School for Baseball Umpires
Shuns Bottle-Ducking Course
ff hen baseball teams head south for
spring practice the umpires enter
training, too, preparing for a summer
of virtual isolation and desolation.
During th*& season they must travel
alone, live alone (and like it), endure
stinging insults from audience and
player alike—and still keep their tem
pers. They must even learn to duck
pop bottles, for the big league fans
and players seem to have a standing
credo that most errors must be blamed
on the umpire.
When calling a play
er out, McGowan says
you hold the head and
thumb just so, possibly
affecting a disdainful
demeanor. To call a
man safe: “You bend
the knees and hold the
hands like this." Wal
ter Fry, a student,
learns how to welcome
a successful base-run
ner who’s just scam
pered home from third
base.
r\
umpires are trained
by Bill McGowan,
American league arbi
ter shown here giving
lessons. Above, Mc
Gowan pltiys the erring
diamond warrior as one
of his students exe
cutes the correct (and
effective) way of tell
ing a player to get off
the field. Right: Um
pires must duck not
only pop bottles, but
foul balls as well.
RULES, TOO McGowan s students in the classroom.
!
I NATIONAL
AFFAIRS
Reviewtd by
CARTER FIELD
St. Lawrence seaway treaty
still faces almost solid op
position in the senate . . .
Elimination of tax-exempt
bonds wont open up a great
new source of ret>enue . . .
Not beef, but linseed oil, it
was that killed the trade
, agreement with Argentina.
________
WASHINGTON. — The obvious
fact, to any newspaper man consci
entiously canvassing the senate,
that no treaty providing for a St.
Lawrence seaway can possibly win
the two-thirds majority necessary to
ratification, creates continued spec
ulation among those familiar with
the senate situation as to why Pres
ident Roosevelt is pushing negotia
tions looking to such a treaty now.
The President was asked forth
right and avoided an answer. Re
plying to an inquiry by Mrs. Eliza
beth May Craig, who represents a
string of newspapers in Maine, the
President first thought it was a left
handed effort to gain some light as
to his plans for a third term. Then
he assumed that Mrs. Craig wanted
to know why he had not started the
fight sooner.
What most of the correspondents,
not to mention nearly all the sena
tors, would like to know is why he
is pushing a fight which he must
know will wind up—if it ever reaches
the senate at all—in a crushing
defeat.
Last time, in March, 1934, the
treaty had just three favorable
votes from Atlantic
coast states. These
were those of Sena
tors Ellison O.
Smith and James
F. Byrnes of South
Carolina, and Sena
tor Fred H. Brown
of New Hampshire.
Brown was defeat
ed in 1938 by Sena
tor Charles W. To
bey, a Republican,
who is far more in
terested in what
J. F. Byrnes
might happen to Portsmouth by traf
fic being diverted to the St. Law
rence than in the power plans of the
President.
In 1934, when that other vote was
had, Senator Byrnes was regarded
as one of the closest men personally
to the President in the entire sen
ate. This is still true. But his col
league, Cotton Ed Smith, was one
of those whom the President tried
to purge.
Grain Producers Exert
Pressure in Northwest
There has not been a President
elected since the St. Lawrence sea
way idea began to appeal to the
Northwest who has not announced
during his campaign that he favored
it. The first pressure came from
the grain producers who were prom
ised that the seaway would save
them a substantial freight charge on
shipments to Liverpool, the world’s
wheat market.
No one ever claimed seriously
that the seaway was economically
sound—that is that it would be able
to charge enough tolls on shipping,
plus the production of electricity, to
pay for itself. That is, no econo
mist or cost accounting expert ever
did. But it was not necessary to
prove anything to farmers except
an obvious advance in wheat prices
if the cost of moving the wheat to
Liverpool could be cut.
This argument can still be made,
though the fact is that the seaway
is further from being economically
sound today than ever, due to the
heavy falling off in grain exports.
On the other hand, a curious fear
of another of the seaway’s effects
has grown up in the very section
of the country which a few years
ago was so strong for it. This is
fear of manufacturers in the Great
Lakes territory that the seaway
would bring cheap European compe
tition right to their doors. This, of
course, is not worrying the farmers.
But whatever the Northwest may
want, the Atlantic coast senators
are not going to vote for the St.
Lawrence seaway.
