Evening star. [volume], April 03, 1937, Page A-8, Image 8

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

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THE EVENING STAR
With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
SATURDAY —..April 3, 1937
THEODORE W. NOYES .Editor
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herein are also reserved.
Mr. Collins and the District.
At the outset of his service as chair
man of the Subcommittee on District
Appropriations Representative Collins of
Mississippi promised the District a
“new deal." The passage by the House
yesterday of his bill provides oppor
tunity for an expression of appreciation
over the manner in which Mr. Collins
fulfilled his promise.
The most significant part of the ‘‘new
deal” has been in the attitude of the
chairman and those who shared his
labors on the subcommittee toward the
people of the District. Gone is the
animosity, the spirit which sometimes
approached vindictiveness, which on
past occasions has marked the attitude
of this committee and of many members
of the House toward the District. In
its place there was substituted a spirit
of friendly and helpful interest in local
affairs, a manifest desire to be fair to
the people of the District and an in
telligent effort to propose remedies for
conditions which, in the opinion of the
chairman and his colleagues on the com
mittee, were not conducive to the most
efficient local government.
As shown in the treatment of the
bill by the House yesterday, in which
legislative rider after legislative rider was
thrown out on points of order, there is
strong and overpowering sentiment in
the House against the dangerous resort
to the expedient of legislating on an
appropriation bill. So closely linked were
Borne of the riders to the actual appro
priation of funds that some sections of
the bill were emasculated when the
points of order were sustained, leaving
certain services in the District deprived
of all revenue. These matters will be
adjusted when the bill goes to the Senate.
But because he was defeated in his
attempt to enact extensive legislation
in the appropriation bill, Mr. Collins'
has no reason to feel that he has
Buffered anything like a personal defeat.
The fight over the legislative riders
was on principle alone. The victory rep
resented in throwing them out of the
bill was a victory based on the prin
ciple that legislation for the District
should be handled by the appropriate
committee established for that purpose.
The principle was worth preserving and
Bhould be preserved. But objection was
to the process of legislating, not to the
purpose of the legislation. Although
there was plain disagreement with the
method, nothing was said that reflected
on Mr. Collins’ sincerity of purpose or on
the merits of the proposals which he
sponsored.
Mr. Collins’ proposals for legislation
were based on his own investigations,
prompted by his desire to do as much
for the District as his position as chair
man of the subcommittee would permit.
If he has lost on a principle, he has not
suffered in the estimation of the com
munity. And many parts of the bill
which remained unchanged are so mani
festly beneficial to the District that Mr.
Collins has earned the community’s
gratitude.
The new genius of education is mani
fested by Professor Glenn Prank, who
likes to answer questions instead of
reading them out of a dog-eared and
perfunctory text book.
Legislative Field Broadened
The right of Congress to compel col
lective bargaining in a field in which
it may properly legislate seems assured
by the decision of the Supreme Court
last Monday in the case of the Vir
ginian Railway Company. This de
cision, upholding a section of the Rail
way Labor Act requiring the company
to “treat” with the duly elected repre
sentatives of its employes, may have an
important bearing on the outcome of
five cases attacking validity of the Wag
ner Labor Relations Act, now awaiting
final decision by the high court.
In the railway case the company con
tended the act imposed no “legally en
forcible” obligation upon the carrier to
negotiate with the duly elected repre
sentatives of its employes, and that in
any case the statute imposed no obliga
tion to treat or negotiate which could
be appropriately enforced by a court of
equity. Such enforcement, it was
argued, violated the due process clause
of the fifth amendment.
Refusing to accept this view, the
court’s opinion said:
Even though Congress, in the choice
of means to effect a permissible regula
tion of commerce, must conform to due
process, it is evident that where, as
here, the means chosen are appropriate
to the permissible end, there is little
scope for the operation of the due
process clause.
t Holding, then, that the company
must bargain (though not necessarily
reach an agreement) with the repre
sentatives of the majority of its em
ployes, and could treat otherwise only
with individuals, the court expressed the
additional belief that the obligation
could be enforced by a court of equity
since: “The peaceable settlement of
labor controversies, ^specially where
they may seriously Impair the ability
of an interstate rail carrier to perform
its service to the public, is a matter of
public concern.”
