Next War May Last
For Only Two Hours
Possibilities Of Next War Between
First-Class Powers Horrible To
Contemplate.
By Stuart Chase in New Republic,
condensed by Readers Digest.
On August 13, 1928, the "North
ern Power" opened its attack in
London. Seventy-five airplanes,
each carrying 500 pounds of
‘ bombs,’’ swooped down upon the
city from the northeast. They were
met by an equal number of defense
planes, by batteries of anti-aircraft
guns, by an extensive balloon sys
tem—by every known defense
against an air attack. But within
less than 30 minutes after crossing
centered directly over London,
i "bombs" had been dropped on pre
determined targets, and the attack
ing force was wheeling back into the
north without a casualty.
Every specified objective was
bombed. F’ifty thousand pounds of
theoretical explosives were dropped
through 16,000 feet, with the accur
acy of gun fire. Had these 22 tons
of bombs been filled with dipheny
chloroarsine. half of the population
of London, men, women and child
ren, would have been wiped out.
Mimic Warfare.
This whole drama, to be sure, was
mimic warfare, but it was carried
out with great care, and the re
sults I have cited were the sober
conclusions of army judges. All
known methods of defense were
helpless before 75 pilots. Not a sin
gle attacking plane was downed.
Imagine what might be done with
500 planes—a force that every one
of the leading nations can readily
mobilize. France, fer instance, is
now in a position to bring 4.000
planes into action at the call of the
radio. I
Poison Gas.
There are at least two varieties of
poison gas against which no mask
any protection. Cacodyl isocyanide
i is in the possession of all the great
nations, a gas so frightful that mil
itary men admit to reporters that
they do not see how they could
bring themselves to use it. Govern
ment purchasing agents can also
take their choice of bombs filled
with deadly plague or bacilli, or
with anthrax for the extermination
of milk cows and horses. Mean
while the "radium atomite." just
discovered, is a more powerful ex
plosive than T. N. T.; and with a
newly invented metal compound "a
400-horse-power airplane motor can
be built so light that a man can
easily Dick it up."
Possibilities.
Say that war is declared. In Bre
men or Calais a thousand men
climb into the cockpits of their air
craft. A starting signal, an hour or
two of flight, a little veering, drop
ping and dodging, as the defense
planes rise, a casualty or two as the
radium atomite of the anti-aircraft
guns tries vainly to fill a space 100
miles square and four miles deep,
one muffled roar after another as
the bombs are dropped per sche
dule, and so, to all intents and
purposes, the civilization founded
by William the Conqueror, which
gave Bacon, Newton and Watt to t he
world, comes, in something like
half an hour to a close, finished
and done, London, Liverpool, Man
chester. Bristol—each now vanishes
from the list of habitable places on
the planet, ot even a rat, not even
an ant, not even a roach, can sur
vive; every living thing has ceased
to breathe by virtue of diphenyl
chloroarsine.
The Airplane's Part.
The airplane, in effect, has reduc
ed all other war weapons—battle
ships, fortresses, tanks—to so much
scrap iron. The only thing it cannot
be sure of harming is submarine
with a hundred feet of ocean over
it. Yet a good submarine costs a
bout $5,000,000; it requires a crew
of 30 men; its speed does not ex
ceed 20 miles an hour submerged,
and It is not a very straight shoot
er at best. A good airplane may be
had for $5,000, its crew is one, it
can travel at 200 miles an hour, and
it can drop a bomb with remarkable
accuracy.
In short, it hardly pays to dis
cuss any mechanism of warfare ex
cept the airplane. It is more dead
ly than any other weapon, all fac
tors considered, and it is cheap. It
can be built in a few days, and its
cost, relatively speaking, is a trifle.
It primacy comes, as I see it, from
the fact that it can operate in three
dimensions, where all other weap
ons are limited to one or two. A
submarine can operate in three di
mensions, but only by slow and
cumbersome wallows, nor can it
find much of a belligerent, nature
to operate upon, except sharks.
Airplanes For Defense
For a throe-dimensional offense
there is only the sorriest, kind of de
fense, as the attack on London
showed Some genius has suggested
that piano wire be suspei»!?d from
balloon to trap an air offense. He
should receive a prize from a com
ic weekly. And these bristling pic
tures of anti-aircraft guns in the
Sunday supplements, together with
accounts of their range and accur
acy, are an insult to the intelligence
The only way to keep airplanes out
r of a metropolitan area is to have
•nough anti-aircraft guns to fill
$35,000,000 at Stake
Hints of huge sums of money
being squandered to a personal
staff of psycho-analysts are
contained in Mrs. Katherine
Dexter McCormick’s, above,
suit, instituted in Los Angeles
courts to regain custody of the
millions and affections of her
husband, Stanley McCormick
of Chicago. She claims his af
fections are being alienated
from herself by his physicians
treatments.
