davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1935-05-31
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES +. TRACEH YELL.

skins in this country. at least, is not
the old European human flea," so
called. about which so many leers have
come into being in the worlds litera-
ture.
! Owing to wide use of the bath,
| Americans are reasonably free from
that old pest of the ages; what bothers
the thin-skinned here is simply the
flea which hops of the household pet.
You will hear people say that cam
not be done. but it is being done every
day by ambitious f1eas of the scientific
variety popularity called the dog and
cat flea"
This member of the Pulex family
is not particular
A nicely bathed member of the
human race is just as good to it as
fine dog or cat.
/ 1t makes no distinctions.
Il ~
| There are several odors which mos
/ quitoes dislike.
Chief of these is that Of citronella
grass.
Thousands of ounces Of the oil are
! sold at seashore resorts every Summer.
I
| A little of it will go a long way,
especially in regard TO the nose Of the
user
Many dislike this as much as the
I insects do
| Every one knows these facts, of
course; the danger comes in the sus-
| ceptibe individual permitting the
common joking attitude toward such
things to keep him from using due
precautions in his own case.
x
Insect bites, as a theme of CONVEX
sation. therefore, are best left out
What the tender skinned individual
must do is to protect himself, first
OF all.
In this he is exactly in the same
boat as in many other affairs OF life.
To talk abount them very much, espe-
cially to the run -of-the-mill acquaint-
ance. is simply to offer ones self as
the butt of laughter to those only too
ready to laugh at others.
Even those who pretend mot to
mind" this sort OF thing often do mind
/ it. after all.
! The thing to do. therefore, is TO
screen out all insects as well as pos
sible, use such odors as they dislike
TO repel those which may happen to
get in, and use sprays and powders at
regular intervals
1t may be noted that of an entire
family perhaps only one person will
particularly suffer from insect bites.
/ This seems TO vary with the tough
/ ness of the skin, and the subsequent
I type of poison built up in the blood
of the victim.
/ The same crop of mosquitoes, for
instance. may bite 10 people. only one
of whom will particularly suffer from
( the bites 1t is common to say that
insects poison some persons, and
/ this is more or less true.
AT the very time of the year many
/ like to sit out in the yard in the
/ afternoon and evening, the mosquitoes
{ congregating in the shrubbery make
sensitive skinned persons shrink from
doing so.
Let them apply citronella in some
form. AS for the itch of bites. nothing
stops that as quickly as very hot water,
applied by quick dabs of a cloth TO the
/ skin. Care must be taken not to
] burn, as that is worse than the bite.
Evening star., 1935-05-31
No ''Improvements''in in
Busses or Tree Moving

To the Editor Of The Star:
l note that you Use the word i'm
provement" in referring TO the sub
stitution of busSes for street cars on
the Anacostia line and elsewhere
If that is an improvement 1 do not
know the meaning of the word.
Buses have but two advantages over
street cars, fiexibility and speed.
Those are not the most important
things in a public conveyance. how
ever. Safety and comfort come be-
fore them. and street cars are much
safer, more commodious, and free
from engine exhaust gases. Person
ally. I never ride on a bus If I can
reach the place I wish to go in any
other way. l have never ridden in
bus in this city, but I have in other
cities and 1 know how cramped they
are. In some. the aisle is so narrow
that one has to go sideways to nego-
tiate it. The supposed double seats
are large enough only for two bean
poles. And that is what you call i'm
proyement." No one ever reads of
street car skidding and whirling
around, as busses do on icy and wet
streets when the brakes are applied.
Pedestrians know where a street car
is going, but where the bus may go
they are not sure.
Another thing that you continually
refer to as an Improvement is the
changes being made in the Mall by
what 1 choose to call the Park
Wrecking Commission" If building
four straight streets for racing auto
mobiles is improvement, 1 prefer it
unimproved. The way the magnifi-
cent big trees were cut down was a
crime. hope they never improve"
the Capitol grounds or Rock Creek
Park. AS to their being able to move
big trees and make them grow, look
at a few of the moved trees, notably
that big magnolia that cost between
$4,000 and $1,000 to move, indicates
that the chance of the trees surviv-
ing is small. The Park Wrecking
Commissions" motto appears to be,
Whatever is. is wrong"
ALBERT M. LEVERS.
Evening star., 1935-05-31
was no good reason for the limitation

