davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1934-11-27
~ w o spriglike
cirlS draO8d in

i girls draped in
white ciiitfons
appeared on either
side OF the stage
playing a lifting
melody On flutes
The liquid babble
of feminine voices
diminished. and the
crowded salon grew
quiet as the pages
announced M ! s S
Daphne Lane, mod
cling the Pond Lily.
The tenth annual
fashion show for
the benefit Of de-
serted waits was
on! Amid a burst
OF feminine gasps,
Miss Daphne SEEM
ed to float through
French windows to
a b a lc o n y. She
poised a moment
a tall, fragile blond
beauty in a misty
green org a n d y
Evening star., 1934-11-27
Natures Children
BY LILLIAN cox ATHEY.
Golden-Eyed Lace-Wing.
Chrys0pa Vulgaris.

Y ACE-WING children were the
original pole-sitters! Further,
they are known as aphis lions,
- and live up to their reputation.
No more blood thirsty creature
can be found than these little lions,
who are friends of ours.
1t is not difficult to see the lovely,
green-winged, lace-wing, as she Sc
lects, with care, green leaf for
the support Of her slender, silk poles.
She knows by some instinct, which
we cannot understand, that her off,
spring will have cannibalistic tenden-
cies, and that she must locate each
and every egg on its own pole
Look for these clever mothers,
where there are flourishing herds of
ant "cows." Near them or even in
Evening star., 1934-11-27
Bedtime Stories
,Y THORNTON w. BURGESS.

starting out he happened to look up
at the top of the lone elm tree, and
at once Danny forgot that he was
going anywhere. In the top Of that
tree. sitting very straight and very
still, was a dark form he hadn't no.
Evening star., 1934-11-27
Jolly Polly
A Little Chat on English.
BY JOS. ]. FRISCH.

NJ. H. T.-Either There are no
premiums to pay" or There aren't
any premiums to pay may be used.
There is no objection, whatever. to
the term aren't any" Are no" is
the more formal and. OF course. is to
be preferred in formal speaking snd
writing. 1t goes without saying that
"ain't no" is not to be considered.
Evening star., 1934-11-27

Tomorrow: Showdown" by Harold
Kerr. is. q clever account Of how young
husband secured the money to pay ms
bills when his wife insisted he ask his
austere old boss for . raise.
Evening star., 1934-11-27

. OES your complexion look as
/ clear and smooth in the sun
shine as it does under arti-
. fetal lights in the evening?
IL Il does don't fail To keen
Evening star., 1934-11-27
The Lone Watcher.

VINO patiently doth watch and wait
Will be the master OF his late
'--- pnuu bIpp The Hawk
Evening star., 1934-08-18
Reading Etruscan.

Little is known of the Etruscan
peoples of ancient Italy They con-
stitute one of the many mysteries of
cultural evolution Anthropologists.
ethnographists and archeologists have
wrestled with their problem for CEN
turies in vain. They have defied in
vestigation. Yet there has been ample
reason to believe that their civiliza-
ton exercised g powerful influence
on the development of their Greek,
Sabine and Latin neighbors. The
monuments they left manifest tech
nique and a method which can be
!. traced to a natural conclusion in the
kingdom. the republic and the en-
pire of Rome But to the intense
annoyance of successive generations
of scholars those very relics of their
rise and fall invariably have borne
inscriptions which could not be read.
The Etruscan language, science per-
force has been obliged to say, Is like
no other tongue. Endeavors to de-
cipher it in the so-called "etymologi-
cal" manner have failed-it simply
would not yield to the test of COM
parison with other ancient types Of
speech. Nor has the "combatory"
device whereby words are studied In
relation to other words within the
text been productive of satisfactory
results. A third attempt. also predi-
Gated on the Internal examination
of selected textual fragments. was
made about decade ago in the hope
that principle of combination and
chronology" could be perfected.
But now comes a report from Rome
TO the effect that fourth approach
to the problem is proving fruitful.
Prof. Francesca Pironti has pub
lished a book entitled III Decifra-
mento della Lingua Etrusco, in which,
critics believe, he has put all doubts
at an end" His doctrine, it seems,
has been that the same pathological
Evening star., 1934-08-18
Sad Slaughter of
Trees i'm the Mall

