Evening star. [volume], June 22, 1935, Page A-8, Image 8

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
THE EVENING STAR
With Sunday Morning Edition. (
WASHINGTON. D. C.
SATURDAY.Jane It, 1935
THEODORE W. NOYES.Editor
The Evening Star Newspaper Company.
Business Office:
11th Bt. and Pennsylvania Ave.
New Ycrx Office: liO East 42nd8t.
Chicago Office: Lake Michigan Building
European Office: 14 Regent St.. London. England
~ Rate by Carrier Within the City.
Regular Edition.
The Evening Star . . . . 48e per month
The Evening and Sunday Star
(when 4 Sundays) 00c per month
The Evening and Sunday Star
(when 5 Sundays). 66c per month
The Sunday Star .. 6c per copy
Night Final Edition.
Night Final and 8unday Star . 70e per month
Night Final Star . . 65c per month
Collection made at the end of each month.
Orders may be sent by mall or telephone Na
tional 6000.
Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance.
Maryland and Virginia.
Dally and Sunday. 1 yr.. S10.00: 1 mo.. 85e
Daily only .1 yr.. $6.00: 1 mo.. 60c
Sunday only .X yr.. $4.00; X mo.. 40c
All Other State* and Canada.
Dally and Sunday 1 yr.. $12.00; 1 mo.. $1.00
Daily only ...... 1 yr.. $8.00; 1 mo.. 76c
Sunday only.1 yr.. $5.00; X mo.. 60c
Member of -the Associated Press.
The Associated Press Is exclusively entitled to
the use for republlcatlon of all news d'spatehes
credited to It or not otherwise credited In this
paper and also the local news published herein.
All rights of publication of special dispatches
herein are also reserved. _
A Campaign Issue?
Is President Roosevelt’s new tax pro
gram, designed to decentralize wealth,
to become a major issue in the national
campaign of 1936? Is it Intended to be
such an issue? Judging from the ex
pression of opinion on the part of
administration leaders on Capitol Hill,
there is to be no action on his tax pro
posals at the present session of Con
gress, although twenty-two Senators,
Democrats, Republicans and Progres
sives have signed a “round robin"
expressing the belief that the mat
ter should be disposed of before
the session is adjourned. That is,
there is to be no action unless
the President "cracks down” and
places his tax-reform program in the
“must” list of legislation before an ad
journment is taken. In any event, if the
President sticks to his guns in this
matter, the program may take a promi
nent place in the coming campaign. It
may be that the program in part will
have been enacted into law by a year
from now, or that it will be merely pro
jected. At all events, the people will
have a chance to vote upon it.
Many of the Democrats, particularly
the New Dealers, regard the President s
tax message as a great state document.
They believe that it will be an asset,
too, from a political point of view. The
decentralization of wealth is coming to
the fore as an issue, those who sym
pathize with the President’s suggested
plan are now declaring. The implica
tions in the President’s message to Con
gress are far reaching. It had the ring
of a campaign document. His warning
that social unrest in this country was
increased because of great concentration
of wealth in the hands of a few; his
declaration that such a condition is
un-American and that something must j
be done about it, sound very much like
texts for a real campaign at the polls.
The proposal of the President has all
the signs of a crusade to “share the
wealth.” Yet the President remains in
a position to go forward along a major
front or to content himself with the
enactment of an inheritance tax and
Increases in corporation and income
taxes on a comparatively moderate
scale. The reaction of the public toward
the proposal may have a powerful Influ
ence. As though afraid that the new
fatT plan may have a bad effect on busi
ness at this time, some of the Presi
dent’s supporters are endeavoring to
make it appear that what he now recom
mends is not at all revolutionary, but
is in line with a sound policy that has
been in vogue for some time to levy
taxes on those best able to pay them.
While the President said in his mes
sage that the purpose of levying taxes
was to raise revenue to enable the
Government to meet its expenditures,
he clearly implied that the program he
suggested is for reform and is Intended
to break down a condition of central
ized wealth and economic power in this
country.
The program outlined by the Presi
dent is not one that can or should be
rushed through Congress without care
ful consideration. The President, it is
now said, has been giving the matter
consideration for a long time—indeed,
that this tax program is regarded as one
of the main features of the New Deal
and has merely been awaiting an
opportune time for proposal. It Is not
strange that Democratic leaders in Con
gress should desire to let the matter
simmer for a time, before actually writ
ing the plan into law. Tax legislation
on the eve of a political campaign is
usually avoided by the politicians if
possible. Some of them are doubtful
now of the advisability of stirring up
the matter. They fear that it may have
a bad reaction on business. What hurts
business hurts the workers. And the
workers are a power at the polls.