was no good reason for the limitation
which barred from the incinerator
service the refuse of business houses,
for which service, indeed, a reason
able fee could be charged to meet the
actual cost. The incinerators were
constructed for the purpose of elimi-
mating the public dumps which had be-
come an intolerable nuisance as well
as a Disagreement in the District. Dis
elimination between street trash and
domestic refuse on the one side and
the waste material of business estab-
lishments on the other was not justi-
fled and only resulted in thrusting
the burden of disposal upon the out
lying sections. Virginia, being near
est, was the main sufferer. There was
no equity in such shift of the nui-
sance and there should be no delay in
the provision of funds for the opera
ton of the Districts incinerators to
care for all waste material originating
III this Jurisdiction
Evening star., 1935-05-31

American editors discuss sympa-
thetically Russia's loss of the giant
airplane. Maxim Gorky, most of them
accepting the official announcement
that the tragic crash was due to the
careleSsness of stunt flyer and not
to any fault of the plane itself or her
crew. Some. however, are Skeptical
about the explanations and are in
clined to see another illustration of
the uncertainty still involved in the
construction of planes of extreme size.
Russia sustained a major aviation
casualty in the crash of the Maxim
Gorky, largest land airplane in the
world. with the loss of 48 lives" says
the Akron Beacon Journal. While it
does not abate the shock of the trag-
edy that its destruction was due to
the stunting Of another plane. whose
pilot had violated his instructions. this
circumstance will keep public faith
from being diminished in the safety
of these giant transports"
THE airplane disaster in Russia.
the worst in aviation history. will not
retard progress" the South Bend
Tribune observes. 1T is not attributed
to structural defects in the plane or
to errors of the crew Stunning by
the pilot of an accompanying plane
was the cause, as the Russians report
it to the world. In the last analysis,
therefore, it is merely an addition to
the accumulation of evidence that
stunting under such conditions should
not be attempted or tolerated" A
similar position is taken by the
Charleston IS. c. Evening Post, which
recalls that aerial bravado has caused
many air accidents" and the Provi-
dence Journal, which finds it "a cause
for satisfaction. even in the midst of
the grief occasioned by the catastro-
phe, that the great airship did not
owe its destruction to any structural
fault of its own"
The Danville Ill) Commercial
News thinks that "stunting can offer
little in it's favor except as it provides
a circus attraction" and remarks that
usually the stunt flyer hurts no one
except himself, but in the Russian
tragedy stunt flyer sacrificed the
lives of 48 persons in passenger air
liner-and he acted Sin direct viola
tion of government orders against
stunting."
To the Boston Transcript, however.
it seems doubtful that, in a land
where offenSes of that kind are likely
to be punished with savage severity,
in this case orders would have been
ignored and the Nashville Tennes-
sean also believes that, in placing the
blame upon the stunter, Soviet au-
thoSitieS are exposing "a weakness in
the discipline of the air service"
Although "the immediate cause of
the Russian disaster was not, of
course. a primary mechanical failure"
the Milwaukee Journal expresses the
opinion that ''the manner of disinte-
grafton of the larger plane points to
structural weaknesses that sooner or
later would have developed" The
Joplin (Mo) Globe, however, remarks
that "a pigeon may wreck an ordi-
nary plane by colliding with the whirl-
ing propeller, and it was not alto
gether unlike this when Blagin's small
plane hit the pride of the Russian
aircraft"
whether we have advanced far
enough technically to carry airplanes
to the extreme size Of the collapsed
ship is uncertain" says the Rockford
Ill) Morning Star, and the Gales
burg Daily Register-Mail Likewise
Evening star., 1935-05-31
Water Front Improvement.

Washington has an extraordinary
interest in the rivers and harbors bill,
on which Senator Copeland hopes to
complete hearings this week, because
CT the inclusion in that measure OF the
long deferred and greatly needed i'm
provements to the Washington water
front, together with some necessary
dredging of the Washington Channel.
The water-f front improvement project
has been in the catalogue of desirable
Capital City undertakings for many
years. 1t has been repeatedly urged
by the Commissioners and by the Ma
tional Capital Park and Planning Com
mission, the Board of Trade and other
citizens organizations, not only be-
cause of the resulting removal of un-
slightly and deteriorated structures, but
in order fully to utilize the commercial
and other advantages of the water
front.
The present plans were prepared
some time ago by the Corps of Engi-
neers of the Army and were approved
by the National Capital Park and
Planning Commission. The under
taking is relatively inexpensive as
such projects CO. the total cost being
estimated in the neighborhood Of
81 ,650.000 1t would include the con-
struction of buildings and piers neces-
sary for a modern waterfront termi-
nal, together with the widening of
Water street. AS all of the property
is in the ownership of the National
Government, the Board of Trade rep
resentatives have arg,led before Sen
ator Copeland's committee against the
division of cost on q fifty-f1fty basis
between the District and the National
Government-provid in the House
billion the principle that the land
owner and chief beneficiary Of its i'm
provement should bear the expense.
Senator Copeland seemed sympathetic
to this viewpoint. The rentals and
fees in connection with use Of the
front facilities< would 60 far
Evening star., 1935-05-31
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC HILLIAW VILE.