To the Editor of The Star,
I wish that every resident of Wash
ington, especially every tree lover,
would go down to the Mall and see for
himself, or herself, what our noble"
National Capital Park and Planning
Commission is doing to it. Beautiful.
stately trees, rs to 100 years old, sound
and healthy, are being slaughtered
every day-trees that are not even in
the path of the four straight road
ways that 1t seems must be run
through the Mall. 1t is as if lot of
vandals were determined to remove,
root and branch, every tree that has
for so many yeats made our Mall an
area Of great natural beauty. Moth
ing, 1t seems, except the expression Of
an outraged public can stop it. VIII
you not add your protest to save the
remaining trees that seem doomed?
ABBIE OWEN.
Evening star., 1934-08-18

the police privately, which, Of course,
he should.
In one other aspect the case re-
sembles American experience in this
connection. The attorney general of
Ontario states that he will move at
once for legislation enabling instant
mobilization of the police Of the
province in similar cases in the fu-
ture, placing them under central
authority which will exercise control
over the family and strict censorship
upon news Of police movements. In
other words, the Canadian laws have
thus far negatively favored this crime,
even as in the United States the kid
napers have been abetted by divided
jurisdictions and the lack of a CEN
trail authority for pursuit and cap
ture, a fault that has lately in large
measure been corrected.
Evening star., 1934-08-18
Canada's KIDNAPPING Case.

The Labatt kidnapping case in Can
ada was quickly solved and yet 1t
remains a mystery. The victim was
returned within seventy hours after
he was taken, unharmed. Whether
any money was paid for his release
is not known. Who took him is yet
to be learned. One man has been
arrested for attempting to extort pay
ment from the family, but it Is not
assured that he was in fact con-
nected with the crime. Suspicion pre-
walls that he is just a crank, or per-
haps a chiseler trying to get some
easy money
The fact that the hostage was
quickly restored to his family is not
to be regarded as victory for the
law if any part of the ransom de-
manded was paid. If there was any
payment whatever the kidnapping was
a success, not to be negatived unless
The man -stealers are eventually caught
and punished.
Pursuit of the. kidnapers will, of
course, continue, just as in this coun-
try, where several cases have occurred
in which the victims have been re-
leased on payment and the police
still carry on their chase. At its pres
ent status the Canadian case is
typical. Every known expedient is
being employed to dig out the truth
and get the people who plotted the
crime. Fingerprints of American kid
napers are being studied. Telephone
calls are being traced. The victim
himself seems to have no evidence to
offer as to the identity of his alb
ductors or the place where he was
kept, unless indeed he has given It to
Evening star., 1934-08-18

laws which governed the Etruscan
race still are operative among their
descendants in the italian peninsula:
and in that faith he has constructed
a system Of metatheses or transposi-
ton of letters applicable to the case.
Through long months of arduous
labor he tested his theory by COM
pairing Etruscan roots with Greek
roots in the light of his experience
with surviving dialects. Eventually,
he found that Etruscan could be
translated into Latin.
Perhaps the average layman may
not be interested, but Prof. Pironti
will have an audience, none the less.
No one who has toured the museums
of Rome and Florence and seen the
curious and often beautiful souvenirs
of the lost nation preserved in those
places can be immune to the attrac-
ton of their existence. Thousands
of Americans, surely, will be among
those who will rejoice If 1t Is true
that science at last is to have the
pleasure of reading Etruscan.
Evening star., 1934-08-18
Presidents Green Bay Talk
Brings Mixed Press Reaction

