davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1941-07-29
Asks If Russia Does Not Play
The Role of France in 18th Century.

To the Editor Of The Star
Americans who view with alarm or at
least marked disapproval Britain's action
in making an alliance with Soviet Russia
against Hitler's Germany we'll may pom
der upon the course pursued by our own
Of the Revolution.
In that war. we sought, through COM
miSsoners, chief of whom was BENJAMIN
Franklin, the assistance of France in our
war with Great Britain. France was at
the time the chief despotism In Europe,
with king and government hostile to
every principle of the Declaration Of In
dependence. 1t happened, however, that
about IS years before, in what we call the
French and Indian War, France had been
completely worsted. and in the treaty of
Paris had been compelled to surrender
all of Canada (three little fishing islands
excepted) and a vast territory stretching
from the Alleghenies to the Mississippi
Following that war, Great Britain had
assumed a high-handed attitude toward
France, which was much resented.
We may be sure that the appeal of
Franklin and his fellow commissioners
was not directed to enlisting the SYM
pathies of the Bourbon King, Louis XVI,
in movement to advance the cause of
democracy in the world. Instead, what
was impressed upon the King and his
ministers was the golden opportunity pre-
sented for effectively attacking Frances
traditional enemy and rival. So tempt
ing did the proposition appear that the
King dispatched an army under Count
Rochambeau to the revolving colonies,
with instructions to cooperate with Gen.
Washington, and also sent very pow
erful fleet under Count De Grasse. These
united forces compelled the surrender of
Gen. Burgoyne at Yorktown, thus bring
ing the seven years war to close.
The Government of France at the time
was an absolute monarchy. There was
no Parliament nor legislative assembly,
all authority being vested in the King
and a group of his favorities, who were
styled ministers" The laws (Which
WcIc ucClcCS VI bllC CloWlA, W DO iN'onSe'
at pleasure) did not permit of free
speech, free press, free assemblage or
freedom of religion. In contrast to this,
Great Britain, although likewise mon
archy, was governed by Parliament, in
which the House of Commons had be-
come the most important branch, mem
bership in which was by election. The
Kings veto had not been abolished, but
had ceased to be exercised. Arbitrary
obstinate George III no doubt was sorely
tempted to exercise it at times, but
appears to have thought better of it.
Thus, in establishing government "oi
the people, by the people, and for the
people," Bourbon France, opposed to one
and all of these ends, was an agency oi
the utmost value. In fighting Hitler's
Germany, is not Soviet Russia perform.
ing like or similar service7
! GEORGE A. WARREN,
Evening star., 1941-07-29
Triumph for Labor

The bill authorizing the President
to seize and operate any strike-bound
defense plant, as approved by House
and Senate conferees last week, is
an impressive tribute to the lobbying
potency of organized labor.
Two phases of the legislative his
tory of this measure stand out. One
was the refusal by the House to give
the President any authority to pro-
tect non strikers in defense plants
from threats of violence or actual
violence at the hands of strikers.
The other was the refusal of the
conferees to accept a Senate amend
ment condemning even the most
reprehensible of defense strikes.
In it's present form, the legislation
is a signal triumph for organized
labor. 1t will be interesting to OBJ
serve how labor lives up to. the OBJ
legation which is implicit in the
favorable treatment it has received
at the hands of Congress.
Evening star., 1941-07-29

race, they have a strong national
sense and a well-equipped army
seemingly capable of giving good
account of itself. Furthermore,
Thailand's relations with Britain
have been generally good. The Brit
ish have never sought to conquer
Siam, in contrast with the French
who coveted the country in the old
imperialistic days and were re-
strained chiefly by a British veto.
Britain has recently stated that it
had special interest in Thailand's
independence, and presumably is
able to give assistance if the That's
should ask for it.
Whether Japan meditates such a
stroke in the near future is still an
open question. The occupation of
Indo-China may be a precautionary
move before striking at Russia. ia
pan today seems to be mobilizing in
both directions. Which is the real
objective, only time may disclose.
Evening star., 1941-07-29
THIS AND THAT
BIZ Charles E. Trdce11eH.
bank swallow, the rough winged swal-

