' * * • »->U 14iJ'kj'U Ui.Jj _ 2./"• '3' Good Evening, Everybody: A dramatic episode occurred today at sea# To be precise,in the English Channel, The new forty-two thousand ton French liner, the Atlantique, wfcrifccfecssss one of the most magnificent vessels afloat, was burnt to the waters edgej '-t ua t? O Uw>-e^v«- And here’s what makes this all the more dramatic. m The^^^^^a^crew,7 some one hundred and seventy people, were saved by a German freighter, and that freighter, curiously enough h i«i»■ ■ * ^ was named the Ruhr,^after the district which the French occupied for so long after the war. No passengers were aboard the ship, -&3F She was being taken from Bordeaux to Havre to be overhauled. The Atlantique was one of the crack liners in the South American service. She had made only ten trips. A cable to the New York Evening Post points out that this is the second serious catastrophe to French shipping from fire in the last eight months. Last May another luxurious liner in the Far trr; ■ ijJUrLU Eastern service was in the Gulf of Aden. «ir wfe±efc=©eefts±o®. fifty-three people perished p 5 f I t i) iur'iyai News from the Far East continues to be fairly interesting. The latest from is that the Japanese commander in chief, after defeating the Chinese, demanded an apology from Marshal Chang, the Chinese Generalissimo. It seems like a new idea for a to have to apologize to the enemy for having i heonrAefea-tyg. Usually he has to o all his apologizing to his home government. Well, a dispatch to the Baltimore Sun brings the information that Marshal Chang invited the Japanese commander to to jump into the Sea. Marshal Chang has declined to enter into any negotiations' with the Japanese forces, and referred the Mikado's generals to his overnment at Nanking. It appears definite that ShanJtaikwan is completely in the hands of the Japanese after a battle that lasted three days. The correspondents report that John Chinaman put up a L marvelous gallant defense, as valiant as that of the 19th A JAPAN - £ ^rmy in Shanghai last year. Marshal Chang informs his govern­ ment that his forces were intrenching northwest of Shanhaikwan* Advices from Tokio are to the effect that the Mikado^s soldiers are trying so far as possible to localize the warfare. In addition to an apology, the Japanese are demanding control of the railway station at Shanhaikwan. They also demand the neutralization of the city and neighborhood, A later report has it that the Chinese troops are massing for a new battle. The bill of Congress providing independence for the Philippines within ten years, was today turned over to Secretary of War, Hurley, in order that he might make a report to the President*©®**^. This by order of Mr. Hoover. Observers in Washington believe that this indicates a veto by the President. Mr. Hurley has^definitely stated his opposition to the bill. He told correspondents today that the measure does not solve the Philippine problem, but rather makes its difficulties more acute. Residents of Alaska had a shock last night — an earthquake shock. It was felt in Sewafd, shock lashthl. twenty seconds. It was 'sw&w?'enough to drive A citizens out of their houses into the streets A dispatch to the New York Sun reports that > felt the shock was also felt in Seattle, Washington. A ^ 1 I RETAKE Ihe bill of Congress providing independence for the Philippines within ten years, was today turned over to Secretary of •, ar, Hurley, in order that he might make a report to the President.owwsfefe. i'his by order of Mr. Hoover. Observers in Washington believe that this indicates a veto by the President. Mr. Hurley has^defInitely stated his opposition to the bill. He told correspondents today that the measure does not solve the Philippine problem, but rather makes its difficulties more acute. Hesidents of Alaska had a shock last night — It was felt in an earthquake shock enough to drive twenty seconds. It was citizens out of their houses into the streets, A dispatch to the New York Sun reports that the shock was also felt in Seattle, Washington, A at / i>trt> There was a three hour debate in the Senate today on the subject of foreign debts. In the course of this Senator Hiram Johnson of California announced that he will press the bill he introduced during the last session to compel t&ft payment of the debts. This bill will prohibit any country «hich is in default from selling any further bonds in the H. a . either public or private. It will also prevent such a nation from obtaining any loans here whatsoever until its obligations to Uncle Sam are paid. Senator Johnson threw a few brickbats at President Hoover for his moratorium. Other senators expressed themselves as opposed to considering any revision of debts owed by any country that is in default. UUUOJ-iW I u X j 'X President-elect Roosevelt came near having to buy a new top hat for his inauguration. There <2cfe; was a family reunion at the Roosevelt home in Mew York flast A nigtbt. Mr. and ^rs. Roosevelt started to walk out on