 of them
to the week, stay out in all kinds of
weather, and get $40 week. But then
consider the cOmpensations. They can
wear uniforms furnished by the man
n
splendor beside which Russian grand
duke or the Crown Prince Of Graustark
would look like a rag-picker. What
matter that their jobs do not give them
an opportunity TO see the show? They
are show in themselves and are well
aware of it.
Where the Bigger Salaries Are.
The big shots in a movie house from
the salary standpoint are the musi-
clans and the protection men. These
are organized workers, belonging 10 a
sim union W..lch is able TO dictate
terms TO the employing world. The
stage hands employed by the larger
MOVIES which put On vaudeville shows
IN addition to the films shown. also be-
long TO the big shot class. They, too.
are unlonized.
stage hand, scene Shlfter. button
pusher or Whatnot will draw up TO $40
a week, which normally is a 48-hOur
week. IN hgurlng movie working time,
1t must be borne in mind that in most
cities motion picture theaterS are open
seven days week. Musicians in big
theaterS often are able TO dictate pretty
much their own terms if they have i'm
portant regulations, but, on an average.
they are paid from SIS TO $50 week for
their toOtllng
The same is true Of projection men,
motion picture operators. A good man,
an expert in handling his machine. can
aImoSE Vllte his own ticket. for there
Is an art IN turning a crank. Gener-
any Spe 1Klng, hnWrl r, wages for oDcr-
ators range from $40 a week in the
smaller houses up TO S35 a week in the
de luXicS
Then there are the rank and file O,
MINOR workers who get about the same
wages workers in similar lines DO else
WVhere-charWomen, elevator boys, IAN
itors and the like.
The usher's Job is the most coveted.
He has the edge. But there's this
about it, He is always running the risk
OF facing that evening when Will fan
TO him the task Of usherlng to their
seats his best girl and his mated rival,
Evening star., 1931-12-20
The New Tax Bills.

The Senate'S reference of the four
District-taXing House bills to its Com
mittee on the District Of Columbia
means that these measures will receive
the fair and thorough consideration de-
MED them by the few members of the
other branch who went through the
motions of looking them over as they
rushed by.
The Senate committees primary con-
sideration will naturally concern the
necessity of these tax-boosting instru-
ments. To determine this necessity the
Senators will seek knowledge on the
relative weight of the burden of taxa
ton in the District. If this burden falls
below that of other cities, the Senators
may find it desirable to remove IN
equitable discrepancies. No one argues
that the District of Columbia enjoys
any right or advances any claim to dis
eliminating leniency in the taxes that
its residents should pay as long as the
taxes are representative of a burden
fairly imposed. What method will be
followed in determining the relative
weight of this burden remains to be
seen Seeking light on the subject, the
Senate committee will certainly study
the Mapes report, and great light
therefrom will be shed.
AS for consideration of the specific
bills themselves, it can be stated, and
with reasonable assurance, that the resi-
dents of the adjacent communities in
Maryland and Virginia need have little
fear that the income tax bill as passed
by the House will, if it ever reaches the
final form of enactment, contain provi-
sions imposing the unjust burden Of
double and even triple taxation. The
inadvertently inserted provisions of the
House bill indicating that such will be
the case probably escaped the attention
of the statesmen in the House who
enjoy the high privilege and response
bility of drafting and voting for laws
that affect the welfare of hundreds Of
thousands of people. Such provisions
naturally will be promptly removed.
And there is fine irony in the fact
that they will be removed by the
majestic power that lies in the hands
of the ballot welding members of this
community who. by establishing resi-
dence beyond the non-extensible bor-
ders of the Ten Miles Square," have
come into possession of the sacred
right of a voice in the power that taxes
them.
But a matter far more significant
than the doubtful propriety of taxing
the ins0mes of the members of this
community including the members of
Congress- who maintain residence out
side the District is raised by this in
come tax bill.
Suppose they are exempted from its
provisioIS' Will not that fact en-
Evening star., 1931-12-20
The Citizens of "Swampoodle

Granting to Mr.. Frear of Wisconsin
and those who agree with him the full
right and even the plain duty to pre-
sent their side of the case on fiscal
relations with all the vigor, backed
by all the facts, they can command,
one must protest, at the same time, the
resort to sarcasm and ridicule to
cheaper and belittle the protests voiced
by various sections of this community
against the obviously unjustified tactics
employed in the House in attempting
to increase local taxation as part of a
| plan to repudiate the national obliga-
| ton toward the Capital City.
Addressing the House on Wednesday,
Mr.. Frear referred as follows to reso-
lutions adopted by citizens associations:
Included in The Stars columns are
protests from Brightwood Takoma
Park and SWampoodle. and other ad-
mirers and followers who so frequently
resolute to Congress without any con-
ception of the real facts because they
only read The Washington Star.
1t is to be remembered that while
the process in the neighborhood asso-
Citations of 'resoluting" to Congress
may appear to be tragically futile and
unavailing, as compared to the rights
enjoyed by the citizens of other mu-
inequalities who send their own repre-
sentatives to Congress and hold them
accountable by the power of the ballot,
who participate as Americans in the
privilege of self-government and self
taxation, yet it remains the one method
available to most of them here to ex-
press those natural aspirations to fair
treatment at the hands of alien rulers
that is a part of the makeup of the
normal human being.
To ridicule these citizens and to de-
ride their communities by catchwords,
to throw the impotency of their "reso-
luting" back in their faces, should strike
the average member of Congress as a
pretty small method of fighting battle
Evening star., 1931-12-20
Multiplying the Universe.