bank swallow, the rough winged swal-
low.
The tree swallow is the most white
bellied of these swallows, but its nest
is made in dead tree trunks, woodpeck-
er holes or in boxes erected for its use.
The famous song, When the Swal-
lows HomeWard Fly" was inspired by
the barn swallow. The use of home"
to designate that a bird flies south,
however, is not good, since the home
of bird is its nest, and this is north.
The tree swallow and the cliff swal-
low are both about 6 inches long, while
the barn swallow is larger, running TO
about 7 inches
The barn swallow is the only Ameri-
can swallow which is really swallow
tailed" The deeply forked tail, with
two sharp points, is its trade mark.
The cliff swallow has a short tail,
square across.
The tree swallow is clear white be-
low. The rough winged swallow is
brown above and dirty white below.
Sometimes an immature tree swallow
in late summer is broWnish above.
The skimming fight of all the swal-
lows is unmistakable. They will fly
down close to the ground, Snatching
insects as they go.
The cliff swallows have mere squeak,
as contrasted with the musical tWitter
of the barn swallows.
The supply of insects was greater
around barns than anywhere else in
the old days. This is supposed to have
been the reason for these birds giving
I'D bridges and the like structures and
repairing to the barns.
There are no particular number Of
! insects. however. around garages. May
be a garage looks quite barnlike to the
| birds.
The low flying INDUCED in by these
tame birds is held responsible for the
death of many of them, since they can
be caught on the wing by passing
animals.
| All the swallows eat insects, and in
sects alone, unless one-half of one per
/ cent of their food can be counted, which
/ is weed seeds.
! An analysis has been made of the
! stomach content of more than hun
! dred cliff swallows. Ants, bees and
wasps accounted for 80 per cent All
! the bees were drones.
True bugs formed q per cent OF the
! diet. Beetles made up II per cent, We
! have no doubt that these birds would
and do eat japanese beetles.
Gnats, spiders, dragon flies and lace
winged flies completed the diet.
1t can be realized that few birds are
better friends to man than these swal-
lows.
An interesting fact about swallows is
! that the adults need no grit, but they
| feed it to their young.
| Barn swallows are a treat for any
! home grounds, since their nests may be
displayed without frightening the
mother bird as she warns the eggs.
They seem absolutely fearless and
! short of sharp quick motions made in
| their direction, will remain quietly in
the nests.
Evening star., 1941-07-29
POTOMAC AVE. Sc.

Dear Sir:
I'VE are bird lovers and interested in
your column and we have learned quite
a lot from you and your contributors.
"On a recent visit to my daughter,
who lives in a suburb of Baltimore, we
saw something unusual. There are two
nests in the rafters of the garage, built
of mud, built on the side OF the rafter
like a wasp nest.
THE birds have young ones. They are
a little larger than catblrd and thelr
breast is white and the back Is dark
or black similar to a penguin.
They make quite fuss as they ny
in and out but we have not heard them
sing.
can YOU name them for us?
Yours respectfully, j. O."
: These are barn swallows, or maybe
cliff swallows.
Alongside rafters in garages is one
of the favorite modern nest sites OF the
barn swallows.
In the old days it was barns, and
bridges.
Today barn swallow likes nothing
better than garage.
Several years ago there were two OF
these nests in a garage across the street.
A bird sat on each nest, but 1t was
never determined whether one was a
male and the other the female OF the
same pair, or they were two females.
One nest had eggs, but the other had
only a small stone in it.
The swallows we're undisturbed by the
entrance of the car, or by its lights.
The nest of the barn swallow is bowl
shaped, of mud, with the entrance at
the top.
The nest of the cliff swallows is re-
tort or bottle shaped, with the entrance
at the side 1t, too, is made OF muo
mixed with straw and lined with feath-
ers.
USUALLY the nest of the barn swallow
is inside a building, whereas the nest
of the cliff swallow is outside.
The barn swallows are more usual
hereabouts. The cliff species. like the
n1rple martins, is bird which prefers
to go in f1ocks.
All the members of the swallow
family are great insect eaters.
They account for the destruction OF
millions of mosquitoes q year, and are
held to be one of the greatest frlends
of man. -
Yet once upon time so many barn
swallows were killed to make ornaments
for ladies' hats that the species came
near determination.
It was a protest against this misuse
voiced by George Bird Grinnel, editor
of Forest and Stream. in 1886, which led
to the founding of the first Audubon
Society.
The swallows belong to the true sing
ing birds.
Among those found in the Washing
ton region are the barn and cliff swal-
lows talthough the latter is rare>, the
purple martin, the tree swallow, the
Evening star., 1941-07-29
Deplores Secretary Ickes' Gibe
At Mr.. Lindbergh's Name.

