Evening star. [volume], April 13, 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 13, 1937
THEODORE W. NOYES.... Editor
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The Wagner Decisions.
Whether agitation over packing the
Supreme Court—with all that it implied
—influenced the decisions yesterday up
holding the Wagner act will always re
main an academic question. There is
enough to support argument on both
Bides.
But what has happened is more im
portant. The court has, for the second
time in two W'eeks, taken the wind out
of the court-packing plan, leaving it
flat and deflated. Proponents of the
plan have heard most of their argu
ments answered by the Chief Justice.
And if, as it may be said wdth some
Justification, the President has won a
point, the graceful and beneficial sequel
to such a victory would lie in with
drawal now or abandonment later of
the court-packing plan. The interests
of the country demand that this be done.
Two weeks ago the court reaffirmed,
but none the less strengthened and clari
fied, the doctrine that the court is con
cerned with procedure and not W'ith
the substance of laws which have been
challenged as violating the due process
clause of the fourteenth amendment,
thereby reopening a field seemingly
closed to desirable extensions of social
legislation in the States and by the
States.
Yesterday the court broadened, with
out removing the limits, the field for
Federal regulation in industries affect
ing, if not directly engaged in, inter
state commerce. The court did not lay
down a new definition of interstate
commerce, but it did qualify its previous
dictum that manufacturing is not com
merce by asserting the right of Congress
to legislate for certain ends where those
affected by the legislation exert a sub
stantial influence upon the movement
of goods in interstate commerce.
In the Jones & Laughlin Steel Cor
poration case the court recalled that
“the fundamental principle is that the
power to regulate commerce is the power
to enact ‘all appropriate legislation’ for
its protection and advancement.” The
scope of this power must be considered in
“the light of our dual system of Gov
ernment” and may not be extended to
embrace effects upon interstate commerce
Indirect and remote. But the “close and
intimate effect which brings the subject
within reach of the Federal power may be
due to activities in relation to produc
tive industry, although the industry
When separately viewed is local.”
instead of being “beyond the pale” of
Federal regulation promoting the rights
of workers to organize—and thereby to
prevent harmful interference through
labor disputes with the flow of interstate
commerce—the steel corporation case
“presents in a most striking way the close
end intimate relation which a manu
facturing industry may have to interstate
commerce, and we have no doubt the
Congress had constitutional authority to
safeguard the right of respondent’s em
ployes to self-organization and freedom
in choice of representatives for collective
bargaining.” “We are asked,” said the
court, “to shut our eyes to the plainest
facts of our national life and to deal with
the question of direct and indirect effects
(of interstate commerce) in an intellectual
vacuum.” Such a vacuum the court’s
majority abhorred in a realistic approach
to a realistic problem. “* * * Of what
avail is it to protect the facility of trans
portation, if interstate commerce is
throttled with respect to the commodities
to be transported!”
The opinions emphasized once again
that the court is concerned not so
much with the potential infringe
ment of constitutional guarantees as
with the specific effect of the legislation,
as applied in the cases presented to it
for decision. The freedom of the press
argument in the Associated Press case
the court viewed as an “unsound general
ization”—not because the freedom of the
press might not in some case be at is
sue, but because in this particular case
there was not convincing evidence that
it was directly involved.
The closeness of the decisions pointed
again to the cleavage which exists be
tween sincere and honorable men on the
court as to the limits under the Con
stitution they have sworn to uphold in
the extension of Federal powers. But
there are few who can but believe that
the majority decisions reflect public
sentiment as to what is desirable; that
they move with the current of public
thought and not against it and that they
are the decisions that are best for the
country. Certainly it is better that the
decisions were reached by an inde
pendent court than by a court manned
by those selected for a given purpose.
The effect of the decisions should be
not only to release a log jam in the
lower courts of an accumulation of cases
affecting the validity of the Wagner act,
but to clear the atmosphere and bring
to an end the uncertainty, both by em
ployers and employes, as to where they
stand. Employers who have been await
ing this test of their constitutional rights
A
I
will be acting to their own advantage
by complying with the letter and the
spirit of the Wagner act, assembling, in
the meantime, their arguments for its
orderly amendment in the direction of
greater impartiality and more practical
workability as an instrument for preserv
ing industrial peace.
Fascism in Reverse.