From this language many constitu
tional lawyers believe the court will up
hold the Wagner act in the case of the
Washington-Virginla-Maryland Coach
Company, one of the five controversies
awaiting decision. Tills case, apparently,
is on all fours with that of the railway
company. The other Wagner cases,
particularly the three involving manu
facturing conoems, are expected to turn
on the court’s interpretation of the in
terstate commerce clause, the question
of due process being a secondary point.
But, whatever the ruling in the Wag
ner cases, the decision in the railway
case should be an effective answer to
those Supreme Court critics who con
tend that the justices, by placing too
narrow an interpretation on the due
process clause, have denied Congress the
right to legislate in its proper sphere.
The Textile Conference.
Like the British Empire, the textile
industry is one on which the sun never
sets. Ocular demonstration of that fact
is supplied by the presence in Washington
of the spokesmen of twenty-three coun
tries, in all of which textiles are a vital
factor in the .national industrial struc
ture. To pool expert minds in evolving
improvement for an industry which is
ailing nearly everywhere, the Interna
tional Labor Organization at Geneva
summoned the World Textile Confer
ence which began its sessions yesterday.
Besides the United States, Great
Britain and Japan, the world's leading
textile countries, there are represented
here Belgium, Canada, China, Cuba,
Czechoslovakia, Ecuador, Finland,
France, Guatemala. India, Latvia, Mex
ico, the Netherlands, Poland, Rumania,
Sweden, Turkey, Uruguay and Yugo
slavia. Germany is not an official partici
pant, but has sent a duly credentialed
observer. Altogether, some two hundred
delegates and technical advisers, acting
for governments, private employers or
workers, will devote the next two weeks
to frank and friendly discussion of the
host of thorny problems besetting the
great trade in which they are jointly
interested. The conference is unique in
many respects. It is almost the first
attempt on record to tackle a compli
cated industrial proposition of world
wide ramifications in an unselfish spirit
of mutual benefit. Washington is ap
propriately the scene of such an effort,
for it accords with the foreign policy
to which the United States is now
conspicuously dedicated—namely, reci
procity in trade as the soundest guar
antee of peaceful and profitable interna
tional relations.
The textile industry is afflicted by the
triple evils of overproduction, antiquated
methods and ruthless rivalry. These
conditions are more or less universal.
Conflicting working hours and wage
levels are fundamental issues which
clamor for adjustment and overflow na
tional borders. Production costs, ab
normally low in countries like Japan and
permitting ruinous dumping in markets
with higher labor standards, are mat
ters of pressing concern. During the
post-war depression era, various govern
ments have persistently attempted to
grapple domestically with developments
that have turned textiles into a “sick”
industry, but research by the Interna
tional Labor Organization established
that only international action is capable
of creating reforms of generally equitable
advantage. It is to explore collectively
the full possibilities of the situation that
the World Textile Conference has em
barked upon its meritorious but diffi
cult task. The welfare of millions of
i workers throughout the world and the
economic stability of many lands de
pend to no small extent on conclusions
reached and measures to be urged here.
Washington is proud to be the locale of
so comprehensive and constructive a
venture in the field of industrial states
manship and wishes for it a full measure
of success.
The comments of Senator Joseph Rob
inson on New Deal plans for remodeling
the United States Government bring
into picturesque interest the community
he represents. The pronunciation of
"Arkansas” is usually "Arkansaw”; es
tablished in the annals of legend and
song by “Kit, the Arkansaw traveler,”
whose philosophy of makeshift expedi
ency was told in his declaration that
in sunshine there was no need to mend
his roof and when it rained he could
not do the work. Its old French set
tlers probably ignored the terminal “s”
after the manner of their speech, and
it has been Arkansaw to this day. Sena
tor Robinson will have the thanks of
many for indirectly calling attention
to interesting traditions that are often
overlooked.
Fortieth Birthday.
Celebrating the fortieth anniversary
of its organization, the League of Amer
ican Pen Women merits a word of ap
preciation. It is still young enough to
be vigorous in behalf of cultural prog
ress, yet old enough to understand and
to wish to preserve traditional values in
the arts to which it is particularly de
voted — letters, music, painting and
sculpture.