To the Editor of The Star:
The Intelligence" of neWsreel habitues
was recently uplifted By the sight and
sound of Secretary Ickes as he burbled
one about "Lindbergh and Limburger,"
with bright comments about similarity of
aroma. This worse than lame sally was,
presumably, intended as laugh getter-
what other aim could have actuated it?
Few of the onlookers appeared amused,
They looked merely sorry, as if they
wondered what allied a set of govern
mental rulers who claimed to be seek
ing national unity. yet overlooked no
device to air petty vindictiveness and
personal spite. betraying an intolerance
of "the honorable opposition found
only in the relationships, never in the
war bound democracies.
The Secretary could perform real
service for the Nation if he would use
his peculiar talents, direct his blistering
diatribes against the real enemies of
America-and the New Deals former
buddies-now, as ever, the Communists
WALTER BAHNSEN.
Evening star., 1941-07-29
Police and Civil Service

The House District Committee was
i'll advised in sustaining the at
tack by the Schultz subcommittee
on the Civil Service Commission,
while approving, by a nine-to-two
vote, the report covering the investi-
cation of the Metropolitan Police
Department.
Referring to the commission in this
report, the subcommittee declared
the Federal agency had used repre-
hensible" tactics in hitting back at
criticism of the examining procedure
followed for making police promo
tions. AS matter of fact, the COM
mission was justified thoroughly in
publicly defending the tests, which
had been subjected to ridicule at the
House hearings, notably by Chair
man Schultz, who charged that Act
ing Captain George M. Little had
been denied a full captaincy be
cause he couldn't tell how long it
took for a startling to fly from the
White House to the Justice Depart
ment." Language of that nature
could serve only to cast the exam
lining process into disrepute in the
eyes Of the public. The commits
sion properly exercised it's preroga-
tives in getting the record straight
by making it clear that the questions
in the promotion examinations are
framed with the assistance and ap-
proval of the Police Department and
are of a character designed ade-
quately to test the fitness of candi-
dates seeking advancement.
1t should be noted also that Rep
resentative Dirksen of Illinois, one of
the two diSsenters from the majority
which approved the entire report,
was joined by two other committee
men in an unsuccessful effort to
have the criticism of the commission
eXpunged, holding it "in no way war
ranted or justified"
In going along with the Subcom-
mittee the full committee supports
the plan to do away with civil service
promotions and give the District
Commissioners the right to make
promotions in accordance with rec
concentrations by the superintend-
ent of police. The principle of ad-
vancement by merit is bound to be
ENDANGERED bY such a change.
Evening star., 1941-07-29
Argues That "Army Tradition"
Does Not Affect Rights of Selectees.

To the Editor Of The Star:
This Is relative to your editorial Mill
tary Discipline" I must protest against
the doctrine implied in the editorial
that the selectee in the Army automati-
cally, by Army tradition" or by law,
loses all democratic right to protest the
actions of elected officials who are sup
posed to carry out his wishes in the
true spirit of democracy.
Apart from the present case, sup
posing under similar circumstances the
President were to propose course con-
trary to the best interests of the coun-
try, would the selectees have the right
to protest or must they in the best
totalitarian manner bow to Army ira
dition"?
The regulation you quote (Part Of
Army Regulations may sound pro-
found and formidable to unthinking
readers but no Army regulation can take
away single constitutional right of a
selectee. PENNSYLVANIA.
Evening star., 1941-07-29
For This-Give Thanks