Much in the same spirit in which she
so gallantly resisted the German on
slaught in August, 1914, Belgium has
again thrown herself effectively into the
breach on behalf of endangered democ
racy. Premier Paul van Zeeland’s over
whelming defeat of Leon de Grelle in the
Brussels parliamentary by-election is
the most crushing blow dealt to fascism
anywhere since the totalitarian cult first
raised its head as a threat to represent
ative government and free institutions.
Rexism, the Belgian counterpart of cur
rent Italo-German ideology, is not ut
terly destroyed, but repudiation of the
party and its leader by a majority of
roundly four to one constitutes a rebuke
which the would-be imitator of Musso
lini and Hitler will have difficulty in
surviving. Undoubtedly voicing the
sentiments of all Belgium, the Brussels
electorate has registered its hostility to
fascism in stentorian tone and indicated
that the Belgian people want none of it.
Incidentally, M. de Grelle’s rebuff car
ries an undeniable meaning for those
aggressive French and British Fascists,
respectively, Colonel de la Rocque and
Sir Oswald Mosley. The cause of dicta
torship in all three of Western Europe’s
democracies is now unmistakablv in
reverse.
The statistics of M. van Zeeland's vic
tory graphically depict its dimensions.
The premier received 275,840 votes, or
nearly seventy-six per cent of the full
poll. M. de Grelle’s vote of 69,242 was
not only less than one-fifth of the total,
but fell 4,000 votes below the Rexist vote
of a year ago, in the elections which
swept twenty-two Fascists into Parlia
ment. M. de Grelle's attempt to exploit
the separatist ambitions of the Flemish
population turned out to be an utterly
futile maneuver. It is probably the
eleventh-hour appeal of the Cardinal
Primate of Belgium, adjuring all Catho
lics to vote against Rexism as a danger
alike to the nation and the church, that
destroyed whatever chance De Grelle had
of winning the coveted Brussels seat
with the Flemings’ aid.
Great as is the personal triumph of
M. van Zeeland and certain as it is to
enhance his stature as a European
statesman at a psychological moment,
the result is primarily a battle won for
the democratic forces menaced in Bel
gium and elsewhere by the Fascist sys
tem. It is definitely a setback for Hitler
ism. Despite all denials, there was no
lack of indications that M. de Grelle had
some kind of an understanding with the
Nazis. They longed for Rexist success
in the hope that it would tend to under
mine Belgian national unity and pave
the way for eventual German political,
economic and Military domination of the
country. From every standpoint, and
in the interest of all Europe, as well as
of the Belgians, the history just made
at Brussels is salutary in the highest
degree. It is a welcome portent, in the
midst of many disquieting developments
throughout the world, that the spirit of
democracy is alive and, when critically
challenged, is capable of giving an in
vincible account of itself.
Not since Marie Bashkirtseff startled
the world with her confessions of men
tal mood have there been so many
diaries. Tests of modern civilization have
become so exigent as to operate as a
kind of “third degree” impelling a sensi
tized soul to tell all, come what may! In
order to become sure of interest, victims
have been known to invent a culpa
bility which did not exist.
There is a determined reiteration in
the sonorous Postmasterful declaration
of James Farley “it is in the bag.” It
hints of mysterious foreknowledge of
events, and challenges with the eloquence
of the sports commentator the protest by
those who fearing a twilight of liberty
make the heroic assertion “Curfew shall
not ring tonight.”
Some of the sit-down strikers employ
music as a means of demonstration.
Some of the pictorial revelations fail to
indicate an employment of leisure in
cultivating the graces of the classic
dance.
World agitators are probably looking
over fossilized remains to see if a bit of
"left wing” is left over from the old blue
eagle.
A new rule has been Introduced in
politics: “When in doubt, hold a press
conference!”
Real Sky Writing.
Every age, of course, is an age of
wonders.' But the present period of
human history happens to be one which
is simply bursting with miracles. Even
a professional observer has difficulty
keeping abreast of the tide of progress.
To illustrate the point, let the latest
announcement concerning communica
tion with airplanes be cited. James T.
Flynn, representing American Airlines,
has said that in the "very near future”
it will be possible to send written mes
sages to pilots in airships traveling
through space at the speed of two hun
dred miles an hour. The text of a
dispatch would be transmitted exactly
as penned and a graphic record of per
manent character thus created. Even
weather maps could be traced by the re
ceiving device.
Basically, the new "gadget” is an ex
tension of use for the radio principle.