*■ The Life of the League
After a somewhat Arctic welcome in
Paris, Capt. Anthony Eden, newly
created minister for League of Nations
affairs in the Baldwin government, 1s
proceeding to Rome for consultation
with Premier Mussolini on a variety of
burning topics. If Britain’s roving diplo
mat found the French atmosphere chilly
because of the Anglo-German naval deal,
which has driven the last nail in the
coffin of the Versailles treaty, he is not
likely to encounter much wanner politi
cal weather on the Tiber, for the Italians
have a grudge against Great Britain,
too. It concerns Abyssinia and Is based
on Rome's suspicion that the British
are encouraging the Ethiopians to main
tain a stiff resistance to Italian pressure
and may even have some secret under
standing to help Emperor Haile Selassie.
Capt. Eden himself in the House of
Commons recently pilloried Italian
charges of British intrigue in Abyssinia
/
%
u "mischievous” and "ludicrous."
Doubtless be will present evidence in
Rome designed to convince the Fascists
that their alarms and innuendoes are
groundless. A far tougher task will
confront him with respect to Italy and
the League of Nations. Abyssinia this
week again appealed to Geneva for pro
tection against Italian aggression as
manifested by Rome's unabashed prepa
rations for war. Haile Selassie cate
gorically invokes article ten of the Cove
nant, pledging League members to re
spect the territorial integrity of other
members. Abyssinia also proposes that
the League dispatch its own observers
to the disputed area to ascertain the
justification or otherwise for Italian
claims. Mussolini has lost no time in
letting it be known that Italy would
unhesitatingly quit the League if it
interferes in her controversy with the
Ethiopians.
Thus Capt. Eden has a dual task be
fore him, and one calculated to test
his negotiatory talents to the full. He
has first to purge the Italian mind of
the belief that Britain is blocking
Mussolini's path in Africa. Then he
must labor with H Duce to recognize
the League’s status as a peace-preserv
ing organization of which both Italy
and Abyssinia are full-fledged members
of equal standing. If the League is to
save any of the face it has left, it must
insist upon a square deal for Abyssinia
within the terms of the Covenant. If
Italy remains adamant in denying
Geneva’s Jurisdiction in the Ethiopian
quarrel and eventually follows Japan
and Germany out of the League, that
body’s existence will once again be
gravely threatened.
The British minister for League affairs
very obviously has his work cut out for
him in Rome. Somebody and some
thing are going to have to give way.
An Orderly Tax Study
The agreement reached between the
Commissioners and the Senate District
Committee to lay aside all local tax
measures for this session and to make
a study of the local tax problem during
the coming Summer is wise for more
than one reason. If all the local tax
measures discussed and proposed were
rushed through Congress at this time,
confusion as well as hurtful Inequity to
the District would result. There is the
additional consideration that while new
revenue measures are suggested to meet
the needs of pending social security
measures, the needs are still a matter
of conjecture and are largely based on
rather loose estimates.
But Commissioner Hazen sums up the
advantages of the proposed tax study
this 8ummer—in preparation for legis
lative consideration next year—in a few
words when he suggests that it cover
“a broad view of the entire fiscal picture
In all Its ramifications.” This broad
view extends beyond the matter of
what new local taxes might be adopted.
It embraces the existing adequacy of
the current tax burden, as measured by
fair and acceptable comparisons with
the tax burdens of other municipalities;
it embraces the obligations of the nation
al exclusively controlling Government
as well as the obligations of the local
tax-paying community. And as Senator
Copeland suggests, it should cover not
only the subject of- new local taxation,
but of the present standard of local
assessment, which adds a unique factor,
not always considered and often
erroneously interpreted, when Washing
ton’s tax burden is compared with the
tax burden of other cities.
The Commissioners’ proposed tax
study this Summer should and easily
may be made the occasion for the
preparation of a complete outline and
discussion of the serious fiscal problems
confronting the District as the result
of continued arbitrary reductions of the
lump sum. These problems Include not
merely the new tasks of adequately
financing extraordinary forms of gov
ernmental assistance to the aged, the
blind and the unemployed, but of prop
erly maintaining and developing the
normal functions of government in edu
cation, health, police and fire protection
and that form of public welfare repre
sented In the provision of suitable
recreational facilities. Senator King’s
designation of Senators Capper and
McCarran as a subcommittee to work
with the Commissioners assures the
local community a fair and sympathetic
hearing.
