Evening star. [volume], March 11, 1937, Page A-10, Image 10

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

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THE EVENING STAR
With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON. D. C.
THURSDAY. .. March 11, 1037
THEODORE W. NOYES . Editor
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--—■ ■■■-_
1 ossiblo Compromise?
Senator O'Mahoney of Wyoming
!s introducing today a proposed amend
ment to the Constitution under which
Jio Federal court could hold a law of
Congress or of a State Legislature un
constitutional by less than a two-thirds
opinion. That would Include the
Supreme Court of the United States.
Although Senator O'Mahoney has not
said he is offering his amendment as a
substitute for or as a “compromise"
for President Roosevelt's bill to in
crease the membership of the Supreme
Court, it could easily become one or
both. For there is not the slightest
doubt that such a proposed amendment
Would immediately command more
strength in the Senate and in the
House than does the President’s bill to
‘pack" the court.
The Wyoming Senator is a member of
the Senate Judiciary Committee, which
now has before it the President's bill.
He is and has been a strong supporter
of the New Deal administration. And
yet he is convinced that through the
adoption of a constitutional amendment
fuch as he proposes, a permanent cure
of 5-to-4 decisions, or hairline opinions,
when one member of the court deter
mines the fate of a law, would be had.
As Senator O'Mahoney sees it, along
With many others, to pack the court now
Is only a temporary measure, which
would lead later to further packing.
Such packing can only destroy the inde
pendence and usefulness of the highest
tribunal in the country.
The President and Attorney General
Cummings, who collaborated with the
President in drafting the court bill and
in working out the plan whereby a new
and additional justice of the Supreme
Court is to be appointed whenever one of
the justices shall liave become seventy and
one-half years of age. continually harp
upon the need of speed. They insist over
and over again that a constitutional
amendment cannot be submitted to the
States by Congress and ratified by the
States in short enough time to save the
country in the “crisis' which the Presi
dent declares to exist. They might at
least try it out.
Indeed, Senator O'Mahoney urged
Attorney General Cummings at yester
day's healing on the President’s bill to
join him in pressing for such an amend
ment to the Constitution while the
President’s bill was being considered in
the Senate and House. There are today
forty-two State Legislatures in session,
and others might be called into session, if
necessary, in order to obtain quick action
on such an amendment.
The President and his chief adviser,
however, continue so far to turn deaf
ears to such suggestions as that offered
by O'Mahoney. The President's bill has
become—to them—a sine qua non.
Whether it is pride of authorship, or
whether it is a profound conviction that
the bill offers the only sure way to
obtain the kind of legislation they desire
is immaterial. They are adamant—so
far. The Wyoming Senator has called
attention to a fact, however, that may
in the end effect a different attitude on
the part of the President and his Attorney
General. The supporters of the Presi
dent, the men who have fought for and
with him in 1932 and in 1936 and in all
the intervening period fought for his
election and for his program, are be
coming fiercely divided over the plan
to pack the court. Liberals, like Wheeler
of Montana and Johnson of California,
are among the most bitter critics of the
President in this matter. How far this
division can go without imperiling the
entire program of the administration is
what O'Mahoney wants to know. There
are other Democrats—and among them
administration leaders—on Capitol Hill
Who would like to know the same thing.
As nations grow more sensitive to im
promptu expressions, it may be necessary
to have form apologies suitable to vari
ous occasions printed to be dated and
aigned.
Specimen suggested for the La Guardia
Chamber of horrors: Composite picture
of efforts of citizens to make out their
own income tax returns.
No Solution.
Aside from the equities of its conclu
sions as seen either from the point of
view of the people of the District or of
the exclusively legislating Congress, a
fundamental weakness of the so-called
Jacobs report is its manifest failure as
a practical solution of the fiscal rela
tions problem.
This must have become apparent to
Chairman Collins of the House Subcom
mittee on District Appropriations and
to the other members of Congress who
sat with him in their study of the
report and its proposed three-point
formula.
Mr. Collins and his committee face a
very realistic problem in reporting a
bill to finance Capital City needs in
e-.
1938. Excluding any Federal payment,
local revenues fail by an estimated
twelve to thirteen million dollars to
balance the local budget. The Jacobs
report supplies little help. Even if all
the complicated, top-heavy procedure of
the formula were enacted into law, the
estimated “reimbursements" to the Dis
trict would reduce the prospective deficit
only by an estimated two and a half
million dollars. If all the local tax
measures advocated in the report as a
method of more equitably distributing
the tax burden were made effective, the
local budget would still remain short of
balance by five or six million dollars.
