Evening star. [volume], April 06, 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.
TUESDAY_____-.April 6, 1937
THEODORE W. NOYES..Editor
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Army Day.
Once again—this time on the twen
tieth anniversary of the United States’
entry into the World War—the Nation
celebrates Army day. It has become a
commendable and appropriate annual
occasion on April 6 not only to pay grate- ’
ful tribute to the Army’s deeds in war,
but also to recall the important and in
dispensable service which the land estab
lishment renders in times of peace. The
world at large, as well as the American
people, has long recognized that the
maintenance by the United States of the
smallest regular force kept under arms
by any first-class power represents a
purely defensive policy, which menaces
no other country and which in no sense
is based on ‘’militarism” or aggressive
purpose.
Americans themselves, not to mention
other peoples, are less familiar with
the work done by the United States
Army, which has no connection what
ever with war or military duty. It is
to the Army's peace activities of recent
memory that President Roosevelt calls
timely attention in a letter to the
Military Order of the World War, which
founded Army day in 1928 and sponsors
its annual commemoration. “We have
seen large sections of our country in
undated by disastrous flood waters of
the Ohio, the Mississippi and some of
their tributaries,” the President writes.
“Thousands of lives were endangered
and hundreds of thousands of our people
were forced to flee from their homes.
In this emergency the country was
fortunate in having trained soldiers to
render immediate aid to stricken com
munities. * * * The Army performed in
Its usual prompt and efficient manner.
* * * The Nation has formed the habit
of looking to the Army for protection in
emergencies of peace, as well as in time
of war.”
The keynote of Army day is “peace by
preparedness.” The United States
Army’s fundamental function is to
serve both as a bulwark of defense
against invasion and as the nucleus of
a force capable of large-scale war opera
tions, should these be suddenly neces
sitated, as they were by the grave
emergency which impelled Woodrow
Wilson to call the Nation to arms "with
out stint” twenty years ago. Congress
is nowadays properly accustomed to
deal adequately with the War Depart
ment's needs. It discerns in them no
purpose unworthy of our peace-loving
people, inasmuch as they are exclusively
the expression of the common sense
policy of keeping Uncle Sam’s sword
sharp, his powder dry and his wings
poised for contingencies that might,
.without warning or on short notice, once
more overtake the Republic. In both
blood and treasure, the American people
paid dearly in 1917-18 for military un
preparedness. * It is not their desire or
intention ever again to be caught as
fatally unready as they were on that
tragic occasion.
Fears that a ship canal would damage
land devoted to fruit culture will look
to some political-minded observers as
merely an effort to make more trouble
for Secretary of Agriculture Wallace.
Federal Building Needs.
Upon the completion of the new In
terior Department building a general
shift of bureaus and branches is about
to take place which, it is estimated, will
save the Government some $180,000 in
annual rentals. The space provided by
the new structure will be entirely oc
cupied by these transfers and various
bureaus which have hitherto been
housed in leased quarters will be under
Government-owned roofs, some of them
for the first time. Branches of six dif
ferent departments will get additional
space as a result of these shifts.
The problem of Government housing,
however, is not solved by this new ac
cession of quarters. Much remains to
be done to give the Federal administra
tion suitable accommodations in properly
located buildings. Two of the major
departments are still in so-called tem
porary quarters, built during the war
for that emergency. These are the War
and Navy Departments, the housing of
which is inadequate and inconvenient.
Plans have been tentatively adopted for
the construction of permanent struc
tures within the area lying north of
Constitution avenue and south of F
street.
In the shift of offices incident to the
completion and occupation of the new
Interior Department structure, the Social
Security Board will occupy a former
apartment house which has been here
tofore occupied by the housing division
of the Public Works Administration.
But this a'ccommodation will not suffice
for that large and growing unit of the
Government service and a building espe
cially planned and constructed for its
use is urgently required. At present a
considerable fraction of the work of this
board is being done In rented quarters
in Baltimore, with consequent incon
venience. No time should be lost in
planning and appropriating for a spe
cific permanent home for this branch,
which is in all likelihood of a permanent
character.
Despite the tentative adoption of plans,
no definite move has been made toward
the construction of a building to house
the office of the controller general.