A knowledge of human nature keeps
people away from any Idea resembling
the dole before there Is a chance of
their beginning to like it.
Week end holiday is denied statesmen.
A great deal of golf has to be neglected
in times like these.
Berlin has a large building program,
but it contemplates more hospitals and
hangars than happy homes.
“Hidden Bars.”
Washington’s “hidden bars” is the
device adopted by the Commissioners,
who were specifically cautioned by the
President at 'Ihe time of the signing
of the local liquor control act, to pre
vent the return of the saloon. That
is the reason the Commissioners have
been opposed to the provisions of the
Dirksen bll, passed by the House and
favorably reported by the Senate District
Committee, which would remove the reg
ulations represented in the hidden bars.
And it should be manifest that if there
are certain evils attributed to the hidden
bars, there are others even more strongly
associated with the saloon. It is a
question whether the removal of one
evil should be brought about by substi
tution of another.
The theory of the “bidden bar” is
not based on the sentiment that any
harm results directly from a customer*
witnessing the mixing of his drink. But
“on sale” licenses in the District are
issued only to bona fide restaurants,
hotels and clubs. The chief business
of the establishment serving drinks
i
must be the preparation and serving of
food. The Commissioners have feared
that removal of the hidden bar regu
lations will place the emphasis on the
serving of drinks. So the task faced
by the legislators should not rest with
removal of the hidden bars, but should
Include some equally practical device
for preventing the return of the saloon.
It Is unfortunate that the Dirksen Mil
does not go that far.
New Board Members.
The appointment of Robert A. Maurer
to the Board of Education brings him
back to the District’s public school sys
tem in a position where his talents as
an educator and his fine character as
a citizen will be of real service to the
community.
Since he came here as a young man
Mr. Maurer’s work has brought him into
constant and close association with the
educational activities of his adopted
city. He taught at Central High School,
served for a time there as acting princi
pal and as principal, later becoming
professor of public law at Georgetown
University Law School, the position
which he holds now. His writing on
legal subjects, together with his work
as secretary of a commission composed
of members of the bench and bar which
studied and later made effective a num
ber of Improvements in the system and
processes at the District Supreme Court
have brought him unusual distinction.
Mr. Gaskins, selected to succeed Dean
Charles H. Houston for his unexpired
term, comes to the board with an out
standing reputation as a lawyer and is
a product of the local schools, being
a graduate of Dunbar High School and
of Howard University. The community
has reason to be gratified over two ex
ceptionally fine appointments to vacan
cies on the school board.
Japan has pointed another distinc
tion between the optimist and the pes
simist. One thinks of the Japanese
cherry tree and the other of the Jap
anese beetle.
8 port writers in their innocence de
scribe Walter Johnson as retiring from
his base ball career to enjoy peace and
quiet as a Maryland voter and taxpayer.
Large figures do not baffle the truly
enterprising mind. There are projects
that could see a way to spend the entire
relief four billion all at once.
Keeping politics out of finance Is bard,
but aviation is confronted with the prob
lem of barring both of them.
What Is left of the N. R. A. begins to
look more like "a crow to pick” than a
Blue Eagle.
The railroads created much that was
new in political finance. It will not be
surprising if flying machines do the
same.
Shooting Stars
BY PHXLANDKB JOHNSON.
——
Obnoxious.
At the door of opportunity
We knock, knock, knock,
Though seeking an Immunity
Prom shock.
We are knocking one another.
Even brothers meet a brother
With an envy they can’t smother
As they knock, knock, knock.
What we think an opportunity,
And knock, knock, knock,
Is a chance with more impunity
To "sock."
Opportunity is fleeting.
We will vainly give It greeting
If all we do when meeting
Is to knock, knock, knock!
Earth’s Revolutions.
"It seems to me that the world Is
upside down," said the worried man.
“Everything depends on the viewpoint,"
said Senator 8orghum. “Some of us
think it gets that way every twenty
four hours. But it always rights itself.’’
Jud Tunkins says he is never afraid
of losing friends. Tou cannot lose one
who was an honest friend in the first
place.
Musical Note.
If you would win a prize,
You’ve got to specialize.
Across the violin I draw a slow bow.
I have no job today
Because I cannot play
An oboe.
A horn I’m tooting some.
Or I could beat a drum
When the conductor signaled me,
“Let’s go, bo!”
But my luck’s the sorry sort
When I And they must import
An oboe.
So, neglected I persist
While an individualist
Leaves me wandering on the outskirts
like a hobo.
X might be O. K. today
Had I only learned to play
An oboe.
