davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington times., 1935-11-29
Accident 10 Husband
Shocks Wife 10 Death

Shock of discovering her hus-
band injured in the hallway Of
their home. % K st. N. W., caused
the death of Mrs. Mary Lesher, st.
from heart attack.
Her husband, Jacob c. Lesher,
65. was severely cut on the head
when he fell in the hallway. He
was treated at Casualty and re-
turned home.
The Washington times., 1935-11-29
Hyman Weger, Liquor
Store Owner, Robbed

Lyman Weger, proprietor Of a
LIQUOR store at 507 Eleventh ST..
N. W., was held up and robbed Of
$111.99 last night by a man who
entered the store and covered"
Mr.. Weger with an automatic gun.
Mr.. Weger, who lives at 804 Ingra-
ham st. N. W., told police the
money was taken from the cash
register.
Evening star., 1935-01-14

about that simple problem. farm re-
lief, too. He wants Q pension for the
aged, though not as high as DR..
Townsend's plan Of 5000 a month.
He proposes to pay each person sixty
years Of age or over not less than
$50 or $40 each month. Public
education should be guaranteed up
to college and professional training.
Mental capacity. not financial, is to
be the limit of education.
A good deal Of this program OF
Mr.. Longs has been advanced before
by some Of the New Dealers. AS a
matter Of fact, Mr.. Long insists that
it is all to be found in the promises
made by President Roosevelt in the
last campaign. His fear is that the
President is not going through with
the program. Mr.. Long has not much
use, apparently, for the Congress OF
the United States Of which he is
such q conspicuous member. But
then, he is used to issuing his orders
to legislators.
Evening star., 1935-01-14
One Thing at a Time.

One of the interesting features of
the plan by Mr.. Roberts, the peoples
counsel, for an underground railway
following the line of Pennsylvania ave-
nue. and extending as far as Dupont
Circle toward the northwest, is his
proposal to drum up demand for
it among members of Congress and
the citizens associations. The ability
to do this depends on the arguments
that Mr.. Roberts may have assembled
in favor of his proposition, Certainly
no such enterprise is worth consider
ing until there Is a real demand, based
on thorough familiarity with the
objects sought and the method of
attaining them.
The estimated cost of $4,000, 900 is,
OF course, mostly guesswork. 1t would
undoubtedly require a more careful
survey by skilled engineers than Mr..
Roberts has been able to make to
obtain any accurate idea of cost. And
after that is determined, the ways and
means of obtaining the money and
the benefits to be realized by the
municipality from going into the mass
transportation business should be
clearly set forth.
The scheme may have considerable
advantages. Washington's street traf-
flc problem may reach proportions
when a subway is the only solution
But can we not have one thing at
a time? What is holding up the
rerouting scheme for the surface rail-
ways, for instance? Last Summer
there was a veritable deluge of re-
routing schemes before the Public
Utilities Commission, all Of them in
volving new trackage layouts, and
Washington newspaper readers were
made dizzy with charts and maps
and the differences of opinion among
the experts. Yet, rerouting, which
was to have benefited the street car
riding public under merged opera
ton of the lines and which was prom
ised as one Of the results of the
merger, Is now lying dormant in a
stupor caused by suffocation from so
many plans. One of these, suggested
from the Park and Planning Commits
sion, related to the construction Of
a tunnel under the Mall. That, along
with Mr.. Roberts larger subway
scheme, might well await a start on
rerouting. First things ought to come
first.
Evening star., 1935-01-14

other slump occurred. Passing years
provided a sense of discrimination
which retired the snapshot collections
to the attic or the ash can.
But q few individuals took the
camera seriously enough to wish to
master its technique. Without en-
gaging in photography as a profession
or business, they cultivated combi-
nation of science and art sufficient to
make pictures worth preserving, and
their albums were and still are in
teresting.
The day may come perhaps when
Photography will enter still another
phase. People now have learned that
the camera is not merely a toy and
that it must be studied if 1t Is to be
used creditably, and this improved
|. knowledge may bring into existence a
crop Of albums which will be durable
as well as delightful.
Evening star., 1935-01-14
Hard to Answer,

