davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
BY Charles E. Trocewen

natural children Of the fields and for
ests are rather unco-operative.
For instance, some swallows still
build their nests exactly as they did
when the natural selection site gave
them good concealment.
Now. on the sides of bridges and the
like, where nests show UP grandly.
they still build their nests.
Other species use grasses In their
nests. These grasses, whitening, show
the site to enemies. SUCH as snakes
and squirrels.
Some birds, even, Of the most timid
sorts. build their nests low on bushes.
where marauding animal can get at
them simply by standing on its hind
legs.
Redbirds often put their nests on
the top Of q fence, where every other
bird, some rapacious. can see them
just in flying over.
Long sticks and branches covered
with fading leaves are left hanging
out Of the nest in all directions.
The nest may have a tidy cup Of
mud, as the robin makes, but the rest
of the affair is on the messy side.
The incessant flying in and out at
feeding time attracts the attention Of
other birds. including hawks.
Jays and mockingbirds put UP the
best defense Of their nests. often driv-
Ing watchers away by pecking them
on the back Of their necks.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
Danger Season at Hand

The American Automobile Association
has issued a timely warning to motorists
about the need for special vigilance during
the school season. Schools in Fairfax
County already have opened, those in other
nearby Virginia and Maryland communities
will open September and District children
will 60 back to classes on September Is.
The AAA and the National Safety Council
have designated this back to-school period
as the danger season" during which nor
NAL driving hazards suddenly increase.
Last year more than 400 children were
killed on the public streets More than 49,
Gao were seriously injured, Many OF these
were struck while playing in the streets, or
while emerging from between parked auto
mobiles Others were hit while using rea-
sonable precautions at street intersections.
Thousands of accidents were prevented. by
quick thinking drivers and by the combined
efforts Of police and crossing guards.
When schools are closed the average
driver Is apt to be careless In school zones,
even though many Of them include summer
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
This and That

The various species Of songbirds
sometimes make their nests in unusual
places.
In Chevy Chase home under con-
struction. robins chose to, nest in the
opening In, the bathroom wall reserved
for the medicine cabinet.
The builder. being man with a
genuine love for nature. ordered the
cabinet to be left out until the nesting
was over. and the parents few in and
out Of the house feeding their young
Birds have been known to nest on
sticks Of dynamite hidden in the raft
ers Of barn for safekeeping.
Wrens have nested In the sleeves OF
coats hung on porch for airing.
We have known Of Carolina wren
that lived, not nested this time. in the
rolled awning Of q porch.
These larger wrens. the biggest Of
them all. like to find themselves winter
shelter
Just now, "a little late, they have ar
rived in our vicinity for the winter.
spending much Of their time uttering
their strange circular cry.
This song, IL one can call 1t song
tand surely one can. Of course, is un-
like anything else. It has Q pleasing.
almost comical, effect On the nearer.
There Il Q belief that nature takes
care Of her own children.
Mostly she does. but sometimes her
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
ASSOCIATED Press.)

effort that we would find hard to bear
for one year.
Let 1t never be said, as Constantine
Brown mistakenly proclaimed in an
unfortunate column. that France has
shown total i1capacity to fight"
France will suffer for not accepting
Edo: and England will suffer, we
will suffer, the free world will suffer.
Let us not heap responsibility for such
a calamity on the discouraged and
downtrodden shoulders of forty million
Frenchmen, who have already done
their part to save humanity from bar
barism.
Let us Americans remember that
some day we may be alone against
Russia. One morning we may wake up
and find our cities devastated and the
Communist armies marching down
Pennsylvania avenue. Then we will not
blame France. We will not even blame
England. Both countries will be nom
existent. We will lay the blame where
it belongs and where it has belonged
ever since Pearl Harbor, unconditional
surrender, and the betrayal of Poland.
Then for the first time we will be truly
humble as nation, because we will
have been humbled. But then 1t will
. be too late; too late even for con-
trite "Mea Culpa."
American Citizen
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02