Sound in effect is a quantity which
travels. It may be controlled under
proper conditions with perfect accuracy.
Broadcasting form and color already has
been demonstrated in a technique of
television soon destined for universal
application. Mr. Flynn’s announcement
therefore may be chronicled as a natural
*
h
"next step” toward that goal of life
made richer, safer and more congenial
which tireless science Incessantly seeks.
It is marvelous, yet as related to other
gains of similar character common
place.
To the philosopher, however, such
news offers a problem. He realizes, as
every thoughtful soul must, that human
ity ought to strive for spiritual ad
vances with increased earnestness—if its
inventive genius is to bo wholly an asset
and not in part at least a liability. Real
sky writing is a symptom of the power
which men have acquired over machines.
But what about discipline over them
selves? The question is fair to ask. It
raises the issue of the use to which ac
celerated genius is put.
And the answer should not be given
carelessly. James J. Hill, the railroad
magnate, a generation ago had the wit
to prophesy that the day would come
when America might be so densely pop
ulated that ten million people might be
unemployed. Nobody replied to him;
nobody heeded his warning. Even now
it would seem that few are willing to
face the facts.
In days gone by, when Carter Harri
son was a dynastic figure in the Mayor’s
chair, Harold Ickes was a newspaper
reporter. None of those who knew him
in the old Chicago Press Club, where
though manners might be rugged the
literary graces were highly esteemed,
would have suspected that his later
career in the law would bring him into
fame as the official possessor of a baby
blue bath tub.
One of thp pictures of strike scenes
is that of a woman with disarranged
attire being carried feet foremost from
a center of disorder. If it were Fanny
Brice it would be funny. If it were
Sally Rand it would be audacious pub
licity. Since it is a figure of emotional
fanaticism it is only pathetic.
Many ideas are offered as substitutes
for the President’s reorganization pro
gram. The obliging spirit of political
trade is manifest in the implied assur
ance, It is no trouble to show goods.”
More convincing would be the ora
torical displays before the Senate
Judiciary Committee if some of them did
not imply a willingness to have applica
tions on file in case of a vacancy.
—" " -> ___
When Mr. Dooley said, “The Supreme
Court follows the election returns,” he
did not prophesy the mobilization of a
crowd of recruits to march on the
Capitol.
A memorial to Thomas Jefferson, how
ever greatly desired, should find a site
that will not suggest overcrowding a
comparatively small area with classical
architecture.
Shooting Stars.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
No Conversation Shortage.
We’ve had much conversation
Our opinions to assert
On the business of the Nation—
And a little more won’t hurt.
If thorough and Judicial,
With all consciences alert,
Or if only superficial—
Well, a little more won't hurt.
In discussions of a question,
Comment, though a trifle pert,
May evolve some good suggestion—
And a little more won't hurt.
No Stable Equilibrium.
“How do you regard the prospect of
balancing the budget?” asked the con
stituent.
“It's fine,” answered Senator Sor
ghum.
“And then well all be happy?”
“No. Some one will thrill the people
with some ambitious plan for unbalanc
ing it again.”
“To seek power,” said Hi Ho, the
sage of Chinatown, “is worthy or un
worthy according to whether your mo
tives are philanthropic or vengeful.”
Those Inevitable Interruptions.
When you would do the best you can,
Prepared to labor hard,
To benefit your fellow man
Or dig in your own yard
Your good intentions seem to flop.
Your hopes grow cold as ice.
Some one is sure to make you stop
And listen to advice.
Jud T unkins says the devil doesn't
take the hindmost as often as he does
the fellow who rushes to the front too
fast.
Aids to Attractiveness.
“Philosophy is a great help in pre
serving a lovely, smiling countenance.”
“Yes,” answered Miss Cayenne. “So
is a cosmetic shop.”
Use and Pleasure.
A golden dollar, like an ax of steel,
Is not for mortals merely to enjoy.
A mighty usefulness It may reveal,
But it is fraught with danger as a toy.
“Speakin* of supply and demand,”
said Uncle Eben, “dar is always enough
foolishness dan anybody needs left over
from the fust of April.”
A Wrong Front.
From the Kansas City Star.
A Farley assistant instructs postal
employes to stop growling at the public.
We hadn’t noticed this, but maybe those
bars at the window create a bad psy
chology.
New Anti-Marital Plea.
Prom the Jackionvllle Journal.
