SEEN and HEARD around the NATIONAL CAPITAL By Carter Field ^ Washington.—The Soviet govern ment Is confident that despite the military coup by which the fire-eat ing faction of the Japanese military caste has regained control of the Japanese government after being re versed In the recent election, there Is no serious danger of war In the Far East. Only the possibility that some of the same sort of "young officers” may provoke an Incident on the bor der really threatens that danger. But even this danger, the Soviet au thorities believe. Is remote, and for two reasons. One Is that the young officers so much talked about are now Just rushing Into situations without the approval of very much more Impor tant heads. This Is at least the third time this sort of thing has oc curred, though the present Is the most flagrant because It denies the right of the Jnpanese voters to dic tate the policies of their govern ment. Each time the action of the “young officers” has had the same objective—complete control of the government by the most fervent saber rattlers In the military estab lishment. The Moscow government, accord ing to rellnble private advices reach ing the State department, does not believe that the "old heads" among the saber rattlers—the high ranking army and navy officers really In command of the situation, nnd who really inspire these killings occa sionally by the appareptly Irrespon sible young officers—Want war with the Soviet right now. The answer Is that the Japanese army and navy officers know per fectly well, the Soviet government believes, they would be biting off more possibly than they could chew. At the time the Russo-Japanese war broke out In the old days. It Is point ed out, Russia—old Imperial Russia, It was then—had only 40,000 men In the Far East. And they were rather poorly equipped. In fact, there were quite a few scundals about that ele ment later. Russia’* Great Army Russlu is not telling how many men she has In the Far Fast now, but reports from Moscow are thnt Soviet officials are rather compla cent when the subject Is mentioned. It Is well known that the Russian army now has considerably In ex cess of a million men, and thnt they are excellently equipped with all the most modern war materials, ex pensive as they may be. It Is freely admitted that every sacrifice neces sary was made to nttuln this ob jective. Now also, it is (minted out in Moscow, the trans-Siberian railroad has been double-tracked ull the way through to Vludivostock. Near the latter city there are forces of bomb ing and fighting plunes calculated to give the Japanese considerable pause. Moreover, the Russians merely smile when usked about thnt north ward push of the Japanese, appar ently aimed at cutting the trnns Si berian railroad. There are plenty of fortlticntlons, and plenty of well equipped soldiers to resist any Jap anese attempt to reach the railroad. There have been one or two brushes, they mention grimly, and the Jap anese are not unaware of the Rus sian strength. Also, the Russians have calculat ed on the possibility that a bombing squadron or a quick successful push Into one salient might cut the trans Siberian line temporarily. They have built up stocks of everything that might be needed at strategic points. Near Vludivostock they not only have munitions plants, but ship building yards, which have been very successful In constructing sub marines. Altogether they are more con cerned about Germany than about Japan. Case of West Virginia Hoping that he lias settled the factional row In Maine, so menac ing to encouraging returns from the I'lne Tree state In September’s con gressional election, President Roose velt now turns his attention to West Virginia, where the situation is even more dllHcult Maine's moral ef fect on Democratic workers In the rest of the country may be tremen dous, but not even the most optimis tic New Dealer thinks any electoral votes are involved there. Whereas West Virginia's eight electoral votes might easily decide who Is to be President for the four years begin ning next January, All the New Deal hopes for In Maine, really. Is to save Representa tive Edward C. Moran. No one fa miliar with the Maine situation hopes to elect a Democrat from the Portland district, where Represen tative Simon M. Hamlin was swept in on the 1934 Democratic high tide. The Brann-Moran row threatens even this much salvage, it promises a solid Republican slate from Maine in September, with Its resulting word to the rest of the country that the New Deal has slipped. With the full realization of how much at tention Is paid to Maine's September elections, despite the cold fact that as a barometer Maine has often been wrong, James A. Farley has been holding conference after con ference in the hope of placating Louis J. Brann. whose re-election