THE WILD, WEST WIND

Inhabitants of Atlantic City and Ventor, New Jersey, apparently under-went a tremulous Tuesday. Window panes and dishes, were set so a-rattle that a real earthquake was confidently expected. Although the director of the Weather Bureau tried to lay the blame upon some "subterranean disturbance," easier explanations are ready to hand. It might have been premonitory deviltry of the witches who held high revel last night. But an even more obvious explanation is the report on the "highest authority" that Senator Hiram Johnson is to be a candidate for the Republican Nomination in 1924. Certainly if California is the center of the universe, or at least of North America, disturbances are as likely to come from there as from some remote and obscure spot in the Atlantic.

The actual disturbance is only the prelude to the pleasant motif. It is always comforting to feel that the senator from California is in a receptive mood as the presidential year rolls round. There comes therewith that sense of healthy normalcy which used to be felt in those days when the candidacy of Mr. Bryan was a hardy perennial.

Notwithstanding Senator Johnson's popularity in certain circles, his chance of securing the Republican Nomination appears a trifle doubtful. Unfortunately he does not manufacture vest-pocket automobiles or inexpensive tractors, and even if he is a farmer, not all voters are farmers. Likewise President Coolidge, whatever may be his faults, has a certain cool stability which California's orator lacks. In fact the latter's most stable characteristic through his long and varied career seems to have the joyous virulence with which he attacks his enemy of the moment. Since he will probably not be wafted into the White House on the wings of his oratory, to hear his manifestoes can remain an innocent pleasure --after the fashion of the "cup that cheers but not inebriates."