Inducement.
“Crimson Gulch pays very little to
members of a jury.” #
"Yes,” answered Cactus Joe. “But
think of the opportunity they enjoy for
hearing all the local scandal!"
The Hurt.
A war is threatened and we see
Great men for cruel strife alert.
It’s like a toothache which might be
Quite funny If It didn’t^ hurt.
An aching molar causes glee
To those with sympathy inert. •v
The shout and pain would always be
Quite funny—if they did not hurt.
“It has been mo’ dan six months,”
said Unde Eben, “since we was matin’
New Year resolutions. As usual, a lot
of dem has been in de repair shop.”
t f
Secretary Perkins and
The Undesirable Aliens
To the Idltor of The Star:
The announcement in Tuesday’s Star
by Secretary Perkins that she seeks
$4,675,440 of the $4380,000,000 work fund
to “make a complete census of foreign
born persons in the United States” and
“to help keep out aliens," is a hopeful
sign. If the Secretary really feels that
the alleged millions of aliens Illegally
and unlawfully in our country ought to
be “enumerated” and that aliens "not
entitled to enter” ought not to be al
lowed to enter, or, rather, that she should
be given $4,675,440 merely to find out
how many foreign bom there are in the
United States and merely “to help keep
out aliens not entitled to enter,” it would
seem she ought to refuse entry to de
ported alien anarchists like Emma Gold
man, and direct action on Communists
like John Strachey, Henri Barbusse, Tom
Mann and Willi Musenberg Instead of
giving them written permits to enter,
and that she ought to deport the 2355
alien lawbreakers who, Commissioner
MaoCormack admitted before the House
Immigration Committee April 9, had
been "taken into custody” on complaint
and turned loose, Instead of being “de
ported,” as existing law requires.
What we need is not a $5,000,000 ex
penditure to try to "enumerate’ ’alien
lawbreakers, who will be as difficult to
enumerate as all such gangsters are to
apprehend, but the deportation of the
2355 alien lawbreakers taken into "cus
tody” upon the complaint of some ag
grieved person or persons and turned
loose, instead of “deported," as the law
mandatorily requires, 26 per cent of
whom the commissioner admitted April
9 (hearings, p. 24) would not even come
within the discretionary provisions of
the atrocious Kerr bill he was there
advocating to give the authority to nul
lify existing alien deportation laws al
ready being nullified by Secretary Per
kins or at her direction.
The additional statement in the Sec
retary’s press release with refrence to
Increasing the border patrol is equally
wnUghtening. During the fiscal year of
1933, Secretary Perkins decreased the
border patrol from 957 to 896 and re
duced its pay $122332, in the face of the
fact it was already inadequate, and that
inadequate as it was that year it appre
hended over 20,000 aliens entering il
legally and seized a quarter million dol
lars’ worth of high-powered autos, high
speed boats and even 13 airships caught
in the act of smuggling aliens into the
United States.
Not only did the Secretary decrease
the patrol and reduce its pay, but she
reduced the immigration and naturaliza
tion field service 347 and its pay $796,922
and the technical staff 203 and its pay
$476,002, thereby making law enforce
ment far less efficient, when it ought to
have been made more efficient, and
threby inspiring the whole force with
such a viewpoint. And apparently from
this press release the border patrol has
been still further reduced to about 800,
although the department's general ap
propriation was jumped nearly $2,000,000
this year. Unfortunately official infor
mation in the form of her annual report
is still withheld, so that all one has is
fragmentary information elicited before
the Subcommittee ofi Appropriations.
What the country needs is not a cen
sus of foreign-bom persons, but the de
portation of alien lawbreakers, and a
scientific registration and fingerprinting
of every person, native and foreign, resi
dent here, and some such other scientific
check-up of temporary alien entrants as
all other countries of any consequence
have. The native bom is registered
from, and including, birth to death. Why
not the foreign bom? A. T. AMES.
Stockholder’s View of
Public Utilities Bill
T°Wh“e!°I0friM "to' inquire, do David
Lawrence and the other propagandists
against the Wheeler-Raybum utility bill
get their authority to speak for the small
utility investor? They are continually
telling what the small investor thinks
and what he is going to do when election
time comes around.
Now I happen to be one of those same
small investors for whom the power
barons have recently developed such a
touching affection. According to these
gentlemen, I ought to be in a lather
over the prospect of being “wiped out.”
I ought to rise up in righteous indigna
tion and smite at the polls those gentle
men in Congress who are in favor of
the measure. But I find it impossible
to become so aroused. Indeed, I have
carefully noted the one of my Senators
who voted for the measure and intend
to support him when next he seeks re
election.