As a practical solution the report is a
failure. As a theoretical solution it satis
fies nobody. To the unrepresented local
taxpayer it appears unjust in its dis
regard of some of the chief sources of
the Federal obligation. To the legislator
in Congress it presents a bewildering
maze of delegated authority, with powers
split between new executive agencies of
Government. To the Capital planners,
interested in development of the city
and its environs as the great American
Capital of the future, it presents formid
able handicaps, apparent enough to
those familiar with actual, not theoret
ical, conditions in Washington.
It succeeds only in adding new sources
of friction without removing those which
have, complicated fiscal relations in the
past.
New York Says “No”.
New York has dealt a body blow to the
hopes for ratification of the child labor
| amendment this year. The lines of
battle drawn in the Assembly assumed
j national significance. Either way, the
results would have influenced action in
other States. The unexpectedly large
majority in the Assembly has added
emphasis to its negative vote.
Twenty-eight States have ratified the
amendment and eight more must give
their approval. Eight States have acted
this year, four of them—Nevada, New
Mexico, Kentucky and Kansas—ratifying
and four—North Carolina, South Dakota,
Texas and New York—refusing to ratify.
Eleven States are yet to act this year:
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Is
land, Maryland, Delaware, Missouri, Ne
braska, Tennessee, Vermont, Georgia
and Florida. Even if New York acted
favorably, it would be difficult to
select seven States from that list that
might have been counted on for ratifica
tion. With New York's refusal, it be
comes practically hopeless to find eight.
Regardless of the motives of the groups
which opposed ratification in New York,
none of them failed to make clear its
opposition to exploitation of children.
Their stand was based chiefly on the
expressed fear that Congress would make
drastic use of the powers which the
amendment confers and would exceed the
limits ot regulation, in letter and spirit,
so far established by the States.
Regardless of the grounds for such
fears New York was in a better moral
position to oppose the amendment on
principle than most of the States. Last
September the New York child labor law
was amended and strengthened, raising
from fourteen to sixteen the minimum
age for factory or full time work for
children during school hours—a stand
ard established under N. R. A. and for
the most part accepted as reasonable.
Only seven other States have as high a
standard or as sound a law from the
point of view of opponents of child
labor. Of these seven States five of
them—Wisconsin, Montana, Ohio, Penn
sylvania and Utah—have ratified the
amendment. The two others, Rhode
Island and Connecticut, will act this
year.
The child labor amendment, which a
majority of the 8tates favor, gives force
to the President’s argument that the
amendment process is slow. It gives
equal force to the argument that to do
quickly by indirection what it is im
possible to do quickly under the processes
as laid down in a written Constitution
is to flout that Constitution in principle
if not in words.
A Pennsylvania Representative declares
for a simpler system of computation for
income tax returns. While abstruse prob
lems in logic, literature and art are being
considered it would be saddening to
discover that intellectual energy is being
wasted in futile efforts to do sums in
what at first glance appears to be simple
arithmetic.
Freedom of speech must be respected
when it is used as a means of announce
ment that some citizen will favor only
the kind of politics that he can use in
his personal business.
Another Gallery.
Senator David I. Walsh of Massachu
setts has sponsored congressional action
to provide another gallery of art in the
Nation’s Capital. He proposes to build
a museum, estimated to cost approxi
mately $4,800,000, to house the paintings,
bronzes, marbles and other esthetic
treasures already owned by the Smith
sonian Institution. The projected struc
ture would supplement the gift of former
Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W.
Mellon and complement the existing
equipment of the Smithsonian establish
ment.
Mr. Mellon, it repeatedly has been
explained, is not intending to solve the
problem which has troubled the regents
of the Smithsonian for many years—the
problem of how to accommodate about
$15,000,000 worth of works of art pre
sented to the institution by a long list
of donors during half a dozen decades
but necessarily received with the stipu -
lation that permanent displ^ could
not be guaranteed within walls over
crowded to the danger point. The Fed
eral Government is responsible for that
phase of the development of Washington
as the art center of the United States.
Hence, Mr. Walsh’s appeal to Congress.
