The Press: Pert Headlines

COOLIDGE SEEKS SENATE ORDER FOR ANOTHER WORLD CONFERENCE

This pert headline was published last week by the New York Times.

Had President Coolidge decided to try again for a naval disarmament parley similar to the unfruitful Geneva Conference initiated by him last year? He had not. But so thought many a reader who depends upon the Times to say what it means without levity.

The first paragraph under the inexcusable headline seemed a clear case of typographical transposition. It said:

"The private and professional lives of bugs, beetles, caterpillars and worms will be discussed by learned men of the world at Cornell University next year."

The next paragraph sprang the Times' joke: "President Coolidge today asked Congress for authority to invite . . . the International Congress of Entomologists. . . ."