davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1950-03-16

aration of the maritime administrative opera
tlons from the regulatory functions, but would
place the separated activities entirely within the
Commerce Department. The present commission
would be replaced by Maritime Board. The
President in his message to Congress stressed the
necessity OF keeping the Maritime Board "inde-
pendent" even though 1t should be q part of
the Commerce Department. How this anom-
alous arrangement would work out is hard to tell
The degree Of independence no doubt would
depend on the strength of the boards member
ship The board would be specifically designated
by law as independent of the Secretary of Com
merce" in all matters relating to regulation of
shipping rates, services, practices and agree
ments.
The Presidents plan needs to be weighed
carefully in relation to the Hoover Commissions
advocacy of complete separation of regulatory
functions from departmental control. There is
danger that efforts will be made to assume such
control If a regulatory agency Is made 4 part Of
any department, however specific the statutory
guarantee against interference.
Evening star., 1950-03-16
This and That

How prettily the birds sing, these days!
Their singing the real spring songs
has been going on for a long time now.
This alone would entitle them to our
love and esteem.
But 1t is not all they do for us by a
long sight.
Consuming inimical insects and weed
seeds puts lis in their debt also.
Sometimes people, as a joke, say that
it must be all bosf, this stuff about how
the birds eat so many things that harm
mankind.
The truth is, they do it all and more.
This has been discovered over the
years by scientific investigation.
1t is not just matter of eye watch
ing, or of claims.
Ornfthologists have taken the stom-
achs of dead birds and painstakingly
gone over them, item by item
It is not job that most bird lovers
would want to do. Such prefer to think
If their winged friends as on the wing.
The minute dissection of stomach
contents must be left to the odd sort
OF men and their minds-and surely
they are so. In comparison with the "bird
lover" type Of human-who specialize
in such things.
Consider the little screech owl.
Nq\ more than 10 inches long. With 4
Evening star., 1950-03-16
Walter Reed Out-Patient Says
Hospital Has Its Hands Full
By Charles E. TroceweN

total wing spread of % inches, he never
theless manages to do his bit for man.
kind
DR.. A. K. Fisher, the great authority
said that nearly three-fourths of the
OWLS food consists of injurious NAM
mails and insects.
He apologized for it taking some song
birds. Most of the birds destroyed by
the screech OWL" he stated, ARE killed
either in severe weather or during the
breeding season when it is hard work to
feed its young"
The screech owl is diligent mouser,
among other good points.
1t eats insects, grasshoppers, crickets
beetles and cutworms
In one stomach, for instance, he found
so grasshoppers.
In another. 18 May beetles.
In still a third, 13 cutworms.
In some stomachs were found remains
of chipmunks wood rats, flying squir-
rels and moles.
The short-eared owl is one of the
great mousers, far better. according to
DR.. Fisher. than q cat.
This owls diet consisted rs per cent
Of mice, as many as six being found in
one stomach.
Even the common sparroY helps IN
getting rid OF insects. A
Evening star., 1950-03-16

Government bureaus have found that
the English sparrow is an exceptionally
good destroyer of the alfalfa weevil, as
well as cutworms.
At nesting time, since all birds use
insects as "baby food" this often
despised sparrow does good service to
mankind.
1t also has learned to eat Japanese
beetles, taste that will grow over the
years.
The startling also is a beetle catcher,
and an eater of such insects as worry
the growers in grasslands
Recently we surveyed here the food
take of the robin, showing how it is all
on the good side. as far as helping
mankind is concerned.
AS much can be said of the beautiful
bluebird, It's cousin, but the small num-
bers of these make their contribution
only drop ir. the bucket.
That wonder bird, the wood thrush,
helps by eating ants. cutworms, various
beetles dncluding the potato beetle)
grasshoppers and caterpillars. It's fruit
take is practically all wild.
These are but few of the 400 species
of birds that come to Washington every
year. Think what they altogether do
Evening star., 1950-03-16
Think Machine