win back for us as Nation the firm
foundations we have deserted. And
the chief responsibility win rest on
big business, which still does not
seem to have its eyes open to what
proposal that Government promise
to take hands absolutely on is typical
Of that blindness"
"At Green Bay, the President
crossed the political Rubicon." asserts
the Providence Bulletin, adding that
the speech twas declaration that he
places the Progressive support of the
new deal before the welfare OF the
Democratic party in Wisconsin and
elsewhere" The Boston Transcript
feels that che is standing pat and
adds: Men and women who were at
Mr.. Roosevelt's side in his great fight
are now asking themselves If there
has not been enough action, If the
time has not arrived when the Gov
ernment can honestly feel that Amer
leans are once more able to stand
on their own feet"
1T is apparent" according to the
st. Paul Daily News, that something
more than a restatement of the pur-
poses of the new deal will be required
before long to maintain the conf
dence of the people" The Columbus
Evening Dispatch maintains that '.no
hope is held out to the business and
industrial interests Of the country
that they may now go. ahead with
projects involving long commitments,
longtime financing. capital borrow
ings or any Of the other transactions
which depend upon the abiding faith
of one man in another"
More than once, Mr.. Roosevelt has
talked TO the left and has walked to
the right" says the Richmond News
Leader, and comments as follows on
the address: 1T may be regarded by
some as nothing less than a bid for
the support of all liberals. regardless
whittier it was going, or what form
1t would take, but he assured the
Nation, and especially the people Of
Wisconsin, that the new deal will go
on. We. wonder how historic that
utterance really will be. Does it mark
the beginning of a political course
that will lead Mr.. Roosevelt away
from the conservative Democrats Of
the South? Is the President at last
answering the Nations question and
taking the left turn instead Of the
right?"
On the Presidents attitude toward
Senator La Toilette, the Savannah
Morning News believes that the no
ticeable political stand is that "the
Chief Executive would place himself
in an extremely anomalous position
were he to go into Wisconsin or home
States Of other new deal supporters
and fatty demand election of DEM
ocrats." Endorsement of La Toilette
is seen by the Milwaukee Sentinel.
while the La Crosse Tribune reports
CONSERVATION" in the ranks of the
Democrats, and the Oshkosh NORTH
western finds lack Of party loyalty"
The Charleston Is. c. Evening Post
holds that the Presidents references
to the Wisconsin Senator were rather
too diluted to bank upon" while the
Charlotte IN. c. Observer recalls the
fate Of President Wilson's effort 70
inspire votes and suggests o warning
TO President Roosevelt.
Evening star., 1934-08-18
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

! Nor does this mean simplification to
any particular degree. One is not
driven back to the 500 words of the
new basic English" There are
plenty of good words in the amplitude
Of the language, words understood by
everybody Of even basic education.
r
Smiling eyes, smiling face, these are
better than smiling landscape, for
eyes and entire faces do contain
smiles as such, whereas a landscape
can be called smiling" only as o fg-
ure of speech.
The face and the eyes make the
smile and every smile is supposed to be
but happy, especially when it is ac-
tuated by some of the less noble mo-
tives Of mankind.
| Some smiles are to be feared, for
they herald 'wisecracking" Of the low
est variety. Often this form of sup
posed wit is used to take out an inner
venom on some inoffending person
who does not suit.
The code is that so long as what is
said is said with a smile and with
some attempt at humor, no matter
how far-fetched or poor, all in hearing
must accept the "wisecracking" at the
speakers valuation.
He who rebels Is a poor sport" or
cannot take joke" Thus the code,
of which the smile is part, says that
anything which claims to be humorous
actually is humorous. If this system
could be worked out in economics as
easily, it would mean that anything
which any one desired to call money
would be money.
Mainly through the operation Of
this code of casual acquaintance, as
it may be called, the smile has at
tanned a place in modern society it
never had in the old.
It began with the famous remark
of the Virginian, When you say that,
smile!"
AS if the smile honestly took the
nastiness out of nasty words!
All they took out of 1t, then or since,
was the necessity for being publicly
offended. Ones precious face" was
saved, but the words were just the
same.
When a smile hides a nasty design
or intention it ought to be different
from the smile used for the purpose
of real humor, but actually there is no
difference at all.
Therefore, as in all connected with
mankind, the observer must know the
intention before he pays obeisance to
the Hollywood signal, the smile.
| 4 n y y
| The code of the smile claims that
it somehow is connected with the
mind. that the ready laughter is in
tensely intelligent.
Yet there is another philosophy
which asserts that the smile is nothing
but the animal in us barring its fangs.
Throughout the ages the serious
minded have had little use for the too
free use of the smile and its broader
equivalent, the laugh.
Laugh, clown, laugh" is plain
enough, they hold; it speaks volumes
in three words. And there Is no
smile in it either.
Laughing landscape, indeed! Let
the landscape be beautiful, let it be
charming, let it be green, or yellow
with dust, or let it be in shadow, as at
evening, but never say it Is laugh
ing" except as way of speaking, be-
cause there is no such thing as q
smile in Nature. When we think she
smiles she is merely being beautiful.
Evening star., 1934-08-18
Rate by Mail-Payable in Advance.
The New Commissioner.