Various sites have been proposed with
out decision. That is one of the urgent
needs of the Government today. Like
wise, a definite move should be made
toward the provision of a proper hous
ing for the Department of State, plans
for which were long ago adopted on a
site to the north of the present structure,
with the idea that the vacated building
should be transformed into an executive
office to accommodate the largely in
creased personnel of the President’s
staff and perhaps certain bureaus not
now definitely allocated to any of the
departments.
Delay in this matter of building con
struction is not an economy. It is, on
the contrary, an extravagance. The costs
of sites and of construction are not
likely to be lessened by postponement.
Differences of opinion as to locations
and grouping will not be easily recon
ciled by postponement. Rather is the
cost of a comprehensive building pro
gram likely to be increased in view of
the tendency toward higher wage scales
and the natural increment of cost in the
acquisition of sites as now available
spaces are taken within the areas nat
urally prescribed in Capital planning.
The saving of $180,000 a year in rentals
is but a small item in comparison with
the economies that would result from
a comprehensive and immediately under
taken series of constructions. The sub
ject has been examined, discussed,
studied for so long that a decision on
all of these controverted points in respect
to sites and architectural styles should
not be difficult or protracted. The surest
economy lies in the prompt undertaking
of this necessary task.
Reviving Minimum Wages.
Decision of the Commissioners to re
vive the minimum wage law for the Dis
trict without awaiting the formality of
re-enactment is based on carefully con
sidered legal advice, as the President’s
message to Congress shows. It is to be
hoped that there will be no question
over the Attorney General’s opinion, for
when this law begins its operation again,
after lying dead for fourteen years,
further tests of its legality would be most
pnfortunate and every means should be
taken to prevent them.
But the President’s suggestion to the
Commissioners that they delay appoint
ment of the Minimum Wage Board, at
least until May, is a good one. As he
points out in his letter, many develop
ments have taken place in the States
during the fourteen years that the law
lay dormant here. These developments
in the States should be given careful
consideration to determine the nature
of improvements that might be made,
through amendment, of the District
statute. And if these amendments are
shown through study to be desirable, it
is difficult to understand why all doubt
as to validity of resurrection without
new enactment should not be resolved
in favor of placing an entirely new
statute on the books.
Little is to be gained now by hasty
amendment of the old statute. New
York's minimum-wage lawT, also revived,
in effect, by the Supreme Court's deci
sion last week, will be re-enacted. Al
though the identical questions involved
here may not apply in the case of the
New York statute, Governor Lehman is
taking no chances and will have the
Legislature pass on the law again. Sev
eral other States are taking the same
course, thus removing all doubt as to
the legal status of the new laws. ,
Even if the Commissioners revive the
old law and add to it the amendments
which experience may suggest, a defi
ciency appropriation will be necessary.
That also will take time. The oppor
tunity seems to be presented for careful
drafting of the most efficient law obtain
able for the District, drawing on the
experience of the States, and pressing for
its early enactment by Congress. There
is no reason to suspect that Congress
would unduly delay such enactment, and
that process seems to promise more than
the revival of an old law, with some
amendments, that was enacted almost
twenty years ago.
A declaration attributed to Postmaster
General Farley that a decision in favor
of disorganizing the United States Gov
ernment so far as the judiciary is con
cerned is the brief and comprehensive
comment, “It is in the bag.” A growing
demand for 'explicit candor may arouse
inquiry, “Which bag?—grab bag, carpet
bag or rag bag?”
Clarification Necessary.
Senator Walsh asked Senator Byrnes
If the Senate’s defeat of the sit-down
amendment to the coal bill would not
be construed by the country as showing
"the indifference of the Senate” on the
question of sit-downs. "There is no doubt
about it,” said Senator Byrnes. But
indifference is hardly the word for it.
The Senators voting in opposition to
the expression of policy against the sit
down were doubtless inspired by a va
riety of motives. But indifference cannot
be attributed to them. They were, in
fact, zealous in their attention to the
amendment. Senator Byrnes had put
them on the spot. It was hard to get off
gracefully.
Principal reasons given by the admin
istration forces for defeating the Byrnes
amendment were that the declaration of
policy against sit-down strikes had no
business in the coal bill and that if
there was to be condemnation of the
sit-down it should be accompanied by
equal condemnation of the tactics of law
less or law-evading employers. Un
spoken by the Senators in debate, but
apparently in their minds, was the fact
that a bill containing condemnation of
the sit-down would have to receive the
signature of the President. And that,
the reasoning seemed to be, would in
volve the President in something he
manifestly wishes to let alone.
