davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1941-05-07
THIS AND THAT
Usually there is an April lull in bird

By Charles E. TraceDell.

Usually there is an April lull in bird
feeding in the garden.
The songsters are so delighted with
vancing spring, that they tend to fly
away to the woods.
This Is natural and to be expected; ;
the person who persists in feeding the
birds at this time of year should not
think he has lost all his favorites.
They will come back again, if he keeps
a feeder filled.
There will not be as many as during
the cold months.
That is natural, too.
English sparrows, which furnish the
background chorus in most gardens, will
return to town, in large measure, for
their nesting.
Many of them will come back, however,
as the days drift BY The sparrows will
drift in, until one morning they will
seem almost up to their old numbers.
Their disappearance, for time, makes
them appreciated when they come back.
AS you look through the window, and
see the small brown birds busy with the
seed, you may say to yourself IF I didn't
know what they were. am sure I would
think them very fine birds, indeed"
1t is true.
If we had not seen English sparrows
we could not prevent ourselves from
becoming excited over them.
We would rush to identify tr I'm.
Persons who dislike these sparroWs, or
think they do. ought to keep this idea in
mind.
If these birds were unknown, they,
too, would find them interesting.
Rarity plays part. There is no mis-
taking the excitement in many a home
when a new bird-new to the beholder-
is seen at feeding station, or in the
yard.
After it has been identified, it becomes
one with all the other birds that stick
around all year.
People fail to exclaim about the cardi-
nal, when it has been steady guest for
years.
Most gardens in the suburbs will have
at least one or two pairs of redbirds.
Blue jays will fly in every day or two,
during most of the year.
These are the most colorful of the
steady garden guests.
In town, yards know them, too, so that
they may be regarded as the most per-
sistent and universal of the songbirds in
this section of the country.
1t is good plan, in the yard which has
maintained more than one bird feeding
station since last fall, to clean up all
except one.
This means that the birds will shortly
come to it as they did all winter to many.
For a few days, before the aforemen-
Evening star., 1941-05-07
A Convincing Plea.

The united determination with
which the community of voteleSs
Washingtonians is pressing for early
passage of the Capper-Sumners res
olution for District suffrage is strik-
ingly evident in the diversity of civic
and trade interests Signatory to the
"Americanize the Washingtonian"
petition submitted yesterday to a
subcommittee of the Senate Judici-
ary Committee. Representatives of
more than thirty outstanding organ
izations, the membership of which
constitutes a broad dissection of
the Capitals disfranchised citizenry,
signed the document, which was at
once an appeal for simple justice and
q fortnight assertion of the basic
right of District residents to have
voice in the Government which leg
islates for them, imposes taxes upon
them and sends them to war.
That basic right, the petition points
out, stems from democratic princi-
Piles that are as old as the Nation
itself, principles that guided the
founding fathers in building the
framework of a "Government of the
people, by the people and for the
people" The founders of that Gov
eminent assuredly did not envision
the denial to a group of 663,091 Dis
trict citizens of privileges of national
representation accorded to all other
Americans. With convincing logic
the petition outlined the suffrage
claims OF a populace which outnum-
bers the aggregate population OF
twelve States, which pays more ma
tional taxes than residents of twenty
one of the States, which sent into
military service in the first World
War more men than any one of seven
of the States and which has over
subscribed it's quotas of all wartime
funds.
The immediate goal of those who
signed the present appeal is the ap-
proval by Congress of constitu-
tional amendment empowering Con-
gress, when it so desires, to afford
representation in Congress and in
the electoral college to District resi-
dents and to delegate to the munich
pality such powers respecting Dis
trict legislation as it may deem ad-
visable. The argument presented by
the Citizens Joint Committee and
cooperating organizations is per-
suasive, the need for action urgent,
the cause just. 1t is difficult to see
how Congress, in good conscience,
can ignore so compelling plea.
Evening star., 1941-05-07
Popular Choice

