davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1935-03-14

The strange thing about this tale is
that 1t is always the same.
The government Of Spring has no
New Deal.
1t is always the old deal, in the
same old way. 1t was the same when
the Psalmist wrote about the green
meadows: 1t will be the same when
pastures are no more.
| Nature breaches a stability of gov
ernment which seems to have little
effect on mankind, ever in search of
new and better governments.
| Maybe this is because men will never
let well enough alone, whereas nature
seems to have a way of being fairly
satisfied with the ways set up in the
beginning.
We call these ways evolution, and
1t is word which has a satisfying
sound. 1t seems to mean progress
another highly satisfying word to
modern ears-along good lines.
therefore when we see the rain
come down, at this time of the year,
we are happy over it, because we
know that 1t Is needed by the grass
and the trees and the shrubs and the
plants, that it gives them a new start
in life according to the old plan, a
revivification pressed forward by sun
shine and warmth to an assured
destination. The real things of Nature,
not such as have halfway struggled
away from her, are thus in the posi-
ton Of Maeterlinck's dog, which, dumb
though it was, found In him as its
god satisfying surety which man.
kind at times seems to lack.
y \ *k
This government of the Spring, this
old deal that is new every year, wastes
no time in calling names.
II it staggers anybody, 1t Is not by
giving a fancy title to anything, but
solely by continuing the old process
OF experimentation along the same old
lines.
Evolution, or whatever one chooses
to call it, is conducted in very con-
servative way. If a new form is
evolved, such as an albino fish Gts
father and mother were dark blue and
red nature is very likely to permit
the pink-white fish to die out, keeping
only the more standard sorts. When
such sport" is born in an aquarium.
the fish culturist can treasure and
breed the new line, so that in time
he will have more albino forms than
he knows what to do with. It meant
nothing to Nature, however, one way
or the other.
Rain falls within her province in
the same way. The flood, as it is
called, which saw rain for 40 DAYS
and nights, was "just another rain"
in the long list of Nature. The fact
that it drowned a world meant nothing
to her.
Every ordinary rain, in the ordinary
day-by-day world, is "just another
rain" to some people. They honestly
have no interest in such things, so no
blame attaches to them
Many will feel, some will know, that
those are missing great deal, be-
cause they are pushing away from
themselves a real and genuine interest,
one from which the interest can never
be squeezed, so long as there is life.
The first real rain of Spring was
not something of no moment. 1t
might have been Of no concern In the
life of some people, but in the life of
the world and OF great many inter-
ested observers 1t was a signal success,
real solo event. because there can
be but one first rain every year, Just
as there can be but one really last
rose Of Summer.
Evening star., 1935-03-14
Calling" Gold Bonds.

4HC fCIllillCllI iisllJ W Coh ITO
gold bonds prior to the date of ma
turity. unless it is willing to pay in
gold is challenged in suit brought
by the Dixie Terminal Co. of Cincin-
natl, filed in the Court of Claims Of
the United States. The suit was filed
by Robert A. Taft, son of the late
President and Chief Justice. as presi-
dent of that corporation and its coun-
sci. 1t is particularly interesting in
the light of the refinancing program
of the administration, which looks to
the call Of Government gold bonds
valued at hundreds of millions of
dollars before the date of maturity.
For these bonds the Government is
proposing to pay off the bondholders
in legal tender" currency or with
other securities bearing lower rates
of interest.
The contention of Mr.. Taft and the
company he represents is that the
government, having violated that part
of its contract written in the bonds
which calls for payment in gold, cam
not hold the bondholders to that
clause in the contract which gives
the government the right to call in
I,a Ioforo OF of afIIritv
and pay them off if it persists in pay
ing in currency less valuable than
the gold it originally promised to pay
Says Mr.. Taft, with much force and
justice: eve believe the credit of
the United States cannot long sur
vive if the Treasury can declare
bonds due and payable, when, as and
if it pleases, in money of any value
it may happen to fix at the time"
The effort of the Government to
change the value of money from time
to time, and then to fix the time the
Government will pay its debts is, to
the average mind, just another way
of saying to the people, the holders
of Government securities, Heads I
win, tails you lose" AS Mr.. Taft
points out, under such conditions, the
Government is going further along the
road of reputation, even than in its
refusal to pay of in gold.
The Governments refusal to pay in
gold when the citizens present their
Government securities is one thing
Now the Government is demanding
that the citizens turn in their bonds
before the date of maturity, so that
the Government will cease paying in
terest to the bondholders and that the
bonds may be paid off in deprecated
currency. In the suit now filed by
Mr.. Taft the bondholders are, in eff
feet, saying to the Government I'VE
prefer our bonds and the interest we
are getting on them until the date of
maturity"
The question raised in the suit diff
fers from that which was decided in
the recent Supreme Court gold deci-
sions. What the Court Of Claims will
do about it remains to be seen. It is
a matter which the Supreme Court
should be called upon to determine
without delay in the interest not only
of the bondholders but also in the in
terest of the Government and its re-
financing plans.
Evening star., 1935-03-14