Many people quayer today that science has
gone too far. Others maintain glumly that the
real trouble is that science too often misses
the point. Take the case of the new sleep
teaching machine that worries facts into the
brain while its owner sleeps. Where does this
leave Shakespeare's "sleep that knits up the
ravelled sleave of care?" Dropping stitches
we are sure. And did it never occur to the
inventors of this fiendish gadget, who hold that
it brings us closer to the dream of learning
without difficulty, that pleasure as we'll as
effort often figure in the business of acquiring
knowledge? Evidently not. Americans have
a passion for odd bits of information, and this
unworthy attachment has been unhealthily
nurtured by quiz programs. In the face of free
trips to Europe, maids for year and lifetime
laundry service, 1t has become almost useless
to insist that the man who knows the popula-
ton of Rangoon the number of StarlngS in
Washington and who said Death where is thy
sting?" is not necessarily learned man. Nor
with polls and Kinsey reports scrutinzed like
the heavens for signs Of the time is it easy to
convince the young that education is not so
much matter of accumulating facts as it is
of relating them to each other
The machine does not stop with pressing
facts and figures into the conscious area of
the unconscious brain. 1t also proposes to break
bad habits. We do not care to think what would
happen in the poor head of the nail-biter who
put on bulb-snatchers record by mistake
Nor do we like to think what such methods
could do in the hands of unscrupulous politicians
at campaign time. AS a matter of fact, it Is best
not to think about this machine at all. 1t seems
to be another milestone along the garden-path
to flavorless living down which science sometimes
seems intent on leading us. Automobiles stopped
men from walking television stops him from
talking. Now thinking becomes obsolete
Evening star., 1950-03-16
Luso-BroziIion CoIIoquium

"Couoquium was a common word a few
eenturies ago. Now it is coming back into recog-
nized usage in relation to a meeting of scholars
interested in PortugueSe-Brazilian studies, to be
held at the Library Of Congress from October
through October 7. 1t means "a conference" or,
better, "a mutual discourse; "a conversation"
In the sense of a matching of minds. What
Is intended is a talking of those elements
OF civilization which trace back to the portion
of the Iberian peninsula which anciently was
called Lusitania.
One result of the projected assembly should
be that of calling public attention to how
important Portugal has been in history not
merely in the distant past but more particularly
the present. A little larger than South Carolina
but not as big as Indiana, the modern Portuguese
republic represents the current development of
literary, artistic and social conceptions which
had their origin in Arabic and Leonese sources
millennium prior to our time. Portugal SYM
bolzes those values of Carthagnian and Gothic
antiquity which most deserved to survive
Brazil perhaps to an extent not equaled by
any other beneficiary received the influence
and the example of Lusitanian culture. Even
today the beautiful cities of Rio de Janeiro
and Sac Paulo are outposts of sort for the
living tradition adorned by Prince Henry the
Navigator, Fernando Magellan Luz Vas de
Camoens Vasco de Cana, the Marques de
Pombal, Eca de Queiroz and Egas Moniz. If
these great names are not well known in the
United States, the Luso- Brazilian Collouuium
at the Library of Congress next October should
make them The gathering will be open not
exclusively to professional scholars It likewise
will offer welcome to everybody else interested
enough to wish to attend.
Evening star., 1950-03-16
Airport Sites Are Scarce

Vlrglnla'S survey of airport needs stresses q
problem which complicates airport planning in
metropolitan areas such as the one near Wash
1ngton. This is the rapidly shrinking amount
OF undeveloped land suitable for construction
OF airport facilities. Not only is the available
acreage diminishing in the face of steadily ex-
panding residential enterprises but land values
are rising correspondingly. That is why it is
false economy to delay acquisition OF site for
q second large airport to serve Washington.
The second airport plan should gain impetus
fom the sensible suggestion by the Virginia
State Corporation Commissions Aeronautics
Division that Virginia and the Federal Govern
ment join in seeking a site for an auxiliary
National Airport in nearby Virginia. Such an
arrangement would not rule out, of course
simultaneous hunt for. possible site in Mary
land But the National Capital Park and Plan
ming Commission is said to have in mind one or
more areas in Fairfax County, within easy motor
ing distance of Washington via the Shirley
highway, and the sec strongly favors such
location. The sec report mentioned as "the
most feasible site" the high terrain of Fairfax
County, although no specific section was desig-
mated
The land contemplated by the airport plan
ners will not remain feasible" site indefinitely,
however. Already subdivisions are being started
or planned in hitherto unimproved tracts in
Fairfax County near the Shirley highway Con-
sequently there is no time to lose in starting
the first step toward a new National Airport,
and theefrst step is to choose and reserve the
large expanSe of land needed to provide the
Capital with an alternate commercial air
terminal.
Evening star., 1950-03-16
Maritime Reorganization Puzzle