Whatever may be the country’s in
terpretation of the Senate’s refusal to
condemn sit-down strikes, it is to be
hoped that the people will not regard
a refusal to condemn as a willingness to
condone. That interpretation could best
be avoided by Senate consideration and
adoption of one of the joint resolutions
which were presented as substitutes for
the Byrnes amendment, standing on
their own legs and inviting separate con
sideration. Defeat of the Byrnes amend
ment makes an expression of sentiment
highly desirable in the interest of clear
understanding of the issue drawn by the
sit-down strike.
--> «
When osculation is in order, Senator
Robert Reynolds of North Carolina does
not wait for some lady to step from the
throng and convey an impulsive salu
tation such as may under some circum
stance wreck the popularity of a hero.
Senator Reynolds selects his Hollywood
beauty, leads her with ceremony to the
camera and bends his head in courageous
chivalry, regardless of a revelation to
the world of the bald spot on the top
of his head or the wrinkles in the back
of his neck. Senator Reynolds knows
how to preserve a high sense of political
duty without entirely sacrificing the joy
of living.
*
There has been a great deal of social
attention bestowed upon Dickens, with
Tiny Tim as an outstanding figure in the
picture of benevolence triumphant. Ad
miration for Dickens cannot prevent
remembrance of the keen social analysis
of Thackeray with the reminder that
for every Tiny Tim there may be dozens
of Becky Sharps.
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is often recalled
in connection with American history.
The effort to take charge of the Supreme
Court’s legal duties may associate the
Attorney General with the character of
the intrusive personage who reiterated
with serio-comic effect, “I'm a lawyer
and my name is Marks—have a card!”
Perhaps it is a little too much to ask
President Roosevelt to step forward and
assume responsibility for labor conten
tions in which Messrs. Green and Lewis
find themselves at cross purposes.
Uncle Sam is coldly reminded that an
armistice is a suspension of hostilities
and that a war to end war may result
in no more than a “breathing spell.”
It is not customary to expect a labor
leader to sacrifice his salary at any
stage of the proceedings. He might sit
down on the job.
Of all dictators, Mussolini is un
deniably the most picturesque. What
ever emergency arises, Italy never loses
a true sense of artistry.
Shooting Stars.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
A Lofty Attitude.
If I were a weather man
I'd look into the sky
And prophesy a pleasant plan
Of climate by and by.
I'd always talk of skies so blue
And southern zephyrs wandering through
The lands where biting blizzards blew
And made the snowflakes fly.
If I were a weather man
I'd call for extra steam
And from a studio window scan
The landscape's frosty gleam.
The wild and elemental strife
With which this world of ours is rife
I would ignore and make this life
An optimistic dream.
Simplification.
"Are you still explaining economic
conditions to your constituents?”
“No,” answered Senator Sorghum,
“we have done better than that. We
have brought economic conditions into
the open so that citizens can examine
them for themselves.”
Source of Pleasure.
“Bliggins entertains a good opinion of
himself.”
“No,” replied Miss Cayenne, “his good
opinion of himself entertains Mr.
Bliggins.”
All Together.
We are worryin’ all together,
And it’s most about the way
We can manage through the weather
In a passing cloudy day,
But we’re in agreement standing,
High and low, all down the line,
With good coascience still commanding,
And the company is fine.
Jud Tunkins says that patriotism is
to some extent the art of knowing when
to get out and give three cheers and
when to sit quiet and listen.
“Pride which seeks to deserve respon
sibility,” said Hi Ho, the sage of China
town, “is helpful, but that which seeks
admiration is destructive.”
One-Way Traffic.
We will not sorrow for the past,
Nor view the future days with dread.
The seasons change with action fast.
This world of ours must go ahead.
The skies are blue or overcast,
Each mood in turn has quickly fled.
Through sunshine warm or wintry blast,
The world has got to go ahead.
“In order to tell de exack truth all
de time,” said Uncle Eben, “a man ’ud
have to be terrible hard-hearted.”
Ping-Pong Preferred.
From the Lowell Leader.
Ping-pong, it is reported, serves to
keep Clyde Beatty, the lion tamer, in
training. And personally we have no
hesitation in admitting our preference
for the less dangerous form of exercise.