stituent Of the primary cosmic rays
AS to the secondary rays, probably
generated in interstellar matter by
primary protons, he finds them COM
posed Of positive and negative elec-
irons evenly balanced. The behavior
Of the primary coSmic rays. DR.. John
son says, shows that their behavior Is
thoroughly consistent, at least, with
the theory that their principal sources
are the extra-galactic nebulae.
+
Relics Of one Of the most fantastic
episodes in American history have
Just come to light at the Smithsonian
Institution. One of these is a rare
broadSide, dated September IA, 1922,
by Capt. John Cleves Symmes, a re-
tired Army officer, in which he ad-
vanced the argument that the earth
was hollow and that ship might
sail into the interior through a "hole"
at the North Pole.
Symfnes at that time was urging
the United States Government to send
cut an expedition to discover" the
inside of the earth and claim it for
the American people under the pat
ronage of myself, my wife and her
10 children" 1t would be, he argued
with considerable plausibility in the
light of the geophysics of the day, a
warm, fertile and probably inhabited
world, almost as great in extent as
the outer surface of the globe.
All this seems incredibly fantastic
today. But at the time groups of SYM
mesiteS were organized all over the
United States and several petitions
were presented to Congress asking
that such an expedition actually be
organized. All the petitions were laid
on the table by Congress, some of
them with considerable kidding. -
There were. however, two tangible re-
suits. First, the interest aroused in
exploration by the Symmesites may
have been one of the factors that led
to the Wilkes Exploring Expedition
Second. the Symmes scheme furnished
the basis for one of the most stirring
tales of Edgar Allen Poe, THE Ad-
ventures of Arthur Gordon Pym." The
fantasy also may have inspired some
Va e2AC WI AIAlSo Va jules verne,
With the broadside Is an age.yel-
lowed pamphlet-almost ludicrously
cautious and circumspect to the reader
OF today-in which objections are
raised to the ideas of the former Arny
officer. With the broadside is Symmes'
map Of Symmesonia, the supposed
continental mass beyond and below
the northern verge of the world"
with the Symmes River pouring
southwark into the Atlantic at about
the location Of Davis Strait. This
would be, Symmes said, by far the
greatest river in the world. since IL
was one OF the main outlets of the
oceans OF the interior into the oceans
OF the exterior.
\
The two Islands of Juan Fernandez.
one OF which was the scene of the
solitary exile Of Alexander Selkirk
which afterward was immortalized in
Robinson Crusoe," have been made a
national park by the Chilean govern
ment. The park area also includes
the mysterious Easter Island, $500
miles from the Chilean mainland. with
It's gigantic stone statues, stone houses
ana tablets bearing script which no.
body has been able to read. Hitherto
the islands have been used only as
penal settlements.
Evening star., 1935-03-14

quate, safe airport which will meet
the minimum requirements Of today.
They want to abate q nuisance and
a death trap.
For nine years the Capitals airport
deficiencies have been realized. For
nine years nothing has been done to
correct them. For nine years lives
have been hazarded and are being en-
dangered every day.
The days, weeks, months, years go
by and the danger continues and
grows. With every increase in air
plane size and speed, with every added
schedule, the risk mounts.
Evening star., 1935-03-14
The Airport Menace,