it in order to go to dinner with relatives. When they^SSIreSSiy all dolled up in formal togs the young Roosevelts started to jeer at the paternal topper, Mr. Roosevelt then traded it for his youngest sonfs derby. That was the cue for a football scrimmage with the dignified topper serving in place of the ball. The hat was only rescued upon Mrs. Roosevelt^ plea that If the boys did not have a heart papa would have to buy a new lid for March 4th and that would set a bad example for the nation. .rU-L-MU'w a <.uuoHi w i. Turning to more serious activities, the President­ elect spent most of today receiving visitors prominent in Democratic circles. Many of them patriots willing to serve their country if they can get it to do. Mr. Roosevelt’s immediate job for the next weeks, aside from picking his cabinet, will be plans that of trying to work out plans to save Uncle Sam’s money. As the New York Sun points out,this is a colossal job. A report from Washington today shows that Uncle Sam’s deficit for tbe last six months is the portly sum of $1,159,£86 Almost two billion two hundred million was paid out and only a little over a billion came in to the treasury. Speaker Garner, the other day, estimated that Uncle Sam’s expenses were exceeding his income at the rate of a hundred million dollars a month. The Treasure’s latest report demonstrates that Mr, Garner was faj short of the mark. The difficulty e# stopping this leak, as the <\ * I* U-LijUU >« x tOU'. k >V x. New York Sun points out, lies in the fact that it is not one leak. The whole fabric of government is leaking in many pores. So much of the waste in our Federal government is hidden. Some of the expenditures are sound, and the trouble is that many of the soundest are mixed up with those that are most wasteful. Electoral College met today at Albany to decide for whom they should vote as ^resident. Of course, this is merely a rubber stamp formality. But wouldn't it be fun if the electors kicked So there indeed is a job for a Incidentally, the Sew York delegation to the up their heels and decided not to be rubber stamps? nUU v iLit Meanwhile advices come from the White House that President Hoover Is going merrily about the job of packing up. Secretaries, clerks and secret service men joined in the task of sorting out his personal papers under the ——-—— £*- {& President’s supervision^whieh he seemed to find pleasant. The boss, they say, is a happy man today. Though he’s sorry he and Roosevelt couldn’t get together on the debt problem, he feels that it no longer weighs on his shoulders. Incidentally it takes eighty-one filing cases to contain all Mr. Hoover’s personal papers. At the same time the household officials of the White House started getting ready for the new tenant. Rugs are being sent to the cleaners, carpenters are at work, and the smell of paint pervades many of the chambers in the executive manfeion Among the chief executives sending their first _fedU>' messages to their legislatures, was Governor Lehman of New York. Follov/ing the example of his predecessors. Governors A1 Smith and Roosevelt, Mr. Lehman delivered his message to the New York Assembly in person, A wire to the New York World Telegram, reports that the striking feature of the message was that Mr. ^ehman urged the assembly to prepare for the return of lawful beer. He wants them to appoint a commission to study the question and report not later than February 15th, Its report should suggest legislation providing the necessary ixxKiaxxRjc machinery £or licensing and taxing beer. FroritTa^lorville, Illinois, comes the information that five companies of x the National Guard are patrolling the district today. After a man and a woman were killed and several others shot in last night * s riots, the county officials confessed themselves unable to preserve order. I -bLt ( the There s encouraging news from/Youngstown, Ohio district. A wire to the Automotive Daily Mews reports that steel plant operations in that region took a sudden Jum|» upward this week. This is attributed to accumulations of orders at the mills. It represents the highest level of industrial activity In and around Youngstown since the first week in November, This is due to orders from motor car manufacturing companies. The makers of automobiles have been the jtE± principal consumers of steel during the entire past year. No we have a touch of solace for fat — I mean for well built ladies. A Philadelphia golf professional has been -T-eJu. telling a reporter of the Evening much easier to teach than men. And,he said, stout ladies are the best pupils of all. Ihey are less nervous and relax more completely into the spirit of the teaching. There you are ladies, that ought to encourage you not ^^hat women are Babe ^loctlkxiaRx DIdrikson, the nineteen year old speed wonder from Texas, paid a visit to New York today. Babe, of course, is the same Babe who was voted the world's champion woman athlete at the last Olympic games. Babe had the tough ordeal today of facing a