of its college courses, there were q num-
Der Of Grip" courses that made it easy
for Indifferent undergraduates to stay
in school.
Mr.. Darden said he could only say
that constant work Is being done both
by the administration and the faculty
committees to improve the quality Of
instruction all along the line.
He said he was proud of the fine
record" which the graduates of the
Virginia public school system, from
both large and small high schools, have
made at the university. He wants to
see more Of these Virginia high school
graduates
He wants the people Of the Common
wealth to look to the university for
the education Of its sons, to give 1t
more support, and to recognize it as
the ''capstone" of the educational sys-
tenn in Virginia.
In the field of general education, Mr..
Darden feels the university has duty
to VirginianS.
ut has been recognized that people
require considerable competence to
manage their affairs and also to man
age their own Government. don't sup
pose any group ever realized this more
than did the people who founded this
Government. doubt if any more than
Mr.. Jefferson realized this" he said.
Today, affairs Of the Nation are ''in-
finitely more complex" than they were
then. he went on. I'VE have advanced
from great agricultural society to an
enormously complex industrial one.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
Need More Like De Casper

It is to be lamented that Europe has
lost one Of the very few stalwart states
men in the person of Italy's De Gasperi.
It is also timely to recall his CO.
operation with Defense Secretary
Forrestal during the 1948 elections. We
might have lost our first postwar vic
tory for the West over the Reds, If
Forrestal had not, on his own RESPONSE
bility, spent private funds to help elect
De Gasperi. Before Forrestal permit
ted large dollar contributions to the
De Gasperi campaign fund, he received
promise that never, under any
circumstances, would De Gasperi allow
Communists in his government. For
restal did this at the time Dean
Atcheson, George Marshall and others,
were advocating coalition with the
+ "agrarian reformers" in China.
We need more men like De Gasperi
and Forrestal in this troubled world.
I. w. Ward.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
Letters to The Star.
Pen-nn11es may be used If letters carry
i0rtters' correct names and addresses.
All letters are subject to condensation.

British then were ordered to enter the
city and apply the torch to the Gov
eminent buildings designated to be
burned.
Gen. Ross wanted to avoid repetition
Of the rapine. sack and burning Of st..
Sebastian which he had seen these
same troops take part in some 81 weeks
before.
The Americans themselves burned
the Navy Yard. The Marine barracks
nearby was not used by the British, we
know, for on October Is, 1914, the Ma
tional Intelligencer carried an adver-
tisement on its front page which read:
Library of the Marine Corps.
"a generous reward will be given to
any person who will give any informa-
ton regarding where any of the books
taken from this library on the oath,
25th or 26th of August (181D can be
found. =
Those who are known to have prop
erty belonging to the Marine Corps in
their possession (there being several
lately discoveredD will be waited upon
>by an officer Of the Justice in few
days if the property be not Immediately
returned"
"Q.M. Office Of Marines"
From this advertisement we know
that the Marine barracks was looted by
Americans living in the vicinity and
the British did not occupy them. Had
they done so there would not have been
any need to advertise.
lack Spratt.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02

eff we are going to move along, the
people need not only leaders capable OF
charting course, but also there has
the people, competence to choose
leaders.
eff you fail. you are going to have
an authoritarian system of some kind"
And that. he said. Is intolerable.
Mr.. Darden said he had endeavored
to keep down expenses to the student
in order to make the university attrac-
tive to competent high school gradu-
ates. He Is striving to make it more
democratic.
For many years 1t has been a school
that catered to restricted group in
Virginia"
In recent years the university has
added living accommodations for about
1,400 students at reasonable price. Plans
are on the drawing board and about
$1.2 million is in hand toward a stu
dent activities building which will pro-
vide recreation and will feed 1900.
The university needs several million
dollars for equipment and buildings
over the next five or six years, he said,
but more important than money is
this: 1T needs knowledge on the
part Of the people of the facilities here
available for them. There is deplorable
lack Of understanding of what the
university has to offer. And so long as
that is the case, the university is not
part Of the great system Of public
education in Virginia"
ASSOCIATED Press)
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
Old North Steeple