A youth asks an annulment on a plea
that he was wed while in a trance. His
progress will be watched by reminiscent
millions.
An Unfilled Want.
Prom the Chleaco Daily News.
Nobody as yet has invented a grace
ful contortion for base ball pitcher*.
>.
ft
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.
The Supreme Court of the United
States yesterday pulled the gimp out of
the demand for passage of President
Roosevelt’s bill to Increase the mem
bership of the court by upholding the
legality of the Wagner labor relations
act In five separate cases. The law has
stood the test. Labor should be con
vinced that the highest court Is not
Inimical to Its interests.
The President has two courses open
to him. The first Is to continue the
fight for his judiciary bill, with Its pro
visions for increasing the membership of
the Supreme Court unchanged. The
second is to permit the bill to be so
amended as not to call for an enlarge
ment of the highest court. There Is no
slightest doubt that many Senators and
Representatives who have been support
ing the bill would heave a sigh of relief
If he withdrew the demand for an
enlarged court. There are those, how
ever, who will contend that the decisions
In favor of the Wagner act are not
enough—that there is other New Deal
legislation which may be outlawed by the
court as now constituted, and that there
would be danger to future New Deal
laws These will continue to press for
the passage of the President's bill Intact.
* * * *
Since the President sent his surprise
message to Congress asking for the pas
sage of his judiciary bill, the situation
has changed materially. First Congress
put through and the President signed
the bill permitting justices of the Su
preme Court of the United States to
retire on full pay at 70 years of age,
after ten years on the bench. Second,
the court has shown itself not averse to
liberal laws, when they are properly
drawn. By its recent decisions in the
Washington State minimum wage law,
including its reversal of a thirteen-year
old opinion in a case involving the mini
mum wage act of the District of Colum
bia, and in the Frazier-Lemke farm
moratorium act. Third, it has shown
that the interstate commerce clause of
the Constitution can be used to govern
in labor disputes w’here the interruption
of the flow of such commerce is halted
by these controversies in the decisions
of yesterday.
The opponents of the President’s plan
to “pack” the Supreme Court are ex
pressing great confidence that the drive
for the passage of that part of the
judiciary reorganization bill will lag.
Like Senator Tom Connally of Texas,
who has fought the measure, they con
tend that there has been shown to be
no need for increasing or packing the
Supreme Court. And. like Senator Con
nally. they believe that Senators and
Representatives who have been on the
fence and have not declared themselves
one way or another on the court issue,
will now be inclined to vote against the
proposed increase. They maintain that
the opposition has made it plain at the
hearings before the Senate Judiciary
Committee there is no need for an in
crease in the size of the court, and that
to "pack” the court now would create
an evil precedent that would rise to
trouble the country in the future.
* * * *
If the President decides to continue
his fight for the bill to increase the
Supreme Court, the contest promises
to be more than ever long and drawn
out. The opponents feel the court itself
has demonstrated that liberal laws can
stand and will not be invalidated merely
because they are liberal. On the other
hand, Senators like La Follette of Wis
consin insist that the bill must pass and
that labor will not be satisfied without
it. Two organizations which have been
campaigning actively for the bill, the
Labor’s Non-Partisan League and the
National Lawyers’ Guild, have arranged
country-wide meetings at which pro
ponents will speak on the same day in
support of the Increase in the member
ship of the court.
The President s own attitude in the
matter is expected to be the deciding
factor, however. If he continues his
demand for the passage of the measure
and it goes through, he runs the risk
of being known in history as the Presi
dent who packed the Supreme Court.
Apparently he has already gained much
that he started to gain, without any
increase in the size of the court. The
Wagner labor relations act has been
sustained by the Supreme Court, and the
"no-man's land" of which he has com
plained in connection with the earlier
decisions in minimum wage cases has
been dissipated.
* * * *
The decisions of the Supreme Court
in the Wagner act cases seem to open
the way for the long-awaited program
of labor legislation. Until the law was
upheld or thrown out of the court win
dow it has been difficult to see clearly
the way for Congress to act. The right
of collective bargaining has been firmly
established. With the increased powers
placed in the hands of labor, it is neces
sary that it should have responsibilities
placed upon it. Members of Congress
who have given the problem much
thought contend that there should be
laws restraining laoor irum seising piup
erty, as it has done in the sit-down
strikes. They contend also that there
should be laws for the incorporation of
labor unions, to make them more re
sponsible in case of destruction of prop
erty or loss of life or injury to persons
in labor disputes. And that the law
should compel the unions to make finan
cial accounting and reports annually—as
they are compelled to do in England.
