davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1951-01-11
By Charles E. 7roceweN

the rest to do just that, with what re-
suits one may wonder, sometimes
Surely it is good thing, this cult
for hand washing
Let us hope nobody gets scared away
from it by the term sissy"
Surely, there is nothing at all sissy
about our surgeons, those wonderful
men who at times of crisis in our per-
sonal lives step forward to save us, often
from our own mistakes.
The good surgeon does two things in
advance
He washes and rewashes his hands
until an observer might think he would
wash the skin off.
And he prays.
We can all try our best to emulate
these good men in our daily lives.
Surely we can wash our hands.
Certainly we should pray. One of
the smartest men we know says that
if there ever was, in the history of the
world, time to pray, it is now.
This man says that our prayer should
be a special one that God does not
permit any man to discover how to make
the hydrogen bomb.
Perhaps if all peace-loving people were
to unite their daily prayers to this end,
the terrible thing that overhangs our
daily lives would stay in the land OF
theory. where 1t should remain, God
willing.
Evening star., 1951-01-11
Rabbi Metz Retirino

The members of Adas Israel Congregation
and their friends tonight will say good-by to
Rabbi Solomon H. Metz. He is retiring from
active leadership of the fellowship he has cap
tanned since 1890. Still young in years. but un-
fortunately not strong in terms of physical
health, he has chosen to rest. The title of rabbi
emeritus will be his as long as he lives and
he always will be welcome in the pulpit of
the new synagogue which his efforts have helped
to build at Connecticut avenue and Porter street
Northwest. But he will have the advantage
of freedom. His endeavors in the future will
be such as he himself voluntarily decides to at
tempt. No arbitrary duty will compel his labor.
very definite gain to the washington COM
munity and to the world at large may be the
result. Rabbi Metz is a famous scholar,
acknowledged master of the sacred lore of
the Jews. In the leisure which he now is to
enjoy he may resume his studies, take up once
more his pen, devote all his talents to the serv
ice of the highest ideals. Perhaps great book
will be the fruit Of this opportunity. II 30,
Evening star., 1951-01-11
They're Communists

At the risk of attracting the House
Committee on Un-American Activity,
should like to make the suggestion that,
this once, we give the Communists what
they are asking for.
The Communists reproach us for our
race discrimination.
Let us then cease to discriminate.
Instead of speaking of the Chinese Reds
attacking the Americans, let us leave
it on a purely political basis and say
that the Communists have attacked us,
for it is in that capacity that they come.
This would be far more accurate than
the frequent references to our enemy
merely as "the Chinese
since this country has not recognized
the existence of Red China. and con-
tinues to regard the Nationalists as
representatives Of the true China.
Let us then be generous with our loyal
Chinese allies, and not use their name
to designate their enemies ana ours.
Coral Morgan.
Evening star., 1951-01-11

Each possesses the essential SenSitivity,
the all-embracing awareness of beauty,
and the peculiar kinship with truth and
natures miracles. Each is a genius in
his own right-each with an individual
ity that will be discovered by succeed
ing generation which sets up it's own
standards
1t would be useless to point out writer's
of this decade who may be considered as
possessed of this coveted spark While
the names of the famous, the published,
are being considered, the true genius
may be teaching school during the day.
and writing the Great American Novel
at night. He receives no maintenance
from the state, nor does he acquire
patron. His work may go unrewarded,
but his genius cannot let him rest.
Thomas Wolfe is a case in point. He
thought of himself as the "loneliest
man in the world" but the knowledge
that he was destined for greatness never
left him. He endured tremendous agonies
Of the soul-he pounded his knuckles
bloody against the wall, but created con-
tinually. Even after the success of his
first novel, Look Homeward Angel" he
lived in dread of the repercussions raised
by the people he had immortalized. When
he died in 1888, he left behind him sew
eral novels, collection of stories, and
millions of unpublished words. In 1912,
Who's Who published the statement that
Thomas Wolfe was the greatest author
OF American prose in the past so years!
I. therefore, take issue with your state
ment, Perhaps the era in which we live
is too busy, too hectic in temper. too
nervous. too impatient, too chaotic for
Evening star., 1951-01-11
Bonn and the East Germans