Somewhere group of innocent
American citizens may be awaiting a
horrible death to prove that Wash
ington needs an adequate airport.
This group may number from five
to fifteen men and. women. Today
they are engaged in the pursuit of
their affairs. They have their Joys
and their sorrows, their daily grind
and their moments of relaxation.
They live.
But aviation people feel that if
Washington does not do something
about its airport there is going to be
terrible accident. They regard it
as inevitable; marvel that it has not
happened ere now. They feel that
some day, any day, perhaps today, a
loaded passenger plane, coming in
across Military road, with no room to
spare, may plow into a truck or pos
sibly bus full of passengers.
So this group of people one day
will be gathered together In an air
plane, called there by business,
pleasure-any of the reasons that bid
people travel. They will climb aboard
with their burdens Of cares, plans for
the future. They will be waving fare
wells to relatives and friends who
came to see them of, or they will be
looking out Of the airplane window
in eager anticipation for faces they
know as they arrive from some other
place.
Then it will happen. These inno-
cent people, full Of life, will go to q
crashing, fiery death because WASH
ington has not been provided with an
airport which meets the requirements
of safety and common decency.
For nine years local civic and avia-
ton bodies have realized the need for
an adequate airport. They have asked
time and again that something be
done about providing model airport,
OF, failing that, just an ordinary, ade-
Evening star., 1935-03-14

Increasing prices of food to the con-
sumer, due partly to last years
drought and partly to the crop reduc-
ton policy of the Government, stimu-
late discussion of the wisdom of at
tempting to benefit the farmer by
curtailing his output.
Something must be wrong with
the process" thinks the Canton
(Ohio) Repository, remarking that
apparently, farmers can't be strength
ened without weakening their city
cousins, temporarily. The
higher scale of prices is exactly what
was expected from the agricultural
adjustment program Aided by an
unforeseen drought, the program has
produced more tangible results than
the adjusters dared believe possible.
Farm income is increasing enormous
ly. Professors are doing better. The
people-the consumers, that iS-are
paying the bill. Eventually, they will
be repaid in the form of greater buy
ing power among farmers"
"Time will reveal" according to the
Buffalo Evening News, "the extent of
the damage done the consumers of
the Nation by the A. A. A. insiStence
on crop curtailment and the destruc-
ton of SURPRISES. Critics will admit
that the farmer has benefited, but
the resulting prosperity has been
'Spotty,' confined mainly to the cot
ton and corn areas of the United
States. The industrial worker, the
urban consumer, has, however. paid
and Is paying heavy price for the
relief afforded the farmer. He will
some day register an emphatic pro-
test at Washington against the process
which imposes a levy more deadly
than the sales tax upon himself and
family"
Taking a favorable view of the
situation, the Newark IN. j. Eve
ming News observes that "the theory
on which the Government is acting is
that if and when prices generally get
back to the prevailing levels Of 1925
and 1926 production and consump-
ton will more nearly balance" The
Evening News thinks then there will
be gainful employment at fair pay
for all the able bodied who desire it,
and prosperity will be with us again"
and concludes: Rising prices indicate
that somebody is beginning to bene-
fit. and when they exist without sus-
picion of extortion there is nothing
for the individual to do but be patient
and pay them, hoping his own time
will come"
Reduction among some field crops"
the Portland Oregonian explains, was
much more radical than among others,
and reduction Of hogs and cattle has
been much more radical than among
other stock. The food price increases
will be decidedly unequal. Is this
not likely to cause changes in the
eating habits Of the American people?
After all, those eating habits are by
no means fixed. Federal studies show
that per capita consumption of wheat
has declined Is per cent In the past
80 years. Mutton and lamb consump-
ton has gone down 20 per cent. Con-
sumption Of corn, rye, oats, barley and
buckwheat has gone down more than
30 per cent. It Is not beyond the
power Of the people so to change
Evening star., 1935-03-14
SHOOTING STARS.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
colyumystery.