Congress should be excused if it becomes
confused over the varied proposals for reorgan-
izing the Maritime Commission. The Hoover
Commission not only differed with its task force
advisers on this complex problem but failed to
reach unanin1ity itself on final recommendations.
And now President Truman has sent to Congress
a maritime reorganization plan which, while fol-
lowing generally the principles laid down by the
Hoover Commission sets forth a wholly new
merger arrangement.
All who have studied the Maritime Commits
sion setup seem to agree that there should be
separation of its administrative and regulatory
functions, in the interest of general efficiency.
1t is on the methods for bringing about this
separation that the various authorities differ.
The Hoover task force on transportation recon-
mended abolishment of the commission and the
transfer of its administrative functions to new
department of transportation and of it's regula-
tory duties to single regulatory commission
combining functions of the Interstate Commerce
Commission, the Civil Aeronautics Board and the
Maritime Commission. The task force on regu-
latory agencies on the other hand, favored re-
tention of the Maritime Commission for purely
regulatory and related functions, but transfer
OF its executive activities to the Department of
Commerce Or to a new department of tranSpor-
tation. The Hoover Commission as a whole
approved the plan of the regulatory task force,
although two commissioners urged the conSoli-
dated regulatory commission idea of the trans
portation task force, involving abolishment OF
the Maritime Commission as a separate agency.
The Presidents Reorganization Plan No. 81
would adopt the commissions proposal for isp-
Evening star., 1950-03-16

since 1899. Two Of them. oeorsi Malsn-
kov and Lavrenti Beris. are already more
important than all their seniors, except
perhaps Molotov. Mslenkov, ~, senior
party secretary after Stain, whose pro-
tege and former private secretary he is,
has the Party. Beria has the police They
appear to be on good terms and could
easily make themselves supreme when
Stain goes.
Ranged against one another, they
could bring the Soviet Union down in
ruins. Nobody knows what they will do,
or whether they will work in harmony
with Molotov. But Malenkovs record
suggests that he will be kept from the
ultimate leadership of Russia only by
death or revolution.
There is only one other known mem
Der OF the Politburo to-day-Kosygin,
the Minister of Light Industry and Tex
tiles, who at A, rs the youngest OF
them all.
Evening star., 1950-03-16

These are the men who run Russia on
behalf of the Central Committee Of the
Communist Party. Theirs are the deci-
sions which are carried out by the Coun-
Gil Of Ministers. promulgated by the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, and
ratified retrospectively by the Supreme
Soviet in plenary session.
To the world they present united
front; once majority in the Politburo
has reached a decision, the minority, no
matter how bitter the argument, gives
way
But one day, it may we'll happen, the
minority will not give way and the world
will once more realize the violent con-
flicts of opinion and the bitter personal
feuds behind this camouflage-conf1ict
which are bound to arise among men Of
unlimited ambition, dictatorial habit and
unscrupulous character, held together
in the last resort only by common sub
servience to Stain. in devotion or in fear.
Evening star., 1950-03-16

sick CALL" examining, and medical ad-
vice and treatment office for persons not
hospltallzed, was operating under q very
heavy work load. Whether that depart
ment is understaffed I do not know, but
it is clear to the visitor that all service
personnel and employees there are very
busy every moment. The waiting room is
usually full or at near-capacity.
On the 9th of March, during the hour
I was present, there were IA people in
line almost constantly, waiting to register
for out-patient service. The clerk was
sWamped with duties, the receptionist
opposite her was trying to handle three
phones at once and trying to make ap-
polntments weeks in advance, a doctor
was helping to find certain case history
file (three of his fellow physicians were
out sick) and the clerks and nurses were
working at top speed all over the place
Despite the evident condition of too
much business for short handed staff,
all concerned were courteous and help
full. I hope they are not kept at their
present low personnel strength, for the
sake of both patients and the staff mem
bers. AIR FORCE RESERVIST
Greenbelt, Md
Little Wagner Act" Would
Violate Civil Service Principle
I understand FROM news item in The
Star that bill to give unions So
called collective bargaining rights" with
United States Government officials is
pending before both houses of Congress.
I hope The Star will do all 1t can to
prevent the passage of so Infamous a
bill. One would think that publicity
ought to do it. Since the salaries and
hours of work of Government employees
are fixed by Congress by law and our
appointments likewise fixed by law ac-
cording to civil service rules it is difficult
to see what there could be to bargain
about, even if such bargaining were not
highly improper, which it certainly
would be-
The whole principle of civil service is
that the service should be free from
politics. Since the unions have been
violently partisan politically for some
years, 1t would be most improper for
them to interfere in the administration
OF Government departments.
MIRIAM BLAISDALE KETcHUM.
editors Note: The Star made known
its position, opposing this bill-the
so-called Little Wagner Act''-when
the measure first came up in Congress
last year,
Questions On the British Election
The greatest effect of the British
election on the United States is in re-
lation to our gifts to England
Did the several billions the United
States has given England since the war
enable the Labor Party to squeak
through? Must we give more billions of
aid to preserve Socialism in Britain? Or
will such Marshall Plan dollars be back
ing the wrong horse?
Is there any difference between Social
ism and Communism, except the right of
free, secret ballot? These are the per-
picking questions. c. E. s.
Approves of Stars Weather Map
just line to express my appreciation
OF the fact that you are now printing q
daily weather map in the Star. This is
really quite helpful to persons who travel
great deal. ROBERT ASH.
Evening star., 1950-03-16