Mark Twain and numerous other ob
servers of the national scene have
noticed that it is characteristic of
Americans to band together, and the
Pen Women reflect the common impulse
for co-operation. It Is the conviction
of the founders and their followers that
civilization in the New World is a demo
cratic affair. To serve its high objectives
they encourage independent effort, but
they also foster the ideals of fellowship
and mutuality. For such a policy they
find inspiration in the fact that repub
lican institutions have made the popu
lation of the United States the best
read and the most widely informed
public in the world.
During the past four decades women
have exercised a powerful influence
upon the coucm which the arts every
where have traen, and the next four
decades are likely to see that Influence
grow in strength and usefulness. It
would be a vast pity, indeed, if the
present promise were not fulfilled.
Thoughtful citizens, conscious of the
effect of creative intelligence upon
human destiny, are anxious to support
all individuals and groups engaged in
the business of education. Hence the
good will of thousands for the Pen
Women and their contemporary pro
fessional societies of every kind. It is
clear from the record that they already
have been of service to the people, and
the future is largely in their hands.
They have been, they are and they will
be teachers, and in that role they de
serve a sincere salute of gratitude.
While avoiding partisan expression
even in his fun, the late Will Rogers once
sent a telegram to Carter Glass after
one of his heated debates, "You have
nothing on your side but the right.”
Rogers said that he only knew what he
read in the papers, which was enough
to demonstrate to the world the dis
tinct advantages of a free press.
A large Philadelphia publishing house
threatens to move out of Pennsylvania
because of heavy taxes. The observa
tion has often been made that the
people who can best afford to pay taxes
are also best equipped to fight them.
Patriotic demonstrations of American
progress include a tribute to J. Fenimore
Cooper. The spirit of American citizen
ship remains the same, even though it is
a far cry from the old leather stocking
to modern silk hosiery.
The laundry facilities are limited in
Molcow and it may take weeks to have
linen returned. Shirt-sleeve diplomacy
has sometimes been successful, but a
diplomat with no shirt at all is likely to
be at a disadvantage.
The District of Columbia is patient and
patriotic and discusses its rights of
citizenship without rancor though ven
turing to inquire just what it is sup
posed to be getting for its money.
A serious apprehension that American
liberties are being threatened has not
yet gone quite so far as to permit a call
for a committee of volunteers to write a
new Declaration of Independence.
No college professor goes so far into
mathematical formula as to assert that
the W'ay to estimate the value of an
official is to count the number of candles
on his birthday cake.
Shooting Stars.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
The Season’s Melodies.
When of merry Spring you carol,
With the blossoms on the trees,
Always don your thick apparel,
Lest you shiver at the knees.
Though you hear with vast elation
All the melodies afloat,
When you try an imitation
Keep a cough-drop in your throat.
When you hear a robin trilling,
With a spirit wondrous bright,
While the sunshine gay is filling
All the landscape with delight,
Curb the effort to unravel
Outdoor tunes with vernal glee
Till you learn dry-shod to travel
Like a bird from tree to tree.
Comfortable.
“Don't you sometimes regret your lost
opportunities?"
“No,” answered Senator Sorghum. “To
tell you the honest truth, in looking
over my ledger I don’t discover very
many lost opportunities.”
Variability.
“Do you regard poker as a gentleman’s
game?”
“So far as tfiat goes,” replied Cactus
Joe, “it’s like every other game from
politics to penny ante. Whether it's a
gentleman’s game or not depends en
tirely on who happens to be playin’ it.”
The Finish.
He who fights and runs away,
Exhausting all his strength and breath,
May keep on running, so they say,
Until he runs himself to death!
Mathematical Brainstorm.
“Have you any excuse for being be
hind with your income tax return?”
"Biggest excuse possible.”
“Financial incapacity?”
“Worse’n that. Mental incompetence.”
—
Deferential Pretense.
“There is one person worse than the
man who talks about what he doesn’t
understand.”
“Who’s that?”
“The one who listens obsequiously and
pretends he understands every word.”
The Law of Averages.
Every worker will find
That Fate is unkind;
That to mournful extremes she still
bears him.
Man must either be blue
With nothing to do,
Or else have so much that it scares him.
“De man dat says dar ain’t no sech
thing as luck,” said Uncle Eben, “is de
kind of man dat takes credit foh mental
superiority when he ketches de most
Osh.”
Stellar Density.
From the Qrand Island Independent.
It should be apparent, of course, that
an astronomer's contention that stars
vary in density has nothing to do with
the motion picture industry.