Judging from the news reports,
possibility Of an adverse" decision
by the United States Supreme Court
in the gold cases has some Senators
and others in condition that is
sometimes described as "fit to be
tied" Nor can one underrate the
extraordinary effect of a decision
that would require the Government
and other borrowers now to meet
the specific obligation incurred
through the gold clause" in their
bonds. But it is significant to trace
the source of nervousness over the
possibility of such a decision.
The source is undoubtedly the
Questions from the bench" prin-
cipally from Chief Justice Hughes:
Is it not the very essence of
sovereignty to be able to bind a
sovereign State in contract to
borrow money?
Does not the validity of interna-
tional law depend as matter of in
ternational law on the power of the
sovereign state issuing obligations to
bind itself to repay those obligations,
and. in so doing, to fix the conditions
OF repayment?
Is it not the very essence of
sovereignty for government to be
able to contract. since it may be
necessary to do so in the interest of
its own security?
But you would not say that as
matter of international law a gov
ernment could repudiate its obliga-
tions?
Justice Stone asked Assistant Soil
citor General Angus MacLean about
the power of the Government to
pledge the credit of the United States,
and Mr.. MacLean, granting that such
power exists. said that the Govern
ment creates an obligation to pay
In dollars"
That's not what the bond says"
replied Justice Stone.
And it Is not what the bond says.
The bond says the money would be
paid in gold coin of an equal standard
OF weight and fineness as that exist
ing at the time the bond was sold.
And the bond was not so paid. And
q promise that was written on bond
of the United States and which
helped to sell that bond was repu-
dated. That is the fact that cannot
be lodged. And that is the fact that
now raises such fears as to what the
Supreme Court will decide; fact
which promises to make the courts
decision one of the most important in
its history.
Evening star., 1935-01-14
Britain Acts for Peace.
From the Kansas City Times.

from the Kansas City Times.
One of the developments that made
possible the present outlook for a
peaceful solution of the Sasr problem
and has greatly. relieved the strain
upon Franco German relations. it now
has become known, was a reversal of
the British governments policy not
to permit its troops to help preserve
period that will culminate with the
plebiscite on January 13.
Because of the bitterness Of the
campaign the Leagues Governing
Commission had become convinced
that the local police force, even when
augmented by troops recruited in the
nearby German-Speaking countries,
was inadequate to prevent violence.
Normally the League would have
called upon its most powerful men,
bers, including Great Britain and
Italy. as we'll as France, to provide
an international army to preserve
order in the Saar, as it did in the
case of the Rhineland But public
opinion in Great Britain in recent
years had swung away from any
"entanglement" in continental Euro
pean politics and the British govern
ment originally announced that it
would not participate in such an
enterprise. Italy followed suit. leav-
ing to France the task of providing
the special election police.
According to report, it was Stanley
Baldwin, the leader of the ConServa-
tive party and deputy prime minister
of Great Britain, who decided that
Great Britain must reverse its policy
in the interest of European peace. In
the face of a presumably hostile pub
lie opinion. he forced the government
to offer a British contingent, where
upon Premier Benito Mussolini agreed
to provide Italian troops for the same
purpose and Sweden and Holland also
we're induced to help. The French
government promptly took advantage
of the situation to declare that under
the circumstances France would not
be represented, thereby improving
Franco-G German relations and elimi-
mating grave threat to peace.
Evening star., 1935-01-14
An Anglo.Irish Truce.