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.
The Senate by a vote of 48 to 36 has
turned down the Byrnes amendment to
the Guffey coal bill, declaring sit-down
strikes illegal and contrary to sound
public policy. On the face of the vote,
the United States Senate has upheld
the legality of the sit-down strike—and
that is the way the vote will be con
strued in some quarters. It is true that
a number of Senators who voted against
the Byrnes amendment prefaced their
votes with statements that they were not
upholding the sit-down strike. They
gave as their excuse for so voting that
they wished the question of the sit
down strike to be considered apart from
the Guffey coal bill.
* * * *
The defeat of the Byrnes amendment
was a victory for the administration
leaders in the Senate, who rallied to the
call of Majority Leader Robinson. And
there you are! Senator Pittman of
Nevada introduced a separate “concur
rent” resolution before the vote on the
Byrnes amendment, declaring it the
sense of Congress that the sit-down
strike is illegal, and coupling with it a
denunciation of the use of spy systems
on the part of employers. There is also
included in the resolution that Congress
was speaking only of strikes to industries
over which the Federal Government has
some jurisdiction—presumably those en
gaged strictly in interstate commerce.
This leaves out almost all of the in
dustries in the United States.
Tk * Jr -k
Those Senators who insist that there
should be action by the Senate and the
House condemning sit-down strikes as
illegal hope to get the Pittman resolu
tion up for consideration on Wednesday,
or some other similar resolutionv The
Senate is not sitting today. The' Pitt
man resolution, being a concurrent reso
lution, will require action also by the
House if it is to be finally disposed of.
It does not require the signature of
President Roosevelt. If the Byrnes pro
posal. denouncing the sit-down strike,
had been included in the Guffey coal
bill, the President would have had to
sign or veto the measure, or else to allow
the measure to become a law without his
signature. In any event, he would have
been placed on record as for or against
the sit-down strike. The President has
consistently declined to discuss the sit
down strike up to this time.
The Senate vote on the Byrnes amend
ment was preceded by several days’ de
bate in which the sit-down strike was
denounced in vehement terms by some
of the Senators, among them Johnson of
California, Bailey of North Carolina and
Byrnes of South Carolina. The burden
of the opposition was largely to the
effect that the sit-down strike question
should be considered separately. Few
expressions were made that would lead
to the opinion that sit-down strikes
were legal or should be condoned. It
was clearly developed in the debate, by
Senator Byrnes and by Senator Walsh of
Massachusetts, that a vote for the
amendment wmuld be influential in halt
ing new sit-down strikes, and that a
vote against the amendment would be
construed as meaning that the Senate
was indifferent.
* * * *
In addition to the resolution by Sena
tor Pittman of Nevada, two other resolu
tions attacking the sit-down strike were
offered, one by Senator King of Utah
and another by Senator Davis of Penn
sylvania. When the question comes up
for debate in the Senate, these resolu
tions, as well as the Pittman resolution,
will be considered, and the whole ques
tion will be open to discussion and the
Pittman resolution to amendment. What
will happen remains to be seen. The
administration has demonstrated its
strength—in the defeat of the Byrnes
amendment. It determined that the
amendment should not go through the
Senate and be attached to the Guffey
coal bill. With three or four days in
which to work, it succeeded in heading
off the amendment. What would be the
fate of any other declaration against
the sit-down strike—if the administra
tion should determine to kill that off,
too, remains in more doubt since the
vote on the Byrnes amendment. Of
course, the administration may not
undertake to head off a new proposal,
independent of the Guffey coal bill.
That, too. will have to be developed.
In view of the success of the admin
istration forces in the Senate in their
attack on the Byrnes amendment, there
was speculation today as to what may
be the fate of the Dies resolution call
ing for an investigation of the sit-down
strikes by a special committee of the
House. The resolution has been reported
favorably to the House by the Rules
Committee. It was fought, however, by
administration leaders at that end of the
Capitol. It has been expected that the
House would have the resolution before
it on Thursday and that it would be
adopted.
President Roosevelt’s recent assertion
that the Government planned to stop
buying “durable goods” on a large scale
—because the industries which manu
facture or produce such goods have
shoved the prices high—came as some
thing of a shock to a number of people.