Hurricane Carol, sweeping from the
Caribbean north and east over New Jersey,
Long Island and New England, took half
hundred lives and did property damage run
ming into many millions Less costly but
particularly spectacular was its wrecking
of the steeple of Christ Church, better
known as the Old North Church, on Salem
street, Boston. Henry WadsWorth Longfel
low, a much more competent poet than some
of his modern critics believe, gave the de-
molished structure fame in his time, and
in ours, an amateur photographer Joseph
Spallino Of New York-made it unforget-
table with a lucky picture Of its fall.
But the steeple blown down in 1854 was
not the steeple in whose clock tower the
sexton, Robert Newman, hung two lanterns
aloft as signal to Paul Revere ION the OPP
posite shore about II o'clock on the eve
ming of April 10, Its. The tall, slender, too
delicate spire which yielded to Hurricane
Carol was the work Of Charles Bulflnch,
celebrated for his west front Of the Capitol
here in Washington as well as the Massa-
chusetts State House on Boston's Beacon
HILL Constructed In 1906, the steeple fanil-
lar to thousands of tourists from that date
onward replaced a forerunner Is feet higher
designed by William Prince after plans orig
inally drawn by Christopher Wren. the
builder Of st. Pauls Cathedral and many
other London churches. The primary
steeple Of Old North also was demolished by
a wind storm-in 1904. It had stood ap-
proximately II years when 1t collapsed. The
Bulfnch substitute was taken down, re-
paired and put back in position In 1848 and
repaired and reinforced again in 1914.
Tuesdays Hurricane Carol assailed the
spire for more than an hour before It finally
tilted 1t to destruction. How great was the
force OF the gale may be estimated from
the fact that it Swayed the entire structure
above the top brick lire more than seven
inches to the breaking point. Mr.. spallino's
photograph shows the fracture occurring
under heavy impact from the east. The
crash involved the clock tower where New
man set his lanterns for his friend Revere's
guidance In Charlestown. or course, new
tower and spire should be built on tradi-
tional lines. The Lantern League already Is
busy on the matter.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
"sT. PETERSBURG, Fla.

Dear Sir:
Il have such pleasant memory OF
your column In which you speak OF
this and that. especially your refer
ences to people who are fortunate
enough to have wild animals. unusual
ones, come to their doorstep.
This morning we had large blue
heron strutting through our yard. He
came right up to the steps to pick up
small toads which had Matched re-
Gently.
HE was full four feet high and at
80 feet from the window his large con-
ical bill appeared to be at least eight
inches long. His feet were SO unbe-
lievably large attention was focused on
an individual claw.
Sincerely. MP. c."
These glimpses of Florida life make
us realize what we have missed.
But there Is nothing stranger than
an opossum, and we saw one Of those
the other, day.
And above the statue of Jesus at
the door of Blessed Sacrament Church
at Chevy Chase Circle q pair Of SPAR
rows had built an untidy nest.
On the strong shoulders OF the gentle
Jesus they brought up their young un-
molested.
We do not have blue herons here.
but We do have redbirds. which are
quite Is wonderful in their way.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
Parks and Traffic Relief

President Eisenhower's concern for the
fate of parklands and monuments In the
planning Of new Potomac River bridges Is
shared by highway and park officials. That
is why the District Highway Department
and the National Capital Planning Commits
sion are engaged in series of conferences
over details in the design of the central
area bridge and its approaches. It Is i'm
portant that the new traffic relief enter
prise be fitted into the park layouts on both
sides Of the river with the least impairment
OF their beauty and uses. !.
The President also expressed q desire
that trucks be banned from the central
bridge and that buses be shifted from Me-
mortal Bridge to the new structure But If
traffic over the Memorial and central
bridges is to be thus restricted the traffic
relief gained by building the new span
might not be worth the Districts heavy n
vestment. Certainly the District should not
be required to finance projects controlled
by Federal agencies more interested in es-
thetic problems than in solving the Wash
ington Virginia traffic mess.
The President has said he will ask for
amendments to the bridge act to give Fed
eral park authorities greater voice in the
planning of the new bridge program. Actu-
ally, however, they already have had great
deal to say about the central-area span and
there seems to be no evidence of any
intention to shut them OF from future
consultations.
General Eisenhower has raised a good
point about responsibility for building and
maintaining the Jones Point bridge at Alex
andria. While the law designated the In
terror Department to undertake the project,
it would be more logical to give the job to
the Bureau Of Public Roads Of the Depart
ment of Commerce or the Army Engineers.
This change of responsibility should be
made at the next session Of Congress.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
By THE HASKIN SERVICE.
Small Shoes Outgrown