A Challenge.
From the Troy (N. Y.) Record.
By manufacturing government rum in
the Virgin Islands, the New Deal dares
Kentucky to go Republican.
J 1 ••• 1 irr
Evolution.
From the FhUadelphia Evening Bulletin.
South Carolina man has a rooster
that tlHiles. The bird must have bean
hatchePtfrom an egg-nog. A
Park Commission’s Concept
Of Nation’s City Beautiful
To the Editor of The Star:
It has been touching to read of the
valiant efforts of horticulturists in the
offices of the National Capital Parks to
save the cherry trees from frost. It is
also interesting to learn that there are
any mere horticulturists left in this de
partment. Prom recent developments
and from the present well-scraped and
barren appearance of our local parks
one would suppose that the various com
missions and committees that control
them at present were entirely in the
hands of blue-print draftsmen and
steam shovel engineers, whose sole con
cern was to pour two feet of asphalt or
concrete where but one was before, and
to whom a tree was something to be
chopped down wherever possible be
cause it stood in the path of this con
ception of progress. Or to be uprooted
and dragged somewhere else in the name
of another “project.”
Fortunately for our much publicized
and photographed cherry trees, these
have acquired a commercial value and
so will be protected—at least until they,
too, are uprooted to make way for the
Jefferson "mausoleum.” which to date is
the crowning achievement of the con
crete and cement operators, offering as it
does the biggest sink hole possible to be
filled up with masonry.
When it is finished I wonder how
many tourists that will attract com
pared to the cherry trees. And I won
der how long it will be before those in
authority learn that other trees as well
as the Japanese cherries have value
as a lure for countless thousands of
annual visitors even if they have none
for their own sakes. As it is, citizens
and citizens’ associations appeal in vain
for a few thousand dollars to replace
their appalling destruction and neglect
all over Washington, at the same time
that millions are being freely appropri
ated for any sort of proposal calling for
concrete and cement construction.
A cynical catch-phrase has become
current, what a pity that horticultural
and nursery interests have not powerful
political connections instead of cement!
How different would be the appearance
of the Nation's Capital today.
Meanwhile we go ahead rapidly killing
the goose that lays the golden egg.
Lafayette Square, for over a century a
sylvan beauty spot, now looks about as
inviting and well-kept as a cow pas
ture. Magnolia trees, literally worth a
thousand dollars apiece, are hacked down
to make another parking lot, garishly
disfigured with red and yellow signs.
'Has the Zoning Commission no control
over these blatant effronts to good taste
in otherwise still good residential areas?;
And when Washington has come to
look just about like every other second
or third rate commercially degraded
American city it will cease to be a
mecca for leisure class visitors and resi
dents, who will take themselves and
their pocketbooks to more inviting
scenes.
For automobile storage lots, hot dog
stands and filling stations, surrounded
by unkempt streets with ragged remains
of untended trees, do not make a beau
tiful or attractive city.
Neither do twenty-five million dollars’
worth of “petrified pillars,” marble
mausoleums and speedways through bar
ren parks, whether perpetrated in the
name of the McMillan plan, the L’En
fant plan or any other specious justifica
tion.
MRS. CHARLES EDWARD RUSSELL.
High Cost to Depositors of
Small Checking Accounts
To the Editor of The Star:
I should like to call attention to the
high cost of small checking accounts.
Just as a newspaper sells at a price
within the reach of everybody and thus
is an instrument of great public serv
ice, so a bank can reach into wider
channels of service and usefulness by
making its charges so reasonable that
even the hod carrier can experience
that feeling of bloated importance
which accompanies the carrying of a
check book in his coat pocket. True,
no one can afford to do business at a
loss, but the experience of Henry Ford
and others shows that reduction in
price does not of necessity mean dim
inished profits.
At present one who keeps an average
monthly balance of $100 is allowed ten
items at a charge of $1. These items
include check deposits and check with
drawals. Since the majority of salary
and wage earners are paid twice a
month and have two check deposits to
make, it follows that for the $1 charge
eight checks can be drawn. This makes
the average cost of a check 12'a cents,
whether the check is for $1 or more.
If you include, as you properly may,
the loss of interest on the deposit, it
becomes evident that the cost of each
check for the small depositor is con
siderably greater than 12'a cents, and
therefore even more than the cost of a
money order.