Chancellor Adenauers government at Bonn
has decided to accept the invitation of the
puppet Communist regime of East Germany to
participate in bilateral talks designed to bring
about the unif1cation of the partitioned country.
Whether the acceptance will be well received,
however, is open to serious question. Indeed, the
chances seem overwhelming that it will be
rejected.
For the Adenauer government whose formal
reply to the invitation is expected to be made
next week-apparently has based it's acceptance
on two major conditions The first of these is
that the talks must be held with the understand
ing that the Bonn authorities are committed to
the idea of German participation in plans to de-
fend the West against the threat of Communist
aggression. And the second is that the East Ger
man regime, as prelude to unifcation must
agree to the holding of genuinely free elections
throughout the country-an agreement which
must also insure the right of Bonn's political
parties to present their views to the people and
campaign without hindrance in the Soviet zone
of occupation.
Considering the Kremns bitter opposition
to any kind of West German rearmament and
considering the fact that the Germans living in
the Red zone, if allowed to vote freely, undoubt-
edly would vote heavily in favor of what Bonn
stands for, it is doubtful-to put it mildly
that the eastern regime which takes its orders
from Moscow, will agree to any such conditions
After all the Communist objective is to unity
Germany in way that will eventually bring it
under the complete dominance of the Kremln
That objective obviously cannot be attained if
the present partition is ended on the basis of
the democratic terms offered by the Adenauer
government.
In the circumstances major modification
of Soviet policy would be needed to permit the
acceptance of those terms, and nothing could
seem more remote at the moment than such a
modification. That being the case, there is little
or no reason to suppose that the proposed talks
81 between East and West Germans il held at all,
will add up to anything but more propaganda.
Evening star., 1951-01-11
Genius Is Where You Find |t-L later On
To the Editor of The Stor:

To the. Editor of The Stor:
,VOU RAISE solemn question in your
L editorial. mo Literary Geniuses
Now?" That question inevitably raises
another: What is genius? Is it some
supernatural spark. famed and bursting
in the spirit of just few? Is 1t tram
scendental "oversoul," as Emerson
preaches-tl1e ability to create an ideal
divinely inspired as a concept in ones
mind? Or is genius derived from the
cold, calculating philosophy Of Poe, as
expressed in 'The Poetic Principle?
Although genius has been defined a
thousand times by competent minds.
and even by those who have themselves
been branded by the appelation, the re-
naming concept is still thing of va
garies and floating mists. Genius, then,
is generality, an abstract term con-
veying quality of superiority and de-
noting a mental endowment of extraor-
binary power of invention and origina-
ton.
You ask, who matches Hawthorne
today?" I ask, who thought Hawthorne
a genius while he lived? A number of
his tales and sketches we're published
in periodicals and newspapers, and later
collected and produced under the title
Twice Told Tales No one read his
Moses From an Old Manse." and ex-
claimed: "Genius!' His success with
the Scarlet Letter" was immediate and
gratifying, but the same thing is true
today with each new best seller.
Popular success, then, is no criterion.
But who is to deny or confirm that
today's best seller will not be tomorrow's
work of genius?
You mention Whitman. His Leaves
of Grass" published in 1855, had no
sale at all. Only Emerson recognized
its worth. Whitman even lost his posi-
tion with the Department of the In
terror because his superiors felt that
his volume was an Objectionable work
In the twilight of his life he lived in
poverty-unrecogniZed unwanted
And then there is Melville-con-
demned for his expose of the white
mans evils; celebrated for his "adven-
ture yarns; dying at the age of 72, an
almost forgotten author.
The story is the same for thousands
of authors who worked, struggled, and
died-from the unknown singers of the
Icelandic Sagas down to the modern
poets of today. Some hunched pitifully
over their manuscripts, starved and
lonely. Some followed trade or pro-
fession, and wrote during the still night
hours. Some lived in luxury. writing
with full stomachS and warm feet. A
few felt the warm breath of fame while
they lived Most died in ohscurity,
leaving only their precious writings as
a reminder of their bitter struggle.
And SO ii is that eacb oe0ero tioy,
leaves behind its men and women of
supreme talent. as well as its hordes
of scribblers, hacks, and amateur critics.
Evening star., 1951-01-11
The Horror of War