Infected by the spirit of accommo-
dation and mutual interest that Is con-
tributing to the solution Of many
European problems at the dawn OF
the new year, Great Britain and the
Irish Free State have reached an
agreement designed to end the bitter
trade differences between them. Since
the De Valera government three years
ago proclaimed its intention Of ceas-
| ing the payment of land annuities to
British claimants, economic hostilities
between John Bull and his other island
have ragged on an even more acrimoni-
GUS scale. Both countries have suf-
fered heavily in consequence Of tariffs,
embargoeS and repriSalS of one sort or
another. Britain's profitable coal
trade with the Irish Free State was
diverted to continental competitors,
and the Free States market for its
wares in England, Scotland and Wales
| diminished in some lines to the van
ishing point. Exports of cattle, in
particular, a once prosperous Irish in
dustry, practically stopped.
President de Valera persistently con-
tended that the British market was
not essential to the Free States well
| fare, but he has now had the courage
to face grim facts and to- come to
terms with Britain under conditions
which promise that bigger political
issues may now be satisfactorily solved.
Neither country has taken down its
punitive tariff barriers, but so-called
cattle and coal" pact has been con-
cluded that confers substantial benefits
upon each. The British will be per-
mitted to ship 100000 tons of coal
Unemployment for 5000 miners, ad-
| ditional traffic for British coal boats
and savings in unemployment insur-
ance. Britain in return will take
! 10000 cattle from Irish farmers.
There are numerous other trades still
| deprived of their old markets, re-
spectively, in Britain and the Free
State, and Mr.. de Valera pledges that
the cattle and coal" deal is only the
forerunner of further agreements he
hopes to make.
The Dublin authorities had hoped
that expansion of trade with Ger
many and Belgium would compensate
for loss of business with Britain, but
the experiences of the past three years
clearly demonstrated that the other
half of the once united kingdom is still
pre-eminently the Free States best
market for its most valuable exports,
which are mainly agricultural produce.
Even during the trade war, with its
restrictions and quotas, Britain bought
extensively the output of Irish farms.
The political and sentimental causes
for Anglo-Irish conflict to the con-
trary Notwithstanding, it seems to be
dawning on responsible authorities in
both countries that their real link is
economic. With the removal of
trade strife, there is ground for hope
that general relations between the Free
State and Britain can at least be
vastly improved, even though Erin's
longing for complete independence be
destined to remain an unquenchable
aspiration.
Evening star., 1935-01-14
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Recent foggy days, while in high
disfavor with the general public, left
an unforgettable impression with those
of us who remember Washington in
the old days.
For us it restored the National Cap
ital to itself, in a sense. It set back
the clock, the years, to the days when
practically no planes few overhead,
and far, far fewer motor cars roamed
our streets.
The overgrown country village
which then was Washington, had an
undeniable charm.
A city pays for progress, some will
think.
AS the fog drew its mantle over all,
the strange feeling which invariably
accompanies this manifestation OF
Nature made itself felt again.
There was unusual force to it this
time, however, and 1t was not at once
that the sensitive observer of the
scene began to perceive Just what it
was.
Something was missing, surely
whether good or Ill depended upon
the precise way one felt about the
mechanical triumphs Of mankind.
One had 1t at last-there was no
roar Of airplane overhead, far less
motor noise on the streets.
On those foggy nights many streets
in the more secluded sections of the
cifv Qnd cyYhl,rhc Il.
cars after dusk.
Even in the quieter sections this
was unusual
Perhaps on normal evenings only a
few cars passed, but these particular
nights no cars slithered by at all.
The memory of older Washingto-
mans was taken back to the days OF
old.
And another thing those foggy DAYS
and nights brought
A distinct impression of Spring in
January.
There was suspicious haze of yell
low on the bare branches of the
sturdy forsythia.
Was the old bush to be fooled again,
as it had been some four or five years
ago when a particularly mild Jan
uary caused it to bloom long before
its normal season?
Such manifestations are regarded
with peculiar interest by the garden
minded.
The foggy weather. with its mild
temperature and continuing moisture
was not thing Of little moment to
home gardeners. To them it was an
other good dispensation of great Ma
ture. supplying plenty of water to
plants both large and small.
The amount of moisture contained
in that fog was surprisingly large
Perhaps to persons well acquainted
with London this is not a surprise
but most Of the fogs hereabouts are
rather limited, in the matter of mois-
ture content.
This one was heavy enough, and
continued long enough, to give even
the most land-locked dub a pretty
coed idea Of what fog could be. OF
course. it was not as thick as the ones
We read about, perhaps. but it was
far and away heavier and longer con-
tinued than any other phenomenon
of its kind within memory in this
vicinity.
\ X \
Fog always has been of interest to
mankind.
The late Alexander Graham Bell
for many years conducted expert
ments with fog.
He even bottled it.
As far as We can recall, nothing
ever came out of these most interest
Evening star., 1935-01-14
The Great Alternative.