whole squadron of ^ew York reporters. They were talking to her of course, about her decision to turn professional just |usx jttui u.d. U-j after the amateur athletic union^had restored her amateur standing. Babe says she wants a job coaching boy athletes, not women. In her own words: "You can get more out of boys than out of girls." woman reporter asked her the usual question whether she had or contemplated any romance in her life. Babe scowled. "That,* she said, "is why I hate women reporters, -b _b \ A tflF Here s an item from Chicago that ought to interest housekeepers. There are at least sixty-eight different ways in which merchants «an gyp their customers. Chicago merchants have been using all of them. Mow hold your horses. This is not my statement. It was uttered by Chicago^ official sealer of weights and measur'xs. Here are some of the devicesS- One butcher kept a ten ounce of lamb x tied to his scales. Others insert pieces of iron into the xkixk chicken before weighing. Grocers in before selling you berries, soak the boxes in water and then dent them so that they wTonft hold so many berries. Even bootlegger-, says the City Sealer, give their customers short weight. They sell alcohol in so-called five gallon cans, which really hold, only four gallons and a Quart. tinjL ) XVUUib A curious bit of information cropped out today about New Jersey. 4he robbery that too;: the public library srt Plainfield, was a valuable collection of Persian antiques, the most complete of its kind in the world. It included an illuminated miniature by Omar Khayyan. What struck detectives as curious was that the jfckiKg thieves left behind two objects, one of them exceedingly valuable. Both these objects be-ft^behlnd- were prayer rugs. This ±x seems to indicate that the thieves were Mohammedans. it M As a Persian scholar points out, no true believer would think of stefltling a prayer rug. A Another tragedy was reported from Washington today. Senator Robinson of Arkansas tet lost his false teeth/again. The last time this happened it was in the middlejof a campaign speech. I happened to mention it at the time. Also the fact that the ±&xx loss did not phase the Democratic leader in the Senate — he went right on talking. It takes more than the loss of teeth to make a senator stop talking. This time, however, Joe Robinson’s mishap is said to have occurred while he was out duck hunting. Details of the accident are lacking. Maybe a duck flew too close, and Mr. Robinson tried to bite the bird instead of shooting h It. uU -ujjr log Now for a fish s%©q*y tliat sounds like an exceedingly fishy story. But fish experts assure me that it is possible. A wire to the Newark News reports that a citizen of Williamstown, Kansas, was awakened by curious noises in the goldfish bowl. (Now don't laugh. This has all the earmarks of a serious item.) The owner of the goldfish got out of bed to investigate the commotion. He found the fish tearing violently round and round the bowl, thereby causing the snails, which were also in the bowl, to rattle against the glass. No sooner had he observed this than he felt weak and noticed a peculiar odor in the room. He was being overcome by gas. He stumbled to a window and threw it open just in time to let in fresh air. He next had to summon a physician to attend his wife who by that time was unconscious, In other words, this couple was saved from a: asphyxiation by goldfish. I guess I*d better leave the explanation mm to Dr. Will Beebe. j.on Now lor a 1’ish that sounds like an exceedingly \ fishy story. But fish experts assure me that it is possible. A wire to the Newark News reports that a citizen of Williamstown, Kansas, was awakened by curious noises in the goldfish bowl, (Now don't laugh. This has all the earmarks of a serious item.) The owner of the goldfish got out of bed to investigate the commotion. He found the fish tearing violently round and round the bowl, thereby causing the snails, which were also in the bowl, to rattle against the glass. No sooner had he observed this than he felt weak and noticed a peculiar odor in the room. He was being overcome by gas. He wtea stumbled to a window and threw it open just in time to let in fresh air. He next had to KfxkhKxxiJxiHxphKXExhxiix xaxaf f KEtedx summon a physician to attend his wife who by that time was unconscious. In other- words, this couple was saved from x asphyxiation by goldfish. I guess I’d better leave the explanation vm to Dr. Will Beebe. j nUuu Now for another one to test v;hat the late William James would call Jtyour Will~to-Believe3t. It comes from the Smithsonian in Washington. In a tropical forest of Mexico frogs are learning to fly. This is quoted by the Smithsonian experts as an example of evolution, the effort of a race of animals to shake itself free from its environment and go to a new one. Already some twenty species of Mexican frogs x have learned not only 4 to climb trees but to jam burrow underground. And now, it seems, they are becoming air minded. o ^ _ K - i- o