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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (May 26, 1938)
| STREET SCENES IN BERLIN I Unter den Linden All Dressed Up. Interesting Sights for the Visitor in the Handsome Capital of Germany Prepared by National Geographic Society. Washington, D. C.—WNU Service. ESPITE the rapid pace of politics in Ber lin today, pedestrians on the streets of the German capital are conspicuously un hurried. Motor traffic, on the other hand, is unusually rapid. The drivers of the 620 omni buses hurl their two-storied leviathans from stop to stop in lurching bursts of speed; the air brakes hiss with splenetic suddenness. The comparatively small number of motor vehicles in Berlin helps ex plain the villagelike appearance of most streets. Counting private cars, trucks, and motorcycles, registra tions for 1936 showed only a few more than forty thousand. The traffic flow has a heartbeat of 30 seconds—half a minute of red light, an orange flash of warning of change, followed by half a minute of green. To one accustomed to the longer intervals of most Amer ican ciUes, it seems at first a little hysterical in its frequency of inter ruption. Upon arrival one is petrified to see autos passing stopped street cars. The law, however, permits such passing, with the injunction that it be performed with ex treme care. Look Out for the Cyclists. The large number of bicycles on Berlin streets creates an additional hazard for the motorist, especially as the riders seem endowed with a sublime faith that the vagaries of their delicate vehicles will be un failingly observed by truck and car behind. Yet, with it all, casualty statistics are not high. The city's fatalities from traffic accidents to taled 358 for 1935. The traffic lights halt squads of cyclists: girls in unbecoming but practical divided skirts; delivery boys carrying bundles bigger than tbemselves; tenders of street lights pedaling precariously from lamp to lamp with eight-foot ladders strapped to their shoulders. The Berlin resident receives four deliveries of mail a day on week days and one on Sunday for good measure. Five thousand postboxes an nounce their presence on street corners with a lustrous surface of red—that shade which someone has described as “the color of audac ity.” Until within the last year they were a sober blue, but the color experts announced that they lacked visibility. Special delivery obtains, but for those who desire extra-rapid serv ice there is the fast-functioning pneumatic-tube system, reaching every section of the town. This is a convenience to the businessman and an undoubted blessing to exigent lovers. Any list of the city’s skyscrapers should include the new home of the Karstadt department store. Columbus haus on Potsdamer platz and the handsome white build ing of the Shell Oil company, which rises from the verdant bank of the Spree in mid-city, are other con tenders for dizzy honors, and neith er exceeds ten stories. Berlin is not suffering from lack of educational institutions, with its 13 universities, colleges, and higher technical centers, 147 high schools, and 503 grade schools. University Once a Palace. Berlin (Frederick William) uni versity, center of educational life, fronts on Unter den Linden across from the State Opera house. Such a dignified atmosphere of scholar ship pervades the lovely gray build ing and its linden-shaded court that no one would suspect it was orig inally built as a palace for Prince Henry by his brother, Frederick the Great In the neighborhood of the univer sity are several restaurants where one hears more English spoken than German. The guests are principal ly exchange professors from Amer ican colleges who come to Berlin for research. The Schwarzes Ferkel (Black Pig) is popular with the teaching fraternity and is the locale for all meetings of the Berlin Harvard club. Tonndorf is another spot where the pedagogues exchange shoptalk over their veal cutlet and beer. Modernism Is not aggressively present today in painting and sculp ture. The windows of the moderate price art shops are filled with decorative prints and paintings de signed largely to please the conven tional taste. Scenes portraying fe cund grainflelds, mountain peaks piercing the upper ether, animal pictures, flower studies, predom inate. Only a few doors from the Amer ican consulate in Bellevue-Strasse, street of the better art dealers, there has recently been opened an exhibition of the latest styles in modem furniture. Designs compare favorably with similar showings in other European countries. Ingenious use is being made of materials hitherto unknown to furniture mak ing. "Has anyone ever regretted the demise of a statistician?” once wrote a disgruntled epigrammatist. Comprehensible point of view! But there are exceptions. What Berlin Eats and Drinks. At the head office of the city’s bureau of statistics you And the chief a person of considerable hu mor. Surrounded by diagrams and graphs, he can feed you with such factual morsels as the following: Seven hundred and twenty thou sand loaves of bread go each day to Berlin homes; 11,000 tons of coffee made from malt are drunk each year and only two-thirds as much real coffee; some 50,000,000 people annually visit Berlin’s 400 movie houses; meat