Dropping Tax-Exempt Bonds
Won't Open Up Great Revenue
Against the New Deal objective of
eliminating tax-exempt bonds there
is very little that can be said.
Every President for many years has
wished that it could be done, but
until Franklin D. Roosevelt, all have
thought it impossible.
It still looks pretty tough, but high
New Dealers, including the Presi
dent and Attorney General Robert
H. Jackson, are insisting now that
it will be accomplished.
But its accomplishment will by no
means achieve the results which are
generally claimed in political
speeches. It will not, for instance,
open up the tremendous new source
of revenue, both for the federal gov
ernment and the states and cities,
that most speakers claim. Most of
the difference after tax exempts
have passed into history will be a
bookkeeping change rather than a
real increase in revenue.
For example, a man now holds
$100,000 of City of Baltimore three i
per cent bonds, for which he paid
something in excess of par, so that
he Is actually getting a return oi
about 2% per cent on his money.
He does not have to pay any federal
income tax on this annual income
from the bonds, and he does not
have to pay any local tax to the
state of Maryland.
Let's imagine that those bonds,
under the new dispensation, are no
longer tax-exempt. In order to
market them, the city would have
to sell them on at least a 4 per
cent basis. The man’s income
would jum> up, on paper, and he
would pay just about the difference
between his new income and his old
income in additional taxes.
Based on Value to Investor
Of the Tax-Exempt Element
This is true—on the average—be
cause the price at which tax-exempt
bonds can be sold, or more accurate
ly the interest return on money put
into tax-exempt bonds, is figured ab
solutely on the value to the investor
of this tax-exempt element.
So both the federal government
and states or smaller taxing units
would have to pay higher interest
rates on their borrowings, and then
would collect the money back in
higher tax returns, on the average
making very little difference.
Why then all the opposition to
outlawing tax exempts?
For the simple reason contained
in that word “average.” In the first
place, individual states, cities and
counties think they get the best of
the deal as compared with the fed
eral government. They think that
men and women with very large in
comes buy their securities in order
to dodge the top brackets of federal
income taxes. And they are right.
They do not worry about their own
resulting tax losses because they see
only the big investment in their local
bonds by rich men and women In
cities outside their own taxing
power. They do not see tabulations
of their own residents who own fed
eral bonds, partly to escape federal
taxation, but also local taxation.
Not Beef, Linseed Oil,
Killed Argentine Trade Pact
The actual rock on which the re
cent negotiations between the Unit
ed States and the Argentine repub
lic split was not beef, canned or
otherwise, as commonly supposed,
but linseed oil. When the U. S. ne
gotiators made it clear that they
would not cut the tariff on linseed
oil in half if under the new rate
Argentina could export all the lin
seed oil she could sell to this coun
try, but would insist on a quota, the
Argentines threw up their hands.
There has been not even a hint since
of reopening the discussion for a
reciprocal trade agreement.
In fact, it began to look as though,
regardless of what action congress
Cordell Hull
may take about ex
tending the power
of the President to
make these agree
ments, the program
has about bogged
down. This is far
from meaning that
it has failed so far
as the hopes of its
friends are con
cerned. Actually
much more prog
ress has been made
than the most on
timistic of Cordell Hull’s lieutenants
dreamed when the first negotiations
started.
It must be remembered that the
tremendous list of agreements now
in effect will run on until their vari
ous expiration dates whether con
gress renews the power to make new
agreements or not.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt
that it is the present fight on the
treaties on Capitol Hill which has
tied the hands of the state depart
ment in making new agreements.
Copper Producing States
Ganged on State Department
It will be remembered that sena
tors from all the copper producing
states ganged up on the state de
partment when they heard that the
duty on copper might be cut in half
by the agreement under negotiation
at the time with Chile. So formid
able was this opposition that Secre
tary Hull promptly announced that
copper would not be included.
This was certain to stir up activity
on the part of other interests which
might be frightened by pending re
ciprocal trade agreements. The
prompt development concerned lin
seed oil, which is crushed from flax
seed.
Now the amazing part of this lin
seed oil story is that flax is not an
important agricultural product in
this country. We actually import
linseed oil in quantities, always
have, and, so far as one may judge
the future, always will. During the
depth of the farm depression the de
partment of agriculture called at
tention to the farmers of the coun
try to the fact that there was an
overproduction of every single farm
product in this country except flax.