It was only recently that Senator Wag
ner of New York introduced his Federal
housing bill, under which a four-year
program is planned for the construction
of low-priced housing for persons un
able to build for themselves. If the
Federal Government is not to encourage
the purchase of the durable materials
needed for such construction, it would
appear that the program would remain
in abeyance for some time at least, even
if the'bill is passed. Under a program
that avoids as much as possible the
purchase of durable goods, public works
projects do not seem likely to be a part
of the Government’s immediate future
planning.
The President mentioned the steel
and copper industries, pointing out that
the increases in prices for these materials
seemed to give very large profits; that
copper was selling for 17 cents a pound
when it could be produced profitably for
from 6 cents to 11 cents, and that the
increases in the prices of steel were two
or three times as great as the increases
in wages which have been announced
for steel workers. It looks as thcrugh the
administration was attempting to put on
the brakes, to keep prices from sky
rocketing and to avoid possible inflation.
Indeed, it is rumored that the admin
istration has other steps in mind to
keep the situation, so far as inflation
is concerned, well in hand.
At the same time the President was
declaring the policy of the administra
tion toward durable goods, he advanced
the idea that money should go in greater
quantity into “consumer goods.” If the
flow of money goes in that direction,
sooner or later, the prices of consumer
goods also may be expected to increase.
Already, it may be mentioned, the
prices of food are ranging upward.
* * * ♦
One way in which inflation may be
halted is through balancing the Govern
ment budget, and this can be brought
about only through reducing expendi
tures and increasing receipts. Govern
ment retrenchment has not yet come
to the fore. Nor have new taxee been
e
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
Guy de Maupassant had a great long
ing for sunshine. He needed it, poor
fellow.
The brighter and hotter the sun, the
better he liked it. Often he went to
Algiers and Morocco to secure it.
Many people today feel the same way
about fresh air.
Certain persons find they must have
this veritable breath of life in their
nostrils night and day to an unusual
degree.
Some children demand to be outdoors
all the time.
So long as they are “running the
streets,” some of their critics say, they
are happy.
Really, it is not that, but an unceasing
demand for fresh air. They must have
it. Air which is not purified over and
over by itself, and its rolling action, al
though unseen, is not fresh.
* * * *
It may be realized that the modern
idea of houses and offices without win
dows is not foolish at all, provided
enough fresh air is pumped in and con
stantly.
Often open door* and windows do not
do as good a Job, in this respect, as it
might seem they should.
Pockets are formed, by walls and win
dow positions, so that air movement is
hampered.
Then there is the matter of tempera
ture to be considered, no small matter
in cool and cold weather. Some per
sons solve this by keeping doors and
windows shut, despite the injunctions,
writings and talkings, of the old-fash
ioned physical culturists.
Most of us get our fresh air best in
sports and walking.
Sportsmen need no advice.
Many an average citizen fails to real
ize just what a fine exercise everyday
plain walking is.
It is not a miracle worker, of course.
You can’t walk a few miles and set up
as "cured,” no matter what is the matter
with you.
Walking will, however, get fresh air
into your system.
That’s the one thing, above everything
else it does.
The legs are used as auxiliary pumps
for the lungs.
Walking at a reasonably fast pace sets
the blood to coursing, the heart to pump
ing faster.
More oxygen is demanded.
* * * *
These simple physiological facts need
to be kept in mind, now and then, for
many persons to appreciate Just what
they are doing when they are walking.
The spirit of the age is against pedes
trianism. Listen to some motorists talk,
a pedestrian is a very low grade animal,
indeed!
Actually, all men are pedestrians.
The spirit of this age seems to be defi
nitely against the simple everyday
things, such as walking and eating,
unless they can be invested with what
the advertising writers love to call
"glamour.”
Getting fresh air in the best way—by
walking—needs no such appeal, if one
will just stop to think about it, now and
then, and appreciate it while it is being
done.
That is where so many of us fall down
nowadays. We rush around, doing all
sorts of things, many of them needless,
and a few of them nonsensical, without
once stopping to think about what we
are doing, or whether it is worth doing.
Many a man or woman there is who has
woken up with a start, at some time or
other, to discover that they have been
rushing after false gods, doing things
which they do not enjoy, saying things
which they do not believe.
They discover at last that it is per
fectly possible to worship true gods, do
things they enjoy, say things which they
believe.
