around the
NATIONAL
CAPITAL
By Carter Field
Washington.—Hearings on the pro
posed United Kingdom-United States
reciprocal trade agreement are set
to begin here March 14. Battle be
tween business and the State depart
ment will grow hotter as the hear
ings go on. It will center around
the old, old question of free trade
or tariff restrictions.
This is the argument: "Is it better
to protect farmers, manufacturers,
and labor against competition of low
cost products from foreign coun
tries, or let the low-priced goods in
for the benefit of the public? Who
is most important: producers or the
public?
Any economist can show that the
American public pays annually
many billions of dollars more for
the goods it buys now than it would
pay if prices were lowered by for
eign goods brought in free of duty.
But the same economist, if he were
so minded, could show that free
Imports would soon drive agricul
ture, manufacturing and labor to
bankruptcy. First would come gen
eral chaos, and next would come an
American standard of living as low
as the world average.
These opposing forces are vast
and complicated. Every tariff stu
dent has a theory. But Secretary
of State Cordell Hull happens to be
lux iuw idima, nuu nc iiu^puiiR
have a reciprocal trade agreement
act passed by congress, and the
will of President Roosevelt to back
him up. So his opinion is what
counts right now. He has made
16 reciprocal agreements with other
countries already, nnd he’s going to
make one with England.
This is the gist of the Hull policy:
Nearly all war is caused by eco
nomic war. After the World war,
the United States helped increase
economic war by raising tariff wails
around itself. It must now tear
them down to promote trade and
peace. This country and England
together transact about one-fourth
of all the world’s business. An
agreement between the two to in
crease that huge volume of busi
ness will have a marked effect on
world trade and world peace. We
cannot remain prosperous in a pov
erty-stricken world-.
How the Plan Works
Here’s how the "most-favored na
tion” plan works. The United States
picks out the country that supplies
the most of any given import. In
the case of woolen goods, it’s Eng
land. We cut our import duty on
woolens m return for a cut by Eng
land on something we sell her, say
lumber, wheat, or automobiles.
Then the new lower tariffs apply
to all other countries supplying less
amounts of the same commodities
or products. It makes business
move fast, say the low-tariff men.
But American farmers and man
ufacturers and labor leaders howl
with pain. While they struggle for
volume and prices to keep going,
the government opens the flood gate
and foreign goods rush in to lower
both. The government says we are
opening up the foreign market in
which you can sell more farm and
factory products, with resulting ben
efits to labor. We’ll have world
wide prosperity in place of pre
carious isolated prosperity. And
we'll have peace instead of back
breaking taxes for armaments.
Reciprocal trade treaties are en
gineered by the State department,
but the work of preparing statistics
and holding hearings is done by the
tariff commission and its reciproc
ity committee. The commission’s
shabby old building is humming.
Bright young men from London lug
bales of records from room to room.
Woolen manufacturers arrive from
New England to make sure their
protests will be heard when hear
ings begin. Meanwhile off to Eng
land goes the astute Ambassador
Joseph P. Kennedy to make sure
the foxy British don’t trade us any
wooden nickels.
Up to Broadcasters
Two obligations are now placed
squarely on the shoulders of radio
broadcasting, which has been anx
iously waiting a definite statement
of policy by the recently reorgan
ized federal communications com
mission. The law was laid down by
Frank R. McNinch, newly appointed
chairman of the commission, in his
address before the sixteenth annual
convention of the National Associa
tion of Broadcasters. Radio must
steer clear of monopolistic prac
tices, and it must provide good en
tertainment free of moral offense.
Mr. McNinch is an administratior
man, loaned to the communications
commission by the federal powei
commission, where his attitude to
ward public utilities was wel
known. Radio men feared troubU
when he came over to the com
munications commission. Many o
them are therefore agreeably sur
prised to hear from him what sound
ed like stern but friendly advice
But if any of them are involved ir
even the beginnings of monopoly
they are tossing in their sleep to
night, because the chairman an
pounced that he will soon begin ar
Investigation of chain broadcasting.