A few days ago, picked up the eve
ming paper and came across feature
story by Hal Boyle that made me sad
and intensely angry. It was a story
about fleeing Koreans who had aban-
doned their children in their haste to
evade war and all its horrors The
story went on to tell of an old lady,
her tiny grandson and her pregnant
daughter. It seems that the old lady
had pushed the little grandson off or
passing young boy, then cackled, pos
sibly in cynical triumph at getting rid
of her grandson. The baby was left on
a damp cinder path, his face red with
tears-and, young as he was, apparently
aware OF his own abandonment.
That story upset me intensely. But
1t made me realize one thing: When a
nations morale has been lowered to the
extent where mother, or a grand
mother, will leave her child or grand
son to the terrors of the very thing she
is running away from, then that nation
is extremely decadent and past all help.
Those people have become barbaric-
they have nothing to live for, they just
survive and that's all. Why should they
raise more children to civilization that
Is drowned by war from the beginning?
I feel very antagonistic about this
situation. feel ashamed that my own
country is part of these atrocious things,
because she has manpower over there
that is contributing to these things.
feel that our part in fighting with those
people is not honorable, honest or worth
while. No good can come of it when we.
as fighters. are contributing as much as
the enemy to this terrible situation.
I have a husband in this war, and
he may soon be on the fighting front. In
the meantime, I, the wife, am sitting
home. waiting for our first-born. And
when read in the papers about how
another mother could. abandon her child
during wartime, am wondering if I
could do so. No, I could mott would
not have the heart, although I've never
even seen my own yet.
But I do know this: I will not take
the chance. for after my first, there will
be no other children. love children,
and I will not be responsible for what
the horrors of fruitless wars can do to
them Rvz
Evening star., 1951-01-11

the production or for adequate apprecia-
tion OF great art in prose or verse;" Times
have always been uncertain for men of
art-especially in this country. From the
moment William Bradford began his
methodical journal of events at Plym-
outh, American art has had to face the
reality of its own independence. Wars
and the machine age have created fur
ther miseries for the people of a grow
ing nation, but man wrote and
genius fourished. Washington, Jefferson,
Adams, and Paine were products of an
insecure. chaotic age. So was Lincoln.
Today, we are people who spend only
40 hours week at labor. We are sup
lied with the necessities of life. Our cul-
tural horizons are worldwide, and our
educational facilities open to a greater
number of students than ever before.
Even though we are tempted to fall into
the pitfalls of easy living, we cannot
deny that we have more time to seek out
beauty and the truth.
Hundreds of thousands of people be-
lieve themselves authors. Unknown thou
sands of their manuscripts besiege the
hapless editors every day. While it is
true that volume Is no proof of quality, it
is also true that the creative urge is
very much alive. The thousands of sue
cessful authors. and the vast public
gobbling up their creations, also prove
that literature and art have become a
necessity for the common man with an
excess of leisure time.
The answer to your question can only
lie in the future, since time itself is the
George M. Goldberg.
Evening star., 1951-01-11
Surveying Prince Georges Needs

Citizens of Prince Georges County are evil
dencing a commendable determination to con-
tnue their efforts in behalf of general reor-
ganiZation of the county government They are
making it plain that they are not content with
the reforms already made, including the So
called Sothoron Act revSionS of county admin
istration and the recent election of new slate
OF commissioners. They will be satisfied with
nothing short of a complete modernization of
their local government. Such modernization
becomes increasingly urgent with the unfolding
of the Federal dispersal program, which will
impose major responsibilities and public service
problems on Prince Georges.
Fortunately, the new commissioners were
elected on platform Republican) pledging
comprehensive survey of the county's govern
mental setup, as step preliminary to reorgani-
cation. The former commissioners had resisted
such a survey, for reasons which civic groups
considered as purely political. Instead, the
former commissioners had supported the Soth-
oron changes program far short of the goal
sought by the Prince Georges County Civic
Federation, the League of Women Voters and the
Citizens Committee for Good Government.
These civic groups now are urging the new
regime to make certain that the forthcoming
survey of county needs is as comprehensive and
thorough as the situation in Prince Georges
requires. In pursuance of this objective the
Citizens Committee for Good Government has
prepared a list of key points recommended for
special study, including an estimate OF future
services required under the dispersal program
and relationships between the county and other
governmental agencies. The survey would be
designed to indicate "the kind of government
best suited to meet the present and future
needs" of the fast-growing Maryland county.
The concern which civic groups are mani
Testing In the nature and extent of the survey
is justified. Good government is at stake in the
survey and any reorganization that results from
1t. 1t is highly important, therefore, to see to
it that the study is made by an impartial, COM
petent organization and that the inquiry is broad
enough to serve as sound basis for lasting
governmental reform.
Evening star., 1951-01-11
Senator Toft's Olive Branch