Nevertheless, there has been no
great turning of our farmers to the
production of flax. Which is curious
because representatives from the
few states which produce flax were
able to get the duty on linseed oil
boosted in the last tariff bill. Yet
there has been no important in
crease in the acres put into flax as
a result of this greater measure of
protection.
The same political forces which
forced the tariff boost have now
been able to scare the state de
partment into refusing to considei
letting the Argentines sell us more
linseed oil!
(Bell Syndicate—WNU Service.)
THE RETURN
OF PATRICIA
88
Bv ALICE NORRIS LEWIS
(McClure Syndicate—WNU Service.)
WILLA VAUGHN waa watch
ing for the Empress to
round the bend in the river.
As soon as she saw it, she
would run to the house, snatch her
traveling case and leave the note
i for Ken. Then she would get back
in time to signal the boat to stop,
i and get on board.
When Willa had first come to Baie
St. Anne she had not expected to
run away from it.
The beauty of the river, the moun
tains and the forest had gripped her
j heart-strings.
To know that she and Ken and a
half dozen other human beings were
on the very edge of civilization did
not frighten her, it thrilled her. But
Ken had warned her:
‘‘You'll like it for a little. Then
the loneliness may get you. When
it does, don’t stick, Willa. Don’t
tell me you’re going, but some day
when I’m away at work, leave a note
saying you’ve gone, and beat it. I
won’t blame you."
It was three years before the soli
tude "got” her.
At the beginning of the fourth,
she couldn’t keep her mind off
home. She wanted to walk down
the city streets—to look into the
shop windows—to dine—to dance.
Even the radio that Ken installed
made her uneasy. It only broadcast
those things she had most longed
to do, and couldn’t.
She had not decided to go, though,
until the night Ken came home and
said, gloomily: "The Empress
makes her last trip down river
tomorrow. And I'm no nearer the
end of the job than I was last year.
If we could only find that confound
ed stone bound, we could finish the
survey in jig time. Well, we’re in
for this winter, anyway.”
aii at once me norror oi anomer
winter in the great north woods beat
down upon her.
The river, frozen to a glare; the
snow drifting higher than she had
ever dreamed it could drift; the bit
ter, biting cold and the solitude!
She couldn't stand it. She wouldn’t.
She’d go down river when the Em
press went tomorrow.
Now she heard a whistle up
stream. A moment later the boat
nosed around the bend.
She ran to the cabin, stepped in—
and stopped, abruptly. Somebody
was in the front room. Could it be
Ken? Had he—suspected?
She tiptoed farther in, and now
she saw the occupant.
In the middle of the floor sat a
big, brown bear. It squatted upon
its haunches and, holding a bottle
human-wise in its paws, it quaffed
from it long and ardently.
Willa had never before known a
bear to enter the clearing.
Yet she knew considerable about
bears, because of Patricia. Ken had
found her, a little cub, whimpering
like a baby beside her mother, dead
in a trap.
He had brought her home, and
Willa had “raised” her on con
densed milk. Until he was half
grown, she was as playful and as
harmless as a puppy.
But one day, when Willa took away
a jar of jam she had stolen from
the pantry, she had made a swipe
at her with an angry paw. This
made Willa angry, too. She picked
up a broom and gave Patricia a
smart whack on the rump with it.
“Take that, you ungrateful beast,"
she said. “The idea of you doing
that after the way I’ve humored you!
You’ve got to learn I’m boss!”
Patricia did not take the chastise
ment in any spirit of contrition. In
stead, she backed towards the door,
growling. Willa, brandishing the
broom, ejected her into the open
with haste. Instead of going to her
paddock, Patricia disappeared into
the woods and was never seen again.
“Just as well,” said Ken. "If she
hadn't skedaddled, I’d have made
bear meat out of her. She couldn't
stay around here acting so randy,
of course."
Now, as Willa looked at the crea
ture in the room, she wondered if
it could be Patricia, returned. Then
she saw something that almost made
her laugh out loud. Two pointed
noses appeared in the doorway, and
two pocket editions of the big bear
came swaggering into the room.
Cubs! The creature’s babies, of
j course. It was Patricia back again,
1 with her whole family!
