Evening star. [volume], May 04, 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.
TUESDAY__-May 4, 1937
THEODORE W. NOYES_Editor
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herein are also reserved.
The Nazi Church War.
Chancellor Hitler's feud with the
German churches is advanced another
stage by his May day address in which
he flung defiance at members of all
denominations, especially the Catholics,
who protest against the subjection of
religion to state control. Aiming straight
at the Pope and his recent encyclical
condemning violation of the 1933 con
cordat, Hitler notified the Catholic
clergy that any insubordination on its
part w'ould result in reduction of priests
to their "recognized spiritual function
of caring for souls.” This is a direct
thrust at the church's traditional and
jealously guarded claim of the right to
educate Catholic youth. Holding this
demand to be "usurpation,” Hitler sig
nals that he will resort to harsh re
pression to thw'art it. It was in almost
brutal terms that Der Fuehrer pro
claimed his purpose. "We will take away
their children,” he declared. "These
we will train to become new' Germans.
We will not permit them to lapse into
the old way of thinking, but will give
them thorough supervision. We will
take them w'hen they are ten years old
and bring them up in the spirit of the
community until they are eighteen.
They shall not escape us. They will
join the party, the Storm Troops and
other formations, or go into factories
and offices. Later they will do two
years of military service. Who shall
dare say that such training will not
produce a nation?”
The Catholic bishops have lost no
time in repelling this unabashed threat.
They exhort Catholic parents to assert
their authority over their children, de
spite Nazi encroachments. The bishops
categorically accuse Hitler of violating
the concordat's sanction of denomina
tional schools. Time alone can tell to
what extent Germany's more than 20,
000.000 Catholics will venture to follow
the suggestions of the hierarchy and
ignore mailed fist warnings.
In light of the Nazi warfare on Prot
estantism and Catholicism, to say noth
ing of the vendetta against the Jews,
vaunted claims of German national unity
ere absurd. The Foreign Policy Associa
tion has just issued a research report
disclosing that, in addition to the ani
mosities and hostility engendered among
the creeds, there is growing discontent
Emong the working classes, despite the
Increase of employment due to rearma
ment. They suffer bitterly under the
ban on trade unionism and all the
rights which labor enjoys in democratic
countries. It may well be that the war
on the churches is destined to lead to
the progressive cracking of the Nazi
edifice and its ultimate downfall. The
methods to which Hitlerism is resorting
to regiment religion not only tyrannize
the immediate victims of his ruthless
crusade. It is an affront and challenge
to all peoples who look upon freedom
of conscience as an inalienable human
right.
' ■ - — » « ■ ■ ■ ■ 1
A strike in the movies would be re
garded as a national calamity if it in
volved a cut in the wages of Will S.
Hays, who knows so much about art in
politics that he is regarded as worth
every cent of pay required to keep
politics out of art. When it comes to
film shooting Mr. Hays has managed to
evade warlike Inferences and maintain
an attitude of brilliant neutrality.
- ■ ■ » 4
The funds that have been and will be
available from private sources for cancer
research are infinite. Whether they can
be concentrated under official manage
ment is a question of economics rather
than medication.
Pulitzer Prizes.
The theory of the Pulitzer prizes, like
that of the Nobel awards, is one of
assistance for those individuals who have
achieved artistic but not necessarily com
mercial success. Yet it may be won
dered if the purpose of the sponsor is
invariably fulfilled. The gift of a thou
sand dollars to Margaret Mitchell for
"Gone With the Wind” will signify little
to the recipient. She does not need the
money, nor does she stand in conspicuous
want of the honor. The vast popularity
of her work assures her recognition far
more gratifying than the approval of
the Advisory Board of the Graduate
School of Journalism at Columbia Uni
versity.
Perhaps the whole philosophy of the
Pulitzer Foundation is mistaken. The
time factor in the problem, for example,
involves delay. Applauding Miss
Mitchell's effort when it is already a
matter of history is something of an
anti-climax. If she ever required assist
ance, the moment must have been when
she first began writing her book or when
her publisher first began distribution of
the volume to the dealers. Now*, the
publicity comes too late to be of much
avail. The saturation point probably was
i
reached long since. Few new readers
can be anticipated.