For this giue thanks to brauer SireS--
And God-through days gone By
That you hare not so patched The
earth
You tailed to see the sky.
And that When you hare missed the
path
You did not sink in bog
Or rail at Fate because the 1Duy
Was sometimes deep in fog.
oh, neuer ask that all 90 right,
That your one soul should be
Exempt from every sacrifice,
From every hardship, free.
The only thing the heart should ask
Is thiS-thdt NTH each ddUn.
Though you haze failed the day
before.
This morning you 90 ON
VIRGINIA SCOTT MINER.
Evening star., 1941-07-29
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henry.

More than 100000 American mothers
with growing children who wear store
made clothes henceforth can call the
department store and order suits, shirts
and underwear for their progeny with
reasonable assurance that they will fit.
Hitherto children's clothes have been
sized according to ages. One asked for
an 8-year-old suit or a 6-year-old shirt
The sizes were based on guess work as
to the average size of boy or girl of q
certain age. No two manufacturers
made the same guess.
The result has been loss of at least
Sl0,000,000 a year to clothing dealers
because of the number of orders re-
turned, after the garments had been
tried on and somewhat damaged.
The trouble was fundamentally that
children do not come in standard sizes.
One 6-year-old might be twice the size
of another-or twice as tall or twice
as fat.
Besides there has been the appeal to
the vanity of mothers.
boasts. Hes just S, but I have to buy
l0-year-old clothes for him"
The inference, of course, is that Willie
is such phenomenal child that he is
just twice the size of ordinary youngsters
of his age. Nothing could be further
from the truth. The age-size pattern
has been distorted just to tickle Mrs
Jones vanity.
Three years ago the Bureau of Home
Economics of the United States De-
partment of Agriculture began, as a w.
P. A. project, precise measurements of
nearly 10000 boys and girls, in approx
mately equal groups, ranging in age from
to II. Altogether SO measurements
were made of different bodily dimen-
Sions The immense amount of data
now has been analyzed and is in the
hands of the American Standards As
sociation in New York, which will draw
up list of standard sizes.
1t was found that children actually
did fall into size groups, but not accord
ing to age. The best criterion was the
height and girth at the hips. These
measurements correlated very we'll with
the other measures, such as width of
the shoulders length of the arms, girth
of the neck, etc.
Once these standards are adopted by
manufacturers. as they are bound to be
IN the near future, a mother can order
an undershirt of size for her lO-year-
old son and be reasonably sure it will
fit. Suits and dresses also will fit with
very few alterations
There will be seven sizes, one of which
will fit nearly every youngster between
and II. Mail-order houses already are
revising their catalogs and most of the
larger manufacturers have agreed tc
accept the new standards.
The measurements were conducted in
nearly every State in the Union unde,
the direction of Miss Ruth OBrien, De-
partment of Agriculture clothing special
| ist. More than 5000, 900 separate meas
hrements were fed into the Department
of Agriculture calculating machines in
order to work out the necessary CORE
I lations.
1t was found that for American chill
dren there was hardly any relationship
at all between age and size. because OF
the enormous variability of the popula
ton, the effects of different diets, etc
1t probably would correlate better in
most European countries which have
homogeneous populations
Evening star., 1941-07-29
Is ThuiIund Next?