* * * *
Just what program for labor the ad
ministration will get behind is not en
tirely certain yet. There is much pressure
for laws governing shorter hours and
minimum wages. But whether these can
be enacted as Federal laws is a question
—unless the industry affected is inter
state within the construction and mean
ing of the Constitution. It would seem
that the way had been opened for such
laws by the recent decisions of the Su
preme Court. While President Roose
velt is intent upon getting better treat
ment for labor, it is understood that he
is not desirous at all of granting free
license to labor to act arbitrarily. What
he wants is a balance, with reasonable
and fair treatment for both sides.
* * * *
The President one day this week Is
expected to send to Congress a message
asking for relief appropriations. At the
same time he is expected to give a re
summary of the financial situation of the
Government. The President said in his
budget message that the Congress could
appropriate up to about a billion and a
half dollars for relief without disturbing
his plan for a balanced budget during the
fiscal year 1938, provided the revenues of
the Government came in as estimated
and new expenditures of large amounts
were not authorized. The revenues have
fallen off in certain categories. Members
of Congress have become alarmed and
warnings are coming from the leaders
that appropriations must be cut to the
bone. In some quarters demand is made
for an Increase In taxes. The President’s
message will be awaited with much
interest.
*
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWBLL.
Those who have moved to the suburbs
this Spring or are thinking of doing so,
should look forward to the arrival of
the wood thrush, for he is the sweetest
singer of all, and one of the most beau
tiful birds in existence.
To live in suburban communities, and
not to know this thrush, is to walk
blindfolded through the world.
Those who have fallen in love with him
and his mate have a red circle ringed
around April 28 on the calendar.
A day or two, maybe, one way or the
other, but only one or two, for the wood
thrush is very prompt in his arrival
from the South.
Soon the suburban communities of
Washington are to see his speckled chest
and hear his wonderful song.
* * * *
One usually hears the thrush the first
time early in the morning.
Here, again, the pedestrian wins.
The walker, going along slowly, has
time to listen.
When those clear notes, distinct from
those of any other bird, salute him, he
immediately looks into the tree, from
whence the sounds come.
Sure enough, there he is!
It is always a thrill to recognize that
first wood thrush, and to know that he
is to be with us until August 15, or there
abouts.
No more joyous sign of Spring exists
for us than this particular bird, with
his gentlemanly ways, his fine feathers,
and, above all, his music.
* * * *
The song of this thrush is not long
and varied, as that of the mocking bird,
but many friends will agree that it far
surpasses the melodies of most other
songsters.
This is because it is a melodic pattern
right out of the heart of things, in a pe
culiar and undoubted way, possessed by
no other bird, unless perhaps it be its
cousin, the hermit thrush.
Alone and solitary in the deep woods,
the hermit sings at evening, but the
wood thrush, strange to say, loves noth
ing better than the modest suburban
back yard, and delights there to pour
out his unvarying song all day long.
This is one of the riches of suburban
living. This music of the wood thrush,
who long ago departed his forests for
back yards, is something worth moving
out of the city to hear.
* * * *
Yet no doubt thousands of persons,
living in such places, never hear this
bird, and to them we may address a plea,
that they get some one to call their at
tention to this song, that they learn to
recognize it, as they easily will, because
it is the most unmistakable of all songs.
The rest is easy. After a few lessons
they will learn to know and love this
bird, so beautiful, so gentle, so sweet a
singer.
Thereafter life in the Springtime will
mean a constant alert ear for the first
thrush of the season.
All Spring, and most of Summer long,
they will always hear him sing, and ap
preciate his loud, clear melody, with its
simple but beautiful pattern of three
notes, varied but unvarying, and modu
lated four times each song.
* * * *
Just how or why the wood thrush gave
up his woods to live with people, and be
a dooryard bird almost as much as his
cousin, the robin, is not known exactly,
but it may be believed that this very
cousinship is responsible. The young of
the robin is speckled, even as the adult
thrush. The two birds eat much the
same foods, although the thrush Is not
very fond of flshin’ worms.
Much the same basic habits made the
wood thrush decide, after houses went
up in America, that the cleared ard cul
tivated gardens and green lawns, with
Evergreens and shrubs and trees, were
just the places he liked best during mat
ing time.
