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Ancient Town on Sea of Galilee Victim of Flood Denuded Hills Blamed for Great Disaster. Washington. ? The recent flood which drowned twenty persons and caused heavy property loss Jn Tiberias, an cient Biblical town on the Sea of Gali lee. might be traced In final analyls to black goats, careless woodsmen, and the World war, according to a bulletin from the National Geographic society. "Crouched beside the placid lake at the foot of flower-carpeted hills, Ti berias seems pleasantly and safely sit uated," say# the bulletin. "But the flowers spring from small crevices that hold the only soil on many of the rocky, treeless slopes, and for that reason have a sinister significance. "The hills of Palestine were once covered with luxuriant forests, but have been largely denuded by reck less cutting, and by herds of free-rang iHg black goats nibbling the young shoots of bushes and shrubs. The Turks and their allies during the World war completed the destruction by felling large olive groves, leaving the uplands stony and barren. They now afford scant pasturage for sheep and no break lor the torrential rains that rush In veritable walls of water down the worn slopes to the sea. Officials of modern Palestine, seeking to restore the uplands, have carried truck load after truck load of soil to the hilltops, and In the newly made ground have planted young trees. Town Has Double Beauty. "Mirrored In the blue-green Sea of Galilee, the town of .Tiberias has a double beauty. The flat roofs of Its square, shutter houses are pearl gray, blue-plastored, or covered with grass like miniature fields. Palm trees sway beside the slender minarets and white domes of the mosque. Partially enclosing the town and lapped by lake water, are the somber black basalt medieval fortifications erected by the Crusaders, and now in ruins. "Tiberias was built In Graeco-Ro man style by the Jndean prince, Herod Antipas, who put John the Bap tist to death. It was once a splendid metropolis, boasting a palace and even a race course. Among the cheering spectators at the chariot races was probably Salome, whom some his torians hold to be the daughter of Herod Antipas. "After the fall of Jerusalem, Tibe rias became the chief center of culture for the Jewish nation and the home of many rabbis. Later, occupied In turn by Arabs, Crusaders who fortified it, and a series of Inhabitants who neg lected It, Tiberias degenerated Into such squalor that It became notorious for swarms of fleas. Arabs gave It a nickname meaning 'Home of the King of the Fleas.' ?^Present day Tiberias Is decidedly on the upgrade. Of Its slightly less than 9,000 Inhabitants, a few are Mo bammedans and Christians; most are Jews In all stages of culture from ragged fishermen to wealthy Zionist immigrants from Germany, Russia, and Poland. Outside the ruined walls of old Tiberias, a new Tiberias of modern villas is spreading along the road to Nazareth, and climbing from the lake up the slopes to the northwest. City Is Modernized. k "Like most eastern cities, Tiberias has succumbed to modernization. It has an electric power house, Scottish mission hospital, bank, hotel, telephone and telegraph service. Women In red and yellow draperies still throng through oval doors In the sea wall to bathe, wash food or clothes, and draw drinking water from the lake. But they carry the water home in kerosene tins Instead of earthen pitchers; and into each receptacle a health official pours a few drops of an antiseptic. "On the fine white military road leading from Tiberias to Jerusalem, loose-robed townsfolks on foot, Be douins on tasseled horses, and laden camels and donkeys all make way for automobiles. As they speed past, one catches glimpses of bearded Jewish Peacocks Predict Changes in Weather Milwaukee. ? Peacocks at the Washington Park zoo have proven to be reliable weather prophets. On dry days the birds seldom utter a sound, but as humidity Increases and rain Is in the offing, they start to cry. As a storm becomes more Imminent the cries become louder and more frequent. Usually by the time the storm breaks, the peacock section Is a virtual bedlam. patriarchs, English officers In pith helmets, and Arabs with white cloth headgear blowing in the wind. Over head an airplane (lashes sliver In the sun. "Despite the ubiquitous kerosene tins, Tiberias retains the placid charm and picturesque appearance of Bib lical times. "Scene of the 'miraculous draught of fishes,' the Sea of Galilee still teems with fish. Among Its queer denizens Is a so-called catfish which can live for several days out of water. "Legend thrives In Tiberias. One says that 'when the Messiah comes, he will rise from the waters of the Sea of Galilee, gathpr together his people at Tiberias, and proceed with tfiem to Safed, under snow-capped Mount Iler mon.' " Making It Unpleasant for Criminals Joining t lit? nation-wide drive on crime that is led by the federal