400 cubic miles practically solid with
steel splinters and T. N. T. This
would involve, first, a fantastic
number of guns, and second, grave
discomfort for, if not the positive
slaughter of, the metropolitan pop
ulation, who could not move cn the
streets witilout umbrellas of heavy
steel.
Military strategy, however," lias an
answer for the three-dimensional
attack. The best defense is an at
tack; And so, the instant the
thousand planes leave Hamburg for
the cities of England. 1,500 planes
leave London for the cities of Ger
many. Their ways may cross, but
owing to the slipperiness of space
and the haste of each squadron to
be on its way, the casualties will be
few, and the end of two civiliza
tions, instead of one, not long de
layed. As Suih things go, another
ten minutes at the outside.
Next War Will Be Short.
There is at least one good thing
to be said about the next war; it
will not keep us long on edge. We
shall not have to worry about find
in the money for Liberty Bonds, or
wonder whether George is going to
get his commission. The whole bus
iness will be over in a couple of
hours. With lungs full of diphenyl
chloroarsine, we shall not need to
worry about anything ever again.
Personally, though it may be con
trary to the code of the sportsman,
I know when I am beaten. And
against a three-dimensional war
machine, I have no confidence of
anything except that the unique as
sociation of electrons which com
prises myself is about to form new
and interesting chemical combina
tions.
The persons capable of imagining
a general holocaust in advance are
so few, and of such slight influence,
that the world will not realize what
it new faces until it has faced it, in
a fait accompli. Then, and not un
til then, realization will come—pos
sibly, as the extras bring one incred
ible horror after another, it will
come very fast. In a few days, per
haps after the two belligerents
have been laid to rest, the neutral
world will be in a sufficient state
of shock to see that this sort of
thing must stop forever.
The surviving West, together with
the East, will then banish the ma
chine from war—which means, of
course, the banishment of war. Or
so the conclusion hangs, neatly bal
anced between the hope and the be
lief, within the mind.
! SPANISH LANDMARKS
IN CUBA ARC DOOMED
Havana—Old Spanish landmarks
were lost, to Havana when property
owners were ordered by the city
building inspector to remove all
railings, walls and other obstruc
tions alomg sidewalks. These are
survivors of colonial days when
Spanish homes, fronting directly on
the street, were divided by railings
and walls, allowing the pedestrian
but a small tw<5-foot margin of the
sidewalk.
Pleading guilty of polgamy In
court, at Salem, Mass., Charles IV.
Chick, a sailor possessing seven
wives was sentenced to serve one
year in the house of correction.
MEDICAL LICENSE
MILL UNCOVERED
Chicago—Seven perrons, five al
ready under arrest, have been in
dicted by the Cook comity grand
jury as members of a nation-wide
ring of counterfeiters supplying
fake medical and dental licenses to
those having $3,000 to pay for them.
Pat Roche, chief investigator for
the state's attorney, said he ex
pected further inquiry might show
officials of the Illinois state de
partment of registration were im
plicated. He based the belief partly
on the fact that several ot the li
cense issued by the ring prepared
genuine.
Headquarters of the ring were
maintained in Springfield, the state
capita], with agents in Chicago, Si.
Louis, New’ York and elsewhere.
The Springfield headquarters and
the evident genuineness of some
of the licenses and reciprocity let
ters led officials to believe that of
ficials in the state department of
registration and education might be
involved
Those in custody arc Harry Gold
stein, alias "Senator" Browskv,
Springfield representative; Albert
Karl Barron, believed to be the
agent conducting negotiations be
tween license purchasers and Gold
stein; Dr. Marcus Kalmus Marry
Hotel, New York, alleged Eastern
representative, under arrest ..i
Pittsburgh; Dr. Robert Lcntlne, al
leged Western representative, arrest
ed in St. Louis, and L. Mitch?]
Blaine, Chicago, Peter Marcia and
Henry Granger, both of Chicago,
named as agents of the ring, ate
sought.