Prof. Albert Etnstein has adopted the
five e-dimensional theory of the universe
He has acknowledged his error in pre-
viously rejecting the hypothesis OF
Theodore Kaluza. He now postulates
five instead of four with a breadth of
spirit that promises the possibility of
half a dozen little later, If he should
find five vectors-that is the correct
term for special dimension-too few
for his computations.
1t is with great relief that the nom
technical world receives this announce
ment of shift in the Einstein view
point. There has been much anxiety
on the score of the chance that Einstein
might perhaps be wrong and too set in
his views to shift to a more reasonable
attitude. Some scientists are that way
Enstein, however. is quite frank in say
ing that after working for more than a
year he reached the conclusion that he
was striving in the wrong direction. He
does not quite 60 all the way over to
kaluza. The latter's theory. he says.
while not acceptable, is nevertheless
nearer the truth than the other theoreti-
cal approaches"
How does this leave the world? It IS
for the great majority Of folks three d.
mensional. For few who have special
vision and understanding it is four di-
mensional. 1t now becomes, by agree
ment between Einstein and Kaluza, five
dimensionsl. This progression is cal
culated to cause daze in the minds of
most people. The original Einstein
theory of relativity put quite a number
of men and women into strait jackets
through trying to adjust themselves to
the notion that everything turns back
upon itself and that there Is no infinity
Evening star., 1931-12-20
If the Nations Behave.

Good behavior on the part of the
sleat Ssnnons is all that is needed to
put Mother Earth back on the pros
perity track-So states Sir George
Paish. celebrated British economist, in
an interview at London with the Assc-
Ciated Press The behavior necessary
upon the part of the peoples, Slt
George says, is sagaCiouS policy on the
part of their respective governments.
There must also be degree of cooper
alton among these governments, the
former adviser to the Britith treasury
points out, If results are TO be attained.
Given the will and the international
teamwork. Sir George envisages an un-
paralleled era of world welfare.
Three major needs are set forth by
the London economist: Cd An inter-
national conference to consider rehabil-
itation measures, (2) revision Of Ger
manvs reparation payments TO insure
eventual repayment of her commercial
debts, and t3) federal and state tenn
pCrary bank guaranty ECtS in all coun-
tries Item No. > in S'r George Palsh's
schedule of world pau&ceas is not new.
It is at this momerst the subject Of
searching scrutiny az the Basel experts
meeting. On the outcome of those in
oulries item No. l may depend.
AS to item No. 3, referring to gov
ernment bank guaranty acts, something
akin to that project is actually afoot
in this country nov. The National
Credit CORPORATION, instigated by Presi-
dent Hoover in October, has as its
primary funCticl the preservation Of
solvent banking institutions. Other
projects lcok 80 the protection and
prompt liquidation of depositors' funds
in closed bann. The additional aid the
President proposes for the Federal Farm
Loan Banks L. along the lines Of Gov
ernment guaranty" of banking re-
sources and extension Of banking facil-
tiles. The $500 100000 Federal Recon-
struction Credit Corporation is vet an
other impending move whereby the
Government hopes to put its broad
shoulder to The financial wheel.
The wise behavior by nations, which
Sir George Paish sets forth as pre-
requisite to world recovery, is already,
therefore, in actual effect in the United
States The measures it connotes are
60 ol-l,- o,J ovou-aIlv domestic in mr.
pose, but an economically rehabilitated
America is bound to be a factor of
magnitude in the process of general
world rehabilitation.
Evening star., 1931-12-20
Traffic Tickets.

There can be little question thqt the
enforcement of minor traffic regulations
has been strengthened by the adoption
of the triplicate system of serving no.
tice on offenders. In the past, when
only one ticket was made out, to be
put in the motorists car, and with no
responsibility for it on the part of the
policeman to his superiors, enforcement
was necessarily lax. The motorist
would either pay no attention to it or,
if he did, endeavor to fix it" with the
policeman. With the new system, how
ever, no such evasion is possible. The
ticket left in the recalcitrant motorist S
car is merely one Of three and is num-
bered in the policemans book. AS for
the ;wo other copies. one goes to the
Traffic Bureau and the remaining one
is kept by the officer
Traffic regulations are made to be en-
forced. If they are not, the motorist
loses respect for them and by the same
token respect for all regulations. The
new system is great improvement over
the old and should work to promote
better conditions in the National Capital.
Evening star., 1931-12-20

Utopia has not yet been found, but
out in Oak Park, ILL.,. school children
are digging into their savings banks to
buy tax-anticipation warrants for the
purpose of keeping the public schools
open. This modern generation is Ger
tainly different, every way one looks
at it.