Again, the decision was formulated by
vote and there is a danger in that cir
cumstance. Democracy is notoriously
lacking in power of discrimination. It
makes a universal fad of an interest one
week and deserts it utterly the next.
Changeableness is its outstanding char
acteristic: it is mutable by nature. Few,
indeed, have been the gods to whom it
consistently has been faithful. Its habit
is to worship briefly and at many shrines.
The enthusiasms to which it gives itself
soon are gone not with one wind but
with dozens.
Lord Dunsany several decades ago sum
med up the difficulty in a fable which
the public would do well to remember.
A poet, he reported, reproached Fame
for her neglect of him. Her answer was:
"I shall meet you in the graveyard back
of the poorhouse in a hundred years.”
Delaware’s Legislature.
One would think that a State the size
of Delaware—which John J. Ingalls of
Kansas once mentioned in the Senate
as boasting of three counties when the
tide is out and two when the tide is in—
would be able to do its legislative business
without disorder, confusion or indefinite
results. However, it would seem that the
size of the Legislature has nothing to do
with its efficiency. A situation now arises
in that State which may entail a re
convening of the lawmakers to pass an
important measure that should have
been enacted at the regular session end
ing April 21. This was a bill appropriat
ing $7,000,000 for public instruction. It
was one of the last bills to be put
through the mill and it was on the
calendar of the General Assembly on the
final day of the session. That body was
sitting all night with the clocks stopped,
presumably to insure action upon all
essential laws. But the legislators were
in a merry mood and devoted the last
hours of the session to various forms of
jubilation. At four o'clock in the morn
ing a recess was taken to enable the
members to troop through the streets
in the escort of a member who had to
catch a train to New York. There may
have been other factors in the situation
to befog the memories of the legislators.
At any rate, nobody seems to know
whether the bill was passed or not, and
now the Governor has called a confer
ence of all the members of the Legisla
ture in an inquiry to determine whether
they passed this particular appropriation
bill.
There have been scenes of confusion
in Congress in the final hours of ses
sions and sometimes it has required the
utmost watchfulness on the part of the
legislative clerks to note what was hap
pening and to keep their records straight.
But never so far as memory runs has
there been anything like the pande
monium which is described as marking
the final session of the lawmakers of the
next to the smallest State in the Union.
It remains to be seen whether Nebraska
will have any such experience with its
single chamber Legislature, which is now
in the first stage of trial. If the spirit
of entertainment and festivity marks
its closing hours, however, there is no
guarantee that it will not be just as dis
composed in respect to the orderly trans
action of business as a two-chamber
body of jubilating lawmakers.
Benito Corners the News.
Benito Mussolini is not only a thor
oughly competent dictator but he is also
a shrewd business man. He is simul
taneously the ruler of Italy, whose will
must be obeyed, and the owner and pub
lisher of Popolo d'ltalia, which because
of that fact is the leading journal of
Home and consequently of Italy. To
confirm its status Publisher Mussolini,
in his capacity as ruler, has just issued
a decree that all important announce
ments of policy must be printed first in
his newspaper and that simultaneously
the other papers must print an an
nouncement to this effect: “The Popolo
d'ltalia today carries an important
article on such and such a subject.”
And furthermore, the other newspapers
are forbidden to reproduce the article
until the following day, when they are
required to print it, giving credit to the
Popolo d'ltalia. Nothing could be
neater or more effective to establish II
Duces own newspaper as the official
organ of the state. And the system has
its advantages in the matter of en
hancing the value of the paper as a
business enterprise. Herr Hitler has
not adopted this plan yet, but he may
do so, in complimentary recognition of
the genius of his fellow dictator. Herr
Goebels’ control of the German press is
fairly well established, however, and no
newspapers are permitted to get out of
step.