Today he walks fearlessly beneath
hedges and rhododendron plantations
and lilac bushes, searching for grubs and
the like. He is not quite as much of a
ground bird as the robin, but a great
deal more so than many persons will be
lieve who do not provide much real
sanctuary in their yards.
a * * *
In the open lawn which is fairly well
protected and reasonably free from noisy
intrusion, the wood thrush is very much
at home. There he will do a variety of
things many persons might not believe,
who have failed to give him the condi
tions he likes.
In such a yard, he will, for one thing,
be almost fearless. That is, he will spend
a great deal of time on the lawn, even
when people are walking around and
talking.
The scurry of the lawn mower worries
him not at all. He even will stand his
ground until the whirling blades come
within two or three feet of him, before
he leisurely flies up.
This fearless behavior gives the ob
server a splendid opportunity to watch
one of the cleanest of all birds in ap
pearance.
His feathers are so neat, so perfectly
balanced, one with the other, his sub
dued coloration so eminently “tasty” and
exact in every detail, that even the least
observant person in time comes to ad
mire him.
His song, his outstanding contribution
to the suburban community, has suggest
ed several well-known musical compo
sitions to various listeners.
One professes to hear a strain from
Handel's “Largo,” another something
from Gounod's “Faust."
However that may be, his song is ex
quisitely beautiful, as it wafts down to
us from the trees, especially in early
morning, and just before dark.
These are this thrush’s favorite sing
ing times, although he loves to sing,
and often does, all day long. But he is
at his best as the very first bird of morn
ing, and the very last at night.
If the listener is very close to him,
he wall hear sundry strange harsh noises,
filling in between the clear notes. But,
strange to say, these in no sense detract
from the music, because they are so
eminently natural.
It is undeniable, however, that the
wood thrush’s song is heard best from
some little distance, when these inter
ruptions are not heard at all.
Then the loud clear triolets come
through the air with suggestions of
heavenly song. Many a bird lover would
ask no sweeter music to welcome him to
paradise. If we ever meet angels face
to face, we hope they turn out to be
wood thrushes.
• Note: A few hours after the above
was written April 8 the writer passed a
home within a block of his own. A neigh
bor came out on a front porch: “Why,”
she exclaimed, looking down, “it’s a dead
bird.” It was a wood thrush, still warm.
Evidently it had just flown in from the
South, several weeks ahead of time. Ef
forts at resuscitation proved futile. This
is the earliest we ever have heard of
this thrush returning in this vicinity.)
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS 1
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS R. HENRY.
The earliest inhabitants of the Middle :
West were the "Black Sand men,” be
longing to a mysterious, long-head race
with Eskimo characteristics.
Traces of their occupancy, long before
the mound builders, have just been re
ported by archeologists of the University
of Illinois, who have carried out, says the
announcement, "the most comprehensive
survey of Indian cultures yet made in
that area.”
While displaying similarities to the
Eskimo, it is reported by Dr. Fay Cooper
Cole, who directed the survey, the Black
Sand men were undoubtedly early Indians
and closely related to older types of man
found in the Southwestern United States.
They went their way without leaving any
trace of their fate and were succeeded
by five successive cultures before the com
ing of the whites.
After them came the equally mysteri
ous "Red Paint” people, whose remains
are found throughout the Northeast.
The bones of their dead were painted
red. They were followed in turn by four
other cultures, including the Hopewel
lian, which is generally regarded as the
acme of the mound builder complex.
Some of these cultures are known by
only one or two sites of restricted char
acter, but others are represented by ex
tensive village and camp sites and
burial grounds.
The Black Sand men had coarse stone
implements and some rudimentary pot
tery. The Red Paint people had beauti
ful stone work and used copper, but
their pottery was crude. Long lance or
projectile points indicate that they were
a hunting people, but no arrow heads
indicating the use of a bow hav£ been
found.
Of the later cultures considerable evi
dence was unearthed. Then the Indians
lived in villages, building rectangular
houses set in bowl-shaped depressions.
They possessed the bow and arrow, used
stone knives and adzes as cutting tools,
shells as hoes, and bone fishhooks, awls
and pins. A hint of cannibalism was
given by the repeated discovery of hu
man bones in the refuse heaps in asso
ciation with animal bones. Shellfish and
fish formed an important part of the
diet, but the later Indians also ate deer,
rabbit, squirrel, turkey, elk and bison.