Back in 1928 I decided to get rich
quick by buying the stock of a utility
bolding company. This company wholly
owns the operating company furnishing
electricity to the cofl*-iunity in which I
live. In as much as the operating com
pany charges the same rates put into
effect over twenty-five years ago and has
paid 8 per cent dividends for years, all
of which goes to the holding company,
I naturally assumed that the latter
would pass along a few dollars in divi
dends to its own stockholders. But I
reckoned without considering salaries,
bonuses and bond interest, and today
my stock, for which I paid 85, is selling
for about 1%.
Now the only substantial value back
of my holding company stock is the
stock of several operating companies,
including the prosperous one *1 have
mentioned. This operating company
stock has real earning power and real
value back of it. Its bonds are quoted
tonight at 105. Indirectly, therefore, if
there is any value back of my stock. I
own a small part of the stock of this
prosperous operating company, say one
share. Now I fail to see how I am
going to be “wiped out,” or even harmed.
If this holding company is forced to fire
a lot of high-salaried officials (its presi
dent alone drew $130,000 In 1932), sell
its office furniture and divide the oper
ating company stock It owns pro rata
among its own stockholders. In fact I
might even be benefited. For even If my
portion amounted to but one share of
operating company stock I would start
drawing $8 a year in dividends—a pros
pect which seems rosy compared to the
long, hopeless wait If the holding com
pany continues to do business.
So that is why I hope the House ^ill
see fit to follow the lead of the Senate
.nri pass this necessary bill.
A. W. DEW.
Germany’s New Nary.
Prom the Los Anscle* Times.
In all probability the 450 "vest-pocket”
frafrtwhips of the new German Reich
wouldn’t worry the other powers half as
much if they didn’t have a well-founded
suspicion that the vests were of the bullet
proof variety.
Vocal Worms.
Prom the Kalunasoo Oasette.
It Is now reported that worms. Instead
of being silent as they seem, actually utter
low, moanlike sounds. The phenomenon
is noticeable especially during the in
come tax season.
Impossible.
From the Shreveport (La.) Journal.
Georgia attorney thunders at a Jury:
“How can a man deceive a woman to
whom he has been married for years?”
He can’t, brother, unless she Is a lot
dumber than most married women.
f
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
Do not mix reading and drinking.
Templeton Jones proved this to him
self the other morning by dropping a
cup of hot coffee in his lap.
His interest in what he was reading
caused him to forget about the cup for
just a second.
It was enough.
The cup tilted slightly, the hot fluid
poured down over his shirt front.
His necktie oozed wet, like a piece of
blotting paper.
All this time Jones had been sitting
in a daze, the sort of coma that attacks
those in an automobile accident.
* * * *
Templeton Jones recalled swiftly, as
a drowning man will, the time Bill Smith
was taking him down to work in his
big car.
They ran Into the rear end of a truck.
Jones saw something shining go rolling
down the street.
Idly he wondered what it was.
Only then did he realize that he had
been In an accident, had watched the
chromium rim of the right headlight
go spinning down the broad avenue.
It was several seconds before he com
prehended that he had dropped a cup
<of coffee In his lap.
Fortunately, the drink was not hot.
The worse damage was to the necktie,
shirt, underwear, temper.
The rug and chair came next.
* * * *
While Jones was mopping up, he
speculated on the drink.
Ordinarily, he drank It hot enough
to scald the skin.
Yet the inner membranes of the body
seemed to stand the hot stuff pretty
weU, curiously enough.
Because they stood it, however, was
no reason at all why they should be
forced to undergo such a trial, at that
dally, at regular intervals.
Yet millions of persons the world
around subjected their mucous mem
branes to the tribulation of being bathed
In practically boiling hot water.
Templeton Jones had evolved a
scheme for keeping his as hot as possible.
The cup, before being filled, was pre
filled with boiling water, and permitted
to stand a few seconds, until the ware
was heated up all the way through.
Then the water was dumped out, and
the coffee poured In.
This system was necessary In order
to permit Jones to use as much cream
as his taste demanded.
Some people said that Jones “liked a
little coffee with his cream,’’ but this
was nleasant slander.
Jones liked his "light,’’ that was alL
*
While he was dressing again, he specu
lated some more.
Everybody speculates.
It is a part of life.
Jones often thought that a fine book
could be written on what people think,
when they are not thinking at all, in
one sense.
The idea of theory is bound up with
speculation.