Take my laws or take me! This
Is the dictum of Americas latest man
on horseback, Senator Huey P. Long,
the Louisiana "Kingfish" The Sen
ator modestly says that if the coun-
try will accept his program he is
perfectly willing to step aside and
not become the country's Chief
Executive. This is magnanimous. It
has all the flavor of that earlier say
ing, I'D rather be right than be
President" OF course, if Mr.. Long
becomes President, the country must
takes not only him, but also his laws
Under those circumstances Mr.. Long
would have his cake and eat it too.
Mr.. Long is not a new type. He
Is, he says, a friend of the people
Some day the people will become
suspicious. perhaps, of those who so
ardently proclaim their friendship.
The people do so much more, or can
do so much more, for their friends
than their friends do for the people
The Louisiana Senator sSys that
even with his Limited ability and
capacity" he guarantees that he can
draw up the laws, have the work
program ready and put it into opera
ton within six weeks. If this is "lim-
tied ability" where could a positive
genius not take us?
Now what is the alternative to
taking both Huey and his laws? Why,
the laws, alone, of course, according
TO Mr.. Long. His program includes
half a dozen points, designed to
"share the wealth." He proposes a
capital levy on incomes above a
million dollars a year, starting at
one per cent on the first second mil
lion Of income and running up to
sixty-four per cent on seven or eight
millions of dollars, and one hundred
per cent on all over eight millions.
He would permit no one to inherit
more than $1,000,000. This is tan
rible, at least. The rest of his pro-
rram has a more familiar ring. He
would guarantee food, clothes, home
for every family and employment. He
fayors the 30-hour work week, or
less, and q working year Of not more
Than eleven months. He has his ideas
Evening star., 1935-01-14
Family Institution.

Forty or fifty years ago the fam
lily album of photographs was an in
stitution. Every household had one,
and certain amount of pride at
tached to the circumstance. A place
on the parlor table customarily was
reserved for the volume, and visitors,
more commonly than not, were invited
to inspect the gallery. Good manners
dictated that proffers to view the
display should be accepted, and many
were the hours spent turning over the
windowed pages in which Grandfather
Jones, Uncle Cy Ferguson, Cousin
Nellie Tompkins and the Davis twins
were enshrined. Shrieks of merry
laughter, it may be conceded, on
occasion greeted the exhibition of
certain extravagant varieties of
whiskers. and similar outbursts were
the lot of feminine fashions of expert
mental periods in costume design. But
the album was good entertainment,
and many must be the men and
women who remember pleasantly and
gratefully the once popular custom
now discarded.
The decline probably began with the
invention of cameras inexpensive
enough to be within the means of
every one. A fad for snapshots some
what displaced the fashion for regular
patronage of professional pho
tographers. Literally thousands of
people acquired kodaks and pas
sionately employed them in amateur
pursuit of pictures good, bad and in
different. 1t seemed that the new
mechanism was simple enough to be
managed without training. The earth
consequently swarmed with a novel
breed of tyros, and for a while every
home possessed albums produced by
their enthusiasm and rejecting their
pathetic incapacity. Inevitably, an
Evening star., 1935-01-14