For the second time visitors to the
Corcoran Gallery of Art have desig-
mated Luigi Lucioni their favorite
contemporary painter. His study of
an athlete Resting" was voted the
public's prize in the Biennial Exhibi-
ton Of 1899; his portrait of John La
Fargo has received similar recogni-
ton in the show now current. Pic
lures selected for honors by pro-
fessional jury were ignored by the
vast majority of lay critics.
In answer to the inevitable ques-
ton about the discrepancy between
the two points of view, Miss Leila
Mechlin, art editor of The Star, says:
"The portrait by Mr.. Lucioni which
won the popular prize is painted with
great simplicity and reticence, is
beautifully drawn, distinctly personal
and, at the same time, vital-just
such a portrait as one would like to
have of one near and dear. 1t tells
something of the young man, not
merely his appearance, but his char
acter and inclinations. The artist
is - a skilled craftsman, but he
does not allow his own personality
to intrude. So worked and created
the great artists of the past"
The theory thus set forth seems
valid in the light of esthetic tradi-
tion dating back to classic antiquity.
1t is manifest that the first masters
of sculpture in Greece and Rome
were realists in the sense that they
worked from nature and for a demo-
cratic audience. No philosophic dis
QUESTION was needed to make their
efforts ineligible to the populace.
Granted, they had their share of
troubles of political variety. It is
a matter of history, however, that
nobody challenged the accuracy of
their vision nor the integrity of their
modelling. So, too, the earliest of the
Italian painters of the Renaissance
dealt with line and color according
to the highest ideals of their place
and their time. They strove for per-
fection-and providentially came
near to attaining it.
Too many modern painters, it may
be suggested, have cultivated an
aristocratic contempt for the judg-
ment of the people. The militant
zeal with which they declare their
independence of "uninformed" taste
may be defensible if art is to be an
esoteric activity from which the
masses automatically are barred, but
the Endorsement which Mr.. Lucioni
twice has had provokes a doubt
which gradually increases in power
the more it is contemplated.
Evening star., 1941-05-07

toned lull. there will be some dismay
on the part Of the steady customers.
They will fly down, and walk around,
as if wondering where the food is.
Observers with too tender hearts may
think the birds are vastly disturbed, but
they are not; they simply are looking
for food at the old stand
Once they do not find it, it does not
take them long to look for it.
Then the lone feeder comes into its
own.
The establishment of this one feeding
station will depend upon what one wants
for the remainder of the spring and
summer.
If freedom from birds close to the
house, then it should be established far
out in the yard. On the driveway. to
one side, is a good place, for here the
birds will not destroy the grass. 1t must
be kept in mind that many small claws
day after day, will wear away the best
grass.
If close inspection is desired, one
should establish the feeding station
close to the house. Right outside
dining room window is best. Then the
eaters inside can look out and watch the
feeders outside.
1t is mildly absurd that we say people
eat, but animals feed. All living things
eat, or feed 1t makes no particular diff
ference what you call it, it is the same
action
Food is the one great bond between
the pure animals and us. 1t is something
they understand, and in almost exactly
the same way we do. Humans have their
soft cloths, their china and silver, their
multitudes of fancy dishes, but down at
bottom food is food and eating is eating.
There is very little difference in es-
sence, between a cardinal eating SUM-
flower seed, and man eating corn on
the cob, except that the bird eats more
daintily.
It is fun feeding the birds the year
round, in case you don't know.
Many persons have the idea that fall
and winter are the only times.
Some even believe that to keep UP
feeding after spring arrives is to cause
the songsters to lose their primitive in
stincts, and to keep them from consum-
ing insects in the yard.
Both these ideas are false. You can't
prevent insectivorous birds from eating
insects, and many seed eaters will eat
them too, when the warm weather brings
EN- out.
The way to summer feed the birds is to
use mostly sunhoWer seed some raisins,
and now and then a handful of ground
beef to help out the nesting birds. Car
dinals, catbirds and song sparrows, in
particular, appreciate ground meat If
it is put out in an elevated position about
5 or o'clock in the evening, in May,
June and July, it gives real aid to birds
hard pressed to find food for themselves
and fedglings.
Evening star., 1941-05-07
Arlington Water