It is all just as simple as that, but it
takes time, and patience, and the great
awakening which, fortunately, comes to
most of us, if we live long enough. Then
we no longer spend our time reading
about horrible things in far off places,
just because it is dished up to us in
appealing form.
♦ ♦ ♦ *
If we think fresh air is a good thing,
and if, owing to circumstances, we ■ do
not gat as much of it as we should, and
we know it, what are we to do about it?
Not rush off to Algiers. It isn’t
necessary. Just stay where we are,
whether Washington, or Garrett Park,
or Kensington, or New York City, or
Boston, or Providence, or any one of
those queer named places in Pennsyl
vania.
Only walk around.
This is a real discovery—for the non
walker.
Just walking around, as simple as can
be, but it pumps plenty of fresh air into
the lungs, stirs up the blood.
The only thing it won't do is take
excess fat off the abdomen. (Some people
think it will, but It won’t. To do that,
you have to go on a polite starvation
diet.)
t <r t
Busy people who work in office, who
need outdoor exercise, but are not
trained to take it, find simple pedes
trianism the solution of their problem.
It is possible to walk either to or
from work, at least for part of the dis
tance. Many persons have hit upon
this scheme, but it always comes as news
to the person who has not.
Despite the fact that walking is no
longer the easy thing it once was, that
life and limb are threatened at every
corner, a little determination will make
up for it all.
It is perfectly passible to take a little
W'alk instead of standing still. This is
a great realization for many persons, be
cause they have been so in the habit of
waiting.
No doubt most modern city folk spend
too much time waiting. They wait all
the time, when they might as well move
around.
Walking in the outdoors is a splendid
exercise, no less so because it is so com
mon. It is based upon the human ani
mal, his physiology, his psychology. For
many of us it is the one best exercise, be
cause the only one which does not re
quire a "knack.” One must have a knack
to play most games, but this simple one
of walking along requires none. One
just walks, either clumsily or gracefully,
but it makes little difference, if the
main idea is simply to pack more fresh
air into the lungs. This is the breath
of life, this air, an idea as old as the |
Hindus, but as fresh as today.
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS R. HESRY.
Fermat, Bernoulli, Euler, Fourier, ,
Lobatchewsky, Clerk-Maxwell, Hamilton,
Abel, Galois, Kowalewski, Poincare,
Riemann, Cantor
From Pythagoras to Einstein there
has been a little group of men set apart
from their kind—the mathematicians.
They have possessed a peculiar ability—
that of thinking in forms and relation
ships. The contributions of their genius
have been the most fundamental in the
history of human thought. They are the
bed rock of the sciences. They constitute
the very framework of thinking itself.
By and large, the world has taken
these men for granted. With a few
notable exceptions, they have persisted
in history only as names attached to
geometric figures and algebraic formulae.
The world of their actual flesh-and-blood
lives with their sweethearts and wives
and children and grandchildren has been
unexplored.
This service has just been rendered
by Dr. Eric T. Bell, professor of mathe
matics at the California Institute of
Technology in his book, ‘‘Men of Mathe
matics.” Seldom has a more glamorous
company been paraded before the public.
Geometry, trigonometry, algebra, calcu
lus, arithmetic are brought to live in
human forms.
The mathematicians, we learn, were
far from oddities with one-sided minds,
in spite of the far regions of the kingdom
of the brain in which they labored.
Descartes was a valiant and able mili
tary officer.
Newton was the “best director of the
mint” England ever had. He was also—
Dr. Bell barely hints at this—an ama
teur pugilist of promise.
Lobatchewski—the man who opened the
gate of mathematics into the wierd
cosmos of hyperdimensions beyond man’s
sensory perception—was a hard-headed,
successful university president who
cleared up nearly hopeless muddles left
by the “stuffed shirts.” When a cholera
epidemic devastated Kazan he saved his
faculty and student body by a hard
boiled application of sanitary measures.
Poincare was so close to everyday life
that he became one of the best popu
larizes of science ever known. He
wrote mathematical treatises which Paris
shop girls read during their lunch hours
in place of the latest novels. True, when
he submitted to the new Simon-Binet in
telligence tests—even now inflicted on
Washington school children in slightly
revised form—his score was that of a
low-grade imbecile.