The President and his aides should be very
much interested in Senator Taft's statement
that he is willing to sit down with Mr.. Truman
or anyone else on the Democratic side and try
to work out a program which could command
the unanimous and consistent support of the
American people.
There are several reasons why this is So For
one thing, Senator Taft in his recent foreign
policy statements, has expressed views closely
akin to those held by great many people. In
fact, he seems to be emerging as a spokesman
for that large body of opinion which, while not
isolationist in sentiment, is disturbed by the
turn which events abroad have taken and which
will want to take a careful look at any new
commitments before they are made.
Another point worth noting is that nothing
In Senator Taft's position is suggestive of oppo-
sition merely for the sake of opposition. He may
be wrong in some of the things that he advo-
Gates, but he is indubitably right in others.
Furthermore, it seems clear enough that, in
his criticism, he is trying to be constructive
that he is not simply throwing monkey wrenches
because he likes to hear the gears clash. final
consideration concerns Senator Taft's stature in
the Senate. He is by all odds the dominant Re-
publican figure on that floor, and any points
on which he and the administration can agree
should have smooth legislative sailing, at least
in the Senate.
There is no assurance of course, that much
If anything would emerge from the discussions
which the Senator has invited. But the invita-
ton should be snapped up. Even if agreement
could be reached only parts of the program
that will be necessary, that would be big help.
And the chances are that the parties, if they
go about this in the right spirit, would find
themselves closer together rather than farther
apart on any points which cannot be agreed
upon. At any rate, the President, Mr.. Acheson
and the others ought not to be stand-off1Sh
In this matter. This may be real opportunity
to attain that unity for which the President
has called, and he should make the most of it.
Evening star., 1951-01-11
For Reticence

Poor solace for the numbing throb OF
grief
70 say, it 1DiH be briet.
Still bleeding, one is disinclined to ,Uant
Fultillment of that taunt.
IT grief, that salt reality. departs
Must not our Sundered hearts
Lament that bleakest aftermath of loss:
No frame to build across?
Then do not threaten, grief 1piH pass.
Instead,
Let its course run, unSdid-
An hour, a year, hte-not calendared
By any mortal aDord.
Elinor Lennen
Evening star., 1951-01-11
Initiation Remedy

We continuously hear of the dangers
of imitation. One excellent remedy would
be to pass 2 per cent federal sales
tax. This would give the people who do
not save money chance to pay taxes.
The tax on bank deposits and dividends
penalties those who save, and encourages
people to spend. Taxes according to
our expenditure are just. It is those
who do not save who are causing inf1a-
tion.
Evening star., 1951-01-11

Rabbi Metz career will be crowned with O.
superlative achievement
In any case, as he lays down his heavier bur-
den he deserves the thanks of the entire city
for the benefactions he already has bestowed
upon it through his work during the past two
decades. He has been good neighbor, faithful
friend of all classes and conditions of people in
Washington.
Evening star., 1951-01-11
Letters to The Star

the neighboring countries of the Middle
East in a collective security pact with
the help OF Western powers.
The Egyptians, however, will never be
reconciled with Britains claiming the
right to defend the Suez Canal zone
against their will to the detriment of
peace in this vital but restive area.
Hussein Kamil.
Evening star., 1951-01-11
Reasonable Hope

hope, if the fighting reaches this side,
that no one in Washington will have to
go through the street during an air raid
because he can't find a segregated
Negro air raid shelter. Dispusted.
Evening star., 1951-01-11
Competition

believe the sale of Government bonds
could be increased if the interest were
raised to per cent, as building and loan
banks are now paying 3, 3la and 4 per
cent, and decreasing maturity to five
years. --
We like to know that we can get our
money when we need it. even though we
probably would not cash the bonds that
soon.
Jane FOsdick.
Evening star., 1951-01-11
Questions and Answers