transatlantic hop inspired his hon.
orable mention in a presidential con-
nection at this time Little Falls,
Mimi. the colonels boyhood home
town, is by way of converting the
family dwelling place into national
Lindbergh shrine. For the past year
it has been maintained by Minnesota
as State park.
Not all New Dealers are determined
to cling to their jobs by hook or by
crook June l will see the resignation
from the staff of the Home Owners
Loan Corp. of certain $4,000
official. who is quitting of his own
volition, TO resume his private busi-
ness in distant part of the country.
He happens to be a Republican. took
the job on condition that he could
retire about this time and resisteS
all pressure from superiors and asso-
ciates to prolong his tour of duty.
Dr. Pitman Benjamin Potter. the
American who has Deeh elected by
Emperor Halle SelaSSie to be one of
Abyssinias two arbitrators in his
scrap vita Mussolini. mas an academic
background that would qualify him to
be a New Deal brain truster. Jer-
seyman by birth and graduate Of
Harvard, lie has been an instructor in
political science and history success
Sively at both Harvard and Yale,
and at various times since then was
a member ofthe faculties of the Uni
versitieS of Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas
and California. Since 1880 DR.. Potter
has spent most of his time in Europe
as lecturer at The Hague Academy
of International Law. dean of the
Institute of World Affairs at MondSee,
Austria, and professor al the Insti-
tute of International Studies in Ge-
neva. Once upon time DR.. Potter
was connected with the Bureau of
Efficiency at Washington and the
Carnegie Endowment for Internation-
al Peace. Abyssinia'S other arbitra-
tor in the dispute with Italy is also a
professor. M. Albert de la Pradelle,
of France.
President Roosevelt and Secretary
Hull are about to receive late inside
news from two of Europe's potential
trouble spots, Italy and Poland, with
the arrival in this country, respectively
from Rome and Warsaw. of American
Ambassadors Long and Cudahy. Both
ENJOYS will be here on leave, for vaca-
tion and private business purposes.
Mr.. Cudahy has already reached the
country and Mr.. Long is due next week
Our foreign affairs people welcome
the opportunity of getting direct and
up-to-date information on the East
ern European situation of which Po-
land Is the hub and about MuSsolinis
real purposes in Africa, particularly
the effect upon European conditions
Of an Italian conflict with the
Ethiopians.
Adjournment of Congress Is once
more pitchforked into the realm of
uncertainty by the N. r. A. crisis.
Under the best of circumstances, con-
Sideration of remedial measures will
consume many days, possibly weeks,
in both Houses, and again the peril is
envisioned Of a session prolonged into
Midsummer unless the administra-
ton assents to the dropping of some
of It's must" legislative program.
tCopyright, 1850
Evening star., 1935-05-31