What that will reveal only the guilty
parties, if any. can foretell. Mean
while they have plenty of time and
fair warning to clean house.
That domain composed of ether
space and the natural phenomenon
of wave lengths is a public property
and resource, as Mr. McNinch sees
It. That property is loaned to pri
vate industry, first to render a serv
ice to the public, and second to
earn a reasonable profit. The fran
chise is granted with the under
standing that it will be revoked un
less the company serves and be
haves as the government thinks it
should.
Radio on the Spot
Railroads and power were men
tioned by Mr. McNinch as having
gotten into trouble with the public
by combining for their own interest
instead of for the best public inter
est He said, in effect that the
trusts had depended on political pull
and the use of propaganda to get
by. But it didn’t work in the long
run. The radio industry is more in
timately related to the public than
any of the older utilities, and its
behavior will be more quickly no
ticed. Mr. McNinch said that a
member of the industry told him,
"Radio could not survive an Insull.”
But while warning of monopoly,
which would consist of certain types
of chain broadcasting, of manage
ment contracts, and of pressure
methods in dealing with local sta
tions, the chairman at the same
time condoned and even praised the
national hookups that produce the
fine programs. It is only through
the commercial support of huge au
diences that the world’s best talent
can be brought ints millions of
homes. Regarding advertising sales
talks on the air, Mr. McNinch
warned broadcasters that the public
will revolt against too much talk
or bad taste. Some legitimate prod
ucts and services, he said, simply
cannot be talked about on the air.
These matters the industry must
guvci
The Mae West broadcast was only
an incident, but doubtless it did in
fluence the big radio boss in his
conclusions on radio ethics. He
made it very clear that all creeds,
religions, races, ideals and ages
must be respected. This is in ac
cord with the democratic rights of
minorities. Radio men say that this
constitutes a drastic limitation on
what may be said and discussed
over the air. But none of them
argue it is unfair. In the field of
music and the other arts of sound
there is no limit.
Japanese Boycott
While the boycott on Japanese silk
still makes news, latest figures from
the Deportment of Commerce show
that it has had very little effect.
Actual imports of row silk from
Japan are only 2 per cent below
normal. But the organized protest
against invasion of China, chiefly
evident in women’s refusal to buy
6ilk stockings, has brought about
some serious consequences.
The State department, of course,
is deeply concerned. This country
buys about 56 per cent of Nippon’s
total raw silk production. Our silk
bill, therefore is an important item
in Japan’s war chest. If the boycott
should become fully effective, Ja
pan would be no little provoked.
That, plus a possible clash with Jap
anese salmon poachers off Alaska,
plus another incident like the Panay
sinking in the Orient, might cause
real trouble. Conversely, too, an
other incident might put the boy
cott under way in earnest.
But there would be little the State
department could do about it. Any
protests from Japan would have to
be answered with a shrug. For a
boycott is simply a form of free
speech and free press. Any action
by the government to the contrary
would be a departure from the dem
ocratic principle. The Mikadc
would get the same answer that Hit
ler got when he complained about
Mayor LaGuardia’s utterances.
American silk manufacturers are
being seriously damaged by the boy
cott. Fear that another incident
will intensify feeling so that women
will really decide to do without sill
has caused store managers to issue
hold orders on stockings and othei
silk goods. Silk mills and raw sill
importers are getting stuck with
supplies on hand. It is e6timatec
that 625,000,000 of American capita
invested in silk and allied industry
has been frozen.
Jobs in Jeopardy
The jobs of more than 200,000 peo
pie engaged in the throwing anc
weaving of silk and in the manufac
ture and distribution of silk prod
ucts are jeopardized. When the boy
cott first started the public supposec
that finished stockings and other sill
goods came directly from Japan
People did not know that Americai
labor and industry produced thi
goods from Japanese raw material
This misunderstanding had the in
slant and remarkable effect of unit
ing silk capital and labor in a com
mon front to tell the country thi
facts. William Green himself, pres
ident of the American Federation o
Labor, had a voice in the telling.