ing researches. But some man, per-
haps decades hence, may pick up
those researches and carry them on
to some triumphant finish. That is
the way Of science, which Is the true
handing on Of the torch from genera
tion to generation.
Fog creates blanket as dense as
II made of wool.
1t Is interesting to note that the
strictly modern airplane had to keep
out Of the fog, as well as sailing
vessels.
This is something to think about
We have become accustomed, in our
reading, to steam and sailing vessels
being held up by fogs, but seldom does
the person who is not "air- minded
think of the great planes being land
bound.
1t shows how mighty is fog, as q
phenomenon, and how helpless II
makes some Of the engines of man
and man, himself, as director of those
engines.
The beauty of fog may not at first
sight seem great, but he who looks at
it with open eyes will in time come
to value it for that, too.
Yes, there is something intensely
picturesque in its subtle monotone. It's
changing depths of grays, according
to distance.
Part Of this effect is strictly In the
mind OF the beholder, in that he men,
tally keeps trying to brush the fog
away from his eyes, as if it were SO
much dust, in order that he may re-
gain the normal sharpness of things
We are used to this sharpness
Even in moonlight things stand out
with certain clearness, much valued
by mankind. because, no doubt. IL
takes us back to primitive days when
mans very safety depended upon q
clear grasp of surroundings.
We try to brush the fog out Of our
eyes, but 1t won't brush.
1t is stubborn, the fog. Aviators
find 1t so. and we must.
There Is nothing to do. at last, ex-
cept to find its interesting aspects
And this is not difficult. For the fog
@S ehAA a. tAcS, q PdllllCL Vi ulOSI
values. Ordinarily. mankind stops
only to beef" about it, to complain
to sum up the disadvantages, to look
backward or forward to different and
better liked types of weather.
Il 4
The gardener, great man, or woman
is not so!
He accepts what comes, feeling
quite sure that Nature knows a thing
or two, and. anyhow, has given her
unspoiled plant children wide lati-
tude, making them capable of stand
ing many and varied weathers.
1t IS pleasing to believe that the
trees, the shrubs, the plants, the very
grass blades, take pleasure in the
weather, whatever it is.
When it blows. they bend before it.
but, in their very bending, is plant
delight.
When It SHOWS, how carefully the
packed crystals blanket the little
shoots that are holding their green
bravely above the soil
And how happily those same little
shoots Gf our thesis is true) must ac-
cept the warm blanket Nature throws
over them!
If it rains, all plants, whatever their
name or nature, delight in the fine
moisture.
And if it is dry, they shut their
parched lips and do not complain at
all. If our thesis is so.
Fog, we must think, is accepted in
the same good way. as a part OF
what is.
Nature, unlike mankind, is not sold
out to the future.
Evening star., 1935-01-14
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

A reader cdn get the dns,Der to
any question of fact by priting The
Washington Evening Star Information
Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director,
Washington, d. c. Please inclose
stamp for reply.
O. What game is considered the
| faStest?-S. c.
alai, say that game is the fastest Of
them all.
@. Why is ST. Johns Church in
! Washington called the Presidents
Church?-M. L.
A. The title, the Presidents Church,
was derived in this way: In 1916, be-
| fore the church was consecrated or
any pews sold, committee from the
vestry was instructed to make the Of
| fer of a pew to President Madison
He accepted and thereafter occupied
pew No. % even more frequently than
his pew In Christ Church. The GUS
tom of preserving pew for the Presi-
| dent has been continued, and num-
ber have regularly worshiped there.
Q. How much property was de-
| stroyed by the Chicago fire Of 1872
| A. j.
A. Two hundred million dollars
worth of property was lost.
O. What Is a fox shark?-M. L. M.
A. The fox shark, also known as
thresher shark or swingletail, is a
peculiar species abounding in all warm
seas, especially in the Mediterranean
and the Atlantic. 1t feeds on herring
and other small fish. rushing into
schools of them and threshing about
with its long tail.
O. When and by whom was Presi-
dent Doumer assassinated?-E. r. l..
A. Paul Doumer, President of
France. was assassinated May 6, 1882,
by Paul Gargolov, Russian exile.
O. Is the Friends and Enemies OF
Modern Music to produce an opera
| this year?-H. D.
A. The same group which presented
Gertrude STEMS -Four Saints in Three
Acts" is working on an opera by Avery
Claf1in called Hester Prynne." Mrs.
Claflin is assisting her husband and
is preparing the libretto for the work.
] @. Why were the Hanging Gardens
| of Babylon called hanging?-F. H. c.
A. They were really terraces built
to break the skyline and simulate
the mountain country from which
came the homesick Queen. Only by a
figure of speech are they described as
| hanging.
@. How long did it take the German
Army to go through Belgium and oc-
cupy French territory in the World
| WARP. c.
A. About one week.
@. Does it cost one dollar or ten
dollars to get a copy of naturalization
papers which have been lost?-S. G..
A. 1t costs one dollar.
@. What is the status of the shelter
, belt project?-F. H. G.
A. Preliminary work on the 1000
mile great plains shelterbelt project,
for which 81 100000 of emergency re-
| lief funds was allotted recently, has
already begun. with men now in the
field making detailed surveys Of loca-
| ton, soil conditions, tree types and
| other factors. Plans and methods will
be developed for extending the work