as governor In 1034 proved his popu larity, but who has been very much off the reservation since the ap pointment of Professor Abrahamson of Bowdoln. Placating Brann So Brann was summoned to Wash ington, talked at length with Farley, and was taken to the White House to see If the Roosevelt personality would do the trick. It was rumored later thnt he could have the assist ant secretaryship of the navy If he wanted It. The trouble about placating Brann Is that he would have to be given some signal honor outside the state. Anything Inside the state would more than rutile Representative Moran. Moreover Moran has sold the White House and WPA Dictator Harry L. Hop kins pretty thoroughly on the Idea that Brunn’s friends Just won’t do. In West Virginia the situation Is even more difficult. The two strong figures of the Democratic party, who happen to be the two senators, are at such loggerheads that the fight has flamed out on the senate floor, with the boy senator, Rush D. Holt, denouncing the whole relief and WPA administration In the state. For n Democratic senator to charge that Harry Hopkins and his organization are playing cheap fac tional politics In behalf of the other I>emocratlc senator, Matthew M. Neely, Is very had medicine, Indeed. Holt said on the floor thnt the West Vlrglnln administrator, F. W. Mc Cullough, ‘‘Is a disgrace to the state of West Vlrglnln and to the Works Progress administration.” What has been happening, accord ing to Insiders, Is not very different from what has hnppened In many states, except In one particular. People wanting Jobs had to have the endorsement of local political lend ers. The difference in West Vir ginia Is that the lenders whose ap proval was necessary were always allied with the Neely organization, and never the Holt faction. Apparently Senator Holt missed the boat when he did not have an agreement with his colleague before McCullough was appointed. Mail Contracts Present Indications are that Pres ident Roosevelt will extend the pres ent mall contracts, 42 In number, with the shipping companies, for a period of one year. lie has the au [ thorlty to do this under existing law, assuming that no new shipping legislation is enacted. And best In formation on Capital Hill and in New I>enl circles Is that none will be. There was quite a stir recently over the drafting of a new ship sub sidy bill by New Dealers. Much mystery was made about the new measure, which was, It was said, to be Introduced by Senator Guffey of Pennsylvania. The new measure, according to gossip accepted for a few days, was to have the Presiden tial blessing ns against the Copeland bill and the Ideas of Senator Black of Alnbnmn. It was Senator Black, those interested recalled, who direct ed the Investigation which seemed, to put It mildly, to he a little un friendly to the shipping companies. Underneath nil the mystery as to the Guffey bill and the discussions of merits of the plans of Senators Copeland and Black, the determin ing factor Is simply this—that Pres ident Roosevelt Is willing to do more to aid American merchant marine than congress Is willing to do at this time. The wheel within these wheels is that the President at the moment Is concerned very much over the econ omy Issue. He Is going through a lot of motions, what with all these conferences of the spending and lending agencies and whatnot, to give the country the Impression that he Is going to stage a Calvin Cool Idge economy act and get the fed eral treasury back on a sort of An drew Mellon basis. Balk at Subsidy So tills would he no time to launch out Into what would be, In many sections of the country, a very unpopular spending campaign In the Interest of the merchant marine. The mere fact thnt actually the cost would be no greater than under the present mall contracts would not help the picture. It Is the prejudice against the word, “subsidy” so strongly built up In the hlnterlnnd all these years thnt President Roose velt and members of the house and senate fear. So the good old subterfuge of call ing a subsidy pay for carrying the malls is to continue for another year. Maybe after election congress will have the nerve to call a spade a spnde. Rut such Idens die hard, and the house of representatives Is never more than 22 months from an election. Meanwhile the navy is still Im patient and anxious to see the whole merchant marine policy over hauled. The navy wants subsidies, to be frankly called subsidies, paid to ship owners who will build ves sels capable of being taken over as auxiliaries in the event of war— ships built to navy specifications. It wants ships to be subsidized by tbe government Just as the ships of all other sea power nations are. Copyright—WNU 8*rvl©« BEAUTIFUL I NICARAGUA - - • : - ■ -■■.■fiy'Vn?