Evening star., 1932-06-11
.HE Eevptian Gazette. Cairo


America has been shocked by
the KIDNAPPING OF the Lindbergh
i baby, says Reuter- for the re-
turn of whom s50.000 ransom
is demanded. America. or rather the
United States. has long been looked
upon by the rest of the world, whose
only source Of knowledge is the news
papers, as the home of bandits. Amer
leans would naturally deprecate this
view, for there is probably as high per-
centage of law-abiding citizens in the
States as elsewhere. But the fact re-
mains that many people labor under
the impression that "hold-ups" are
everyday occurrences, that most peo-
pie pack a gun" and that, in short, If
you live in the States you carry your
life in your hands.
Why this impression? The reasons
are mot difficult to find.
Toward the close of the nineteenth
century when pioneering in the States
was in its heyday and Harmsworth had
yet to develop the popular press, the
Wild West was depicted by the medium
Of Buffalo Bills circus. Then came the
cinema and the schoolboys' cheap thrill
lers. The Wild West provided Holly
wood with an ideal setting for horse
OPERA" and cowboys became the idols
Of romantic youngsters the world over
The war came, and with it many
radical changes. Thousands OF men,
who might otherwise have never left
their native shores, were drafted abroad
to various foreign fronts where they
mixed and exchanged views with others
from distant parts, with the result that
many erroneous impressions were cor
rected. This undoubtedly gave new
incentive to travel and with the present.
day facilities the travelling habit has
grown.
But. in the meantime. the press has
developed. After the war years. when
news from the various fronts was for a
! long time almost the sole important
topic in the press, journalists had to
seek fresh pastures to provide the daily
sensations, and what could provide a
more thrilling topic than gang warfare
in the States? The introduction of some
important presidential event might be
given a dozen lines at the most. the
gangsterS' exploits were worth a column
on the most important page Of any
newspaper. The Americans themselves
have done little to correct this impress
sion of gang rule. Hollywood was quick
to seize the opportunity and gangster
Aims have flooded foreign markets.
Today. the gangster has found new
source Of income and the world is being
RECALLED with the hunt for the Lind
bergh baby. While We sympathize with
the famous airman and his wife and
, hope the baby will soon be found and
the criminals brought to justice. We
must deplore the fact that news agen-
cies and the press seem to regard this
kind of happening as the only worth
, while news that comes out OF America.
+ 4 \
: British Brewers
Call Beer Essential.
Manchester Guardian.-The Allied
Brewery Traders Association lately
passed a resolution in which beer was
referred to as an essential food and
the national drink Whatever may
be said to the contrary now, there can
be little doubt that the national drink
claim held good $50 years ago, II we
may Judge from the following extract
taken from q school arithmetic book of
that period. This was the sort Of sum
that boys using The Tutors Assistant
In the year 1882 had to work out:
In o family consisting Of seven per-
sons there are drank out 2 kilderkins
Of beer In IL days. How many kilder-
kins will there be drank out by another
family of IA persons in 8 days?
The average consumption In this
family works ut at nearly three and
q half pints a day for each member;
and, as we learn from other sums, that
beer cost about penny pint. brewers