Finding of pottery pipes reveals the use
of tobacco.
That epidemics often swept these pre
historic tribes is shown by numerous
burials of entire family groups. At least
ten per cent of the bodies in one mound
showed the high incidence of Paget's
disease, a deformation of the bones. One
case of the rare bone disease, ostelstls
fibrosa, was found.
* * * *
Two fairy shells, among the most ex
quisite life forms on earth and hitherto
unknown to science, have just been de
scribed by Dr. Paul Bartsch, Smithsonian
Institution curator of mollusks.
These fragile, translucent shells are*
colored as delicately as the loveliest of
orchids. The two obscure little snails
are the elfs of the mollusk world in the
unconscious artistry with which they
have constructed their moving dwellings.
Especially during the past generation,
the collection of shells for the delicacy
of their coloring was a popular pastime.
Such shells were common ♦corations
on the “what-not” or the parlor mantel.
Exceptional examples brought high
prices and the world was combed for
r
the loveliest forms, but every one missed
two of the loveliest of all.
Macologists. as shell experts are known,
devoted particular attention to Cuba!
where the concentration and differentia
tion of land shells probably is greater
than anywhere else on earth. The old
collectors, however, missed many rare
forms of local distribution and it re
mained for Dr. Carlos de la Torre, noted
Cuban biologist,, to comb the island for
the obscurer forms. Dr. Bartsch found
the new types in working over a large
collection of Cuban forms. One is a new
species and the other a new subspecies.
He has named both of them in honor of
Dr. de la Torre.
The color scheme of the species is re
markable for the delicate tints shading
into each other—pale yellow, orange buff,
deeper orange, flame color—and for the
exquisite artistry of the fragile shell.
The color effect is such as one might
find rarely in rose petals.
The new subspecies is a blending of
ivory, olive green, lemon yellow and
orange. It was found on Turiguano
Island, off the north coast of Cuba, and
was especially interesting to Dr. Bartsch
because it may explain traces of orange
coloring found in certain Florida land
shells of this group. He believes that
specimens may have been carried from
Turiguano Island to Florida by hurri
cane, or may have drifted across in the
knot hole of some log.
Correction of Reference
To ‘Plumbing Inspector’
To the Editor of The Bier:
On Page B-l of The Evening Star
dated Friday, April 9, 1937, under the
heading, "Abattoir Issue Raised Again
by Revision in Plans,” you quoted me
as being the "plumbing inspector of the
District of Columbia." I am not the
inspector of plumbing of the District of
Columbia, but engaged in the plumbing
contracting business.
This article has caused me consid
erable embarrassment and can perhaps
cause me business injury with the Gobel
Company. I therefore ask you for an
immediate correction of this article.
ROBERT J. BARRETT.
Precaution.
Prom th« Kansas City Star.
A cautious man is not naturally averse
to heeding his wife’s entreaties to buy
himself a new Spring suit; it’s just that
he fears the additional cost of bringing
the little woman’s appearance up on an
equal footing with the new suit.
Antique Bacteria.
Prom tha Worcester Gazette.
Scientists are going to awaken bac
teria that have been asleep eight thou
sand years, and study their reactions,
which will be hot news to people who
have been wondering how bacteria can
yawn, stretch and look foolish.
a > -■
No Sure Protection.
Prom the Pontiac (Mich.) Press.
Painting Australian trains rose red,
moonstone gray, blue, green and yellow
will hardly help those drivers who do
not bother to look for them at crossings
anyway.
0\
ANSWERS TO
QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
A reader can get the answer to any
question 0/ fact try writing The Evening
Star Information Bureau, Frederic J.
Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C.
Please inclose stamp for reply.
Q. What is the name of the radio pro
gram tor children that was chosen as the
best by some woman’s organization?—
H. M.
A. The Children’s Comer, a sustaining
program of the Columbia Broadcasting
System, was chosen as the most accept
able juvenile program on the air by the
Woman’s National Radio Committee.
Q. How far from Los Angeles is the
Santa Anita race track?—P. G.
A. It Is eighteen miles north of Los
Angeles.
Q. How is the gold at Port Knox pro
tected?—B. A.
A. The main part of the gold depository
built at Port Knox, Ky., is below the
level of the ground and the vaults are
guarded by every known scientific method
of protection, including a torch-proof
wall and a photoelectric eye which de
tects any intruder. Pour gun turrets of
steel and stone flank the structure which
is set within a steel fenced inclosure.