-. ■ ... Railroad Building in Nicaragua. Prepared by National Geographic Society, Washington. D. C.—WNU Service. □ICAltAGUA has an area of some 50,000 square miles, about equal to thut of New York stute, and a population of ap proximately 650,000, close to that of the city of Buffalo. It is the largest of the Central American re publics; many consider it the most beautiful. Much of the Interior Is mountainous; the coasts are gen erally flat. It faces the Pacific, with Its back door to the Atluntlc. Most of Its people live In the cities in the western part of the republic, for the rainfall here is moderate as compared with that of the eastern coast; the climate, although trop ical, Is agreeable, and the land Is fertile. The cities of Chlnandega, Leon, Managua, Masaya and Granada are located near the west coast and along the one line of railroad, ex tending from the port of Corlnto, on the Pacific, to Grunuda, the main port on Lake Nicaragua. Managua, the capital, is the larg est, and, although badly set back by the earthquake und tire thut almost destroyed the city In the spring of 1931, will In time again become the moat Important business center of the country. Leon and Chlnandega, cities of artlsuns and small proprietors, are locuted among very fertile farming lands and are the centers of the sugar trade. Masaya Is an Indiun town and owes its Importance to the coffee-growing district on the Si erras, located between the lnkes and the Pacific. Granada owes her early growth to the fact thut she wus the chief port for the trade between Central America and Spain, by way of Luke Nicaragua and the San Juan river. Her lending citizens are not only landed proprietors, but mer chants who sell goods In person over the counters of their stores. Mntagnlpn, the largest town off the railroad, Is the center of an important coffee-grow.ing district. Because of its altitude, It has a more agrenble climate than the cit ies located in the plains; but the absence of a railroad, or even a good highway connection with the outside world, has thwarted Its growth. East and West Are Divided. Eastern and western Nicaragua are divided by mountains and Jun gle covered country, wtiich have ef fectively prevented Intercommuni cation except to a very minor de gree. The physical separation has operated to prevent close political union nnd a common national out look; to hamper trade and com merce; and to obstruct a desirable interchange of people and Ideas. In addition, the lack of a prac ticable route to its east coast has forced virtually all of Nicaragua's foreign commerce to seek a longer and more roundubout route vlt the west coast and the Panama canal. For these reasons It has been the desire of the government of Nica ragua for many years to open a means of communication between the west and east, either by a canalization of the San Juan river or by the construction of a highway or a railroad. A highway has been under construction from Managua through Tipllapa to ltama, on the Bluetlelds river, where boat connec tions can be made with- Blueflelds, the largest port town on the Carib bean. The population of the country Is overwhelmingly of mixed Spanish and Indian blood, with Spanish the universal language, although one finds In Granuda und the other Inrge towns many families of pure Span ish blood. Perhaps 10 per cent of the population Is pure Indian, found mostly in the area around Masaya and Matagalpa and in the thinly settled cattle-raising sections of the province of Chontales, east of Lake Nicaragua. Still farther to the east, along the rivers that drain into the Carib bean north of Greytown, the Suino Indians have their homes. They are a wild and timid race and have resisted all Spanish influence. Their huts are simple structures, thatched with palm leaves and located on the banks of streams. Their worldly possessions are confined tc bows, arrows, blowguns, and one or two pots and pans. The Mosquito Coast. Part of Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast has the world's worst real es I, tate title, "The Mosquito Coast." It gets Us name, not from the preva lence of mosquitoes, but from the Mlsskito Indians. Here there is de cided evidence of negro blood, part ly a heritage from the cargo of a slave ship that was wrecked on the coast years ago. These blacks, or mixed Indians and blacks, called “Sambos" or "Zambos,” were aug mented by escaped slaves from the plantations that sparsely dotted the coast in later years and by rene gade sluves from Jamaica and other islands of the West Indies. The Mosquito coast was also a refuge for buccaneers and pirates and was visited by many trading ships seeking turtle shells. As a result, the blood of the inhabitants becume badly mixed, and character istics of many races can be detect ed in the present-day population. San Juan del Norte (Greytown), at the mouth