Of course the anti-boycott drivi
appeared to many suspicious per
sons, to be in collusion with thi
Japanese. The textile industry i
centered in New York city, and be
cause Japan happens to have i
Chamber of Commerce in that eity
some critics were inspired to tall
treason. But labor and employer
succeeded in making their caus
clear, and undoubtedly their effort
were mainly responsible for modi
fying the boycott.
C> Bell Syndicate. —WNL1 Service.
I ■ - m . ■
"Running Water” in Aden.
Aridity and Beautiful Colors
Characterize City on the Red Sea
Prepared by National Geographic Society.
Washington, D. C—WNU Service.
t HUNDRED miles east
of Bab el Mandeb, the
Arab “Gate of Tears”
which guards the southern
exit of the Red sea, the ex
tinct Aden volcano rises to a
height of nearly 1,800 feet
above the Arabian coast. It
is a trade center, not only of
southern Arabia, but also of
Somaliland and Ethiopia.
On this desert rock-fortress, mid
way between Egypt and India, live
the Europeans and the Indians who
are garrisoning Aden, with a float
ing civil population of Hindus, Par
sis, Arabs, Greek merchants and
Palestine Jews.
The sun-saturated barren rock
seems to suck the life and moisture
trom human bodies. In 20 square
miles of brown precipices and
patches of sandy plain grow only a
few trees, no grass, and one im
portant flower, the Aden lily, found
in remote rock crevices.
The modern town of Aden, cen
tered around Steamer point, is con
nected with the old town by the five
mile Ma'ala road. The old town
lies huddled inside the crater where
the rim is broken down toward the
sea, and overlooks the old harbor.
There, it is said, in the 1830s, the
cutter from a British cruiser liter
ally hung onto the little stone jetty
with grappling irons, and a young
naval officer, landing, sword in
hand, nt the head of his party, drove
1 the Arabs into the mountains.
Water From the Tanks Is Sold.
Behind the town, in a gorge of
the crater, arranged like a row of
masonry cups, each emptying into
the next lower one, is the chain of
reservoirs known as the Aden tanks.
They may have been built about 600
A. D., or earlier, and some were
restored after 1856 by the British.
Undoubtedly they were made to
store the two showers or so of rain
which visit Aden about every other
year (the annual average is only
about three inches). When the rain
comes, the water is sold by auction
to Arabs and others, who carry it
away in tins, goatskins, or water
carts.
Supplies of water, independent of
these tanks, are obtained by boiling
sea water and condensing the
steam. This is the drinking water
used by most of the white popula
tion.
The Arabs believe that each time
the tanks become full there must
be three deaths by drowning.
If Aden is arid, it has the compen
sation of being in a beautifully
painted setting, for by daylight the
more-than-Mediterranean blue of
the water lies in violent contrast
with the Vandyke browns, umbers,
grays and ochres of the walls of
rock, which make a perfect back
ground for the bright dress of a
crowd of Eastern people.
On a lava slope a hundred feet
above the sea, you may watch in
comparable sunsets beyond the ser
rated ashen-gray ridges of Little
Aden (Jebel Ihsan), an old, broken
dowm cone which was once a twin
to the Aden volcano (Jebel Sham
shan). It now shelters in its flat
sandy coves an Arab fishing vil
I luge.
As you watch, some large Arab
dhow with a high poop, looking like
a caravel of the Spanish Armada,
steals out from the inner harbor to
the sound of its sweeps, to pick up
the evening breeze on its way south.
Later, a little group of Somali
sailors, brown figures clothed in
white, is seen squatting round the
evening meal, a bowd of millet.
In the Cooler Evening.
Later still, the afterglow springs
up from behind the line of crags,
ow nearly coal-black, and then
brilliant rainbow rays, bars of lem
on yellow, green, and pink, cut the
. zenith from west to east. A bright
t planet begins to show itself.
In the stillness, a large fish a
. mile away leaps a dozen feet into
the air, probably trying to rid itself
, of parasites, and comes down upon
. the water with a resounding smack.
From the men pulling at the oars
, of the creeping vessel comes the
rowing chorus, “Yahudi, wa’llah”
[ i By Allah, a Jew!).