hepart munt of Justice, the New York police rounded up scores of known criminals and suspects. Some of them ore here seen behind the bars waiting to be questioned. Will Hatch Snake Eggs in His Own Room Curator Plans to Sleep With Python Eggs. New York. ? Plenty of people have seen snakes at the foot of their beds here since repeal and have quailed at the vision, but llenry Tressllch la look ing forward to the day when he will see 5 baby pythons squirming about his room. Tressllch, a professional curator, Is the possessor of Bertha a 20-foot con strictor, weighing 320 pounds, and Ita LADY IN UPPER SIX This in not n scene from a motion picture but ft view of the new style upper berth In the sleeping curs with which the Union I'ftelflc streamline train Is equipped. Folding stairways take you to the upper, and a little platform provides room enough to stand up while dressing. A sibling aluminum panel completely encloses the berth,' mnklng It In fact a small compartment. All berths, both upper and lower, are pfovtflefl with indl vlduaU washstands. The new style sleeping car Is one of the Innovations being shown at A Century of Progress* in Chicago as part of the l-'nlon Pa cific's streamline trsln. Jnli, her snake-law husband of 340 pounds. The couple are looking for ward to a "blessed event." FIfty-fWe reptile eggs, laid In this city are theirs. The eggs, hard-shelled and shaped like a bird's first muffins, were laid by llertha upon her arrival with Itajah and 23 other pythons from India. They were consigned to Tressllch, who Imports snakes for charmers, zoos and circuses throughout the country. P.ecause of the extreme sensitiveness of reptile eggs to anything except trop ic climate, Tressllch has arranged for their care In his sleeping quarters dur ing the hatching period, which will take several months. He does not drink Intoxicants, so, of course, when he sees the bnby. snakes, It will be clear to him that they are real and not a version of an Imbiber's too well known "d.t.'s." If all !hr> hatch and live, Tressllch stands to make $1(1, rHH) profit. The pythons tiring an average of $300 apiece in the present snake market, on which he will have a corner. All 2f> reptiles, which arrived, bad been sold. ^ Rertha and Itajah and their eggs, however, temporarily have been with held from the market as subjects for zoological study. The eggs are the first which have been laid In this coun try. Also their laying was the flrst on record as being witnessed by white ma n. Natives of India, where the python Is most prevalent, have seen their birth on various occasions. Principal ly the natives confine themselves to beating back pythons from their vil lages Into the Jungles. The python has not a poisonous bite. It Is of the constrictor type and has been known to swallow a whole cow after crushing Its bones with the tre mendous power of Its colls. Hmaller animals and fowl It swallows alive. Plane to Spread Poiaon to Kill Sudan Locusto London. ? After two years of labora tory Investigations and flehl trials, II. II. King, formerly chief entomologist of the Hutlan government, has salted for Northern Rhodesia with a special alrplnne designed to discharge clotlds of poison dust for the destruction of swarms of locusts. The poison to be used In finely ground sodium arsenlte. King Is tak ing three tons, which have been spe cially ground by a Itrltish chemical company. It has been established that the dust Is fatal to the locusts ami yet harmless to vegetation, animals, and human beings. The Ilojfal Aircraft establishment, after unsuccessful attempts to utilize the ordinary bombing plane, dually de signed nh apparatus for discharging the dust from the wings of a plane in such n way that the aviator does not have to breathe It. Artist Given Highest of Soviet Decorations Moscow. ? A Soviet artist who once ' was under Are for lack of revolution ary spirit ? I. I. Brodsky ? has Just been awarded the "Order of Lenin," highest of Soviet decorations. Brodsky follows the realistic school of painting nnd, by consequence, has often been accused by revolutionary artists of "passive reflection" nml "photographic naturalism." Hut ap parently these criticisms had no ef fect on the all-union central executive committee, who conferred the decora tion. The artists has painted a number of well-known pictures, among them: "Session of the Second Congress of Komlntern," "Session of the Revolu tionary Military Council," and "Shoot ing of Twenty-six Commissars." lie nlso has executed portraits of Stalin, Voroshilov, and other high ofitclals. Philadelphia Citizens Like Rattlesnake Meat Philadelphia.? The City of Brotherly Love Is growing fond of rattlesnake meat. A local food sfbre reports "demand far exceeding the supply" for canned rattler steaks. "The public reaction hns been very favorable to the food," a store inan nger said. "We have had a high per ceniage of repeat orders, together with new customers for the food