of the San Juan river, has an English-speaking negro pop ulation. Long ago the port had an excellent harbor and was a thriv ing community, but drifting sands have closed the entrance from the sea, and now only an occasional schooner calls. In the boom days, when the Mari time Canal company undertook the construction of a canal, Greytown had visions of being a metropolis; now it is only a dreary community of rusted tin and frame shacks, with a population of 250 people. In spite of the tlnancial difficul ties that have been general through out the world and have been par ticularly trying in Nicaragua, the president of the republic has im proved the publlctschools and built new roads and railroads. Along the country's roads you will occasionally meet a high-powered car snorting its way over ruts and bumps, carrying some government official or landed proprietor on busi ness best known to himself. The car has a number of occupants, usually half a dozen in excess of its normal capacity, for the gov ernment official travels with his guards, his friends, and perhaps a large part of his family, while the usual car-owner always has his en tire family in the car and baggage and other Impedimenta strapped on the running board and anywhere else that it can be suspended or attached. Cars Nearly All American. Practically all cars are American make, und it is a tribute to their sturdiness that they can stand the usage to which they are subjected. New cars are frequently equipped with extra spring leaves, as spare parts are hard to get, and for serv ice on Nicaraguan roads springs have to be strong. The cars on the roads are few and far between, but they add the touch which shows that you are traveling in a civilized country. Coffee la the Main Crop. The prosperity of the country de pends upon the coffee crop und its price. Crops have been good in re cent years, but the price has been very low. For its future Nicaragua looks to the building of the canal linking the Paciflc and the Carib bean. A prosperous Nicaragua will no doubt mean a quiet Nicaragua, for prosperity will mean roads, rail roads, and other public improve ments. A hungry man in Nicaragua is a prospective recruit for one of the bandit gangs. Banditry prob ably will cease when any man seek ing work can get it and when every man can boast of the few dollars rattling around in his pocket. Gold in smull quantities lias been produced in Nicaragua for hundreds of years. The richest mines are in the province of Chontales. This area is also bandit-infested, and the mines are a favorite field for bandit activities. This situation lias pre vented the Installation of modern machinery or the development of the properties on a large scale. The Babllonia mine at La Liber tad has the distinction of having had a young mining engineer named Herbert Hoover connected at one time with its management. Here only the richest strikes are now worked, the ore being brought to the mill by pack mules. Putting a canal across Nicaragua is a matter of utilizing some geo graphic features and overcoming others. Of outstanding importance physically are the country's moun tains and its two great fresh water lakes In Its central basin, “the Great Lakes of Central America." BRISBANE THIS WEEK Pretending Costs Money A Japanese Widow The Five Babies Are Well Democratic Edward VIII Even Imitation war is costly. Eng land's battleships, submarines and Arthur Ilrlabnnr airplanes in the Med 1 terra nean, intended to in timidate Italy and keep down discontent in Egypt, represent no real war. England ocea s 1 o n a 11 y dis charges light “depth bombs” in the Mediter ranean, “bring ing Italian sub marines popping like corks to the surface.” Yet the government tells the house of com mons this imitation war costs Brit ish taxpayers five hundred thou sand pounds a month. The twenty-four-year-old widow of a Japanese officer who commit ted suicide after the recent rebel lion sends a letter of apology to “Your august majesty,” the Jap anese emperor, saying: “I believe the spirit of my husband, whose body lies in a coffin before me, also sorrows for those who fell.” A most serious people, the Jap anese. i _ Doctor Dafoe, modest man from Canada, who understands quintu plets, dropped in to say the five little girls are doing well, fighting frequently, sign of a normal con dition. They like sleeping outdoors with the weather 30 below zero, but in daytime only. It would delight you to see their red cheeks. Three hundred and seventy-five thousand visitors, nearly all from the United States, came to look through a fence at the quintuplets last year; 500,000 are expected this year. The baby girls are a wonder ful advertisement for Canada. Many that go to see them will buy farms and stay. A democratic young person is Edward the Eighth, new king of