Although japanese occupation Of
Southern Indo China has only
started, it is proceeding apace. 1t
should be remembered that the
northern province known as Tonking
has been under japanese control
ever since last autumn. So Japanese
troops from the Tonking garrisons
are rolling southwark by rail and
highroad as we'll as disembarking
from transports by sea. 1t is esti-
mated that at least $4,000 Japanese
soldiers should be in Southern Indo-
China within the next fortnight,
besides naval forces at the great
base of Camranh Bay. This should
clinch Japan's hold upon the French
colony and guard against sudden
descent from any quarter.
1t is generally recognized that,
despite Indo-C -China's natural re-
sources, its chief value in Japanese
eyes is as a springboard for possible
further strokes against Britain, the
Netherlands Indies and the Philip
pines. The colony is strategically
situated for air and naval blows at
all three objectives. But if Japan con-
templates decisive operations against
the British at Singapore and in
Burma, land attacks are necessary.
And the only highway for such cam
paignS lies across the neighboring
state of Thailand, formerly known as
Siam.
Thailand is an irregularly shaped
country with a long, narrow tip
down the Malay Peninsula until it
ends in the bulge of British Malaga,
whose metropolis is Singapore.
Along most of its western frontier,
Thailand abuts on British Burma,
the eastern gateway to India. II
Japan ever attacks the British, the
first land blows will presumably be
struck against Burma, because an
arm of Burmese territory known
as British Tenasserim bisects the
northern half of the Malay PENN
sula, leaving only few miles of Thai
territory at the narrowest point.
Britain is known to have assembled
sizable forces along the Thai-Bur-
meSe frontier. Japan, therefore,
could not venture to march an army
through that narrow bottleneck for
an attack upon British Malaga until
British Tenasserim had been taken
and an adequate defense line estab-
| lished.
Whether Thailand would submit
to japanese use as a base against
the British is uncertain. Relations
between the two countries have been
close for years, and Japan was Ger
tainly responsible both for encoumg-
ing the That's to attack the French
last winter and for arranging the
treaty settlement which gave Thai
land generous slices of Indo-Chinese
territory. Thailand is thus deeply
indebted to Japan and is often con-
sidered in the japanese orbit. But
from this to permitting japanese
military occupation which would in
volve Thailand in hostilities with
Britain and endanger it's independ-
ence is another matter.
The That's share with the Japa-
nese the distinction of having volun-
tarily modernized themselves anc
thus preserved their nationhooc
against foreign encroachments
While not traditionally a warl1ke
Evening star., 1941-07-29
Cites Evidence Given
BY Maj. Eliot a Year Ago.
To the Edltnr Of The Star:

To the Editor OF The Star
1t is noted with regret that YOUR
contributor. Maj. George Fielding Eliot,
is tending to become intolerant OF such
Americans as refuse to become hysteri-
cal. In The Star of July % the article
of Mai. Eliot states that 1t is difficult
to understand how any intelligent per-
son can advance the argument that 10
retain all this personnel in the service
for the period of the existing emergency
would be a breach Of faith. To say
that the Presidents proposal constitutes
q breach of faith is, under the clrcum-
stances. either ridiculous or deliberately
dishonest"
At the hearings on H. R. 8026 on
April %, 1910, Maj Eliot appeared as
an expert before the Senate Committee
on Naval Affairs. In answer to ques-
tions of the chairman, Maj. Eliot said:
ct do not think We should have large
Army. I would make my humble in
dorsement to the statement of our first
Commander in Chief, that what we need
is not a large Army, but good one.
Senator Tydings-What do you mean
by small Army? About 100000 men?
Mai. Understanding less than that.
Senator Tydings-About 250O00?
Mai. Eliot-25O,0O0 would probably be
adequate.
Further on Mai. Eliot testified: II
do not see any reason why we should
make plans TO raise huge citizen Army
because don't know what to do with
it."
In the Congressional Record of July
21. Senator Vandenberg inserted let
ter from Secretary StimSon which
stated that the Regular Army of June
30 numbered 475,000 men. This was in
addition to the National Guard and the
draftees, or substantially twice the
number of regular three-year soldiers
that are necessary according to the re-
cent testimony of Maj. Eliot.
If Mai. Eliot properly qualified as an
expert in 1910 he is hardly justified In
saying that some of us are ridiculous
or deliberately dishonest when We think
in accordance with the testimony he
gave only year ago. w. S. BROWN.
Evening star., 1941-07-29

full from a domestic standpoint. In
the interests of national security, the
Presidents critics, who have so often
changed their own position, would
do we'll to abandon their efforts to
indict him at every supposed oppor-
tunity on the basis of statements
made year ago, and to collaborate
with him in trying to guard against
the threat of hostilities arising out
of the turbulent world situation as
it exists today.