Fermat, the greatest mathematician oi
the seventeenth century, was a liberal,
practical and successful country lawyer
and judge. Efforts to solve his madden
ing “last theorem” have sent some prom
ising scholars to padded cells.
Leibniz, who developed calculus inde
pendently of Newton and almost simul
taneously, was an extraordinarily suc
cessful diplomat, as tricky and unscrupu
lous as the best of his day.
By and large, the mathematicians
appear to have been well above the aver
age in their abilities to deal with prob
lems of everyday life. Even when they
failed it was seldom from incapacity for
the practical, but because they had too
much self-respect to truckle to the stuffed
shirts. To the mathematician, closest
of mankind to the ultimate realities, the
recommended to increase receipts. Next
week the President is expected to send
to Congress his recommendations for
relief appropriations. They will be
awaited with the keenest interest, as
giving some indication of what he has
in mind for Government expenditures
during the rest of the present fiscal
year and the fiscal year of IMS.
A
stuffed shirt is even more detestable than j
to other intellectually honest men. The j
term recurs over and over again in Dr. j
Bell's biographies. Some of the noblest I
of his heroes beat out their brains hope- j
lessly butting their skulls against stuffed
shirtism’s massive, mossy walls.
Great mathematicians, it seems, are
“born, not made.” The expression seems
more applicable here than in any other
field of genius. An astonishing number
of their greatest accomplishments came
when they were barely out of their
adolescence.
Galois, perhaps the most costly victim
of the stuffed shirts in the history of the
arts and sciences, was killed in a duel
when he was 20. The night before he
went to his death—he knew he was
going to be killed because he was facing
a crack marksman coldly determined to
murder him—the boy scrawled feverishly
by candlelight an outline of his “theory
of groups” which was one of the most
significant contributions in the annals
of mathematics. With the dawn he
walked out to face his executioner—in a
few dark hours having affected for cen
turies the whole range of human thought.
Newton was 23 when the great plague
struck England. He fled to the country
for safety. In two years in his rural
retreat he produced the integral calculus,
the law of gravitation and the theory of
the spectrum—three comer stones of
modern civilization. He spent the rest
of his life—what part of it he could
spare from his duties as director of the
mint—in perfecting them.
At about the same time Leibniz, still in
his 20s, was independently discovering
calculus.
some oi Pascal s most notable work '
was produced before he was 20. He had
produced his theory of probability before
he was 30.
Descartes was 32 when he finished his
analytical geometry which is basic in
present-day statistics.
The extreme youth of some of the most
revolutionary mathematicians of the
present often is commented upon. This
doesn’t necessarily mean that their abil
ity is inherited, although a case might be
made for such a contention. The mathe
matical mind, whatever its source, blos
soms early. The World War accounted
for a score of the most brilliant of them.
Perhaps, in the final analysts, this was
the greatest of all the costs of that
struggle.
Mathematical discovery, says Dr. Bell,
summarizing Poincare, is the activity in
which the human mind seems to borrow
least from the external world, and by
understanding the process of mathe
matical thinking we may hope to reach
what is most essential in the human
mind.
The great Frenchman himself tried to
analyze this psychological problem, but
had to fall back upon Freudism and a
hypothetical, undemonstrable “uncon
scious.” The conscious mind piles up the
bricks and mixes the mortar with in
finite, backbreaking labor. The “uncon
scious” comes like a fairy in the night
and erects the structure.
Hard-Boiled.
From the Kansas City Star.
Searching question from the Magazine
Digest: “Ever see a bagpipe in a pawn
shop?” No, but we suspect the adamant
character of the pawnbroker has a lot
to do with it.
Botanical Problem.
From the Indianapolis Newa.
It is difficult to determine whether a
erocus is brave or only foolhardy.
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 States are all motion pic
ture houses closed on Sunday?—H. F.
A. While many States have blue laws
on their books, local option obtains in
most of them, or some cities find ways of
evading the actual letter of the law.
Delaware, Maine and Vermont are listed
as having no showing of motion pictures
on Sunday.
Q. How many hours of sleep are needed
by a boy 15 years old?—O. E.
A. A boy 15 or 16 years old needs
more sleep than at any other time in his
life after his infancy. He should have
about nine to ten hours a day of sleep.
He also needs more food at that time
than at any other because of rapid de
velopment at that period of his life. Much
of his future health depends on the care
exercised through adolescence.