consumption is on the down-grade, having dropped in one year from 157 to 127 pounds per person; beer consumption has shrunk 40 per cent in the last eight years, a fact of much signifi cance as foreshadowing the phy sique of the future Berliner. Apropos of beer, it is interesting to discover that Munich, now the na tion’s beer capital, originally was the center of a wine country and learned the brewing art from north ern Germany. Now, however, the youth of Ger many, striving for physical efficien cy, scorn anything but the most moderate beer drinking. They pre dict that paunchy waistlines and bulging necks will be unknown to the next generation. A characteristic sight as one ex plores the various sections of Ber lin is the sport fields with children or young people going through set ting-up exercises. With magnifi cent gusto they bend and twist, flex ing muscles in unison with the rhythmic counting of physical in structors. There are 236 of these fields scattered about the city, and, in addition, 660 indoor gymnasiums. Every German boy, regardless of social position, must, between sev enteen and twenty-five years of age, give six months of labor service to the state. There are 1,200 camps throughout Germany, with 166 work ers to a camp. Irrigation of dry lands and swamp drainage are the exclusive tasks of these labor camps—no road making or other form of construction which could compete with paid labor. Girls \ olunteer for Work. Service from the girls of Germany Is not obligatory. However, it is the vogue to volunteer for such tasks as assisting workers in the fields or in the homes, caring for chidren, or substituting for an of fice or factory worker so that per son can take a vacation without pay. Stores are bedecked with an nouncements of autumn sales; win dows teem with merchandise, in cluding conservative copies of Paris models to sell to women with small incomes. Most of the people on Berlin streets are well dressed, if that term can be interpreted to mean the wearing of good and comfortable clothes. Men's furnishing stores exhibit weird arrays of caricatured dum mies, attenuated and globular, clad in coats as square-built as a New England woodshed. The salesman explains that this rectangular effect is the "American shoulder.” Beauty parlors flourish, a bewil dering assortment of jars set forth in their windows. A few of the better-known American cosmetic lines are to be found. SEEN and HEAR > around the NATIONAL CAPITAL! By Carter Field m FAMOUS WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT j Washington.—Concession by even the most optimistic Republicans that the Democrats will control the next house of representatives by a wide margin makes the menace of the La Follette Progressive party much more bearable to Democratic prog nostigators than might otherwise be the case. For the house of representatives, to be elected this fall, will elect the next President in December, 1940— IF a third party should prevent any Presidential candidate from getting a clean majority of the electoral votes. Since the recent consensus of po litical experts was taken by News week, the writer has checked care fully with some of the more opti mistic Republicans to discover where they expect their gains in the house. The point is that a Presi dent is elected by the house, under the Constitution, when no candidate has an electoral college majority— by states, not by individual mem bers. The majority of each state delegation determines how their state will vote in electing a Presi dent under such circumstances. There are 15 states about which there is no doubt whatever. Many of them will have solid Democratic del egations in the next house. Since no political landslide is seen now even by the most optimistic of the Repub licans there seems to be no chance that the Democrats will not have a majority in every one of these dele gations. These states are the group from Maryland to Texas, and include: Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Missis sippi, Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Ok lahoma and Maryland. Ten more states would be needed, as the Constitution requires a ma jority of all the states to elect a President in this manner. Which, as the present number of states is 48, would mean a total of 25. No Hope for G. O. P. Examining the Republican hope chests, it is interesting to note that there are more than ten additional states to those already named, in which there is no hope of the Re publicans capturing a majority of the congressional delegations. New York, surprisingly enough, has not had a Republican majority in her house delegation since the 1920 election, despite the fact that she rolled up an enormous majority for Coolidge in 1924, and went for Hoover by a small majority in 1928. Indiana has now only one Republi can member of the house. A gain of two, or at most, three seats there is all that the Republicans hope for. Illinois is also apt to continue lop sidedly Democratic in her house del egation. So are Colorado, Califor nia, Oregon and Washington. Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico have only one representative each, but that representative is just as important when the house is elect ing a President as New York or Pennsylvania. Not even the most optimistic Republican consulted by the writer since the Newsweek poll has any hope of electing a Republi can congressman from any of these three little states. And that makes the ten, which, added to the Southern states enu merated, totals twenty-five. But there are any number of pos sibilities to make up for any un expected local upset. Arouses Curiosity Inquiries from all over the coun try are reaching senators and offi cials asking private advice as to what is on the horizon to have caused President Roosevelt to make his sudden appeal for prompt start on the construction of two battle ships. The general impression on the part of the inquirers seems to be that there have been events in the international situation which caused this sudden move. It may be authoritatively stated that this is not the case. No one in administration circles pretends that everything in the international situ ation is rosy. Quite the contrary. But the international picture had nothing to do with the President's haste to get battleship construction started. In fact it is admitted by high officials that if the foreign sit uation were such that the President thought the United States were like ly to be forced into a war within, say, a year, the procedure would be entirely different. The President would then, it is pointed out, be insisting on a very different type of spending for the intervening period. He would want the money spent on types of weap ons which could be completed be fore the war was over. It just so happens that, no mat ter how much the work is hurried, building a battleship is a very slow proceeding. It cannot be cut much under three years. To complete a ship in two years would really be an accomplishment. And this would mean from the time the keel was laid. Back in the World war days the construction of battleships was stopped so that the skilled labor employed on them could be utilized for something which might reason ably be expected to be finished in time to make its weight felt before hostilities were concluded. Reason for Haste The real reason for the Presi dent' 4 haste on battleship construc tion is not preparedness but econom ics. He wants to get men working on this job as speedily as possible— in the mines, the steel mills, the factories and the shipyards. Liter ally it is part of the pump-priming plan. This does not mean that the build ing of battleships is a species of made work. On the contrary, the President’s feeling is that the need for the additional ships is very vital indeed. But not for the immediate future. The answer to all this is Japan. The majority opinion among naval and military experts studying the situation, and advising the Presi dent, is that Japan has no intention of provoking a war with the United States in the immediate future. But the same experts believe that Ja pan is counting on a war with this country eventually, maybe five years from now, maybe ten. The theory behind these fine new battleships is that feach one con structed tends to make that war less likely. The experts in question note with extraordinary interest the com ment in Japan on the construction of these ships. Japanese newspa pers which usually print just what the high army and navy officers of that country want the people to know are rather bitter about these battleships which congress has been authorizing and appropriating for in the last few months. When it is considered that these ships will not be completed for from three to five years, at the earliest, this resentment is very interesting. Curious Puzzles Some very curious and intricate puzzles are presented by the recent Florida Democratic primary. One of them is accentuated, curiously enough, by none other than Chair man James A. Farley, of the Demo cratic national committee, in a statement rushed out even before all the returns were in to claim a sweeping victory for the New Deal. Said Chairman Farley: "The signal victory of Sen. Claude Pepper of Florida, a staunch New Deal advocate, over Rep. J. Mark Wilcox, campaigning for the senate seat on the straight-out issue of op position to the New Deal,’’ etc. Now the interesting point raised by Chairman Farley, inadvertently, revolves around his own denuncia tion of Wilcox. For it would seem to be a logical deduction that ev ery voter who marked his ballot for Wilcox is an anti-New Dealer. Viewed as a contest between two party factions, or between two can didates, Pepper's victory was over whelming. He had a lead of more than two to one over Wilcox. But if viewed that the men and women who voted for Wilcox were anti-New Deal, then it would appear that one-third of the Democrats in Florida are against the present Democratic administration in Wash ington. That is not enough to make any difference, probably, in the Florida election. No one expects any South ern state to elect a Republican to the senate. The Pepper Problem But in Northern and Western states such a loss would spell inevi table disaster in November. It is an axiom in politics that no party can afford to lose 10 per cent of its voters. The Florida primary would seem to indicate a loss of more than 30 per cent. Another, and entirely different, problem is presented by the fact that Senator Pepper, in his cam paign, laid a great deal of emphasis on old age pensions. It was this