Yes. a depositor having over $100 aver
age balance is allowed eight items free,
but how many of the wage and salary
earners I have in mind can keep such a
balance? It seems to me that some
such plan as 5 cents for each check
would be as reasonable as It would be
far-sighted and public-spirited.
HERMAN FELTER.
Tragedy Demonstrates Meed
Of Schools for Mothers
To the Editor of The Star:
Might I, as one who has the welfare
of all children at heart, express myself
in your valuable column for all parents
to see?
I speak of the terrible tragedy that
came to the parents of a little one who
was killed by another little one. God
help him—the fault was not his.
What are we as parents thinking of
when we allow children to have fire
arms—evey toy firearms? Question
yourselves how long will toy firearms
satisfy these children whose hand is
continually on the trigger of a gun in
their play hours, and “stick ’em up” is
heard from little ones as you walk on
the street or sit in your car, and when
a mother knows and condones the fact
that her son has them in quantities at
his disposal that seems beyond all com
prehension?
It fills one with horror to know what
the outcome will be.
Surely we have come to the time when
we need not only schools for children,
but schools for parents—especially
schools for mothers.
MARY E. CLARK.
Hard on Husbands.
From the Sioux City Tribune.
Now they’re proposing to legislate
against the married woman workers, so
It appears some husbands may have to
go to work.
Passings.
From the Grand Island Independent.
“Where Is the old-fashioned family
doctor?” asks a writer. He probably
passed out with the old-fashioned family.
The Ultimate.
From the Cleveland News.
What we’re really waiting totAs a sit
down strike In a tack factory. n
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
Duty, as outlined for grand occasions
in Conrad’s “Lord Jim,” is one thing.
Duty, as demanded daily in innumer
able small tasks, is another.
For every person confronted by the
first sort of duty, duty which assumes
the proportions of the grand, there will
be a million plain persons confronted by
the unheroic daily duty.
It may be nothing more than the ne
cessity of feeding the goldfish, but It is
a duty, and one which in time grows dis
agreeable.
It is the inevitable quality ol the
daily duty, whatever it is, which becomes
distasteful.
This inevitableness is what makes it
duty, perhaps.
There is a prior shrinking, in many
cases, occasioned every time one thinks
about the necessity. Here we are not
dealing with heroics, but with very un
heroic, but very necessary deeds, such
as washing dishes, and making the dally
trip downtown, and the like.
These tasks apply to men and women,
and are no more heroic than an old
shoe, and yet the daily life of mankind
is bound up in them.
Few disservices are greater than that
of plays, stories and other portrayals,
in their covert insinuation that every
life must contain some of the grander
heroics.
It is not true—but we all like to think
it is. What it does against happiness Is
simply this, that it tends to make us
thinkThe prosaic uninteresting.
* * * *
It is interest, then, that lies at the nub
of it all.
We are supposed to find duty delight
ful if it is interesting, but rather bore
some if it is not.
We must be "thrilled,” else we will not
play.
Well, candidly, the thing to do, then,
is it not, is to make everything interest
ing, as we go along?
Most persons do not even try.
Here is a splendid opportunity for the
least conspicuous of us to assert our
selves in a very heroic way, by making
intelligence play a real role in the every
day life.
But do we do it?
Most, unfortunately, never think to
do so. They go out of their way to be
moan the fact, as they like- to call it,
that their lives contain absolutely noth
ing of the romantic, the unusual, the
colorful, the interesting.
If we seek the crux of the whole mat
ter, perhaps it lies in the need for the
repetition of a daily task. This is the
feature we do not care for, the part that
puts it in the light of work, and nothing
else.
A thousand and one small deeds lorm
part of the daily life. Each one of tnese,
as worked out over the centuries, has its
part to play. At one extreme is the
mountaineer boy. who, watching the city
guest make his toilet, finally said, "Yer
a lot o’ trouble to yerself, ain't you,
mister?"
One does not have to be in that cate
gory to manifest exactly the same atti
tude. It is here that the conscious use
of mentality comes in. One person
shrinks from suffering and death, as in
deed any one might, and so thinks a way
around the twin debacles of life.
* * * *
In the everyday, in regard to all the
lesser duties that go to make it up, it is
possible to think successfully a ray
around the debacle of lack of interest.
This lack must be caught red-handed,
as it were, and labeled for what it is,
once and ior all.