Q. Where was the former King Edward
VIII when he broadcast his farewell
address?—R. M. K.
A. At Windsor Castle.
Q. Who is president of the N. V. A ?
_W. H.
A. Ted Healy is president of National
Variety Artists, Inc.
Q. Where was Old Jewry and why was
it so named?—G. R. K.
A. Old Jewry was so named on ac
count of its being one of the quarters
of London inhabited by the Jews in early
times, much of the property in the neigh
borhood being in their names in the
thirteenth century. It commenced north
out of Poultry street at North Forty-third
to Gresham street and included Cheap
Ward and Coleman Ward, being known
as Jewry lane in the town of Elizabeth.
There were many workers in glass and
steel as well as artificers in precious
metals in this locality.
Q. How many hospitals are there ex
clusively for Negroes?—W. R.
A. There are approximately 120 Negro
hospitals in the United States.
Q. Is there a memorial to Capt. Cook?
—W. H.
A. On Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii Island,
stands an obelisk commemorating Capt.
Cook, who was slain near that point by
natives. In 1928 a bronze tablet was
dedicated in his honor and placed just
below the surface of the water to mark
the exact spot where he fell.
Q. In what role did Martini make his
debut at the Metropolitan?—A. F.
A. Nino Martini made his Metropolitan
Opera debut as the Duke in "Rigoletto,”
December 28. 1933.
Q. What is the ‘‘Lawyer's Alcove"?
—J. W.
A. This is the name given to a volume
of selections of the best poems by lawwers,
for lawyers and about lawyers. Included
in the volume are Shakespeare’s "Sonnet
CXXXIV"; Blackstone's “A Lawwers
Farewell to His Muse”; "Justice,” by John
Quincy Adams: “The Judicial Court of
Venus,” by Jonathan Swift: “General
Average.” by William Allen Butler, and
Riley's “Lawyer and Child.”
Q. What is the origin or meaning of
the title, Knight of the Bath?—J. S.
A. The name is derived from the cere
mony of bathing, which was practiced as
a symbol of purity when a knight was
inaugurated. The last time this cere
mony was used in creation of knights
was at the coronation of Charles II in
1661.
Q. Where is Srinagar?—W. B.
A. This is the capital of the native
kingdom of Kashmir in the northern
extremity of India. In the picturesque
scenery of the surrounding country was
located the Vale of Cashmere, celebrated
in Moore's “Lalla Rookh.”
Q. What is the origin of the word
mugwump?—F. T.
A. It is an Indian word meaning chief.
Eliot, in his translation of the Bible for
the Indians, rendered centurion as mug
wump.
Q. How many milk bars are there in
London?—J. K.
A. There are more than 130 in the city
and over 600 in Great Britain.
Q. Are the ingredients used in making
glass the same that were used in early
days?—R. M.
A. Most glass today is made from the
same materials used from the very be
ginning, namely, soda, lime and sand,
and the proportions are usually about the
same as those used perhaps 4,000 years
ago or more.
Q. How long does Spring last in Sicily?
—B. R.
A. Since Spring warmth and sunshine
prevail in Sicily from October to May,
this is known as Sicilian Spring.
Q. What State has the most farmers’
marketing and purchasing associations?
—R. H.
A. There are 10,500 active associations
in the United States. Minnesota has the
most—1,401. Wisconsin is second with
1.086 and Iowa is third with 954.
Q. Why was Richard Lovelace put in
prison?—G. H.
A. He was thrown into prison by the
Long Parliament for his petition in favor
of the King.
Compensation.
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Of all animals, the giraffe has no voice.
Further evidence that Nature knows her
stuff. The giraffe never has to yell,
“Down in front!”
Dangerous Travel.
From the Yakima tWash.) Republic.
Much may be said in favor of travel by
air, but it still is almost as dangerous
as riding in an automobile.
A Rhyme at Twilight
By
Gertrude Brooke Hamilton.
Paternity.
He stood looking down at his little son
Sort of smiling In his sleep.
Both sturdy hands tucked under his
chin,
The coverlet in a heap.
He thought of his young son ooming
to him,
As he grew to man's estate,
For counsel, sympathy, good palship—
How would he his father rate?
He didn’t kneel down as the mother
might
And pour out a fervent prayar— *
But let his hand re§t silently
On a head of tousled hair.
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