When one speculates, one thinks in a
slightly different way.
The theory of drinking a hot drink
amused the mopping Jones. By this
time he had got to the rug, where a
small pool had formed.
Surely no one ought to drink very
hot water.
But all do.
The question, then, is why they do it?
The answer is equally plain. Because
the custom is pleasant.
There is stimulation in heat, espe
cially applied internally. The real
warmth would be given equally well by
plain hot water, butevery one knows
how flat it tastes.
* * * *
Jones realized that there Is not much
point in crusading against the use of
hot water in some form or other.
What can be done by the individual
Is to drink the water, in whatever form,
at the least point of heat which has
the effect.
One should drink hot drinks very
slowly, a sip at a time.
Gulping hot water is worse than
gulping Ice water.
Some of the curse of each extreme
is removed by the good habit of taking
one’s time.
This brought Jones back to a little
self-congratulation on his personal
habit of taking his time, whenever
possible.
Hurry is one of the real banes of
humanity.
Hurry is all right, Jones thought, when
hurry is necessary, but hurry just for
the sake of hurry is mostly worry.
Then our hero caught himself think
i*g as follows: *
“Well, you weren’t hurried a bit, and
yet look what you went and done!"
Templeton Jones loved the ungram
matical, he used it secretly whenever
possible.
Pew men were more meticulous in
their speech and writing, to observe the
grammatical niceties, but when it came
to his own thoughts, Jones insisted on
a few commonplaces.
“It’s me,” to Jones, sounded right.
He believed that some day the form
would utterly replace “It’s I.”
He sometimes wondered if all men, in
their thoughts did not involuntarily
answer “It’s me,” when some one called
to them, “Who's that?”
One could be as ungrammatical as
one pleased, in the secret places of the
heart.
It was a pleasure to retire there, at
times, u all persons do, whether they
admit it or not, just to be as terribly
ungrammatical as one desired.
In It also one might swear fluently,
upon such occasions as one found it
necessary.
Templeton Jones surprised himself
upon the occasion of dropping his cup
of coffee.
He neither swore aloud nor secretly.
Nor did he wax ungrammatical.
He was so surprised, indeed, that all
he could do was mop up.
There was plenty of that, of course.
It was amazing bow much shirt front,
tie, chilr, rug one ordinary cup of coffee
could cover.
--1
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS R. HENRY.
The horizon of space shuts man up |
in a little place not much more than
3,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles in radius.
That is about the limit of penetra
tion of present-day telescopes, accord
ing to a statement issued this week by
the Carnegie Institution of Washington, i
Vast though this region is, it is prob
ably only a minute portion of the whole
and it may be so small as to afford
only a distorted concept of the actual
universe.
The astronomer is in the position of
the medieval philosopher looking out
over the surface of the earth. By
theoretical calculations he might have
reached the conclusion that the earth
was round. To his vision, however, it
was a flat surface. He couldn’t see the
curvature. The area of the world he
could see was so small that it did not
constitute a fair sample of the whole.
From observation alone he never could
have reached the concept of a globe.
So with the Carnegie Institution’s
astronomers. Hie region that can be
observed photographically with their
telescopes reaches vastly beyond the
Milky Way galaxy with its 30,000,000,000
stars, including most of the visible ob
jects in the sky. In includes immense
gulfs of emptiness which light, moving
at about 180,000 miles a second, requires
a million years to cross. Beyond that
it includes millions of other galaxies,
many of which may be as large as the
Milky Way galaxy itself, although, due
to their great distance, the telescope
makes them out only as dots in the sky.
This limited region is being studied in
tensively, however, on the theory that
it may constitute a fair sample of space.
The surveys to date have taken account
of over 100,000 nebulae. These are dis
tributed uniformly over the face of the
sky, but there are slight departures from
homogeneity for distribution in depth,
and the interpretation of this fact Is
expected to furnish new information on
the structure of the universe.
Various Interpretations are possible,
according to the Carnegie Institution’s
announcement. One is that the curva
ture of space, for which there is con
siderable theoretical sanction, cannot
be Ignored in mapping the heavens.
Just as surveys on the earth, when they
cover a large area, require corrections
for the curvature of the earth’s surface,
so surveys of space, when they extend
over the range of modem telescopes,
may require corrections for the curva
ture of space.
Such curvature is incorporated in cur
rent theory, but it appears as an un
known quantity. If it can be detected
and measured with existing telescopes,
the results will constitute a long step
forward toward a truer concept of the
universe.
a a * *
The rate at which the molecules of the
atmosphere become electrified varies
throughout the day, according to ob
servations during the past year by Drs.