The Senator’s plan requires certain
changes of nomenclature which are
worthy of notice. Under its terms the
new gallery would be known as "The
Smithsonian Gallery of Art,” while Mr.
r
Mellon's magnificent endowment would
be called “The National Gallery of Art”—
a phrase originally employed by the late
Dr. William H. Holmes in particular
reference to his hope for a museum to
shelter the treasures which once were
in his care and for the preservation and
exhibition of which he was sincerely
anxious until the day of his death in
1933.
But names do not matter greatly. The
public is concerned only with the results
obtained. Patriotic Americans as a class
will welcome the cultural progress which
is represented in both Mr. Mellon’s
philanthropy and Mr. Walsh’s proposed
legislation. Civilization, they know,
grows in maturity as beauty is democra
tized. The Nation's Capital is every
body’s city; its monuments are every
body's property; its glories of every kind
are everybody's inspiration. It may be
hoped that congressional attention to
the whole subject may be prompt and
effective. Time is a factor in the case
and should be considered.
Sports continue to afford beneficial
physical relaxation for the mass men
tality that sometimes wearies of social
inquiry bordering on the metaphysical.
A foot ball game is a relief to pent
up emotions. It decides nothing of
ethical importance and is perhaps the
more valuable on that account.
■-» a
Future fireside chats will hold fasci
nating interest. A spirit of neighborly
candor would suggest frank disclosure of
names that would be sent by the execu
tive to the legislative department if en
largment of the Supreme Court is ac
cepted as authoritative prognosis of the
state of the Nation.
Problems arise from the box office
management of wealth created by genius.
It is impossible to imagine what the
world would be like if Thomas Edison
had decided to become a social agitator
and declare a sit-down strike.
In a situation which may require drink
mixers to go on strike John Lewis is likely
to find his Tennysonian request, “Let
there be no moaning of the bar,” neces
sarily unheeded.
There is such a thing as ex-presidential
courtesy, but it does not go far enough to
command official deference to Herbert
Hoover's protest, “Hands off the Supreme
Court!”
Inquiry' naturally arises as to how much
of the recent political utterance would
have been regarded as suitable if sub
mitted for approval as part of the plat
form of a nominating convention.
--— * I-—
Word comes from the Ohio Valley that
the Red Cross is continuing a splendid
work, asserting itself powerfully as an
element of human affairs that is always
hopeful and dependable.
When money is considered gold is sure
to be discussed. Even wlaen absent, there
is abiding confidence that it is still extant
and will be forthcoming if a crisis in
credit absolutely demands It.
Shooting Stars.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
Spring Fashions.
As Spring comes smiling in her glee,
We ask, “What will the fashions be?”
Again we undertake to guess
If garments will be more or less,
And whether eyes will be impaired
By dazzling sights at which they’ve
stared.
And as great changes are in store,
We think of one thing more and more.
Ah, Gentle Spring, we ask of thee,
“What will the Parking Fashions be?
“Will we continue in the use
Of angles, like some wits, obtuse?
Will we the scenery disturb
By lining up along the curb,
Till one who scans the distance thinks
Of freight trains or of sausage links?
Will we be placid for an hour,
Or flit, like bees, from flow’r to fiow'r?
Above all else, we wait to see
What will the Parking Fashions be?”
Changes Deemed Essential.
“What are your views on Government
ownership?”
“I shouldn't like to say offhand,” an
swered Senator Sorghum. "I should
dislike to see the Government under
taking to run all kinds of business with
the small wage scale it now insists upon
for its workers.’1
Autographs.
“Do you recognize your old friends
since you made a hit in the movies?”
“Of course,” answered Cactus Joe.
“Do they ask for your autograph?”
“Not often. But several have given
me theirs with ‘I. O. U.’ written for
various sums.”
Vision of Corporal Punishment.
I read my history book in school.
Some present writings scorn the rule
Of Sentiment and boldly say
111 things of patriots passed away.
Had my dear teacher chanced to find
That I was filling up my mind
With such rude words as now I see—
Oh, what would he have done to me!
Jud Tunkins says even when a man
has learned the saxophone he never
succeeds in making it sound as if he
really knew how to play it.
“What we believe,” said Hi Ho, the
sage of Chinatown, “shows one of two
things; our wisdom or our credulity.”
Agricultural Future.
The earnest farmer now forgets
About the blossoming violets
And hopes to see, some Summer morn,
A field with golden ears of corn.
A Mule and His Feet.
“De mule,” said Kinky Joe, “is called
a quadruped because he has four feet.”