The Army Engineer Corps is full of
fine, capable officers and, judging
from Lieut.. Col. Daniel I. Sultan's
record, the President has chosen one
of the best of them to be Engineer
Commissioner of the District. His
Army career has been marked by a
number of exacting assignments which
he has carried out with credit and
distinction. He has dealt with mill
tary problems in France, with engi-
neering problems in Nicaragua and
with c. w. A. problems-possibly the
toughest Of them all-in the battle
SCARED area of Cook County. Ill. He
knows Washington, as most Army
officers come to know this Capital
City, and Washington looks forward
with pleasant anticipation to the close
acquaintanceship with him that the
next three years will bring.
Few Army officers detailed to the
Municipal Government, one of the
sought-after assignments in the Army
away from troops, have lacked In pro-
fessional training or qualification for
the many technical matters with
which they deal as Engineer Commits
sioner. The great majority of them
have maintained the high standards
of engineering skill and personal eff
cheney that have come to be traditions
of the Engineer Corps. And most of
them, in their period of service at the
District Building, have formed warm
friendships in the community and
with the community that were not
severed by transfer to other posts. The
failures have been represented by the
officers who brought into their some
times delicate official relationships
with a civilian community some of the
arbitrary policies of action that pre-
dominate in the barracks. An Engi-
neer Commissioner must be something
more than an efficient Army officer to
win the respect and the cooperation
of the citizens of a community denied
the right of participation in their own
government.
In welcoming the new Engineer
Commissioner it is not pleasant to bid
farewell to Maj. Gotwals. A few
weeks ago a delegation representing
both employers and labor in the build
ing industry-the groups with which,
in these troublous times, he has had
most to deal-went to the White
House to petition that he be retained.
Under the circumstances, that was an
extraordinary tribute to the fair i'm
partiality which those who have come
to know Maj. Gotwals have always
found. He will leave his post bearing
the best wishes of the community.
Evening star., 1934-08-18
Urges a Pedestrians
Protective Phalanx

To the Editor of The Star:
In the streets and highways of the
day foot passengers Jump and run
for their lives. And they seem to do
it. more's the pity. patiently, indus
triously and uncomplainingly.
Might not pedestrians be embold-
ened to give some signs that they
have common law rights in the road
and that they know 1t? With no aim
to stir up martyrs who will die in
their tracks rather than give ground,
is it not possible for citizens afoot to
stiffen their attitude just enough
silently to protest the encroachments
of automobile drivers?
What though the result might be
another national organization! Among
so many, is not there room for q
Pedestrians Protective Phalanx?
GARDNER WILSON.
Evening star., 1934-08-18