A cool puff of air arises, the wa
* »r begins to ripple into little waves,
j he Somali crew gets up and goes
unmng forward to the bow, and
he big triangular lateen sail rises
ind spreads, cutting the sky, to
creakings of cordage and sharp
cries and the chorus of many
voices: “In the name of God, in
the name of God.”
Then due south, keeping the
mountain peaks on the starboard
side, the boat itself becomes a coal
black dot against the pale yellow of
the west, and silence again reigns.
On the flat plain beside the five
mile Ma’ala road, which runs from
Steamer point to the crater is the
little village of Somalipura, where
Arab and Somali sailors squat on
the sand and mend their lateen
sails.
Pleasant-looking fellows, these,
and, standing about in groups are
more civilized wealthy Arabs in
long, bright silk jibbahs and em
broidered waistcoats. They are
holding an impromptu stock ex
change over a hill of mother-of
pearl shell from Perim island or
bags of rice from India, ready for
trans-shipment to Africa.
Parsi Towers of Silence.
Away among the gorges, about a
thousand feet below the peak of
Jebel Shamshan, as the volcano is
called (from Ash Shams, the sun),
are built the Towers of Silence, to
which the funerals of the Parsi in
habitants of Aden wind up a long
and desolate flight of steps.
Around the summit of the moun
tain kites constantly wheel in the
air over the settlement during the
daylight hours with their complain
ing scream, “cheel, cheel.”
The most solemn and impressive
aspect of the jagged crest of Sham
shan is seen when, with your bed
on the flat roof of some small hotel
in the Crescent, the business quar
ter at Steamer point, you lie awake
in the hour before dawn, with the
black, threatening mass of the
mountain obliterating part of the
circle of stars.
Then suddenly is raised a long
chant, dominating, intoned, rising
and falling like the howl of a lost
wolf dog, echoing and diminishing
among the distant gorges. It is
the voice of the muezzin, so often
quoted.
Outside the fortress gates, on a
strip of sand which connects the vol
cano with the mainland of Arabia,
are encamped a troop of smart,
black - whiskered Indian cavalry.
They drill in khaki, with lance,
sword, or carbine on small Arab
horses, or go on escort or orderly
duty on fast little Arabian drome
daries.
Where this strip of sand meets
the mainland is the flat-roofed Arab
town of Sheikh ’Othman, Aden’s
overflow, the abode of Arabs and
Somalis who for any reason cannot
live in the fortress.
Its resthouse has a small "Garden
of Allah” where the ripple of irri
gation channels and the voice of
the bulbul can be heard in the eve
nings.
mnong tnc araus.
From that town you can step
through a postern gate of the gar
den right out into the wilderness,
where tribes of dark-skinned Arabs
gain a precarious livelihood by cul
tivating durra and lentils around a
few brackish wells close to the town,
or, farther out, by living a Bedouin
life, doing transport work in con
nection with the fortress.
You may see many an Arab pass
ing on some mysterious errand,
leading a camel by a string.
When, in the past, the interior
tribes of Arabs have had to be rea
soned with by civilized forces, or
held in check by the caravan routes,
or at times of tribal fights, there
would steal out of the fortress a
string of camels with little field guns
on their backs. The booming voice
of the guns could be heard from
somewhere in the far deserts by
dwellers on the rock who were sit
ting down for early tea and toast.
Outside, and also within the pre
cincts of the fortress, one is always
astonished at the presence of this
little white civilized colony, this pin
point of Western civilization, lying
cheek by jowl with hundreds ol
miles of unmitigated wildness.
They are picturesque enough—the
desiccated southern Arabian deserts
stretching away from the rock, and
in the distance the forbidding brown
foothills which buttress the fertile
alps of Yemen.
Among its social elements there
are petty feudal chiefs. They hold
small, rough, blockhoused villages,
like miniature Rhine castles, over
looking dry gorges through which
trickle thin streams that become
torrents when in flood.
Functional
Heart Disease
By
DR. JAMES W. BARTON
© Bell Syndicate.—WNU Service.