Goldstein was arrested in Spring
field when he was issuing a lice re
to Barron, Roche said. Following a
telephone conversation with Gold
stein, heard by investigators, Bar
ron went to Springfield in custody
of a detective and paid $1,000 to
Goldstein for the license, authori
ties declared.
When arrested, according to Roc e
Goldstein said: "Well, you got me.
But remember I didn't get all of the
$1,000 that came to Springfield."
ficials.
Paul’* Unpublished
Letter Found Lately
N. C. Christian Advocate.
The Pentecostal Herald has credit
for this discovery. Here is the let
ter:
“Dear Sir and Brother: Doubtless
you will recall the invitation you
extended to me to come over into
Macedonia and help the people
of that section. You will pardon me
for saying that I am somewhat sur
prised that you should expect a
man of my standing in the church
seriously to consider a call on such
mevger Information.
"There are a number of things I
should like to learn before giving
my decision and I would appreciate
your dropping me a line, address me
at Troas.
"First of all, T should like to know
if Macedonia is a circuit or a sta
tion. This is important, as. I have
been told that once a man begins on
a circuit it is well nigh impossible to
secure employment in station work.
If Macedonia embraces more than
one preaching place, I may as well
tell you frankly that I cannot think
of accepting the call.
"There is another item that was
overlooked in your brief and some
what sudden invitation. No men
tion was made of the salary I was
to receive. While it is true that I
am not preaching money, there are
certain things that need to be tak
en into account. I have been thru
a long and expensive course oi
training; in fact, I may state with
reasonable pride, that I am a San
hedrin man—the only one in the
ministry today.
“The day is past when you may
field without some idea of the sup
field without some idea of te sup
port he is to receive. I have worked
myself up to a good position in the
Asiatic field and to take a drop and
lose my grade would be serious. Nor
could I afford to swap 'dollar for
dollar’ as the saying is among us
apostles.
“Kindly get the good Macedonian
brethren together and see what you
can do in the way of support. You
have told me nothing about Mace
donia beyond the implication that
the place needs help. What are so
cial advantages? Is the church well
organized?
“I recently had a fine offer to re
turn to Damascus at an increase of
salary, and am told that I made a
very favorable impression on the
church at Jerusalem. If it will help
me with the board at Macedonia,
you might mention these facts, and
also some of the brethren in Judea
have beep heard to say that if I
kept on in a few years I might have
anything in the gift of the church.
For recommendations write to the
Rev. Simon Peter, D. D., at Jerusa
lem. I will say that I am a first
class mixer and especially strong on
argumentive preaching' If I accept
the call, I must stipulate for two
months’ vacation and the privilege
of taking an occasional lecture
tour.
"My lecture on “Over the Wall in
a Basket’ is worth two drachma of
any man’s money.
Sincerely yours,
Paul." -
Premier to Visit President Hoover
Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald, right, Britain’s Labor
Pren'-r, lacks only a cordial invitation from President Herbert
Hoover, below, to bring him sailing over the sea to exchange
ideas on reduction of naval armaments, according to a Londom
daily, MacDonald would like to have Mackenzie King, left,
Premier of Canada, with him at the meeting.
(InternatlOB&l Newsreel)
North Carolinians Buy More
Cars; Cash Payments Better
Sales For First Half Of Year Third
More Than Same Period
Of 1928.
Raleigh—Approximately one-third
more automobiles have been sold In
North Carolina so far this year than
were sold for the same period last
year, while 42 per cent of tho.,e
sold this year were paid for in
cash at time of purchase, while only
28 per cent of those sold last year
were paid for when purchased, ac
cording to the report of Sprague
Silver, director of the motor vehicle
bureau.
Moreover, Mr. Silver reports that
the down payment on the cars
bought this year are iarger and the
deferred payments smaller than
during last year, probably due in
part to the lower price of the cars
and the increased number of low
priced cars purchased.
During the first five months of
this year automobile sales as repre
sented by the licenses purchased
3, 373 trucks, as compared with
16.881 automobiles and 1,611 pur
chased during the same period last
year.
Work is to be started soon on
state's prison for making auto
mobile license tags for the state
by the last general assembly.
Hollywood.—In a small studio on !
Sunset Blvd. a lad named Jimmy j
Cruze is getting set for big doings.
Jimmy has his own flick outfit
and it looks the T. N. T. Next week
sees him begin grinding "The Great
Garbo,’’ with Erich Von Stroheim
the big shot. Von is pepped over the
part. When it was read to him he
commented, simply: “That’s Von
Stroheim.”