A shrill whistle sounded. It was
the boat near the clearing. Willa
heard it with a start. So did the
bear. She dropped on all fours and
growled. The cubs scooted for cover
under the couch.
| Willa knew now that she could
.lever make the trip down river to
Quebec and Boston.
She must stay and keep the brown
aear and her cubs away from the
I store room, where Ken had the win
\ ter supplies for the whole survey
ing party hoarded. If ever the crea
ture should g' t at them, the whole
browd might s’arve to death, for
j now there was no chance to get to
; the city for more.
Even bolting the doer of the store
j room wouldn’t help much, for it was
i a flimsy thing, and could easily be
! broken down. Tantalizing odors of
] bams and bacon, coffee, onions and
spices scented the air some yards
from it. Even as she thought of
it. Willa saw the bear sniff inquiring
ly. She would have to run and find
Ken, somewhere up river, and get
him back orfor* any mischief was
done. ***
A moment later she was racing
up the trail that led along the river
bank. In midstream the Empress
moved majestically on—without her.
Some of the crew saw her and whis
tled a farewell salute. Willa waved,
and one or two late excursionists,
leaning over the rail, waved back.
Willa's eyes were blinded with
tears. The winter—the awful, aw
ful winter! How the wind swayed
the trees in a storm! How the
northern lights danced all night long
in the sky! Why had she ever
thought it wonderful to see them?
And the stillness everywhere! Only
the melancholy sound of the Angelus
ringing from the little church far
up the river, as the sun went down,
ever broke the solitude from one
day to another.
She came to the top of a little
rise, and there, with his eyes fixed
on the boat on the river, was her
husband. So intent was he upon
it that he did not hear her when
she said “Ken.”
When she spoke a second time,
he turned towards her. There was
so much of longing in his eyes that
she ran to him and hugged his arm
in sudden dismay.
For the first time it struck her
that he, too, wanted to run away;
wanted to leave his work and go
back to an easier life in the city.
Hitherto, she had imagined he never
dreamed of such a thing because
he had never said as much.
“Willa!” he cried. “Willa, is it
really you?” He looked at her,
blinking. "Oh, my dear. I thought
I saw you on board the Empress.
I had the feeling you intended to
go down river today. If you had,
I wouldn’t have blamed you, but—I
don't know how I could have borne
it without you.”
“Nonsense!” whispered Willa,
huskily.
Ken went on: “It will be the last
winter, Willa. We just found the
old boundary line. We’ll finish in
the spring. Long before the Em
press makes her last trip next fall
we’ll be back in Boston.”
“You’ll starve to death before
spring comes if you don’t listen
to me.” interrupted Willa. “There’s
a bear and two cubs in the house,
with all eyes on the storehouse door.
If you don’t hurry and, Ken, I think
it is that good-for-nothing Patricia
back home for the winter.”
Ken had turned down the trail in
haste. As Willa followed him, she
tore a sheet of paper into bits and
threw them into the bushes.
“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt
him,” she thought. “There goes my
farewell note! He’ll never notice
the suitcase, he’s so unobserving.
He must not make bear meat of
Patricia. We’ll drive her into her
paddock and let her dig in for the
winter, babies and all. Maybe she’s
forgiven me for thumping her, any
way. I’ll stand a lot from her from
now on.—She’s kept me from play
ing the coward today.”
* _
Motorist Should Study
Auto Operation Costs
Well aware of the competition for
his money, today’s automobile own
er realizes that the question of how
far he can go with his car in the
course of a year’s motoring is de
pendent on how far he can go with
a dollar. Many a proposed trip is
given the curtailment process be
cause dollar mileage has been doing
the shrinkage act.
Some of the car manufacturers
who used to offer service insurance
policies have not been able to con
tinue with the plan for the simple
reason that if a customer applied
for the service his car actually
needed, they would be in the red.
Unfortunately the industry is geared
to annual offering of new cars, which
means that no owner has an oppor
tunity to keep his property up to
anything near original value, even
if he keeps everything in perfect
running order. Model depreciation
still is the most expensive item in
the ownership of a car.
The best any owner can do is to
make his dollar buy the greatest
amount of service that will spare
him the most expensive in operation
and the most mechanical trouble.
It resolves itself into a selection of
what the service trade has to offer,
everything being offered today can
be demonstrated to save money in
the operation of the car or in re
duction in repairs. The order in
which service is bought is the most
important feature of the process of
making the dollar go further when
making service selections.