Arlington County, Va, is the first
community in the Washington area
this summer to feel the inconven-
ience of diminished water supply and
limitations on its use. Fortunately,
the present water crisis in the county
is expected to be of short duration.
Within eight or ten days a new main
is due to be completed, connecting
Arlington with the District of Colum-
bia system, from which it draws it's
supply.
There has been some dispute as
to the cause of the present ban on
lawn sprinkling in Arlington, the
low pressures at times and the order
to use water only for essentials. Ar
lington officials have said the trou-
BILE is due to increased consumption
at the Gravelly Point Airport. OFF,
cials there have denied the charge
and District of Columbia authorities
have suggested that the county's
trouble may be question of distri-
button, due to its vast population
boom.
Regardless of the cause, the situa-
ton focuses attention on the impor-
tance of all Jurisdictions in the fast
growing Washington area taking
steps to assure both an adequate
supply and adequate distribution of
water. The task may not be easy
in view of current defense activity,
which has increased the population,
temporarily at least, much faster
than had been anticipated.
Evening star., 1941-05-07
Suggests Temporary Building
Near Bureau of Standards.

AZ tie Lulto1 VI 1He SlhI
Recent press reports indicate that the
Federal Government again is facing the
probable necessity of erecting temporary
buildings on the ground known as the
Mall The sentiment of the ma ajority
of the people of Washington undoubt-
edly is against such plan.
1t is recognized that some such build
ings may have to be erected in the near
future and that the same will have to be
erected on Government-owned ground.
Nevertheless temporary buildings should
not again be constructed on the Mall.
If it is necessary to erect so-called tempo
rary buildings, such buildings should be
located in less congested parts of Wash
ington, and, in the interest of economy,
should be of a semi-permanent type;
also where the buildings will be Of service
and value after the emergency.
One such building could be erected
on a large plot owned by the Gov
ernment at the northwest corner of
Connecticut avenue and Van Ness street
which is part of the Bureau of Standards
grounds. This is an ideally situated plot
for the construction of a building of the
type of the Munitions Building. A build
ing on this site later could be used to
advantage by the Bureau of Standards.
There would be no waste Of taxpayers
money because the Bureau of Standards
would be the ultimate beneficiary of the
project.
There is to he considered in this con-
nection the favorable location of the site
from the standpoint of transportation,
bus connections, automobile parking
space, the bureaus facilities, and bene-
fits to be derived from such project by
the business and marketing establish
ments located in that area. The desir-
ability of the neighborhood from hous-
ing standpoint is also an important
factor. EDWARD FISCHER.
Evening star., 1941-05-07
New Office BUILDINGS

A wise choice has been made in de-
Gliding on sites for four of the seven
temporary buildings needed to house
the expanding defense force of the
Government.
Restricted by law to locations on
Federal land within the District of
Columbia, the Public Buildings Ad-
ministration will erect a single struc-
ture along the southern fringe of the
Mall, on independence avenue be-
tween Fourth and Sixth streets NV,
while the three other buildings will
be placed on the War College grounds.
In each instance, the nature of the
site is such as to lend itself only to
the temporary usage to which it is
being put, and that is highly desir-
able situation. The Mall land of
course, figures in future plans for
the Identification of the Capital The
War College, in all likelihood, eventu-
ally will require for its own purposes
the space which now is being used
otherwise. In consequence, once the
temporary Offices have served the
emergency, they no doubt will give
way without undue delay to the
permanent developments of which
their sites one day are expected to be
a part, instead of being permitted to
become permanent eyesores.
Three sites are still to be selected
for the rest of the construction that
is contemplated, and it is to be hoped
that they are equally we'll adapted
for the purpose they are designed to
serve.
Evening star., 1941-05-07
Apotheosis of Stulin