WHEN a patient consults
a physician complain
ing of shortness of breath,
palpitation of the heart, and
pain over heart or breast
bone, naturally patient and
physician may both suspect
heart disease. If, also, there
is early fatigue, general
weakness, dizziness and pro
fuse sweating, real or organic
heart disease must surely be
present.
That many of the above symp
toms may be present without true
heart disease was
—— definitely shown
during and after the
war, and even more
recently during the
three or four years
when times ^were
difficult. All these
symptoms may be
due to what is
known as “function
al” heart disease.
i VH runcuonai means
_ „ . that while the heart
r. ar on (or 0yjer organ> js
perfectly sound in its structure nev
ertheless something is interfering
with the way it does its work. In
true or organic disease there is
something wrong with the structure
of the organ—valve not closing prop
erly, fibrous tissue taking place of
elastic tissue, or other condition.
Its Cau.se Not Known.
The cause of functional heart dis
ease is not definitely known. It is
sometimes called “irritable heart”
and "soldier's heart.” The factors
that predispose or bring on the con
dition more easily are hereditity or
constitutional weakness, lack of
food or wrong kind of food, over
work, recovering from various in
fectious fevers, focal infections
(teeth, tonsils, sinuses), and early
tuberculosis.
It may be caused by financial anx
iety, family worries, emotional con
flicts, physical and mental stress.
Dr. W. E. Nesbit, San Antonio, in
the Texas Journal of Medicine, tells
us that the prognosis (chances) as
to life are good, but many of these
cases do not seem to improve de
spite treatment.
“Treatment consists in assuring
the patient that no organic disease
has been found. The cause and
the way the ailment produces symp
toms should be explained, and a
healthful daily program regarding
rest and food should be worked out.
A mild sedative (quieting medicine)
may be prescribed, but drugs to
slow dowm or stimulate the heart
should not be used.”
This, of course, is sound advice be
cause it is not the heart, but the
mind of the individual (worried,
anxious, upset) that is causing the
heart symptoms.
• * •
Rules and Reducing Diets.
There was a time, when, if an in
dividual who was overweight con
sulted his physician about reducing
hig weight, he was told simply to
eat less food. This was good ad
vice because less food eaten means
a gradual reduction in weight. But
you can readily see that if the
patient reduced only his green veg
etables—cabbage, cauliflower, let
tuce, celery—it would make little if
any difference to his weight, but if
he reduced his starch and fat foods
the loss of weight from week to
week would be quite noticeable.
As there are some general rules
about reducing that should be more
generally known the American Med
| ical association has issued a booklet
on weight reducing, some of the
i general suggestions of which are:
1. No attempted change in weight,
either addition or reduction of
weight, should be attempted with
out consulting a physician.
2. Diet alone should not be used
but a reasonable amount of exer
cise.
3. Each person must be put on an
individual diet, but, generally
speaking, weight loss will be
achieved by a decrease of from 800
to 1,200 calories from the previous
diet. This means that as the aver
age overweight woman eats about
2,400 calories daily, she must cut
down one-third (800 calories).
4. A person on the first week of a
; reducing diet may show a loss of
3 or 4 pounds, but the amount of de
crease should establish itself in
about two weeks to not more than
2 pounds per week.
5. In order to be free from too
sharp a change, a person should plan
i a lowered food intake over a period
of months (no 18 or 30 day reducing
diet).
6. Vitamins should be included:
vitamin A from whole milk, cream,
butter, eggs; and vitamin B and C
from fruits and vegetables.
7. There should be sufficient bulk
(from coarse foods—cabbage, cauli
: flower, corn, peas, celery, raw
i fruits, fruits with seeds) to cause
| a daily bowel movement
8. Bread, potatoes, and other
starchy foods—sugar, pastry—
should be greatly reduced.
9. Butter, cream, fat meats, nuts^
egg yolks should be reduced.
10. Excess of jams and jellies
should be avoided.