It is easy for any one to tell himself
or herself that a certain task, which is
found distasteful, is very useful, after all,
even absolutely necessary, completely
essential.
Utility is one of the great hallmarks of
beauty and interest.
Our very furniture is beautiful as it is
useful. Attempts to divorce utility and
beauty seldom succeed. It has been
tried, with what results a survey of cer
tain “periods” shows.
The true beauty in all house furnish
ings lies close to the core of daily use.
That is why we get an uneasy feeling
in visiting some of these display places,
where there is no radio to be seen, no
books, no knitting on the living room
table.
Everything is ordered, just so-so. with
out the human side being permitted to
lift its head.
Very beautiful, we say, but rather
cold
As a matter of fact, such a place is not
even beautiful. It is, at bottom, essen
tially ugly, because it is not based on the
good human usage which has been
worked out over the ages, from the days
when the cave men and women started
to make real homes out of their dens.
* * * *
The utility of a thing, properly real
ized, is one of its true beauties, but by
no means the only beauty.
It also is the heart of interest, for
as long as there is a mind, in mankind,
it will thrill to interest based on beauty,
which is utility.
When this small thrill of the every
day is missed out of a life, one ought to
think, "What is the matter with me?”
and not "What is the matter with some
one else,” or something else.
A little-realized and seldom-spoken-of
fault of human character—there are
many of these, alas, and most of them
more picturesque—is the failure to think
at the time thinking is necessary.
When we are unhappy, disgruntled
with life, we normally are makihg
speeches, either to ourself or some one
else, mentally, or seeing pictures of our
selves in unhappy positions.
WThat we need is a change of mental
habits, not in theory, but actually, and
at the very time they are needed.
One of the best of all times is when we
catch ourself being uninterested in
something or other which once we found
highly interesting.
Feeding the goldfish, for instance. A
homely and little enough instance, truly,
but a good one. for it puts the whole
problem in the proverbial nutshell,
which in this case happens to be the
human brain.
By taking thought, we may do a great
many interesting, picturesque things,
and many unhappy, uninteresting things.
Let the small, oft-repeated duty be
what it may, it once was interesting, and
still may be. if we think it so. keeping in
mind its necessity, its sheer utility in
the daily program.
No heroics, or mock heroics, here, but
just plain duty, and what at times seems
menial duty, but which, seen in the light
of reason, keeps pace with that best of
heroes, one's precious self.
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,'
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS R. HENRY.
The strange biological phenomenon of
merokinesis, unique in nature with one
family of tiny insects, has just been re
ported to the National Academy of
Sciences here by Dr. Kenneth W. Cooper,
Columbia University zoologist.
These little creatures are fathers and
mothers before they are born. They
constitute a species of mites infesting
grass on Long Island. They belong to
a family which, almost alone among
insects, gives birth to living young.
Nearly all insects, as are well known, are
egg layers. The eggs, usually deposited
in enormous numbers, hatch outside the
body of the mother. Then the indi
viduals go through a series of meta
morphoses—nymph, larva and the like—
before reaching their own reproductive
maturity.
These grass mites, however, are born
fully adult, animals. A sack on the body
of the female mite swells until it is
about 500 times the original body size.
It is filled with eggs and a nutritive
fluid. Within this sack the eggs hatch
and the new generation passes through
all the ordinary stages of insect meta
morphosis.
Finally, when they are fully mature,
the mother dies, the sack breaks, and
the host of new mites emerges.
This process itself is unique in animal
reproduction. The Long Island mite,
however, goes one step beyond. •
It was long thought tnat the mites
were striking examples in the insect
world of the phenomenon of partheno
genesis. or sexual reproduction. Females
isolated as soon as they were born gave
birth to hosts of young.
Now parthenogenesis is rather widely
distributed among the lower animals.
Invariably, except in this one case, all
the offsprings are of one sex, either all
male or all female. The supposedly
virgin birth families of the mites con
tained members of both sexes in various
proportions.
It occurred to Dr. Cooper to watch
their behavior just before birth through
the almost transparent walls of the
maternal sack. He found that the en
tire process of mating takes place before
the brood emerges and that the females
are born on the verge of motherhood.
Two dominant “life lines” of the plant
world are reported as a result of experi
ments on photosynthesis in the division
of radiation and organisms of the
Smithsonian Institution.