Senator Humphrey Told to Sit
And Listen to His Elders
Bulging with Righteousness, the
Junior Senator from Minnesota and ex-
mayor of Minneapolis finds almost as
much wrong with your very fair editorial
as he did with the Byrd committee; but
in both cases he has been so obviously
wrong that he ought to sit down on his
Junior seat, shut of his vociferous speak
ing mechanism, and listen respectfully
to his more experienced elders at least
until we have forgotten the justly de-
served spanking he recently got.
In the meanwhile. he should acquaint
himself with the real functions and the
fine accomplishments of the Byrd COM
mittee and with the unusual standing
enjoyed for so many long years by the
great Senator from Virginia, Harry
Flood Byrd. Nearly everybody except
Mr. Humphrey wants the Byrd COM
mittee to go on with it's wonderful work.
More power to it
-... OLD SUBSCRIBER.
Senator Humphrey is one of those
legislators who believe political success
will come to the person who votes for
all appropriations and opposes all taxes.
His position as q Senator is entirely in
compatible with his position as President
Of the Americans for Democratic Action.
He most certainly is lobbyist for them
have always considered Senator
Humphrey the type of fellow who would
milk his neighbor's cow through 6 crack
in the fence. LARRY DOOLEY.
Is There No Rich Woodsman
Who Wants To Spare This Tree:
At this time the old tamped -earth
Colonial home at 1900 Rhode Island ave-
nue. NE, is being demolished to make
way for an extensive apartment develop
ment, 1t is regrettable that Washington's
dwindling number of 18th century houses
is being still further depleted, but nothing
now can be done to preserve the old
landmark.
However, there is on the southwest
lawn what must surely be one of the
largest and most perfectly formed red
naples in the east. The tree is too large
and the cost Of removing 1t too great to
be of interest to even the wealthiest.
However, 1t seems within reason that the
Botanic Gardens of the Beltsville Agri-
cultural Research Center might be inter-
ested in saving It,
While this is only one maple tree, per-
haps no longer wanted, it would require
a century and half to produce another
like it. One of our public parks would
be considerably enriched by it's reloca-
ton, If this is physically possible
JAMES C. WILFONG, Jr.
Walter Reed Out Patient Says
Hospital Has Its Hands Full
Your editorial of March 8. concerning
the discord among Department Of De-
fense medical authorities and the pos
sible closing of Army hospitals. brought
to mind my experiences at Walter Reed
Hospital on that day and several other
occasions.
I hope that Army hospitals elsewhere
are not as heavy-laden with out-patient
work as Walter Reed seems to be. In the
four visits have made there in the past
year. T have each time noted that the
out-patient department, which is the
Evening star., 1950-03-16
Questions and Answers

"A reader can get the answer to any question
Of tact by writing The Evening Star Inform st!on
6ureau' nI2OO i street NV. Washington 5,
return postage ' 'eH'" Aoi
Evening star., 1950-03-16
Beur With the Wind Now

Bear aDith the Wind no,D
Violent prelude to all gentle blooming.
Let branches s,Day and bodies bend,
HaDing no choice saDe that OF torDard
motion -.
On into Springtide at the Winters end.
A VIOLET ALLEYN STOREY. 4
Evening star., 1950-03-16
BY THE HASKIN SERVICE