Colyumystery.
I've studied bitter phrases, I can say
'em with smile
Or show frowning that amazes in a
very little while.
I lead foes to the slaughter with a
force they can't resist.
If they do not know, they oughter.
I am now kill 'em-ist.
My epithets revising in a way that
seems humane,
set my advertising to a delicate
refrain.
I get my little volume where harsh
names are In a list.
Regardless of a ''colyumn," I am now
call 'em-ist."
Evening star., 1935-03-14
All Other States and Canada.
Member of the Associated Press.
Emergency School Needs.


Formal approval by the Finance
Committee of the Board of Education
yesterday of a list of twenty school
projects for which aid will be sought
from the Public Works Administra-
ton, or its successor agency under
the pending work-relief bill, should
signalize the beginning of a new cam
palgn by the Washington community
in behalf of sorely needed school
building program meeting require
ments Of the immediate present
Children of this school generation
In Washington are now experiencing
the handicaps of crowded class rooms
and insufficient facilities-results of
the failure to carry forward any con-
sistent program of school building
during the depression. The existing
system of financing District needs
through the appropriation bill is fail
ing. as it has failed before, to supply
the eity's school system with the
additional building expansion required
by increased population. The Public
Works Administration, when supplied
with funds for needed public works
under the pending work-relief bill,
might offer a logical solution Of the
school building problem at this time.
Citizens should back the Board of
Education and the Commissioners in
their efforts to obtain funds for the
local school projects. The projects
involved were approved by the Board
of Education for inclusion with the
1886 appropriation estimates, but were
eliminated by either the Commission
ers or the Budget Bureau because of
the sharp restrictions imposed on the
total estimates. Substantially the
same list was included recently by
the United States Commissioner of
Education in group of urgently need
ed school projects for the United
States as a whole, sent to the Public
Works Administration with plea for
favorable action.
On this list of most urgently needed
local projects are only two new schools
Other items are for the construction
of necessary additions to existing
schools. There are also understood
to be several proposals for the i'm
provement, by grading, etc, of school
grounds. The total cost Is set at two
million dollars or less-an amount
which normally should be carried
without difficulty in the appropriation
bill to meet school needs. But the list
OF projects contains no recommended
tions for the purchase of land for
future school sites, and therefore falls
short of the requirements of a we'll
rounded school building program for
the future.
Commissioner of Education Stude-
baker confined his list of school prof.
ects-in which the Washington needs
were included-to those which would
furnish facilities urgently required now
in the different sections of the country.
The twenty local projects are merely
emergency needs. If the purpose of
the work-relief bill-out of which the
funds sought would probably come-is
to supply employment on necessary
undertakings, a local school building
program could not be improved upon
as meeting that purpose.
Let Washington's civic and business
organizations give immediate and
effective support to the Board of Edu-
cation. The needs of the schools must
not be further neglected.
Evening star., 1935-03-14
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. ,