Putting the cart before the horse
often runs close to ignoring service .
altogether. Service has to be timed.
This also applies to the selection of
lubricating oils and gasoline.
For example, if the ignition timing
is well advanced and the engine
does not ping sharply upon acceler
ation in traffic, there is no point
in paying for premium fuel when
driving around town. On the open
road, where performance is not only
exhilarating but a matter of safety,
it is important to switch to premium
anit-knock fuel. Actual damage is
done the engine if allowed to knock
when hill climbing.
Around town, there is a greater
amount of crankcase dilution due to
choking and short runs. Oil should
be changed more frequently here.
On the open road diluent burns off.
Some of the oil works up past the
piston and is burned off, requiring
additions to the crankcase. This is
the same as refilling, except that it
is a continuous process. 'Hte dollar
is being unnecessarily squeezed if
the owner changes the oil after or
during a long trip when he has been
changing it in installments en route.
Beauty Treatment
For an Old Chair
By RUTH WYETH SPEARS
LJ ERE is proof of what a beauty
A 1 treatment and a new costume
will do for an out-of-date chair.
Its new dress is very chic. The
material is a soft old red cotton
crash with seam cordings and
binding for the scalloped skirt in
dove gray.
An inch was cut from the back
legs to tilt the chair for greater
comfort. The carving at the top
PAD CARVING
AND FILL IN
SPACES WITH
COTTON
BATTING
STRETCH
■vMUSLIN
) OVER
iPADOINC
and the upholstery on the back
and arms were left in place, but
the lines of the chair were com
pletely changed by padding with
cotton batting. Unbleached mus
lin was then stretched over the
padding to make all perfectly
smooth.
NOTE: Mrs. Spears has pre
pared four booklets for our read
ers containing a total of 128 thrifty
homemaking ideas; with step-by
step illustrated directions. Each
book contains an assortment of
curtains; slip-covers; household
furnishings; rag rugs; toys; gifts
and novelties for bazaars. Books
may be ordered one at a time
at 10 cents each; but if you enclose
40 cents with your order for four
books (No. 1, 2, 3 and 4) you will
receive a FREE set of three quilt
block patterns of Mrs. Spears’ Fa
vorite Early American designs.
Address: Mrs. Spears, Drawer 10,
Bedford Hills, New York.
Evidently Young Man Had
But a Peep for the Ring
The young man had just pro
posed to the most beautiful girl in
the world. She had accepted him,
and now he stepped into a jewel
er’s to buy an engagement ring.
He examined various rings, and
finally picked up a beautiful dia
mond.
“What’s the price of this?” he
inquired.
“That,” replied the assistant,
“is $250.”
The young man’s eyes popped.
He whistled loudly and long—
then pointed to a second ring.
“And this one?” he asked.
“This one, sir,” said the assist
ant, eyeing the price-tag, “is two
whistles!”
_ /
Contagious Laughter J
While there is infection in dis
ease and sorrow, there is nothing
in the world so irresistibly con
tagious as laughter and good hu
mor.—Charles Dickens.
Does your throat feel
prickly when you swallow
— due to a cold? Benefit
from Luden’s special for
mula. Contains cooling
menthol that helps bring
quick relief. Don’t suffer
another second. Get
Luden’s for that “sand
paper throat!**
LUDEN’S 5*
Menthol Cough Drops
Clear Gain
Whatever happens beyond ex
pectation should be counted clear
gain.—Terence.
OLD FOLKS
Here is Amazing Relief of
Conditions Due to Sluggish Bowels
'flnfipu u you thlnk 3)1
IflJll/U J-IWfnCUtf act alike, just try this
»ll y*«rtibU laxative.
So mild, thorough, refreshing, inv gorating. De
pendable relief from sick headaches, bilious spells*
tired feeling when associated with constipation.
lA/iftiAid Dick 8et a 25c box of NR from your
nllllulll VIISII druggist. Make the test—then
If not delighted, return the box to us. We will
refund the purchase
price. That's fair.
Get NR Tablets today.
MERCHANTS
•Your
Advertising
Dollar
buys something more than
space and circulation in
the columns of this news
paper. It buys space and
circulation plus the favor
able consideration of our
readers for this newspaper
and its advertising patrons.
LET US TELL YOU
MORE ABOUT IT