@. How large are the livers of the
geese that are raised for the production
of pate de foie gras?-E. z.
A. Goose livers as large as three
pounds or more in weight have been OBJ
tanned in the vicinity of Strasbourg,
France. This is the famous pate de foie
gras region.
Q. When were Seth Thomas clocks
first made?-F. I.
A. Seth Thomas clocks were first made
in 1918. Those manufactured between
1913 and 1885 were largely shelf clocks,
few small mantel clocks and regulators.
The company first began to make tower
clocks in 1872.
Q. How deep is the Dead Sea of Pal
estine?-G. r. S.
A. The maximum depth is /, ,309 feet
The first known soundings were made
in 1848 by It. William Lynch of the
United States Navy.
@. Are there more harmless bacteria
than bacteria which cause disease?-
M L. P.
A. Otto Hahn, in Microbes of Merit"
says that out Of every 10000 bacteria
found in the United States, 29,999 are
harmless, useful. or even necessary for
our lives.
@. Which is the oldest lighthouse Of
the United States?-C. I.
A. The oldest operating lighthouse in
America is at Sandy Hook, N. j., erected
in 1854 and still operating in substan-
TALLY the same condition as when built.
The Boston Light on Brewster Island in
Boston Harbor antedates the Sandy Hook
Lighthouse, but the original structure
was destroyed during the Revolution and
rebuilt in 1888, with some of the material
from the old building
Evening star., 1950-03-16
Letters to The Star

pSeudonym is permissible only ,0en letter carries
correct and address OF 1Drer. Please be briet
Evening star., 1950-03-16

1hA sSndy Of The structure end opsrAtson sf
the Soviet GoyeTnment 4 Z sondenIsason 81
4ppyTight article by the London 0bservsr fofeisn
News Service.
The Chapel Hill weekly., 1950-06-23

American institutions, the Good
Old Days He berates nos
taleia and nostalgia books i. !.
The fact that in Chillicothe, Ohio,
where he spent his childhood,
the boys felt the adult world
completely alien, hostile, and
cruel will surprise many. Boy
hood in Chillicothe was by no
means typical of boyhood in
other sections Of the country in
that era, and the scowl which
Mr.. Davis turns upon nostalgia
will arouse a formidable opposi-
ton"
Mr.. Prince comedies that Mr..
Davis makes out a good case for
1850 as compared with 1900, and
says "his conclusions are, in
the main, wise" However"
says Mr.. Prince in closing his re-
view, ''some may still prefer the
seductive glamour of Japanese
lanterns at a lawn party to
brighter, safer neon."
The Chapel Hill weekly., 1950-06-23

membership y. He served on
the University's buildings and
grounds committee.
Two or three years ago he was
engaged to act in "The Lost
Colony" on Roanoke Island and
he continues to be in the cast
every summer.
This year he became an au-
thor. His book about his bOyhood
in Chapel Hill, ''The Southern
Part Of Heaven" is a great sue
cess. It is in such demand that
it has already gone into its third
printing.
And now he appears in a new
role: he is a book reviewer. The
New York Times published last
Sunday review by him of .'The
Age of Indiscretion" by Clyde
Brion Davis. Mr.. Princes book
was distinctly nostalgia. 1t ex-
alted the sentiment, the charm,
the all-around agreeableness of
the Good Old Days. Mr.. Davis
champions the opposite view, al
most to the point Of violence.
Following the popular trend
toward debunking everything
from heroes to habits" writes
Mr.. Prince in his review, Clyde
Brion Davis has the temerity to
deglorify that most golden Of
The Chapel Hill weekly., 1950-06-23

the turn of the century. He
studied and practiced, and prac-
ticed and studied, getting better
and better all the time, until he
had editors crying for his pic
lures. His illustrations have been
appearing in leading magazines
since 1916.
When he lived in Connecticut
he kept a stable of spirited sad
die horses s-Arabians, / believe.
He is an expert picker-out and
trainer Of dogs. And he is one of
the nations most fanatical foot
ball game watchers. ! just men
tion these hobbies, or crazes, in
passing; ] do not mean to con-
meet them with his professional
activities.
At one time he gave up part
of his work as an illustrator and
made portrait painting his main
interest .... He was one Of the
creators of the Sunday newspa-
per comic page, Aladdin, Jr. +.
He became a lecturer in the art
department in the University
here and was head of the depart
ment during part of the war
period 5. He was on the Chap
el Hill Town Planning Board
until moving outside Of the cor
porate limits disqualified him for