1t may be questioned, sometimes,
whether the extreme cleanliness of
the present age as good for every in
dividual.
While the modern accent on lack
of odor, hygiene. and so on, is good
for society, it often makes the skin
soft.
This, in turn, leads to a mosquito
feast.
Perhaps only those persons who
suffer from insect bites will under
stand.
Fortunately for many, the bites of
mosquitoes, fleas, chiggers and the
like, often lead to little surface mani
festation.
Such persons have tough skins.
Insects, as a group, tend to leave
such humans strictly alone.
They know where there is meat
better suited to their powers!
y
There can be little reasonable
doubt that excessive bathing tends TO
make the skin tender
One WaShingtonian has tried this
out for many years. using cool or
cold water almost exclusively.
The common idea is that only warm
or hot water Softens the skin.
Any water does it, in the long run.
In time the faithful epidermis is
softened to y degree which would
tempt cannibals, If there were any
around. In the shape of the various
insects, there are plenty of blood
drinkers on the loose.
Continued warm weather brings
them all out.
This means absolutely nothing to
does not suffer after being bitten.
Hence the common practice of
many is to convert this whole subject
into a joke.
This was done for hundreds of
years. when there were no effective
mosquitoe repellants.
A joke was made out of the subject
of mosquitoes and f1eas. in particular
Man exercised his divine right to
laugh at what he could not control.
GhC1tNC dedHlSL AiOo-
quitoes. and. TO some extent, f1eas,
were discovered.
A little fish from Honduras was
brought in, the ubiquitous guppy.
He loves mosquito larvae.
Communal sanitation, taking the
form OF cleaning up small pools and
ridding vacant lots Of weeds, went into
effect
In certain zones. where govern
mental action has been possible, COM
plete riddance of insect pests has been
accomplished.
The number of completely screened
in porches. however, even in the finest
residential sections, shows that con-
troll of these pests has been secured in
no real sense.
Those who dread Summer because
OF insect bites must do their own
fighting now. as always, in urban as
well as suburban and country dis
trlctS.
There is no place where mosquitoes
cannot penetrate.
Owing TO pet dogs and cats, fieaS
have an easy time of it. too.
1t must be kept in mind that the
flea which makes havoc of sensitive
Evening star., 1935-05-31

toward liquidating the initial invest
ment. Control of the water front will
remain with the National Government.
The rivers and harbors bill Is not
an appropriation measure, but merely
authorizes the projects which it covers.
No money is Immediately available to
carry them out The work-relief bill.
however, contained an earmarked fund
of $350,OO0 900 for expenditure on soil
erosion, flood control, stream pollution,
rivers and harbors and a few other
such undertakings. The amount avail
able for river and harbor work under
the bill would lie with the President.
With anticipated enactment of the
omnibus rivers and harbors measure.
the Washington water front improve
ment program should be vigorously
placed before the proper authorities
as one that justifies immediate ex-
penditure of available funds.
Evening star., 1935-05-31
Japan'S New Drive in China.

In the absorption of the Western
powers in depression problems four
years ago, Japan discerned the psy-
Geological moment for launching her
Manchurian adventure. 1t is Just
possible that Toxic finds present hour
International conditions equally pro-
pitious for japanese purposes. France
is in the throes of a governmental
monetary upheaval A cabinet shake
up is impending in Great Britain.
The Continental European situation
remains chaotic and uncertain Wash
ington is in the midst of the N r. A
crisis.
Whether or not Japan, as she gazeS
West, has persuaded herself that she
can once again deal with China with
out fear of molestation, the Toxic
militarists are by way of coercing
China into new and far-reaching
political and territorial concessions.
Charging the Chinese with treachery,
anti-Japanese agitation. terrorism and
violation of treaties, Japan has made
strong demands on the Marking gov
ernme1t and openly threatened Wig
orous military measures unless they
are unequivocally met. There is little
concealment of Japan'S purpose to
push her armed control and occupa-
ton south of the Great Wall into
China proper" in order to bring
Peiping and Tientsin, embracing vir-
tually the whole of Hopei Province, as
fully under Japanese domination as
Manchukuo While, of course. dis
claiming any purpose Of seizing possess
sion of that vast area. the Toxic war
lords leave no doubt of their intention,
through a process of 'demilitariZa-
ton" to strip China of all vestige
of sovereignty within it,
China is feebly protesting against
the fate that menaces Hopei but jap
anese military commanders bluntly
rejoin that recent formation
flights of their aircraft over Peiping
are meant to indicate that Japans
policy is "inf1exible"
. Unless all signs are misleading jap
anese invasion of China in force is
imminent. No less apparent is it that
the Chinese are powerless to resist it.
The occupa ton of Manchuria, should
events march along indicated lines, is
thus to be followed by the occupation
of China proper" Having accom-
plished the former purpose without
outside interference or effective pro-
test, Japan manifestly thinks the task
of completing the subjugation of China
can now be risked without peril. 1t
is highly significant that the military
party justifies its plans on the ground
that the Chinese are upsetting the
eliquibrium of neighboring Manchu-
kuo. 1t was by the same process of
reasoning-the necessity to suppress
lawlessness-that. the Japanese de-
Tended the invasion of Manchuria in
1881.
History repeats itself, too, with re-
spect to seizure of the initiative by the
army. The civilian government at
Toxic has been exhausting every effort
to come to terms with the Chinese,
but the soldiers are determined that
the statesmen shall make no conces-
sions, and that provocations offered
by disorderly Chinese elements shall
be combated with fire and sword and
not with diplomacy.
Evening star., 1935-05-31