Press comment on President Roose-
velt's recent address at Green Bay,
Wis, shows wide differences of opinion
as to the effect of his declaration that
the new deal will go on, while his at
titude toward Senator La Toilette Is
variously interpreted.
After pooh-poohing the demand
for a confidence-inspiring statement"
observes the Des Moines Tribune, "the
President nevertheless, in cautious
way, so as not to alarm any liberals
on a day when he was bidding for
them, did include sentences which
were meant to reassure" The Tribune
quotes the statement, "This Govern
ment intends no injury to honest
business" and refers to the denial
that social justice takes from one and
gives to another, and the idea that
"the spreading out Of opportunity
ought not to consist Of robbing Peter
to pay Paul"
THE fact that reinsurance to busi-
ness seemed necessary was no COM
pliment to the intelligence of those
leaders Of business who most loudly
proclaimed their fears" says the Raj
eigh News and Observer, while the
st. Paul Pioneer Press declares: THE
sooner the truth is recognized by
every one that President Roosevelt is
liberal and not a radical; that he
means to cover the new deal within
the structure of American traditions
and institutions; that he has come to
preserve the values and essentials
Of the American system and not to
destroy them-the better for business
and the whole country. That Is what
he seemed to be conveying at Green
Bay"
Basis for reinsurance in the Roose-
welt speech is recognized by the At
lanta Constitution, while the Louis
vile Herald-Post offers the opinion:
"The speech would make a splendid
starting point for series of construc-
tive moves to soothe business into a
sense Of security. The President has
served notice that he doesn't intend
to give up his program as a whole.
He could easily go on from there and
by continuation of the superb lead
ership he showed in launching his
program readjust his new deal to
remove some of the Objectionable fea-
lures"
ITO the day Of the tooth and claw
thinks the Harrisburg (Pa) Patriot,
"the great overwhelming majority OF
American citizens will not permit a
return. Unsatisfactory as present
conditions may be to some, the old
order to which the President alluded
is indescribably worse" The Muske-
gon CMich.) Chronicle concludes:
"The trend has gone so far, already,
that only a tremendous and deter
mined beating against the tide could
Evening star., 1934-08-18

Looking in the dictionary the other
day we ran across "riant," meaning
smiling, cheerful (of face. eyes, es-
pecially of landscape).
A famous old word, indeed, from
the French, much used in the de-
scriptive writing of the Victorian
epoch.
In many an old story one will find
mention of the 'riant landscape"
as if smiling landscape" somehow
would not have been as good.
There was a young cub reporter
once, fresh from college, and the
Importance Of his membership in a
national Greek letter fraternity.
One of his first assignments as a
newspaper man was to cover" a
meeting of the local alumni Of another
fraternity.
He turned in a story in which he
spoke of the "fratres in urbe," or
brothers in the city, as distinguished
from "fratres ex urbe," brothers out
of the city, terms used in fraternity
publications.
The city editor called the young
man over to the desk.
What does this mean?" he asked,
pointing to the "fratres in urbe."
Brothers in the CITY," was the
reply.
''Then why don't you say SOP"
exclaimed the editor, vigorously ply
ing the big black pencil.
y y X
If a landscape is laughing" why
not say so, rather than use such a
word as "riant?"
The question is, what is laughing
landscape?
Surely it must be one with sun
shine all over, so much cheerfulness
of light that it fairly laughs. Yet
many landscape in the Middle West
is so sunshiny that nothing grows
due to the lack of water. No one
could call such q territory laughing
in any respect.
Wherefore it Is realized that the
laugh and the smile are solely human
characteristics, depending upon the
way one looks at things. To say
"riant landscape" is really to say
laughing landscape" and to say the
latter must be to say happy land
scape." Over the same ground, how
ever, the battle RACES. It is not
happy" then. The question must re-
main, was 1t ever?
No doubt the best descriptives dc
not use essentially human compare
tives for natural things, unless the
writer plainly shows that what is
really described is the mind of the
beholder, under certain set of cir
cumstances.
A wholly secondary objection to the
use of such terms as "riant" is that
some reader may not understand
them.
Let them find out, then, one Is
tempted to say. In truth, many read
ers will understand. possessing enough
elementary knowledge of French,
although it may be no more than
the title Of Victor Hugo's Man Who
Laughs"
A great German orchestra con-
ductor, when told that the people did
not understand" Wagner, is said to
have replied, well, let them hear
him till they do understand him"
1t is a question, however. whether
the use of what may be termed out
of-the-way words is ever justified,
except in special cases.
There always is another word just
as good, a word which every one
will understand, and which will cause
no one to wonder as to its meaning