campaign by Pepper which led Sen. Arthur H. Vanden berg, of Michigan, to comment that President Roosevelt and Dr. Town send would have to roll dice to see who was really the victor in Florida. Now the question is whether Flor ida is merely like California, in that a tremendous number of old people have moved there to avoid the more rigorous winters of their native states, or whether this sentiment of the old for security and of the young to be relieved of their obligations to their own old folks is merely typical of all states. In short: Was Dr. Townsend right in his assumption that there is so much sentiment for his plan that if put to any real test it would sweep the country? It is almost impossible, at the moment, for Washington politicians to do anything but guess at the an swer. But this much is certain. The fact that Pepper was so extraor dinarily successful will not pass un noticed. Plenty of senators and rep resentatives who have been worried about their chances for coming back are going to take a chance that the old age pension sentiment is very general indeed. What have they to lose? C BeU Syndicate.—WNU Service. I The CLAY 7-*—"I MASK / D-J-WALSH • ^ ^ Copyright.—WNU Service. ~■ , , . — -=^ “I shall be a little late tonight,” Merrick told his wife as he threw out the clutch and slipped the gear shift into low. “Oh—you’ll be late? How late, dear?” she asked with the color leaping into her usually pale cheeks. Impatiently he held his foot on the clutch. “Oh a couple of hours or maybe three. I have to drive over to Speedwell’s after business and it may take me some time there.” Nora nodded. “All righty, I’ll look for you when I see you dear.” Until he had driven five miles Merrick thought nothing oi nis wife nor her slight flush nor her words. Now, however, they re turned to him poignantly. Why should she want to know just how late he would be? What was she going to do with the time? Why had the color sprung into her cheeks so quickly? Was it pos sible that there was some one she would see in that time? Nora was always busy all day between su perintending the house, looking after the children and giving her attention to certain social amen ities that could not be overlooked. He remembered suddenly how Nora had smiled at young Mills at the last Country club dinner. Was it possible—could they—he found himself driving on with set lips and glassy eyes. His Nora! As the day passed Merrick man aged to call to mind some dozen cases where Nora had seemed more than slightly interested in some man other than her hus band. Yes, he had probably lost her. He had grown careless and this was his reward. At closing time he had worked himself up into such a frenzy about the whole thing that he drove straight home instead of going to Speedwell’s. He was home a half hour earlier than usual. Minette, the maid, was at the door and her eyes frowned as she saw him. “Madame is not—expecting you —yet—” she said, falteringly, in reply to his inquiry. “No—well, I’ll go right on up,” he said trying to be casual. “But—it would be best if you—” began Minette. Without reply he went up the staircase, past her, the veins in his throat swelling uncomfortably. Throwing open the door of her room, he stood on the threshold, glaring. There was a sudden yelp—hard ly human—but he recognized the tone as that of his wife. And his wife’s face—gray as ash! “Well?” he said harshly. “Oh, Merrick, I thought you go ing to be late,” she said lamely. “There is so little time during the day and I thought this would be a good chance to use my clay mask stuff.” And Nora wondered why it was that with the crumbling clay on her face her husband took her into his arms and affectionately caressed her. “It just shows,” she told her self later, “that men don't care a rap for looks—because who could be pretty in a clay mask!” For Safety Sake “/BUTTING-IN” as an accident ^ cause can be eliminated if motorists will remember that safety requires waiting until the car just passed can be seen in the rear view mirror before turn ing back into the same traffic lane. Thinking about one thing while doing another causes accidents. Flying around a corner in a car and honking all the way doesn’t relieve your conscience if you hit someone. Dirt on lenses may reduce the light intensity of automobile head lights from 10 to 50 per cent. In addition to glare caused by scat tering of the light beam. On long trips, get out of the car frequently and “stretch your legs.” Tired muscles react slowly. Speed must be consistent with volume of traffic, condition of road and time of day, even if laws al low a greater speed. Never drive so that you cannot stop quickly enough to meet any emergency. According to scientific tests, the ear responds to a warning faster than the eye does. Thus, a bell, whistle or horn causes a driver to put on the brake faster than when he sees a signal. The most important safety de vice on any motor car is the driver, safety officials point out. Even the “self-starter” needs a foot to start it, and the best brakes re quire quick toe pressure to stop the car. A Happy Home Happy is the house that shelters a friend! It might well be built, like a festal bower or arch, to en tertain him for a single day.—. Emerson. 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