He has come home to lopino arms
and SONG
A world apart from bdrrtcades OF
hate
To lift the latch. urge friends to Hnoer
Tong.
TO knoD tDdrm comfort tDhen the
hour Oro,os late.
Long prisoner of icdr. he rodnls un-
fenced
Where alien guns and guards are
mythical,
Where fedr-Jree jon of life Is eDtdenced
And laughter rings tuu unoorerned
bell.
Once more his days record rich pages;
yet
The margins note time lost by COUNT
less things:
Small shoes ut-groiDn. recital alphabet,
Frst-orey Which marks her hair ike
slender tDft0s;
A silver birch 0roion taller than the
roof
All speak OF folded years NTH silent
proof.
Elsie McKinnon Strochon
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
Well Done!

Last April, The Star suggested that the
Navy Department owed more, to the public
and Abraham Chasanow, than its curt no.
tice to the effect that Mr.. Chasanow's "serv-
Ices were terminated as of April T." For the
public record concerning Mr.. ChaSanow
raised grave questions as to the justice, or
even Justification, of his dismissal as Sc
curity risk. He had been in Government
service for % years. He had been unani-
mously and unequivocaIly cleared by a Sc
curity board The Navy Security Appeal
Board, however, reversed the findings Of the
hearing board and Mr.. Chasanow was fired
with no knowledge Of what new evidence
may have been brought against him and
with no opportunity to be heard by the APP
peals board.
In May, The Star commended the Navy
Department and its Assistant Secretary for
Air, ]. H. Smith, for their willingness to re-
open the case and to hear MIR. Chasanow.
And again, 1t is pleasure to note that, this
having been done "as a matter Of executive
grace" the Navy Department and Mr.. Smith
have not only cleared Mr.. Chasanow and
emphasized that he is "an above-average,
loyal American citizen" but have frankly
admitted having made an error In which
"grave injustice" was done.
Enforcement of the loyalty program is
difficult and sometimes dirty business. It is
not surprising that errorssare made. But 1t
is wholesome and refreshing to read that
the Navy Department, discovering error,
has candidly admitted its mistake and has
done what it could to restore to Mr.. Chasa-
now the good name and reputation which
otherwise would have been destroyed. !.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
A College President Takes Inventory
BY james Geory

CHARLOTTESVILLE, va.-The uni
versity Of Virginia Is not as democratic
as Its founder, Thomas Jefferson, In
tended it to be. That is the opinion OF
Colgate w. Darden, IT,, who served as
Virginia's wartime Governor before ac-
cepting the university's presidency to
mold the institution along the lines he
believes Jefferson had In mind.
On the eve of new scholastic year,
Mr.. Darden was reminded that It Is
generally known that he would like to
make the university the "capstone" OF
Virginia's public education system.
Would he explain what he meant and
what progress he was making?
There has been some progress, but
not . great DEAL" he said.
He pointed out that the university
was founded only o few years before
Jefferson died and long before the pub-
lie school system was established In
Virginia. which was not until 1870. Its
students came from private schools and
1t therefore took on an aristocratic
tradition.
The pattern fingers on, and that is
Il
Mr.. Darden does not believe that
society today can afford that kind Of
tradition. jefferson realized, he said.
that claSs-such as the landowning
aristocracy Of his days not strong
enough to furnish the number Of tall
ented people needed for leadership.
Jefferson felt that to cater to class
was. In time, to cater to mediocrity."
Mr.. Darden believes It is more Inn
portant today than ever to draw from
the greatest reservoir Of talent possible
in training for leadership. There Is no
question about this. he said, from the
standpoint Of military survival alone.
I'm q very short time" he said, "the
East will outpopulate the West and it
will be important for us to be superior
in brains and training"
There are two paramount goals that
he has worked toward for the uni
versity.
First. there should be q low Of
students from the cities and towns
and the State" He indicated there had
been a tfickle.
Secondly. there should be variety
Of work offered, and"-he emphasized
this-"it should be of the first quality
Nothing is accomplished in university
or college that does poor work. Students
are at decided disadvantage when
they go out into life."
The reporter related a criticism of
Virginia from two graduates Of first
ranking schools in the North-that
Virginia had the reputation Of being a
school to which rich men in the North
sent their sons when they couldn't make
the grade at Harvard. Princeton, Yale
and some Of the others.
''You hear that criticism too often to
ignore It." Mr.. Darden said.
What about the old story that while
Virginia had high standards In many
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
Frances Detection on EDO