The Stars readers can get the answer to
Ens any ,ouestion OF fact by either writing The
NV. Washington 5. D. c.. and inclosins 8 cents
Ieturn postage or by teephoninR ST. 6OOO
Evening star., 1951-01-11
By THE HASKIN SERVICE.

Q. Did most of the great generals of
the United States rank high in their
graduating classes at West Point?-B. w.
A This is true of only two of the Ma
tons outstanding military leaders
Robert E. Lee (2nd in class of 1920 and
Douglas Macarthur 1st in class in 1909.
BY contrast, Grant was 21st in 1843. Gus
ter last in 1861, Pershing 30th in 1886.
Bradley and Eisenhower ranked 44th and
6lst respectively in the class of 1915.
Q. What city park noted for its beauty
was laid out where there formerly were
bare sand dunes?-G. G.
A. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.
was developed on the site of dunes. The
lob acres were handicapped by John
McLaren.
@. Where are the gavels made that
are Used by the presiding officer of the
House of Representatives?-L. BIT.
A. These gavels are made in the base.
ment of the Capitol, in Washington.
Evening star., 1951-01-11

Pen-'aun,es mag be used if letters carry
Driters' correct names and addresses.
All letters are subject to condensation.
Evening star., 1951-05-06

with a partnership in "Morgan'I
Mountain" gold mine.
Mr.. darcy returned to England
around the turn of the century
a millionaire. He bought a home
on fashionable Grosvenor Square
and built a country estate over.
looking the Thames. But his ex-
lperiences in the gold fields hac
left him with a prospector's itchy
feet.
He heard reports of promising
Ioil explorations in Persia (noW
called Iran). The fact that there
was oil there was not news. The
IPersians for centuries used petrol
Ieum as a mango cure for camels
They had also at one time built
ire temples over earth fissures and
ignited the seeping natural gas in
perpetual flames.
Mr.. darcy played his cards
close to the vest. The British were
friendly with the Persian Shah
and the English gold millionaire
obtained from him a long, term
concession to exploit and develop
oil deposits anywhere in the coun-
try except its five northern pro-
-vinceS. Mr.. darcy sank his
fortune into the venture.
That was in 1901, when shipping
will pulled along coal, when autos
Evening star., 1951-05-06

were rich mems toys and wher
people were saying machines
would fly when pigs grow wings.
Mr.. darcy nearly went broke
before his drillers hit the jack
pot among the Khuzistan Province
hills in Southwest Persia in May
1908.
Even then, the company prob
ably would have foundered except
l. for providential assistance by the
British government.
For several years prior to
World War I British naval chiefs
watched nervously as Germany
built new warships with bigger
guns, greater speed and longer
range than their own.
The Admiralty made a long
range decision. It ripped out the
coal bunkers and re-equipped the
best of the British fleet to burn
oil. This decision boosted the fleets
effectiveness, eliminating the
ships need to put into port at
frequent intervals for fresh coal
supplies.
Winston Churchill entered the
picture in 1914 as First Lord of
the Admiralty. He asserted that
the new oil fields in Persia were
vitally important to Britain's new
naVy.
Evening star., 1951-05-06

(Anglo Iranian produced the
bulk Of high-o -octane aviation gaso-
line and oil used by British and
American forces in the Middle
East during World War II. It also
helped feed Russian tanks and
planes.
When the Iranian government
OF the Shah showed Nazi SYM
pathieS, British, American and
Russian troops went into Iran to
protect the oil fields.
The company operates fleet of
130 tankers, most of them post
war giant carriers.