“Yep,” responded Uncle Eben, “but
when you’s makin’ yoh calculations you
kin purty much fohgit ’bout dem fore
feet aa’ concentrate on de ’hind feet.”
i i \
Court Must be Guided
By the Will of the People
To the Editor of The Star:
Will one department of Government
be permitted to practically wipe out the
other two?
Will five politically appointed men of
the party twice repudiated be permitted
to ignore and trample underfoot the will
of the majority?
Will the Senators and Representatives
assert their virility—or allow themselves
to be sterilized and their functions re
duced to the ridicule of the Nation?
Knowing the will of the people, are the
President and Congress giving the Amer
ican people a square deal if they sit
supinely by and not use their constitu
tional powers to see that the Supreme
Court is composed of men who have a
decent respect for the rights of the
people?
Is the Supreme Court more sacred or
fundamental than the will of the people?
Is the Constitution itself, under a biased
interpretation, more venerable than the
right of the majority to rule in a re
publican form of government?
A few ultraconservative Democrats and
some dyed-in-the-wool Republicans have
not seen the vision, but the large ma
jority of Democrats, young and old,
buoyant, virile, and millions of Repub
licans alike have indorsed the progressive
ideas of Mr. Roosevelt and the newly
elected Senators and Representatives.
A few rich, conservative old men have
often stood in the way of progress of a
small city. Time removed them and the
city grew into a great metropolis. It is
really pathetic that a similar situation
exists in our Nation. Fortunately the
Constitution has made it possible to
change the personnel of the group and
prevent national stagnation.
The majoUty of the people have
spoken; it is doubtful if they would allow
the few who sit in the gate to stall the
onward movement of advancing human
progress. The gravest fears are enter
tained that revolution will follow if the
people’s rights are not. respected.
I he people will stand an unusual
amount of trespassing upon their rights,
but the limit will be sooner reached today
than a decade or two ago. They kno\%
that the President of the United States,
that the Congress of the United States
and that the Supreme Court all know
what their will is. They will not permit
the election of last November to be
treated as a farce. If the Supreme
Court has no vision, no elasticity, no
sense of adaptation of interpretation to
the necessity of the hour, and if. in this
situation, the President and Congress
fail to act in defense of human rights,
we may expect the will as expressed at
the polls to change to an insistent de
mand backed by force.
Let us escape the regime of the dic
tator by removing the despotism of the
Supreme Court Can you not see that
no greater insult has been offered the
American people than for a few rem
nants of a repudiated party so to act as
to ignore, defeat and desecrate the will
and rights of the people so clearly and
unmistakably expressed in the election
of November, 1936?
The Democrats scored a sweeping vic
tory in November. Do they have enough
intelligence and intestinal fortitude to
maintain what they have won? Are
they going to let a half dozen Repub
licans run the Government and make
jokes out of them? Or do the Demo- <
crats have sense enough to stop this
usurpation of despotic power?
Every real Democrat will stand by the
President and by the mandate of the
people in this critical situation.
Every Senator and Representative
knows what his constituency wants. They
want what they voted for last November.
J. P. NEFF.
Memorial Honors Pope
Instead of Jefferson <
To the Editor of The Star:
A commission headed by Represent- '
ative John J. Boylan of New York has
chosen the design of Architect John
Russell Pope oi New York for the pro
posed Thomas Jefferson Memorial.
President Roosevelt has approved the
design of this memorial, which would be
erected in Washington at the cost of
$3,000,000.
When I read the headlines stating
that the President had approved the
plans for a huge temple of marble, with
no utilitarian purpose whatever and
containing an heroic statue of Thomas
Jefferson with his back to Virginia, a
wave almost like nausea swept over me.
The idea of a pile of cold marble stand
ing in the middle of the Tidal Basin as
a memorial to Thomas Jefferson is ab
horent. There is to my mind no angle
of approach which can justify the spend
ing of $3,000,000 (and In view of the
recent drilling operations it will be twice
that amount before completed) for such
a structure. It will be a memorial rather
to its architect than to Thomas Jeffer
son. I am not opposed to a memorial to
Jefferson. I am opposed, however, to a
memorial so out of keeping with the
character of the man. How much more
fitting it would be if his own idea, pro
posed in his sixth annual message, of
a national university be used as a
memorial. How much more in keeping
with tne character of the man would be
an institution of higher learning with all
the educational resources of the Fed
eral Government at its command. And
when it is remembered that the private
library of Thomas Jefferson formed the
nucleus of the Library of Congress it is
apparent how that institution would
find its place as an integral part of such
a national university.