%
^-1
Trim Your Couch Cover in Contrasting Cord
IF SPRING is not in the air yet
* it soon will be. It is the season
when every room in the house
seems to need a lift. If your
couch or daybed looks as though
it has had a hard Winter now is
the time to give it a thought.
The couch of the type shown
here may be made to fit into al
most any decorating scheme if it
has a smart and appropriate cov
er. The one shown here is ideal
for a room with modern furniture
or for one that follows no particu
lar period. It would also give an
interesting accent in a Colonial or
provincial room. The cushions
match the couch cover. A rough
ly woven navy blue cotton mate
rial is used and the seamlines are
outlined with heavy cream colored
cable cord. If you would like a
gayer color scheme, use red cord
with navy blue. Cream or yellow
cord with brown material also
makes an attractive cover.
A curved candlewick tufting
needle such as is shown here at
the lower right is good to use for
sewing the cord in place. Thread
about size 8 or 10 to match the
cord should be used. The needle
shown is really a medium size ver
sion of an upholsterer’s needle
which is another piece of sewing
equipment that you will find use
ful if you like to renovate old fur
niture.
So often mystifying technical
details stand in the way of mak
ing things that would add beauty
and comfort to your home. It is
with this in mind that Mrs. Spears
wrote and illustrated her book,
SEWING, for the Home Decora
tor. With clear sketches and text
j it explains the simplest and most
j professional methods of making
J new slipcovers, correctly styled
curtains, difficult dressing tables,
pleasingly proportioned lamp
TIPS io
(rardeners
..
Miscellaneous Tips
13EFORE planting, work soil
deeply, making the top three
or four inches as fine and loose as
possible.
For better germination, pour
water into the drill or furrow just
before sowing. Use enough wa
ter to moisten the soil, but not
enough to cause caking.
If you have had little experience
and wish to try the vegetables
| easiest to grow, select radishes,
carrots, beets, Swiss chard, and
turnips. With a good-sized garden
you might add spinach, peas,
j beans and corn.
If your garden is small and you
wish to increase the total yield,
try the following quick-growing
vegetables:
Radish, leaf lettuce, beets, car
rots, peas and beans. You can
replant most of these after space
has been made for them by early
harvest.
Do not plant seeds deeper than
directed. After planting cover
seeds immediately, pressing the
i soil down firmly.
shades and dozens of other things
that will give your rooms new
charm and freshness. This book
will save you many dollars. Read
ers wishing a copy may address
Mrs. Spears, 210 So. Desplaines
St., Chicago, 111., enclosing 25
cents (coins preferred) and a
copy of the book will be sent post
paid, by return mail.
Famous Food Expert
To Conduct Feature
DEGINNING with this issue
u this paper is pleased to an
nounce a new series of articles
which we believe to be the
most original and up to date
food department in the country.
We wanted to offer a food
department that was live—in
teresting—different. We wanted
to get away from the usual
“recipe column.” We believe
the women of this community
are primarily interested in food
in its relation to health, in its
effect on growing children. In
formation of this sort has usu
ally been too scientific to be
understood by the average per
son, but in this series it is pre
sented in clear, understandable
language and applied so that it
will fit the average household.
C. Houston Goudiss, famous
author, lecturer, and radio per
sonality, will conduct this de
partment each week. Many
housewives will want to make
scrapbooks of these articles.
Don’t miss a single issue.
FEEL MISERABLE?
Des Moines, Iowa ——
Mrs. Mary Ann Parker*
1503 Capitol Ave., says :
. “I felt so miserable from
I nervousness and head
t aches associated with
functional disturbances
and had hardly any
strength. Dr. Pierce’s
Favorite Prescription
—1 nciinu 10 sirenginen me
wonderfully and I had very little difficulty
after its use.” Buy it in liquid or tablets
from your druggist today. See how much
calmer and stronger you feel.
Martial Virtues
Vigilance in watching opportu
nity, tact and daring in seizing up
on opportunity; force and persist
ence in crowding opportunity to
its utmost of possible achievement
—these are the martial virtues
which must command success.
INSIST ON GENUINE NUJOL
Copr. 1937, Staocoloo.
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