England and emperor of India. Broadcasting to 200,000,000 that live under the British flag and oc cupy one-quarter of the earth's surface, he does not refer to them as “my subjects” or "my people,” as his predecessors did, but calls them “fellow men.” And Edward VIII does not refer to himself as “we," which is cus tomary with other rulers. His fa ther spoke of "my empire” and "my dear people” and called himself “we.” President Roosevelt submits to congress a plan to Increase heav ily Income taxes of corporations suspected of holding many billions of profits not distributed. The taxes might run to over 33 per cent. You never can tell what Wall Street will think. President Roose velt’s taxation program sends stocks up. Perhaps Wall Street hus no “undistributed reserves." Great industries will not be forbid den reasonable cash surpluses, pre sumably. Such a rule would make expansion and increased employ ment Impossible. A Joint resolution in the house and senate suggests a congressional medal of honor for the late Gen. William Mitchell, head of the Amer ican air forces In the big war. Few congressmen would vote against a tribute to a man who fought so well for his country, and the medal would please his widow and chil dren. Uncle Sam paying rent to Pan ama for the canal, offering the usual $250,000 rent Installment, was told: "No, we do not take 59-cent dollars." Washington admits that while it may try Interesting experiments with Its own money, and tell its own citizens "Gold is too good for you," It has no right to make the outside world suffer. Panama will get an amount of money equal to 250,000 of our dollars before we slid off the gold basis and into the "Inflation bond” era. Sometimes government ownership gets things done. Germany’s postal ministry opens the first long-dls tanee television-telephone in the world, between Berlin and Leipzig —the charge for three minutes only $1.40. When you call up a "strong, j bluish light" illuminates your face, ; which is seen by the person at the other end of the line. That would j have been Improbable when tele phones were Installed in the big Paris exposition, not so long ago. Four years ago the Lindbergh child was kidnaped. Bruno Haupt mann, convicted of the kidnaping and murder, caught spending the marked gold certificates that Lind bergh paid in a vain effort to get back hla child, is still alive. It is said that he will have an other reprieve. Our system of Jus tice Is not hasty. C Kins Features Syndicate, Inc. W.VU Service. HOj^RE llouVDm /dr. JAMES W. BARTON Tclki About ® Reducing end Nervousness THE difficult part about re ducing weight is the cut ting down on the starch or su gar foods—sugar, bread, po tatoes, pastry. Everybody, whether thin or fat, needs these particular foods, as they ore the "energy givers,” and the body must have foods to supply this energy. Meats, fruits, minerals, vitamins are all necessary to health and all give a certain amount of energy, but It is the starch, that is, really the sugar foods, that give energy in the amounts the body needs. In the overweight individual, na ture has been kind or generous, as it were, in that the sugar foods eaten not only supply the energy but a portion of them is stored away in the liver, muscles, and oth er tissues and can be used if the Dr. Barton individual is unable to get a further supply at any time. The point here, and it is very plain, is that if the overweight will do without quite as much starch food, this sugar that is stored in the liver and other tissues can be used to sup ply energy. Less starch food being eaten will prevent any gain In weight, and after a time will bring about a loss of the fat tissue (which will be used as fuel for the body’s needs). Source of Nervousness. Now when the overweight begins doing without his or her usual amount of starch or sugar foods, one of the first symptoms noticed is a weak or nervous feeling. This is because the amount of sugar in their blood or tissues is not as much as usual; it is the sugar that gives the energy—the feeling of strength. It is only natural then that they turn to starch or sugar foods again and many of them give up the whole idea of trying to re duce weight. However, the very fact that sugar is so helpful in overcoming this nervous or weak feeling, has been used by some physicians in reduc ing the weight in their patients. Thus with the usual amount of food cut down by one quarter to one-half, when the patient begins to feel nervous or weak, he is given some sugar—candy or in some oth er form—and this overcomes the weakness or nervousness until the regular meal time arrives. In the Medical Journal and Rec ord, Drs. Y. Yoshida and I. J. Rob erts record their method of reduc ing weight, which consists of cut ting down the usual diet by about one-half and giving dextrose (sugar) when there are symptoms of fatigue, hunger, nervousness or weakness the result of an Insufficient amount of sugar in the blood. Doctors’ Daily Plan. Their daily plan is as follows: T))e daily diet consists of clear soup, a liberal helping of vegeta bles, two or three pieces of bread and butter, one average portion of meat, two glasses of milk and one orange. In addition the patient takes about one ounce of dextrose daily in the form of pleasantly flavored lozenges—each lozenge containing about a half teaspoonful—one loz enge being dissolved in the mouth every half hour from 9:30 to 11:00 a. m., 2:30 to 5:30 p. m. Liquids must be cut down as much as pos sible and only five glasses—water, tea, coffee, soft or hard drinks or any other form of liquid—are to be taken daily. Absolutely no food should be taken between meals ex cept the dextrose mentioned above. Moderate exercise in the form of walking is advised but no severe gymnastic exercises. Thus while sugar is fattening and must be cut down In all reducing diets, yet using a piece of candy, a chocolate bar, or a banana (the meat of which is rapidly turned into sugar) when that hungry, nerv ous, weak feeling comes, not only overcomes this feeling, but is really a safeguard whilst reducing. The use of an alkali—common baking soda is always at hand— prevents the acidosis which occurs during the reduction of weight; a level teaspoonful two or three times a day In a half glass of water is sufficient. • * * Getting Out of Bed ' | 'HERE has been a feeling for J -*■ some time in the minds of many I surgeons that patients after severe illness should be sitting up and ac tually getting out on their feet for a few minutes daily, much sooner | than is usually the case at present. Thus In appendix cases, opera tions on the stomach and gall blad der, or repairing a hernia or rup ture, Dr. A. Chalier, Lyons, France, states that he gets his patients up between the third and fifth day— that is to say, as soon as the shock following operation has passed off. For the first few days, of course, the patient only stays up 15 to 30 minutes. e-WNO Servic*. Still Drumming Up Church Attendance in Dutch Town* An attendance drummer has been newly appointed at Hoogeveen, Hol land, to call the people to church. The old custom of drumming up church attendance persists there ■■ in some other Dutch towns. Every Sunday morning and evening, the drummer marches through the main streets of Hoogeveen, drumming with all his might, to let the faithful know that it is time to get ready for di vine service. The Man Who Knows Whether the Remedy You are taking for Headaches, Neuralgia or Rheumatism Pains is SAFE is Your Doctor, Ask Him Don’t Entrust Your Own or Your Family’s Well-Being to Unknown Preparations BEFORE you take any prepara tion you don’t know all about, for the relief of headaches; or the pains of rheumatism, neuritis or neuralgia, ask your doctor what he thinks about it — in comparison with Genuine Bayer Aspirin. We say this because, before the discovery of Bayer Aspirin, most so-called “pain” remedies were ad vised against by physicians as being bad for the stomacn; or, often, for the heart. And the discovery of Bayer Aspirin largely changed medical practice. Countless thousands of people who have taken Bayer Aspirin year in and out without ill effect, have proved that the medical findings about its safety were correct. Remember this: Genuine Bayer Aspirin is rated among the fastest methods yet discovered for the relief of headaches and all common pains ... and safe for the average person to take regularly. You can get real Bayer Aspirin at any drug store — simply by never asking for it by the name “aspirin” alone, but always saying BAYER. ASPIRIN when you buy. Bayer Aspirin Slang’s Use Slang peps up the conversation If It Isn’t the too cheap sort. /MASAM ■^IRRITATION* : I I Relieve the dryness andlll I irritation by applying \\\ HI Menlholatum night \\\ I and morning. Va Ilf you prefer nose drops, or § throat spray, call for the 1 NEW MENTHQLATUM LIQUID I In handy bottle with dropper 1 Writ* for FREE SAMPIE SARTIELD TEA CO. D«fl. 231 Brooklyn, N. V. Cleanse Internally ind fed the difference) Why let constipation hold you back? Fee) your beet, look your beat — cleanse internally the ieasy tea-cup way. CAR ' FIELD TEA ie not a mir acle worker, but a week of this “internal beauty treatment" will aston ish you. Begin tonight. (At your drug storey r av « ^ d ■ wm. w It’s All In HOW You Fight BALDNESS! You need a medicine that helps your hair to save it self by nourishing starved hair roots and stopping Dan druff-Glover's! But you must faithfully keep up the good work. Start today with Glover]* Mange Medicine and Glover’* Medicated Soap for the sham poo. At all druggists. Or have your Barber give you Glover's.