Armed guards are on duty at all times.
The depository is manned with machine
guns and other modem methods of
defense.
Q. What is an amberjack?—A. F.
A. It is a large salt-water fish. The
largest caught by rod and reel weighed
106 pounds and was almost 6 feet long.
Harry M. Harker caught it near St.
Petersburg, Fla., on March 21, 1937. The *
largest caught by any method weighed
134 pounds.
Q. Was Mrs. Wallis Simpson ever pre
sented at the Court of St. James?—
R. P. B.
A. She was presented on June 10, 1931.
Q. Is Pearl White, the serial movie
actress, living?—E. H.
A. Miss White is visiting the United
8tates for the first time in nine years.
She owns homes in Paris and Gazeron,
Prance, and in Egypt.
Q. Who is president of the New York
Stock Exchange?—E. J.
A. Charles Richard Gay is president
of the organization.
Q When was irrigation begun in the
Southwest?—J. G.
A. Relatively small areas of the United
States were irrigated by the inhabitants
of the Southwestern portion of the
United States in prehistoric times. These
methods were improved by the Spanish
conquerors and their descendants. Mod
em irrigation by the Anglo-Saxon race
began in 1847.
Q. Where is the longest tunnel in the
United States?—R. J. W.
A. It is the one at Cascade, Wash ,
7.79 miles in length.
Q. Who said that the best thing be
tween France and England is the sea?
—E. D. S.
A. The aphorism is found in Douglas
Jerrold’s “The Anglo-French Alliance.”
Q. What is the purpose of the expe
dition on which Mr. and Mrs. George
Vanderbilt have sailed?—E. W.
A. Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt have
sailed on their yacht, Cresslda, for a
five-month cruise in the South Pacific to
collect rare birds and fish for the Acad
emy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.
Q. How many books has John Buchan
(Lord Tweedsmuir) written?—H. P. G.
A. He is the author of over fifty books.
Q What is “the holy shroud”?—R. C. M.
A. It is a linen cloth, some 14 feet
in length, which is preserved in a shrine
in a chapel adjoining the cathedral at
Turin, Italy. Upon it are the impressions
of the front and back of a human body,
believed to have been made by the body
of Christ, which is said to have been
placed on the lower half of the cloth,
the upper half being folded over from
the head to the feet as a cover.
Q. What is the rest of the rhyme be
ginning: “Lizzie Borden took an ax”?
—E. W.
A. “Lizzie Borden took an ax
And gave her mother forty whacks;
When she saw what she had done
She gave her father forty-one!”
Q What advance in literacy has been
made during the regime of the Soviet
Union?—N. N.
A. Under the Czarist regime It was
estimated that probably 80 per cent of
the people were illiterate, this group con
sisting chiefly of rural Russians. Since
the revolution proportions have been re
versed and now 90 per cent of the popu
lation are literate with illiteracy con
fined to remote provinces. The Soviet
Union is believed at present to publish
more books, daily papers and magazines
than any country in the world.
Q. Is Walter Winchell a Jew?—G 8.
A. He is of Jewish parentage.
Q. How large is that part of London
known as the city?—P. o. H.
A. The City of London is slightly more
than one square mile in area, embracing
677 acres.
Q. At what time was President Lin
coln shot and when did he die?—K. D.
A. John Hay and John Nicolay in'
their biography of President Lincoln
say, "The President had been shot a
few minutes past 10." Lincoln died at
7:22 the following morning.
1 ■ ————
Incurable.
From the Asheville Times.
Women own 70 per cent of the Nation's
wealth and will soon get all of it, figures
a statistician. This looks suspiciously
like pessimism bom of an early marriage.
Exposed to Draughts.
From tht Williamsport Sun.
Governor Murphy of Michigan has a
severe cold. That’s what comes of being
the man in between during an exchange
of heated demands and cold rejections.
A Rhyme at Twilight
_ By
Gertrude Brooke Hamilton.
No Use Running.
This world is chock-full of trouble, my
dear;
It comes as it will on our earthly sphere;
And, although its advent you may deplore,
Tis bootless to run, or to lock your door.
Trouble Just laughs at your fatuous lock;
It enters, my dear, with no warning
knock.
To say, "I can’t bear It," won’t drive 16
away—
Bast face it, and take it, with courage gay.
/