The proposed memorial admittedly
carries out the plan of L'Enfant. It is a
beautiful design, and Jefferson loved
architectural beauty, but its non-utili
tarian character brands it utterly foreign
to the man it is to memorialize, and
therefore in poor taste as a memorial.
In this connection let me quote Jeffer
son on the occasion of the starting of
work on the Virginia State Capitol be
fore his design for the building had
been received. Some work had been
done, but he said, “The loss will be only
of the laying of the bricks already laid
* * * This loss is not to be weighed
against * * * the comfort of laying out
the public money in something honor
able, the satisfaction of seeing an object
and proof of national good taste, and
the regret and mortification of erecting
a monument of our barbarism.”
These are my sentiments. I am merely
one who knows Jefferson as "Author of
the Declaration of Independence, of the
statute of Virginia for religious freedom
and father of the University of Virginia.”
If you concur in these sentiments you
will do everything possible to bring about
a change in the present plans.
J. W. BIGGERS, JR.
Fish May Have Been First.
Prom the Wllllamiport New*.
Skeletons of sea creatures are found
in the Himalaya Mountains. The first
men to reach the summit of Mount
Everest may be humiliated to discover
that some poor fish beat them to it.
No Puzzle.
Prom the Satlnaw News.
Strike conferees were reported the
other day to be discussing the “theory
of the 30-hour week.” That’s easy; you
work 10 hours less than in a 40-hour
, week.
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARbES E. TRAC EWELL.
The lowly potato is being pushed
these days as a good food to help combat
the common “cold,” owing to its alka
line reaction in the digestive processes.
This will come as good news to per
sons who prefer this tuber above all
other vegetables. The reference, of
course, is to the so-called Irish, or white,
potato.
Who doesn’t like potatoes?
To date we have never met a person
who refused to eat them.
Many turn the cold shoulder on the
onion. Countless persons shrink from
spinach. Cauliflower and even turnips
leave many speechless.
Idiosyncracies in regard to vegetables
are widespread.
“Eat your food and say no more
about it,” never applied to the well
known vegetables. For many years they
were regarded so generally as mere
asides,, in the face of the more sub
stantial dishes, that no one bothered to
check up.
Then came the day of the “vege
tarians,” followed in the course of time
by experiments to show that if these
foods were supplemented with milk,
especially, and some carbohydrates, they
would furnish a perfectly adequate diet.
In these theories the humble white
potato was a sort of stepchild. No one
seemed to know exactly where to put it,
in the tables, although most persons
found no difficulty at all in placing it on
their own tables.
Now we are told, and no doubt with
justification, that potatoes are good
things to eat to help ward off colds. It
must be kept in mind, of course, that
they are a carbohydrate food, and if
eaten regularly should not be supple
mented by too much breadstuffs.
“Just what I thought all along,” many
will say.
“Why, I have been eating potatoes all
my life,” say others.
It would be interesting for habitual
potato eaters and non-eaters to check
up on themselves, and see if, in their
opinions, such eating or non-eating has
had any possible influence on their sus
ceptibility to the common cold.
Such things are hard to determine,
it must be kept in mind. Dietetic "do-s”
and “don’ts” are not easily measured, in
sa far as results are concerned, owing
to the plain fact that the human body
is a marvelous mechanism, able to ad
just itself over long periods to much
abuse without showing harm.
That is, we might eat potatoes in large
platefuls, and still come down with colds,
and this providing the new theory is
true, simply because we mixed with them
other foods which might tend to have
the opposite effect.
We also, alas, might get our precious j
feet wet, or dry off in a chill wind after :
getting into a slight perspiration.
There are any number of things which
may result in a cold, to say nothing at
all of that largest of all the "big bad
wolves.” the virus which some hold to be
the primary cause.
* * * *
Probably the best form in which to eat
the white potato is baked.
When this operation is done properly
and the delicious flaky substance turned t
out on a plate, it forms one of the most
appetizing of all dishes.
As many persons have known for many
years, of course, but we hope and feel
sure that none of the readers here will
be that lamentably sophisticated person
who resents being told what he already
knows, or thinks he knows. To be that !
I - "■ ■" ■ " —
way must deprive one of a great deal of
•atisfactlon in life. One of life’s great
est pleasures, for many of us, is to
recognize what we already know, to hear
old songs, not just because they are old,
but mainly because they have more
melodic invention—more brains, in other
words—in them.