One OF the curious contradictions
OF Marxist practice is that of the
deifcation of leaders in society in
which all citizens without exception
are supposed to be equals. The news
from Moscow yesterday illustrates
the paradox perfectly. An official
communique issued by Tass, the gov
ernment publicity organization, ex-
planned that Josef Vissarionovich
Stain had been "appointed' chair
man of the Council of Peoples Com
missars, replacing Viacheslav M.
Molotov in the post of Premier which
he had occupied from 1880 onward.
In somewhat simpler language, the
Red Car of Russia has raised him.
self to the highest position in the
Bolshevik system of administration.
He now is as near to being what
Lenin was as he can be short of dying.
Certainly the elevation of his
master to the uppermost heights of
the Communist Olympus means for
the author of the Russia
pact of 1889 a personal loss of pres
tige. It is true that for the moment
he retains his job as Commissar of
Foreign Affairs and is designated
Vice Premier; but he no longer is
the head of the state. To what de-
gree his dethronement will affect the
policies of the Soviets is problemat-
ical. In the experience of the world
public, however, nothing happens in
Muscovy without influence upon
Europe. Many questions inevitably
are raised by the latest shift of
personnel. Is it possible that Stain
is beginning to worry about the
pressure of the Nazis on his western
and southern borders? Does he,
perhaps, contemplate an aggressive
movement of his own in the direction
Of the Dardanelles? Is he preparing
to retrieve those Balkan concessions
which unwillingly he made to Hitler?
May it be his intention to expand in
the direction Of India while Britain
Is busy with the war in the Atlantic?
These issues, of course, are mere
speculations. The glorification of
Big Joe may signify nothing save an
exemplification Of human vanity and
pride. On the other hand, it may
have tremendous implications.
Stain, conceivably, may turn against
his Berlin partner. Or he may decide
to join with him in his campaign
Evening star., 1941-05-07
Approves Appeal
For Better Work.
To the Editor of The Star:

10 the EQltOE OF lHe SIdT.
Another grand article on the back of
the front cover of The Sunday Star
magazine This Week-a plea for each
and every individual American to do his
Job, whatever it is, just little better
than he has ever done it before.
Albert Carr says, so long as we give
our country something more than words,
something of ourselves, American democ-
racy will continue to grow and bear rich
fruit and our future will be bright with
promise"
Try to believe that "he also serves
who only stands and waits" We can
not all be admirals or generals. Let us do,
with a will, whatever We can do best;
and that inward satisfaction which comes
from doing the very best that we can
will compensate us for failure to attain
that coveted place in the sun which can
come only to the few.
LAURA K. POLLOCK.
Evening star., 1941-05-07

the President and to Congress, reading
as follows: IF now is the time to act,
then act All true Americans will back
you to the end and sacrifice their lives
if necessary, but will accept no excuses
for disasters that should be averted by
common sense and determined action
now"
Should I send such message to the
President it probably would be thrown
into the Wastebasket but if millions of
Americans were to send kilograms of
this nature, they might bring home to
the President the fact that true Ameri-
cans are concerned about the lack of
a two-fsted foreign policy
E H. TEAGLE.
Evening star., 1941-05-07

O. What was Prime Minister Winston
Churchills reply to the letter from
President Roosevelt which was delivered
by Wendell Willkie?-T. E. T.
A. 1t is as follows: Put your con-
fidence in us. Give us your faith and
your blessing, and under providence all
will be well We shall not fail or
falter; we shall not weaken or tire.
Neither the sudden shock of battle nor
the long drawn trials of vigilance and
exertion will wear us down. Give US
the tools and We will finish the job
@. What per cent of the average
family budget is spent for maintaining
an automobile T. H.
A. Official studies show that 10 per
cent of the typical car-owning familys
budget, about $3.50 per year is spent
for the operation of its automobile.
@. Does a person have to be on relief
to get W. P. A. job?-C. E. M.
A. The Works Projects Administration
requires that at least 95 per cent of the
persons employed on projects shall be
persons who are referred as in need of
relief by a public welfare agency ap-
proved by the w. P. A. and are certified
as eligible by the division of employ
ment of the w. P A.
Q. Who wrote a story entitled "She
Had on Her Geranium Leave" ID. c.
A. 1t is by Thomas Nelson Page.
Q. Please give the date of death and
burial place of Mrs. David Livingstone,
wife of the explorer-O. B.
A Mrs. David Livingstone died on
April q, 1862. She was buried under
large baobab tree at Shupanga, Africa.
O. What is the musical composition
played in the motion picture The Great
Lie"?-A. P. S.
A. The theme music of The Great
Lie is a special arrangement by Max
Steiner of Tschaikowsky's Concerto No.
in B Flat Minor. Opus 23.'
Evening star., 1941-05-07
Wants Conciliators
Who Are Fair"
To the Editor Of The Star:

Your editorial "Employe Appeals" high
lights many of the advantages inherent
in the recently Presidential
Civil Service Commission Board Of Re-
views" An important factor in their
popular operation is the selection of high
types of conciliators. The membership
should be composed of men or women
with less background in personnel poll
tics but more keenly alive to fairness.
Many of the evils this new system seeks
to correct have long been allowed to
persist. The problem of an adjustor OF
unfairness is not an easy one at any
stage; but the fate of an aggrieved en-
ploye would not be any better under the
new setup. II those unfair in the past
were allowed to hold membership in the
new Boards Of Review"
LOUIS vARNUM WOULFE.
Evening star., 1941-05-07
Quotes Democratic Bard
On Fellowship and Peace.
To the Editor Of The Star:

That great poet of the people. Walt
Whitman, noted for his strength and
courage, earnestly endeavored to estab-
ish and maintain harmony among men
without regard for differences. He real
lied that peace is not promoted by bloody
conflict and that savage warfare is fit
for wild beasts, not reasoning men"
Whitman wrote:
Away with themes of war Away with
war itself.
Hence, from my shuddering sight, to
never more return,
That show of blacken'd, mutilated
corpses!
That hell unpent, and raid of blood-fit
for wild tigers,
Or for lop-tongued wolves-not reason
ing men!
And in its stead speed Industry's cam
paigns!
With thy undaunted armies, Engineering!
Thy pennants, Labor loosen'd to the
breeze!
Thy bugles sounding loud and clear!"
EDMUND K. GOLDSBOROUGH.
Evening star., 1941-05-07
Warns Against Fatal Policy of
Sending Needed Arms Abroad.

To the Editor of The Star:
I feel that the present administration
has lost sight of many important facts
concerning our national defense. 1t
might easily be fatal to send American
arms to foreign shores, or to risk their
loss at sea. when every airplane and every
gun is needed so badly to bring our own
national defense up to even the minimum
necessary during this crisis.
We are willing to suffer and sacrifice
anything for America but not to support
a European war in the cause of which
we had no part.
STUART w. JENKs.
Evening star., 1941-05-07
Soma for q Hunter

When dusk slipped doWn and the
eUenino star burned dim
I Uould stand and match your
UeaUinq lantern 90
Like an elfn freely, up to the forest
rim,
Lacing the trees with an eerie,
fttul gloU.
The notes OF your hunting horn,
lifting clear and high
Through the frosty night Would
echo doUn to me,
Then the hounds Would give you
back their challenge cry,
Where the moon 10as taper, hung
in the dark spruce tree.
Soon the light of your fire Wou1d
flare and burn,
Like a sullen torch, there on the
ridges crest,
When the hounds belled doUn tho
,Dind, ho,D / 1Dould yearn
TO cttn1o Dhere you Ldy, Dtth your
horn across your breast!
Yours pas a GYPSY heart that kneD
no bars,
You loUed the pind, the sky and
the mountain stream,
With earth for a pillop, blanketed
1Cith stars,
High in the hills, you sought and
found your dream.
A hunting horn is an aching,
lonely sight
When it hangs too long on
bleached and sun-dry WaU.
Do your gypsy fires still flicker
across the night
When the tores out on the lonely
hilltops cal2
ALMA Robson HIGBEE.
Evening star., 1941-05-07
Objects to Method
Employed by Miss Thompson.

To the Editor of The Star:
I regret very much that it had to be
The Star that printed Dorothy Thomp-
sons article of April 30. Whether l agree
with Col. Lindbergh or not, Miss Thomp-
sons article was an insult to my idea of
fairness and Christian charity. To take
the childhood life of any person, whether
it be happy or unhappy, and which is
sacred to that person, and hold it up to
scorn and ridicule, is even lower than
anything I would charge against Miss
Thompson. FAIRMINDED.
Evening star., 1941-05-07

against democracy. In England and
in America it may be unreasonable
to hope for any good from so bad a
source, yet optimism might not be
altogether unjustif1ed. The Soviets
are unpredictable, their boss as much
a mystery as ever.
Evening star., 1941-05-07

continue its previous functions in
the Nations financial system. In his
new post, Mr.. Schram will have a
fine opportunity to promote better
relations between the finance world
and the Federal Government and
help remove points of friction that
may be hampering the issuance and
distribution of new securities. Both
are greatly to be desired.