A. O. McNish and O. R. Wait of the
Carnegie Institution’s Department of
Terrestrial Magnetism.
This electrification of the molecules
of air is accomplished by alpha, beta and
gamma rays from radium and its decay
products, which an in the ground and
in the air Itself. The presence of the
electrified molecules, or ions, permits
the'atmosphere to conduct an electric
current. Such a current passes con
tinuously betwen the earth and the outer
atmosphere, due to the constant pres
ence of such ions.
The earth itself Is an almost unlimit
ed reservoir of radium, according to the
statement of the Carnegie Institution
in announcing the results. This radium,
as it disintegrates, forms a gas—known
as radium emanation—which escapes
from the soil into the atmosphere. The
rate of escape, the scientists believe, to
fairly constant, despite the fact that the
-n
amount of radium gas fluctuates. In
general, this radium content is found
to be greatest in the morning and least
in the evening. This is believed to be
due to a continual concentration dur
ing the night of radium emanation in
the lower layers of the atmosphere.
During the day winds and convection
currents scatter the gas to higher levels,
so that its concentration near the
ground where the measurements are
made is decreased.
* * * *
Minute electric currents flowing
through the earth's crust are being
studied by the Carnegie Institution of
Washington.
Long a subject of speculation, this
earth current has been found by Dr.
W. J. Rooney, Carnegie Institution physi
cist, to show striking relationships to
changes in the earths’ magnetic field.
It was found that at Tuscon, Ariz., the
earth currents flowing in an east-west
direction are greatest at about 11 am.
during December, while during June
the greatest current flows at about 8
am. There are corresponding changes
in the north magnetic force at that sta
tion, the force being greatest around
noon in the Winter and least at that
time in the Summer.
Sometimes these currents are regarded
as giving rise to part of the observed
changes in the earth’s magnetism and
gometimes as being due to these mag
netic changes.
_
“Alley Dwellings” in
Arlington County
To the Editor of The Star:
- There Is much discussion over the alley
dwellers of the District of Columbia.
Arlington County has a similar problem
in that section of the county flanking
Columbia pike from near the Airport
to the Arlington National Cemetery
neighborhood. Many of the dwellings
are not fit for homes. The Evening Star
did a good Job In helping to clean up
the burning dumps in Arlington County
and can really help In cleaning up this
approach to the National Capital. Co
lumbia pike is one of the main high
ways leading from Fairfax through a
residential section of the county, in
which are the homes of many of the
Federal employes who reside in the
county. Let’s b««in a campaign to rem
edy this condition. It can be done, and
the women folk of Arlington County
and the District of Columbia should
concern themselves over this problem.
THOMAS R. MECHEM.
A Rhyme at Twilight
By
Gertrude Brooke Hamilton
A Row of Books
From the row of books before us,
Russet leather, script of gold.
We have choice of prose or poem.
Legend fair or science cold.
As your hands stray o’er the titles,
Though I love to watch them there,
m the soft dusk all around us
Let them wander to my hair.
And although the long-dead poets
Come to life thru your rich voice
And your taste is always Habeas
In your wisely pondered choice,
Leave the golden scripts unopened,
Let them lie in amber light—
Make a poem of the moment
When you talk of love tonight.
v
ANSWERS TO
QUESTIONS
By Frederic J. Batkin.
a reader can get the answer to any
question of fact by writing The Washing
ton Evening Star Information Bureau,
Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washing
ton, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply.
Q. Please describe the new Rip Van
Winkle Bridge.—J. c. M.
A. The bridge, built at a cost of
$2,500,000, spans the Hudson between
Catskill and Hudson, N. Y, and will
link the two main highway routes
paralleling the Hudson. It la the only
vehicular bridge between Poughkeepsie
and Albany. From abutment to abut
ment the bridge Is 5,040 feet long. The
roadway and approaches on each side
are 30 feet wide and a sidewalk on the
south side Is built for pedestrians. It
will be open for traffic early In July.
Q. When ordering stamps from the
Philatelic Agency of the Post Office
Department, are stamps accepted In
payment?—D. S.
A. All remittances should be made by
money order, payable to the Philatelic
Agency, as stamps are not accepted in
payment.
Q. What poem was pronounced by
Lord Byron “the most perfect in the
language”?—E. B.
A. “The Burial of Sir John Moore,”
by Charles Wolfe.
Q. When was the College Entrance
Examination Board established?—E. C.