every day." Iteportedly a common food In sonn parts of the West, rattlesnake ment In new In this section. Its use as food however, dates back to the early Chl? nese. Bulldog Mourns Loss of His Friendly Paw Tazewell, Va. ? (I. W. Boyd had a large bulldog of friendly deposition which is grieving because Its front lej with which ho always shook hand* with strangers was out off hy a car Now when the dog meets friends, hq sits down and looks solemnly at th# place where there once was s frlendlj paw. BRISBANE THIS WEEK Eagles, Oepreys, Crows Morgan's Corsair Sails What Is Wrong? Three Better Things In Alberta's huge Jasper park, Fred Brewster, a Rocky mountain guide, watches eagles and ospreys, also called "fish hawks," sitting on the high limbs of a tree, eagles at the top, ospreys below, and still lower down plain crows, all watching the lake. An osprey drops, brings up a ttsh. Two eagles pursue, the frightened osprey drops the fish. The eagles try to catch It, usually fall. The crows, flying close to the surface, In a body, never fall, slways get the falling fish and enjoy 1L There you have our civilization upside down. With us, those nearest the ground get the least, those next above get a little more, and those at the very top get practically every thing. J. Plerpont Morgan of Broad and Wall stroets ordered his big yncht, Corsair, to his front door on East Island, and will cross for a short vaca tion In England. Once such a trip might have aroused envy, but no more. The traveling salesman, the "lady buyer" for a de partment 6tore, almost anybody, may cross on a bigger, faster, finer boat than the Corsair at a very reasonable price. The wise socialism Is that which gives to the big crowd bigger and better ships, parks and hotels than any Individual, no matter how rich, could afford for himself. Also, among Americans of the right kind, a man and woman take pride In improving their own little house or boat, wasting no time In foolish envy of others. There Is no real happiness of possession, except In what we earn. What Is the matter with this coun try, swindled by assorted gangs of politicians, robbed by Innumerable gangs of grafters, racketeers, high waymen, degraded by Indecent moving pictures and other entertainments, the public peace and faint signs of re turning prosperity Imperiled by strike troubles and violence? Una the United States become a sort of "western China," unable to take care of Itself? In what direc tion Is it headed? President Roosevelt, warmly wel comed by marching, singing and prais ing citizens in Porto IUco and the Vir gin Islands, hoped to make the New Deal reach every corner of the United States, saying: "I believe In better homes, belter living conditions, and a better chance to earn a living." Everybody believes in those things, and since the beginning of history, und long before, has been trying to get them. The questions Is how to provide those things permanently. The widespread attack on disgrace fully lmmortil moving pictures has compelled those that trade In Inde cency to take their minds off the box office for u moment and consider a serious danger. The crusade ngainst lndec?licy, led by the Catholic church and directed by the Archbishop of Baltimore, who began the crusade, has been Joined by Jewish synagogues and rabbis, and now many I'rotestant bodies have decided to take part. Rudolph Hess, representing Hitler, nnd speaking as "a soldier of the front," suddenly changed, in his broad cast, from (lerntan to French, and ap pealed to the old enemy across the line not to make necessary the build Ing of new trenches, urging Unit trench life Is not pleasant. Herr Hess might have added to his speech : "While our German troops never reached Paris in all the four years of the last war, remember that CSermnn airplanes wo ild reach there In the first two or three hoars of the next wiir and a few hours later not one of the great monuments of I'nris would he left standing; not Notre Dame, the Madeleine or the beautiful Salnie Chapelle." Bombarding airmen will not spare numntncnts dearest to the enamy. Everything would run smoothly If all the United States representatives and senators felt as O. Bryant of West Virginia feels. A candidate for con gress, his platform rends: "I am behind President Roosevelt all the way. I'll Jump off the top of the Washington monument If he wants me to." A solid house and senate like that would mnke Fascism unnecessary. Congratulate Mussolini. "Dressed In hoots, old trousers nnd a blue sweat *r," he helped Italian workers to bar vest crops on the Pontine marshes, rhnnged by him from fever-breeding swamps Into fertile, dry ground. Mussolini nnd modern mnchlnery did It, whore former rulers had tried and failed. "Sleeping enr alrplnnes" are now a reality. They have been foretold In this column and elsewhere for years. Foolish plans are proposed and fool ish things are done, but real progress continues. ?. Ktn* Fonturon Syn<11n?t?. Inn. WNU