Springs first real drenching rain
deserves to be chronicled.
Not Just in statistics alone; after all
the exact number OF the inches OF
rainfall means very little, except in
the records.
What counts is the character, the
length, the time.
Whether Spring has begun or not is
a question for men to argue, as men
argue about everything.
Creatures of Nature, flowers, dogs,
squirrels, frogs, these and many more
know Spring is here.
Hence their gladness at the first
real rain, precipitation of the type
which means so much to all the things
that live close to the heartbeat of the
| earth.
The number of inches of rainfall
means nothing to them, but the
drenching quality everything.
Even the squirrels run and friSk a
great deal more on these days when
the grass is soggy. as grass loves to be
at this time of the year.
Those warm days at the beginning
of the week, with the continuing rains
were divinely appointed for the grass
Watchers could see the blades get
ting greener and greener as the drops
continued to fall.
Surely this was a rain worthy of
special note.
Somehow the first of anything al
ways appeals to mankind.
So the first real rain of the Spring
brings with it something out of the
ordinary, something felt and under
stood by all those sensitive to such
things.
\ kk
1t cannot be pointed out too many
times that not all persons are sensi-
tive to such annual changes, such
natural happenings.
There Is no snobbish feeling of su-
periority connected with this, but
simply a belief that he or she is for
tunate who is able, amid the excite
ments Of life, to realize such happen
ings at their true worth.
All such persons have an amount
of pleasure they can call their own
which is not understood at all by those
who are so immersed in their own
lives that they never have time to
stand still and watch the professions
of Nature.
A casual glance at a flower, now
and then, is not what we mean. MANY
a person pays attention to such
things, from time to time, but always
in spirit of semi-apology, as if natu-
raj happenings were of no moment
except to scientists and others who
make their living from their con-
Sideration.
They are, and always have been,
OF supreme Importance to all artists.
poets, novelistS and others who may
or may not earn money from their
observation, but who before that paid
and, above all, pay attention to such
things simply because such natural
happenings interest them in and for
themselves
Hence not drop of water falls. not
wind blows, but these happy per-
sons, who manage to get something
free if any one ever does, note it in
passing.
They do not feel that Nature is
squeezing an old story dry.
Fortunately it always is a very new
story.
Spring, particularly, is brand-new
tale, spun out of the ages, out of all
the materials that exist.
Evening star., 1935-03-14

MarSellle. Soap making WAS intro.
cuced into England during the next
century.
@. How is the Indian name for
Lake Superior spelled? The two words
begin with &C. A. G..
A. Gitchee Gumie.
@. When did the Post Office De-
rartment first put out stamped en-
velopes with the return statement on
them?-N. E.
A. Return card envelopes were first
issued in 1865.
@. Have scientists determined what
effect the lntermarriage of the Pit
cairn Islanders has had on the group?
H. M. C.
A. DR.. H. L. Shapiro of the Amre-
ican Museum of Natural History after
visit on Pitcairn Island is convinced
that the group has suffered no Ill
effects from several generations of in
termaHiage He found the descend
ants OF the mutineers to be strong, in
telhgent and attractive.
@. Is it true that the first azaleas
in this country were planted in Mo-
bile?-F. M. K.
A. 1t is said that Fifse Langlois,
| who arrived with the French colo
nists in I'LL, returned to his home
in Toulouse on visit and saw aZa-
leaS blooming in his parents garden.
On his return to Mobile he brought
seeds and planted them. BY the end
OF the French period azaleas had
spread over the town. These are be-
lieved to be the first azaleas planted
in the New World.
@. Will you please advise what the
food value, vitamins, ETC., are of avo-
cado pears? Are they fattening?
Give any other information available.
j. E.
A. The avocado is a native Of the
West Indies and Central America. 1t
is the only species of this order cult
waited for the fruit The fruit is un-
Usual in that the flesh has a high fat
content, 10 per cent on an average.
The water content is 81 per cent, and
the carbohydrates per cent. The
fuel value is high, 512 calories per
pound.
@. How high is Fujiyama?-A. A.
A. The sacred mountain of Japan
has an elevation of 1885 feet. 1t is
60 miles west of Toxic, and is an ex-
tinct volcano having a crater 2l5 miles
in circumference and 500 feet in
depth.
@. What kind of a flower is the
Kaiserblume?-W. B. G..
A. The state flower of Germany un-
der the empire was the Kaiserblume.
This is known in America as the blue
cornfower, and it was a special favor
ite of Emperor William I.
O. Has the State of Vatican City n
flag?-E. NJ.
A. The flag Of the state is white and
yellow charged with the crossed keys
and triple tiara.
@. What is the name for a lattice
on which a tree or shrub Is trained
to grow flat?-M. L.
A. 1t is called an espalier.
Q. Had any of the American Indians
system of writing?-J. R. L.
A. They had not.
O. What does "da capo" mean in
music?-B. T.
A. The expression is Italian and
means from the beginning" 1t indi-
Gates that the performer is to return
to the beginning of the movement,
or to a place marked S, and finish
where the word fine" is placed.
G. Who publishes the Sailors Mag
azine?-C. D.
A. The American Seamen's Friend
Society. The magazine has been
published for los years.