Growth of plants, upon which all other
life ultimately depends, requires the
absorption and assimilation of carbon
dioxide from the air under the Influence
of light. This is the basic physiochem
ical reaction of all life.
Now this assimilation takes place
throughout the entire range of visible
light from the deep red to the violet,
but at slightly different rates, depending
on the strength of different wave lengths
in the illumination to which the plant
is exposed.
By use of the Christiansen filter, an
instrument which makes possible this
illumination with very narrow bands of
wave lengths, W. H. Hoover of the
Smithsonian staff has studied the effects
on photosynthesis of the constituent
wave lengths of the entire visible spec
trum.
He finds that there are two points
where the effect of illumination is great
est. One is in the deep red, centering
around the spectrum line produced by a
wave length of about 6,550 Angstrom
units, and the other in the blue center
ing around the spectrftm line of 4,400
Angstrom units. An Ajjgstrom unit is a
billionth of a millimeter and Is the unit
most convenient to use in measuring the
wave length of light.
Green light, Mr. Hoover found, is
rather poor in its efficiency as an agent
of photosynthesis. This was to have
been expected, since the carbon dioxide
assimilation requires the absorption of
the light by the molecules of the green
coloring matter of the leaves, chlorophyll.
Most of the green light is reflected by
the green leaves, which is why they ap
pear green to the eye. Little of it is
absorbed.
Mr. Hoover found that the photosyn
thesis effect begins at the very limit of
the visible red, just as it verges into the
invisible infra-red. On the other end
of the spectrum, however, a slight effect
is found just over the limits of the ultra
violet which is invisible to the human
eye.
As a result of the experiments the
6.550 and the 4.400 Angstrom unit lines
of light appear to be the dominating
factors in the basis phenomenon of life.
Automatic Speed Control
Essential to Traffic Safety
To the Editor of The Star:
Apropos my previous letter on speed
—a universal, radical and compulsory
reduction in the maximum authorized
speed limit to 30 miles per hour for all
motor-propelled highway vehicles in the
United States by equipping them with
adequate speed governors, so arranged
that it would be impossiEle to even
coast downhill faster than the pre
scribed rate of speed, will result in the
saving of thousands of lives and per
sonal injuries every year, not to men
tion the saving of thousands of dollars’
worth of property damage, thousands of
productive man-hours, untold sorrow
and grief, and also the material lessening
of the burden of thousands of police
officers in so far as traffic is concerned
and permit them to devote considerably
more time to other important duties.
ERNEST J. KENDRICK.
■ ■ ■-■■■> *
Waddy B. Wood Corrected
On A. I. A. Membership
To the Editor of The Star:
Mr. Waddy B. Wood recently In your
columns made the statement that the
majority of reputable architects are
members of the A. I. A. It is perhaps
true that the majority of A. I. A. mem
bers are reputable, but it is by no means
true that the majority of reputable
architects are members of the A. I. A.
As a matter of fact, the institute repre
sents only a very small minority of the
architects of the country.
As to the rest of Mr. Wood's letter,
I agree that there should be no criticism
of “official” architecture. De mortuis
nil nisi bonum.
HENRY S. CHURCHILL, A. I. A.
One Worry After Another.
From the Ann Arbor New*.
Well, the worry over the task of mak
ing out the income tax returns is over
at last, and now all we have to think
about is a place for borrowing the money
to make the payments.
Parsnips.
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
If, as the Vegetable Growers’ Confer
ence here was told, eating turnips gives
one tact, aiyl broccoli adds luster to the
eyes, what i^ould parsnips do?
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. When was the totalizator on which
pari-mutuel bets at race tracks are re
corded invented?—H. T. Y.
A. The totalizator was developed about
30 years ago by Sir George Julius in
Australia, but was originally designed
to show election returns or how votes
were being recorded. It was decided,
however, that that would be illegal un
der the Australian secret ballot law, so
the machine was never used for such a
purpose. It was turned over to the
Australian Jockey Club, and was first
used at the Auckland, New Zealand,
races in 1913. Later Henry I,. Straus of
Baltimore improved upon the machine,
developing the ticket printing and is
suing machine now used at 15 tracks, in
cluding Pimlico, Arlington Park, Narra
gansett Park, Keeneland and Santa
Anita.