1t is not entirely Frances own fault
that she failed to ratify EDO. It is also
our fault and Britain's fault.
America. by backing Adenauer at the
recent l1th-hour conference. displayed
an even greater lack of diplomatic skill
than all her previous Mckinley like
blunders in dollar diplomacy.
France, with a million Germans at
her throat. made the supreme effort
OF her life in 1914 and defeated the
enemy. Since the First World War
when she lost virtually all her man.
power she has never, been the same.
Nevertheless. for eight long years she
STAYED of the forces that were annihi-
lating Asia. The Indo- China war has
cost her, a nation of forty million, an
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02

Fairgrounds. With children once more plod-
ding their way to school In large numbers,
however, there can be no excuse for care
lessness at the wheel. Constant alertness,
born Of the knowledge that children often
act on impulses that may throw them In
dangers way, can drastically reduce this
years tragic toll Of manned and slaughtered
school children.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
How We Stund Abroad

The article, do Europeans Really
Hate Us?" by James Burnham, which
appeared in The Sunday Star is
breath Of fresh air in an atmosphere
charged with electricity.
lean demonstration and Immediately
spread the word back home that the
British, French, Italians. etc. hate us.
They do not have the Sophistication to
know that almost all these demonstra-
tons are carefully planned parts of an
overall Communist campaign to create
ill-feeling and disunity among the
nations of the free world.
Our foreign correspondents should
have enough knowledge and experience
by now to see through. this Communist
game and report accordingly.
James ]. Stout.
Bottle of Bludensburq
The article in The Stars Sunday
Pictorial Magazine, August %, en-
titled, when the British Captured
Washington" while very interesting
and instructive, had three or four err
rors.
For instance the part reading, 1.-THE
unfinished Capitol, started in 1871"
should have read, started In 1893"
The only private business houses
burned by the British in 1914 were the
rope walks which furnished the United
States Navy with rope for the rigging
of its sailing vessels. and the only pri-
vate home burned was the residence on
Constitution avenue NE. from which
Gen. Robert Ross had his horse shot
from under him.
Gen. Ross and Admiral Cockburn
took over the home of DR.. James Ewell
for their HEADQUARTERS during the two
days the British were in the city. DR..
Ewell lived on CAROLS Row. where the
Library of Congress is now located. (See
the third edition of DR.. Ewell's Medical
Companion-18 The British did not
use the Marine commandments house or
occupy the Marine barracks during
their two-day stay in the Nations Cap
ital Gen. Ross had the British army
stop and encamp nearly two miles be-
fore 1t reached the city somewhere near
Fifteenth and Bladensburg road NE.
From there, some two or three hundred
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
Questions and Answers

A reader can get the answer to an, question
son 3. D e. Please tnclose three t3' ents for
Of fact by writine The Evening Star Infor-
NATION bureau ZOO Eye st NV. Washine.
BY THE HASKIN SERVICE.
@. When did Libya become an inde-
pendent country? Has it flag? w. A.
A. Libya became independent on JAN
uary Q. 1852. the first country to receive
independence fully under U. N. auspices.
The Libyan national flag is tricolor
Of red. black and green horizontal
stripes. bearing a white crescent and
star in the center.
@. What is the origin Of the surname
Soper?-E. o. L.
A. This English name derives from
soap-maker or a dealer in soap.