Let us drop hot potatoes long enough
to say a word of praise for the fox-trot
numbers of only 10 years ago.
What good tunes, what nice playing!
Our favorite phonograph relaxation
is to alternate symphony recordings
with the discs of some of the old-time
jazz bands, as they liked to call them
selves.
One does not suffer at all from the
other. No person really admires the
greatest music who is not able to find
good in the wholesome and often master
ly arrangements of some of the better
of the dance orchestras.
But when the melody Is not in the
numbers played by the orchestras, there
is not much left except rhythms. If
these are enough for you, we have no
quarrel. A good tom-tom, of course,
would do as well. There must be some
real intelligence used in the construc
tion of the melodies, before the number
really becomes "good.”
It must be a great deal of fun to be
a composer. The old masters, particu
larly those of Germany, wrote many
light numbers, in which they plainly
displayed the "fun” of composition, just
a little bit better than our solemn writers,
such as Stephen Foster, for instance.
Even his “Oh, Susannah,” had a lugu
brious note to it and we do not refer at
all to a recent use of it. With such a
“theme song,” no other result was to be
expected!
No, those old masters put real fun
into many of their numbers. Schumann's
"Frolicking Landsman.” usually trans
lated “The Jolly Peasant," is a bit in a
fine wholesome spirit of musical hap
piness. Papa Haydn gave us his "Toy
8ymphony,” just “pure clean fun.” Many
of Mozart's operatic numbers, especial- ,
ly from the “Magic Flute,” are as happy
as sunshine. j
* * m *
But to get back to those hot potatoes:
Remove the skin, carefully, so as not to
get burned, rake out the contents, and
break up carefully with a fork.
Old directions, but good. And then
put plenty of good butter on. Good but
ter is necessary. Nothing, except toast,
shows up medium or poor butter so
quickly.
And just a little salt.
There is no need to douse potatoes
with salt.
In fact, something of their true flour
is lost, if one is Intemperate with salt.
A little salt, but not too much, and
out comes the flavor. Most butter, of
course, contains a bit of salt. Never
forget that.
And there are natural “salts” in the
mealy potatoes—these are the ones
which do the work, when it comes to
colds—which must be given a chance.
These salts are the real potato "taste.”
after all. and they must be permitted to
"do their stuff" in a big way.
Not too much butter, not too much
salt, but mostly baked potatoes—
And there is a dish flt for the gods.
There are, of course, other ways, many
ways, to cook potatoes, and to serve
them, but baked is best. >
In the fairy tales the charcoal burner
baked them on his live coals, but we of
today use gas or electric ovens. How
ever you bake ’em, they are swell.
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
RY THOMAS R. HENRY.
Isolation of a heavy protein which
appears to be identical with the ultra
virus responsible for an animal disease
is reported in the current issue of
Science, journal of the American Asso
ciation. by Drs. J. W. Beard and R. W. O.
Wyckoff of the Rockefeller Institulfc.
The virus is demonstrably the causa
tive agent in a wart-like growth on
rabbits. Injections of a preparation from
these warts will cause similar growths
on other rabbits. Beard and Wyckoff
“centrifuged” such a preparation, using
a centrifugal force 60,000 times that of
gravity.
The end product of this centrifuging,
in which all the lighter materials were
separated, was a tiny bit of a protein
with an enormous molecule. This was
1.000 times more active in producing the
disease than the preparation from the
warts themselves.
The significance of the discovery is
that it is the first isolation of the ultra
virus of an animal disease. Until two
years ago it was possible only to specu
late as to the nature of the ultraviruses.
Whatever they were, they were too tiny
to be seen under the most powerful
microscope. Their existence, however,
could be demonstrated because they
would pass through the tiny pores of a
porcelain filter. They were, it could be
demonstrated, about the size of the
largest protein molecules.
These ultraviruses, however, had the
capacity for self reproduction which is
characteristic of life. Cultures of them
could be kept alive indefinitely. They
were considered as the tiniest, perhaps
the most primitive, of all living things.
Compared to them the smallest visible
bacteria or protozoa were like elephants
to rabbits.