A voluntary purse of 1000 is being
collected to compensate Jacob Schec-
ter of Brooklyn for time and expense
in the prosecution of the chicken case
that led to the Supreme. Courts N.
r. A. decision. His profit in the trans
action is not as securely defined as
that of the farmer who got paid simply
for blowing under.
Evening star., 1935-05-31

profits Of three balls held in Wash
ington on the Presidents birthday to
raise funds for the fight against
infantile paralysis. Thirty per cent
is to be turned over to the National
Committee for Research in Infantile
Paralysis. while the balance will be
expended in the District of Columbia
for the care Of children affiicted with
this disease. The total sum realized
from the country as q whole has not
yet been announced.
@. When was the accordion brought
TO this country?-M. B.
A. 1t was introduced from Germany
in 1928. but the principle had long
been known and used in China.
@. Were the accent marks used over
French words borrowed from an older
language?-R. T. A.
A. They appear in the ancient
Greek.
@. Please explain the ball suspended
from the roof of the National Academy
Of Sciences-A. McC.
A. 1t is a Foucault pendulum. The
action Of this pendulum depends upon
the fact that according to the laws
Of motion a freely swinging pendulum
tends constantly to move in the same
plane. The experiment proves that
the earth rotates eastward and the
rate of deviation of the pendulum
proves that the relative motion of the
earth. with respect to the stars, Is due
entirely to its rotation and not to the
motion of the stars around it.
O. How far does a bee travel in
seeking honey?-B. C.
A. A honey bee goes about four
miles on trip and may take as many
as 10 or II trips day.
@. How large is the Hot Springs
National Park?-F. P.
A. 1t has an area of Oil acres and
was created because of the great value
of the hot waters in the treatment of
rheumatism and certain other diseases.
There are As hot springs on the
reservation.
Q. What is meant by a colophon
with reference to books?-H. l. C.
A. A colophon is an inscription at
the flnis of book, giving the printers
name and date and place of printing.
In the early days of printing nearly
all books had colophonS.
Q. What is the top price paid for a
race horse?-O. S.
A. In this country the price Of
s26500O paid for Tracery heads the
available list Abroad the top is
$4,000 for Call Boy.
O. Where is the Rainbow Room
night club in New York?-W. A.
A. R. C. A. Building, 30 Rockefeller
Plaza.
@. What is clapper rsil?-N. r. C.
A. The clapper rail is brown
striped marsh bird. about the size OF
a small chicken.
@. How long does a big ocean
steamship last?-O. z. S.
A. The life of great liner is usually
about 20 years, but it varies. The
Mauretania lasted 27 years.
@. When did the first English peo-
pie set out for America? I want the
date when they started, not the date
of their landing at Jamestown.-S. D.
A. The first English colonists sailed
from England December 10, 1906.
@. Was Thomas Paine buried In this
country?-F. A.
A. He was buried here. but in 1919
his body was removed to England.
O. How many people does q Rep
resentative represent in Congress-
L. w.
A. Under the present apportionment
there is one United States Representa-
tive for each 279,712 inhabitants of a
State
Evening star., 1935-05-31
Mutual Destruction.

National parties have always Sc
lected animals as their emblems"
Yes" replied Senator Sorghum.
I'm afraid that if candidates get into
the habit of quarreling, the elephant,
the donkey and all the rest of them
Will have to stand aside and make
way for the Kilkenny cats"
Evening star., 1935-05-31
.Television Possibility.

From the Baltimore Evening SUN.
If this invention which will enable
parties in a telephone conversation to
see each other is perfected will we go
to the phone and find that we have
got the wrong face?
Evening star., 1935-05-31

Remarks to the effect that the
United States Constitution has out
lived its usefulness recall similar
daring comments on the Ten Com
mandmentS Wit usually involves a
certain audacity of opinion. AS rule,
such audacity should not be pressed
into serious action.
Evening star., 1935-05-31

Japanese threaten a punitive expe-
dition unless the Chinese cease to ter
rorize. This is the first time the
Asiatic picture has revealed a serious
suggestion that Chinaman could
scare a japanese