So he returns to the grease paint.
It wouldn’t be surprising if he re
turned to direction under the Cruze
banner, or in collaboration with an
other megaphoner. That may listen
absurd, particularly in view of
“Queen Kelly,” his current $750,000
effort being on the Pathe shelf. But
it isn't.
I U offer two to one odds as high
as a five dollar bet that Charlie
Chaplin becomes affiliated with the
independent Cruze group. Charlie
was enthusiastic over the role Von
Stroheim is going to play in “The
Great Garbo.” And not only because
he was offered a million dollars to
portray it. He turned it down for
two reasons. His own offering,
“City Lights,” will be all silent. It
will not be released before Cruzes
cinema. It will approximate an ex
penditure of five hundred thousand
dollars. If he had made a talky it
might have jeopardized his comedy
and its financial investment. Fur
thermore, by the time he paid his
income tax on a million dollar sal
ary he'd have enough left—with a
bit of luck—to purchase an tee
cream soda at bargain rates.
Chaplin has been heard to say h'
Is disinterested in the prospective
merging of United Artists with
Warner Bros. That when this
transpires he will consider himself
a free agent. What more logical
man to “independenize” with Jimmy
Cruze?
Cruze, in his way, is a lone wolf.
He works best when he isn’t inter
fered with. Months ago he headed
his cwn outfit. It failed because of
an involved mechanism known as
organization. Cruze benefited by
what he learned. His present outfit
is a throwback to the early spirit
of motion pictures: Enthusiasm and
team work.
. He has selected a happy time to
launch his new company. With the
other organizations immersed in
mergers and “big business,” Cruze
is concentrating on actual produc
tion, It is generally admitted in the
colony that the only studio with an
outstanding program of sterling pic
tures is M, G. M. Take a look:
'Broadway Melody,” “The Trial of
Mary Dugan,” "Madame X,” et
cetera. Quality, not quantity. The
celluloid industry is top heavy with
mergers. Cruze and others like him
camp on firmer ground. Same gad
get as the gold rushes of old.
THAT AND THIS: Marion Da
vies has had a sound projection
equipment installed in the library
of her Santa Monica Beach home
.... Dids’t know that Lane Chan
dler used to pump gas at a station
near the United Artists studio?
This should be a spot for wit . , . .
Years ago Raymond Hackett, Mary
Miles Minter, Helen Chandler and
I.ila Lee were classmates In New
York’s professional childrens school
... Ben Lyon has checked in some
350 hours of actual flying . . . And
—that all.
Coker’s Red Heart.
From The Monroe Journal.
“Tom Broom certainly did Union
county a lot of good last fall when
he got 100 bushels of Coker's Red
Heart wheat for seed," said Squire
Braswell Saturday. “Broom could
only get 100 bushels and it has pro
duced the best I have ever seen.
Mast, of the crop will be used for
seed. It is the heaviest, wheat I ever
sad. If the entire wheat crop in
the county had been sown in Red
Heart I don’t know howr much we
would have made. Come and look
at the shocks in the field ’*
Re-Stating A Fact.
From Greensboro Record.
In fairness to the American Fed
eration of Labor is should be stress
ed that it is not involved in the
strike at Gastonia, and the law
lessness which has resulted. The
workers of the Loray mills on strike
members of the National Textile
Workers Union, a Communist or
ganization with which the A. F. of
L, no connection
Gallows “Ghost”
Helps Killers On
Trial In Kentucky
Jury- Duty I* Sldrsloppod By Folks
Of "llauntrd" County—In
noppnt Man llangrd.
Harrison county citizens again
hair sidestepped serving on a jury
which might, have brought in a
death sentence in a murder case,
relates a Cynthinna. Ky. dispatch
to the New York World, That spirit
of unwillingness tor such duty was
instilled in these citizens forefath
ers more than seventy years ago
when an innocent man was hanged
and his ghost walked hereabouts
for years afterward, according to
the story.
The trial of Homer Reeves has
just ended after every man In Har
rison county whose name was in the
jury box had either disqualified
himself for trial service or had been
turned down by counsel for defence
or prosecution. Nichols county was
called on for a jury which promptly
found Reeves guilty of manslaugh
ter. Instead of murder of which lie
was accused, and gave him seven
teen years in prison. So pleased was
Reeves's defense that his chief at
torney today'said it was not likely
that a rehearing would be asked.