Strvlo*. National Topics Interpreted by William Bruckaft Washington. ? Instead of July prov ing to be a month of doldrums, which ~ , Is so often the case Campaign in the National Cap Issue* Drawn ltal> 11 has turned out to be one of the busiest, politically, In recent years. A result of It is that, fully six weeks earlier than usually, the campaign Is sues for the fall elections are drawn squarely on President Roosevelt and the New Deal. With the Initial blasts already In the record, It Is quite ap parent that the campaign will be pred icated on the claim of the Republicans that the New Deal has not been what it was cracked up to be. and a defense by the Democratic spokesmen that we are all bettor off because of it. But there Is a third element to be considered In the coming campaign. It Is the personality, Influence and ora tory of Senator Borah of Idaho. His Budden decision to do battle as a "lone wolf" has injected an Issue In Itself, and my Information Is that the Idaho senator's participation in the campaign Is not to be nmilmized. He has a great following; he Is nn orator than which the country has produced few who are greater, and tie has a finality about his decisions and methods of express ing them that Is pretty hard to beat down. President Roosevelt put his case be fore the people before he went on his vacation In his usually simple and di rect style. No one deprecates his abil ity tw do that, and I think, generally speaking, Washington observers are agreed that his proudest effort was made when he spoke to his millions of radio listeners late In June. I hnve heard much praise for the President as a result of his direct question to those millions: "Are you better off than you were a year ago?" IOvery one could understand It, and every one could analyze Ills own condition for himself. Of course, many of the Roose velt opposition are criticizing the speech for "saying nothing" and for other reasons, yet I believe unbiased observers are agreed that Mr. Roose velt opened the fall campaign of his party In a very clever manner from a political standpoint. Respecting the effort of Chairman Henry P. Fletcher of the Republican national committee, In his opening blast, there seems to be little disagree ment that he has taken a decidedly bold stand. If the Republicans are to get anywhere, It Is obvious that It must be through Mr. Fletcher's lead ership. When he went against the ad vice of some of bis timid advisers, therefore, and made the President and his New Deal policies the Issue, he displayed courage of a kind that Is regnrded around Washington as being a little unusual for a minority party chief. I am told that a good many Re publicans wanted to peck away at various Items of the New Deal and at various subordinates of the adminis tration to gain favor. Mr. Fletcher ap parently chose to fly straight Into the fight, marking Mr. Roosevelt as the adversary and holding him personally and directly responsible for whatever shortcomings can be unearthed as a result of a year and a hnlf of un pcecedented, breath-taking activity by the New Dealers. Mr. Fletcher's program will not be easy to execute. For example, Senator Rarkley of Kentucky, who was the keynote srpeaker at the convention which accorded Mr. Roosevelt the Democratic nomination, already has been on the air waves with an an gered answer. The Kentucky senator did not pull his punches, either. * ? ? II-ow the Roosevelt forces will com bat Senator Borah's argument Is not yet apparent. They Borah's have two dlfflc n 1 t Blast problems In connec tion with the Rorab attacks. In the first ease, the Idaho senator really disarmed the Democrats to a certain extent when. In bis Ini tial blast, ho turned one barrel on the Democrats and the other on the Re publicans. He did not mince words and the Democrats cannot sny with respect to Senator Rorab that bespoke In generalities. So In fighting back at him, tho Democrats are confronted, first, with his disclaimer that he Is fighting a Republican battle and, sec ondly, that ho avoided direct charges Nothing could he more direct than the charge that the New Dealers have built up a bureau racy In Washington that destroys Initiative nnd ents up taxes. The Republicans can get away with out paying any particular attention to the Borah bombardment. Whatever criticism he levels at the Roosevelt forces naturally redounds to Repub lican benefit, and when Senator Rorab ?ays tho Republicans are not fighting off monopoly, their natural answer Is that they are not In control of the government machinery which has done away with anti trust laws In favor of the code* and blue eagle. I understand that there Is n possi bility of Senator Nye of North Da kota Joining with Senator Rorab. Sen ?tor Nye, although a Republican, sup. ported the Roosevelt candidacy, it was the North Dakotan who conducted the fight against General Johnson and the recovery admlnlfttrntlon |n con gresa last winter because of