They were demonstrably responsible
for some of the most deadly human,
animal and plant diseases. Two years
ago came the first light on the mystery
of their identity when Dr W. M. Stanley
of the Rockefeller Institute isolated in
the form of a protein crystal the ultra
virus responsible for mosaic disease in
tobacco. It was impossible, however, to
duplicate the result with other plant
viruses or animal viruses and it appeared
that there were outstanding differences
between those which afflicted the vege
table and animal kingdoms.
The definite proof that an ultravirus
responsible for an animal disease can
be isolated and is a complex protein now
bridges the gap and opens the way to
obtaining in pure form the substance
responsible for such diseases as
poliomyelitis, encephalitis, psittacosis,
influenza, etc.
* 4 •!> <1>
If there were no night this probably
would be a desolate planet.
That darkness as well as light may
be essential for life on earth appears
from experiments on the curious phe
nomenon of phototropism, in which
plants bend toward a source of light
such as the sun, just reported by Dr.
Earl S. Johnston of the Smithsonian
Institution and Dr. Paul R. Burkholder
of Connecticut College.
These experiments also give a clue to
the mechanism of the rapid growth of
plants in darkness which often has
been reported. Phototropism is due to
the fact that growth of the plant is in
hibited on the illuminated side. It bends
its head in the direction of least growth.
Plant growth is activated by various
substances, chemically very complex,
which are present in the growing tips.
These auxins, or plant hormones, Drs.
n
Johnston and Burkholder find, tend to
De inactivated by intense illumination.
Consequently they are exerting less in
fluence on the side of a plant upon
which the light shines directly.
They conducted their experiments with
oat, corn and tobacco seedlings. The
growing tips containing the auxin were
cut off. Some were illuminated and some
were kept in darkness. Then their
relative power of promoting growth in
the decapitated seedlings upon which
they were replaced was measured. Those
kept in the dark, it was found, in some
instances were twice as effective as
growth activators as those which had
been irradiated.
The destruction or inactivation of the
growth substance, the experimenters
found, varied with the length and in
tensity of the illumination. It also
varied, as might have been expected,
with the variety of plant. Some plants,
such as the sunflower, are much more
sensitive than others—so sensitive, in
fact, that their movements seem super
ficially to be controlled by an animal
like intention.
Offhand it seems somewhat paradoxi
cal that growth should be most rapid
in darkness, yet the phenomenon often
has been observed. FYom these experi
ments, it appears, light and darkness
play complementary roles in growth.
Light is required for the synthesis of
the hormone in the growing tip of the
plant. Once formed, it is most effective
as a growth activator in darkness.
Homely Metaphors for
Propaganda Purposes
To the Editor of The Star:
Our sudden, surprising President de
lights In the use of homely metaphors
for propaganda purposes. He will, I
trust, pardon a fellow craftsman for
borrowing his method, as in the follow
ing:
POLITICAL EPITAPH.
Here lies one, once of lordly port.
Who had no peer in earthly glory.
Al, Herb and Alf he licked with ease;
He whipped the Congress to its knees.
But when he jumped the Supreme Court,
And slurred the grand old Constitution
To win his “Roosevelt Revolution”
Bidding the forty-eight States to bend
Their sovereign wills to serve his end,
.He took in too much territory.
Houston, Tex. FRANK PUTNAM.
Cure for Sitdownitis.
From the Battle Creek Enaulrer-Newe.
A correspondent suggests a new way
to attack the sit-down problem. “Em
ploy so many men," he demands, “that
there will be S. R. O. inside the plants."
Price-Cutting Cutters.
From the Lowell Leader.
In Montreal several barbers have been
fined for cutting prices. This, appar
ently, does not come under the classifi
cation of tonsorial art.
Beat Uncle Sam to It.
From the Fort Wayne Newa-Sentlnel.
In California a man's application for
relief was so long delayed that he went
out and got a Job. It’s the first time
governmental red tape has ever shown a
profit.
•a
ANSWERS TO
QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
A reader can get the answer to any
Question of fact by writing The Evening
Star Information Bureau, Frederic J.
Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C.
Please inclose stamp for reply.
Q. In what part of France was Main
bocher born?—W. H.
A. The designer was not born in
France. He was born in Chicago.
Q. How can pedestrians best avoid
being injured or killed by automobiles?
—B. R.
A. A new handbook of accident sta
tistics suggests four rules: Cross only
at intersections of streets; cross only
with signal (if there are such devices);
face traffic on rural road; never hitch
ride,
Q. Must an employe carry his social
security card at all times?—G. H.