Reeves killed Ford Lyons in a
fight last election day. religious dif
ferences playing a part, although
the difficulty had nothing to do with
the Smith and Hoover campaign
Reeves was placed under bond, but
two weeks ago today left a suicide
note in Cincinnati and his bonds
men, being skeptical, offered $).
000 reward for him dead or alive
Reeves was captured in Platt City.
Mo., and denied knowledge of the
suicide note. His defense elalmed
hereditary Insanity, but this did
not avail him with Nichols county
jury.
Only one death sentence lias been
given in Harrison county since 1847,
that being two years ago when Clar
ence McQueen, a negro who killed
another negro, was electrocuted. He
had expected acquittal or at most
a prison sentence, knowing the tra
dition that a Harrison county jury
would- not return a death verdict.
It was In 1847 that Harrison
countyans made their "big mis
take" David Sheely lived with his
youthful wife near a line fishing
stream. Sheely neglected his work
to fish, and Mrs. Sheely objected,
but they were never known to have
a serious quarrel. One night. Sheely
had a convivial party of guests and
led them all to his home, awaken
ed Mrs. Sheely and requested her
to prepare breakfast. This she re
Expect Arrest Soon
Investigation into the mys
terious killing of Walter Hunt
ington, young Harvard junior,
who was found slain near his
home at Windsor, Conn., is
bringing to light a series of
parties which are claimed to
involve the flapper wife of a
wealthy man known to the au
thorities whose name has not
been revealed. Two possible
motives are advanced, one of
blackmailing and the other of
a “thrill" slayer. Clarke Hunt
ington, brother of the slain
student, is shown above.
(International Nawaraal)
fused to do mid the members of
the party lay on the ground about
the house to sleep.
Sheely went. Into the bedroom oc
tors awoke, Mrs. Sheely had bee 1
murdered. Her husband was dazed
but said he had not killed her. How
ever, he was convicted and hanged.
His ghost soon began to haunt the
country-side, according to stories by
oldtimers.
11 the early eighties a man was
taken 111 in a remote county of Ken
tucky. He called aid and confessed
that he had killed Mrs. Sheely. He
said he had been angered by the
woman's refusal to cook for the
fishing party of which he was n
member.
Doctors in governmental service
have again against germs that
collect on paper money. That ought
to be some consolation to the fel
low who Is broke.
Novel War To Morder.
Baltimore Sun.
News concerning the arrest of
Fred Erwin Beal, organizer for the
International Textile Workers’
Union, in connection with the shoot
ings at Gastonia is fragmentary. All
of the evidence against Beal may
not have been reported. The exact
circumstances and nature of his
allegedly incendiary speech may
remain undisclosed. However, two
things are stated plainly.
One is: “Beal, the police say,
made a speech urging the textile
strikers ‘to do something if they
rxpected to win' and this, It is held,
started the trouble that led to the
shooting.”
The other Is: That Beal has been
arrested "and accused of the death
of O. J. Aderholt, chief of police of
Gastonia.”
Going on these facta alone the
charge against Beal is manifestly
absurd. The quotation we gave
from the news story Indicates (“the
police say") that the strongest
phrase the police themselves could
find in his harangue, the only one
} which they themselvei can select to
construe as an Incitement to “direct
action,” is: “Do something If you
expect to win this strike.” It Is
hard to find in that any command
to commit violence, any argument
for shooting and exhortation 1 to
murder. We cannot, even imagine
that- in nny context, provided that
text be no stronger, if could be a
subtle and persuasive appeal to an
audience to kill policemen. “Do
something” is one of the most com
nmn and vaguest phrases In the
language. It falls from millions of
tongues commenting on millions of
matters daily. And how It can be
twisted into the basis for a murder
charge Is a question which would,
we believe, baffle the finest hair
splitter tn law or logic.
It. Is not. reasonable to suppose
that any labor leader would think a
strike can be won by shooting at a
few policemen To suppose It was
that Beal had In mind is to suppose
that, he is a mad man. On the other
hand, to accuse him because some
one may possibly have brooded ovar
the phrase and concluded that
shooting was necessary Is like ar
resting a man who says, “I hear
the hot spell will continue” because
the man to whom it was said took
it- to heart and shot the meterolo
gist. There may be more against
Beal than appears. But if there Is
not, the action of the police must be
viewed as the nonsensical result of
hysteria If not as a deliberate In
justice.
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