Q. How many are employed in editorial
work on newspapers?—C. R.
A. Approximately 26,000 men and
women are employed in editorial capac
ities by the 2,000 daily newspapers of
the United States.
Q. What is the regulation size of a
golf ball?—W. C.
A. The ball shall not be less than 1.68
inches in diameter, and its weight shall
not be more than 1.62 ounces avoir
dupois.
Q Who executed the monument to
peace in the form of an Indian In the
City Hall at St. Paul?—W. H.
A. The war memorial statue of an
Indian god of peace is the work of Carl
Milles.
Q. Please give the date of the Bach
Festival at Bethlehem. Pa — G. J.
A. The Bach Choir will present its
thirtieth festival May 28 and 29 in the
Packer Memorial Chapel of Lehigh Uni
versity at Bethlehem, Pa.
Q. What is meant by "the wide
people”?—J. B. C.
A. It is an expression used in the un
derworld of London to indicate the deni
zens of that world.
Q. What is the name of the mountain
peak in Colorado where Drs. Joyce B.
Stearns and Fred D'Amour went last
year to study the cosmic ray?—E. R.
A. In 1936 they established a small
two-room copper-sheathed shelter on
Mount Evans, about 50 miles west of
Denver, Colo., for the purpose of study
ing cosmic rays. The worK has not pro
gressed to the extent that any important
announcement can be made as yet.
Q. How is the irregular thread in
Shantung and pongee produced?—D. K.
A. This is the natural silk of wild or
imperfect cocoons.
Q. How does motion picture attend
ance now compare with that of 1922?
—H. W.
A. In 1922 the average weekly attend
ance was 40.000.000, while in 1936 it was
88.000.000.
Q. What is the Girls' Friendly So
ciety?—W. B. D.
A. It is a national organization for
girls of all ages, races and creeds, spon
sored by the Episcopal Church. It pro
vides opportunities for character growth
and friendship, through a program of
recreation, worship, work and service for
others, adapted to community, parish
and group needs.
Q. How long did it take Magellan to
go around the world?—C. C.
A. He started in 1519 and took . 9.’
days to circumnavigate the globe.
Q. What was the date of the death
of President Roosevelt's bodvguard?
—H. W.
A. August A. Gennerich died of a
heart attack on December 1, 1936, in
Buenos Aires.
Q. What proportion of the people in
the American colonies remained faithful
to the King?—T. L.
A. Probably one-third of the colonists
opposed armed resistance. These were
called Tories or Loyalists.
Q. How many firemen are there in
New York City?—H. R. M.
A. The New York City uniformed fire
department consists of 6.802 men.
Q. What makes a bee hum?—P. C.
A. The sound is made by the rapid
vibration of the bee's wings.
Q. Does the weight of paper currency
vary?—E. T.
A. It varies as much as 5 per cent.
The blank paper varies slightly. New
plates carry more ink than worn plates.
The moisture content, too, varies with
the condition of the atmosphere.
Q. Is Gipsy Smith still living?—N. C.
A. Gipsy Smith, the original evangelist,
is still living. He is 76 years of age. In
June, 1936, he was honored in London
on the sixtieth anniversary of the begin
ning of his evangelistic work.
Q. Could horse meat be marketed un
der some other name in the United
States?—J. B.
A. According to the pure food and
drug laws, foods must be marketed un
der their true names. Therefore, if
horse meat were offered for human con
sumption it would have to be under
that name.
Q. How did the magnolia get its
name?—S. L.
A. It was named for Pierre Magnol, a
French botanist.
Q. How many blind people are there
in the world?—H. L.
A. The number is estimated at 6,000,000.
Q. When a new State was added to the
Union, when was the flag changed?
—I. R.
A. The new star was added on the
4th of July following the admission of
the State.
A Rhyme at Twilight
By
Gertrude Brooke Hamilton.
Pussy Willow.
Pussies so silky and soft and gray,
As you drop your spiky willow
I‘d like to gather you up one day
To make me a pussy pillow.
Not a cushion of down but of your
smooth fur
Would woo me to happy sleeping,
To dreams of a pussy's tranquil purr,
Of soft wind thru willows sweeping;
Of emerald grasses wet with dew,
Of gently plashing billow—
All -this you’d give to sleep; for yon.
Ar^ Spring’s dream. Pussy Willow.
I