A. This is not a requirement. The
assigned number should be reported to
the employer, who records it. The card
may then be deposited in a safe place.
Q. Did Abraham Lincoln play any
musical instrument?—H. G. M.
A. It is said that Lincoln often car
ried a harmonica in his pocket, on
which he played for relaxation.
Q How did the Bronx get its name?
—O. C. M.
A. The Bronx is so named from the
stream flowing into the East River. Its
name was derived from that of the
first white owner of the adjacent land,
Jonas Bronk.
Q. Has the Yosemite National Park
had a cold Winter?—H. P.
A It has had the coldest Winter since
1906
Q. Where was Eugene O'Neill, the
playwright, when the Nobel prize for
literature was presented to him?—
M. R. S.
A. Mr. O’Neill was in Oakland, Calif.
when the award was made by Swedish
Consul General Carl E. Wallerstedt.
Q. Is the Normandie being remodeled
to make it a faster ship?—H. K.
A. The old propellers have been re
moved and replaced by a new set, each
weighing three tons less than the older
ones. They are adjusted to revolve at
the rate of 200 turns a minute in place
of the former 139 revolutions.
Q. Which of the royal emblems con
tains the great star of Africa which was
cut from the Cullinan diamond?—K. L.
A. The royal scepter contains the
famous jewel, which weighs 516'- carats.
The scepter dates from the time of
Charles II, but the diamond was added
by Edward VII, to whom the Union of
South Africa presented the stone.
Q. What was Louisa Alcott's first
book?—H. M. G.
A. Her flrst volume was ‘ Flower
Fables,” published in 1855.
Q In advertising by mail, what color
paper is found most effective, or does
the color make any difference?—
R. G. V.
A. Experience has indicated that
white paper is the least effective, and
that mail advertising matter printed on
light red. green and yellow paper brines
the greater percentage of replies.
Q. Please give some Information
about William Hogarth.—E. M.
A. William Hogarth, painter, engraver
and pictorial satirist, was born at Lon
don in 1697. He served an apprentice
ship to a silversmith and about 1720
began business for himself, engraving
coats of arms and designing plates for
booksellers. In 1724 he entered the art
school of Sir James Thornhill. He
illustrated Gray’s edition of Butler’s
“Hudibras,” and in 1730 began the paint
ing of the satirical pictures that made
him famous. Among them are “The
Harlot’s Progress.” "A Midnight Modern
Conversation,” "The Distressed Poet"
and “Marriage a la Mode.” He died in
1764.
Q What is the oldest organ in the
world?—M. L. F.
A. It is probably the one which has
been discovered at Aquincum, a former
Roman settlement now a suburb of
Budapest. An attached tablet states
that the instrument was built in 228
AD. Its two wind chambers and 52
pipes have been remedied so that it can
be played as well as ever.
Q. How many bowlers are there in
the United States?—W. R. W.
A. It has been estimated that there
are more than 10,000.000 people in this
country who bowl regularly. The 1936
Bowling Congress had contestants from
387 cities, numbering in excess of 15,000.
Q. What percentage of returned goods
is found in department stores?—C. B.
A. In stores having a large percentage
of charge accounts the returns run as
high as 23 per cent, except in the men's
departments, where the returned mer
chandise is not a serious item, if the
purchases are made by men.
Q. Is there any college organization of
Boy Scouts?—W. H.
A. Alpha Phi Omega is an organiza
tion for college men who are Interested
in Boy Scout activities.
Q. WTiat expedition in the United
States was the first to have a series of
stamps?—H. B.
A. The first exposition in this country
honored with a series of stamps was the
Columbian Exposition of 1893.
Q What is giviaq?—S. C.
A. Giviaq is an Eskimo food consisting
of auks—birds about the size of starlings
—pickled in oil. It is considered a great
delicacy.
A Rhyme at Twilight
By
Gertrude Brooke Hamilton
Cyclonic King.
The ruffian Wind King from his Northern
lair
Sweeps all before him; foliage sere
and brown
Scattered like chaff upon the frosty air
That veils the heavens with a surly r
frown.
Vanquishing all the colors of sundown.
And as the night falls thru the dark
he howls,
Rivaling some wild beast free of a
chain,
Tearing thru all impediment with angry
growls,
Challenging great tree-sentinels—in
vain
Opposing with nude boughs his hurri
cane.
A mighty force, the* Wind King. Who
may dare
To face the whistling onslaught from
i his lair?
r