what Senator Nye felt was discrimination ?gatnat the "Mttle fellow" and In favor of big hustneaa He made so mneb nolso about the situation that the Prefr^ ident eventually named the NRa board of review of which Clarence Darrow of Chicago was chairman, if Senator Nye tabes up the cudgel along with Senator Borah, therefore, his at tacks and criticism obviously will be directed at New Deal policies the way they worked out In NRA. With the Republican fire charging Mr. Roosevelt with full responsibility, it becomes plain (hat Senator Nye will be an other thorn In the administration's side despite any statements ho may make that he merely wants to correct some of the shortcomings. Notwithstanding what the two "lone woir senators have to say or what Mr. Fletcher and front-line Republican orators charge, the Roosevelt forcj are understood to be digging in behlrnT the President's question to his radio audience. ? ? ? A good many observers In Washing ton are Inclined to the opinion that President Roosevelt, i oo Much is beginning 1 7 Duplication "6,inke dow n " his various boards and commissions and agencies to which ho entrusted particular phases of the re co\ery program. The chances are. sav these observers, that Mr. Roosevelt has seen too much duplication and overlapping of effort and Is now en gaged, through trusted advisers in cor relating the efforts to the end that some of the numerous "alphabetical agencies" can be retired. The view above mentioned appar ently was given birth by the selection of Donald Richberg to serve as head of the so-called executive council for the next several months. Mr. Rich berg was given leave from his Job as general counsel for NRa in order to take oyer the new work In which he succeeds Frank C. Walker, it was an. nounced that Mr. Walker will have a merited vacation concurrently with he President's rest, and that Mr Klchberg would act as the eves and ears for the Chief Executive. . ?hSlt?Khere ,S m0re to th0 8it?ntion than those statements. The President is aware that there Is an undercurrent of differences among some of his art-* vlsers and such a condition, of course, tlmll v tMVC(l ,by ovcrlnPP'nR Of au nt v t> . ? te 0v,(,ent. therefore, o thJ i I.Uch,bcr* hnB assigned lh9 Job ?,f "ntangllng the skein rr,86!6?1 strInfira have hocotne knotted. And, further, it seems to me to be only natural that there would be such difllculUes where t)?? ntruo ture of government has expanded so rapidly. If one examines all of the facts as they stand, therefore, and has In mind how rapidly things have changed since Mr. Roosevelt took ofllce In March, 1033, It would appear that the time has come for the settling down proc ess. In some quarters In Washington, the feeling has prevailed that Mr. Roose velt went on the Hawaiian cruise In order to let administration affairs rather settle down of their own ae cord. ? ? * Although foreign trade experts are scattered throughout the government and are doing every Exports thing in their power Slump promote foreign . . trade, exports of American farm products continue to slump, and only recently hit the low- ' est point In twenty years. The Depart ment of Agriculture made public fig ures tho other day disclosing that ex ports of farm products In May aegre gnted exactly f>0 per cent of the aver age from 1009 to 10U. since' those years are regarded as normal and do not Include the peak years after tho end of the World war. May exports this j ear obviously were not much more than one-third of the record years. There Is always a decline in exports of farm products in the spring, but It seems to have been a lot worse this year than usual, the total being con siderably below May of li)33. Cotton apparently was the commodity for which there wns least demand, and when cotton exports fall orr the whole average drops because our cotton ex ports cut a big figure tn the total shipments abroad. Department of Agrl-^ culture figures show t t?n t there weril only 200,000 holes of cotton exporte<^ In May, whereas In May, 1033 the shipments of this commodity amounted to 028.000 bales. Japan, (Jrent Britain and Clermany, the three principal buy ers of American cotton, each took less In May this year thfiri In tl,?> sumo month of 1033. These conditions have happened de spite creation of the import Export bank, of which fJeorge N. I'eak Is chairman, and the designation of Francis B. Say re, assistant secretary of state, to give special attention to promotion of foreign trade. These two 4 assignments nre, of course, in addl- S tlon to the various agencies of the Depart mehts of Commerce nr>d Agri culture whose Job It Is to encourage foreign trade. Better than anything else, perhaps, the condition Illustrates the truth of the old Hdnge that you can lead n horse to water but you cannot make him drink. If there Is no demand for our farm products abroad, you cannot sell them, all of the theories of professors notwltlv standing. ? by WMt?rn Haw* [>?p?r Union