A.. The College Entrance Examination
Board was founded in 1001, Dr. Nicholas
Murray Butler acting as its first
president.
Q. Please describe the duties of a
camp director.—H. F.
A. In the main, the duties of a di
rector may Include any or all of the
following: Engaging and directing the
staff, looking after the property and
equipment, supervision of health sani
tation and safety, conducting office
routine, including records, correspon
dence, accounts and purchase of sup
plies; directing the activities and keep
ing In touch with the progress of the
individual camper, creating attitudes
that will determine the spirit of the
camp, keeping in contact with parents
and guardians, and maintaining the
good will of the community near the
camp.
Q. How much has the urban popula
tion increased in the past 30 years?—
M. P.
A. Between 1900 and 1930 the urban
population increased more than 125 per
cent. In the last census decade there
was an Increase of 14,600,000.
Q. What revenue is afforded New
York State by motor vehicles?—?. M.
A. New York has more than 2,330,500
licensed motor vehicles bringing in an
annual revenue approximating $42,
000,000.
Q. Has any horse ever beaten Omaha’s
record?—E. K.
A. Sir Barton, who won the Kentucky
Derby as a maiden in 1919, won also
the Preakness, Withers and Belmont
Stakes in the same year. Omaha was
defeated by Rosernont in the Withers.
Q In what time did the Normandie
make her first voyage from Havre?—
T. W.
A. She established a record of 4 daya
11 hours 42 minutes for the 3,192 miles
between Southampton Nab and Ambrose
Lightship.
Q. What were the first three Shrine
temples established in the United
States?—A. P.
A. On September 26, 1872, the mother
temple, Mecca, of New York, was founded
and continued as the only Shrine temple
in North America until 1876. On June
7, 1876, Damascus Temple of Rochester,
N. Y., was founded and Mount Sinai
Temple of Montpelier, Vt., was founded
on October 31, 1876.
Q. What causes the knees to grate
and crack?—J. L. G.
A. The Public Health Service says
that grating and cracking of knees is
caused by a slackness of the ligaments.
Q. Where is the statue erected to
Old Bet, the first elephant brought to
this country?—S. M. C.
A. The statue is in Somers, N. Y., near
the former Elephant Hotel. It was
erected in 1827,12 years after Hachaliah
Bailey, proprietor of the hotel, had taken
Old Bet to Somers and had begun dis
playing her throughout the country.
Q. Does one have to be a citizen of
the United States in order to get relief
or work on the new Government
projects?—B. C.
A. An individual does not have to be
a citizen of the United States in order
to obtain relief or work on these projects.
Q. Where does Broadway begin and
end?—L. C. B.
A. Broadway begins at Bowling Green
near the Battery, at the southeastern
Up of Manhattan Island. It runs in a
general northwesterly direction through
the entire length of Manhattan for 13.4
miles. It then traverses Bronx Borough,
having a total length of 16.2 miles where
it leaves New York City to enter Yonkers,
Westchester County. It passes through
Yonkers, Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington,
Tarry town and North Tarrytown before
it loses its name of Broadway, with a
total length of just over 30 miles. It
then becomes the Albany Post road.
Q. What is a Rebecca's Camels
Bible?—O. McK.
A. nils is an edition printed in 1823
In which Genesis xxiv:61 tells us that
“Rebecca arose, and her camels,” in
stead of “her damsels."
Q. What country has the oldest repre
sentative government?—H. K. G.
A. Iceland has the oldest represent
ative government in the world, its Par
liament, the Althing, dating back to
930 AD.
Q. Did Hartford, Conn., ever have an
other name?—O. P.
A. Hartford was first named Newton
and the name was changed to the
present name in honor of its minister,
Samuel Stone’s English birthplace.
Q. How much money is collected in
fishing licenses by the various States?
—w c
A. It is estimated that the States will
collect more than $7,000,000 In license
fees this year.
Q. What Is the extent of the W. K.
Kellogg Bird Sanctuary in Michigan?
—A. J.
A. There are 600 acres in the sanctu
ary which is located 14 miles northwest
of BatUe Creek. More than 300 species
of native upland game and song birds,
wild geese, swans and ducks are pro
tected in the refuge.
Q. How many types of prize contests
are held?—G. M.
A. In general prise contests may bt«
divired into four types: Short writing
competitions, such as titles, slogans and
recipes; Intelligence and ability con
tests consisting of historical, solving
mysteries, or writing advertisements; lit
erary, including essays, poetry, and short
stories; handicraft competitions, photog
raphy, invention, labor-saving devices,
art, drawing and fancy work.
T <