The American press is still free and
untrammeled and there is no "court
organ" with exclusive privileges of an
nouncement and discussion. 4
When the President greets a delega
tion from Congress photographers are
not encouraged to request smiles under
an impression that the gathering is
another genial press conference.
“In the bag" is a phrase attributed to
Postmaster General Farley at a time
of year when the “moth bag” is com
mended for articles temporarily retired
from active ostentation.
Old Tom Goes Home.
There are persons, doubtless, who fool
ishly believe that there is no heaven for
animals. Hearing that Old Tom, last
of Washington’s fire horses, has gone
home, they vainly imagine that he has
departed nowhere. But, surely, that is
nonsense. The contradiction is too obvi
ous. There must be a future; otherwise,
how can a finite mind explain the exist
ence of the past or the present?
And Old Tom deserved immortality.
He was so picturesque, so gallant, as he
dashed through the streets to a blaze.
The memory of the lift of his hoofs, the
toss of his head, the wave of his snowy
mane will linger in the hearts of thou
sands of his human friends. Who shall
say that all that Is transient and
ephemeral? The theory is unscientific;
it does violence to the prihciple of cause
and effect; it flouts elemental logic.
Furthermore, it might be argued that
another plane is indicated by the antici
pation of the sentient inhabitants of this
world. They hope for life everlasting.
It is inconceivable that such an aspira
tion should be lacking in motive, empty
of purpose. No accident accounts for it.
There is nothing—there never can be
anything—to prove that Old Tom him
self did not dream of fairer pastures.
Read the great sagas of antiquity for
evidence of the regard which the ancients
entertained for their valiant steeds of
battle. Ere the poison of modern skep
ticism penetrated the consciousness of
the race, men did not draw a line be
tween themselves and their brute com
panions. Rather, they dared death with
the more confidence because they had
faith that in Valhalla they would find
the speechless friends of the planet they
had left behind. The veterans of the
Capital's Fire Department would be lost
without Old Tom and his equine con
temporaries, Barney and Gene.
To all three of the departed steeds
Washington waves farewell. The age
to which they belonged is over, and the j
gasoline motor signifies a new era. But
what is remembered is not dead, what
has lived never can die. The convic
tion of millions supports that point of
view unquestionably.
■-» i..
A marble duplication of Tammany
Hall might be established in some leafy
spot in commemoration of Vincent
Bryant, whose recent death brought him
to memory as the poet and musician who
created the immortal lay about how'
“Big Chief sits in his teepee.” Much
history has been written by Tammany
since the early dictum went forth. It will
be Tammany Hall or no hall at all.
Coronation costumes may be de
pended on to display, as usual, a magni
ficence that will easily overwhelm any
courteous effort on the part of visitors to
contribute effects original or imposing.
The ceremonial is one of historic solemn
ity and will scarcely be mistaken by
judicious observers as an occasion for
what melodious exponents of tempera
mental ebullience refer to as "making
whoopee.”
---- ■ 11 » < ■■ ■
A habit of referring to G. Bernard
Shaw as a "sage” brings up question of
literary seasoning. He may have allow-ed
his pungency to stand open to promiscu
ous challenge until he resembles a dash
of exhausted horse radish in the race
of modern wit.
Colleges wdll always be slightly mis
represented by students who are encour
aged to play foot ball or journalism
before they have had time to study
America’s economic system.
After a sit-down strike nothing re
mains but to stand up again and walk
over to the old free lunch counter in
the hope that ancient customs are
being comfortably revived.
The old town crier still holds to serious
announcements without permitting his
twilight tintinabulations to be drowned
out by the refrain of current wedding
bells.
Shooting Stars.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
Workless Days.
Feelin’ kind o’ lazy
When the skies are warm and blue,
Waitin’ for the daisy,
Which has nothin’ much to do.
Wishin’ and a'sighin’
To have my duties done
Like the dandelion,
Just by smilin' at the sun.
Cowbells softly tinkle
Across the meadows green,
Blossoms lightly sprinkle
Their perfumes o’er the scene.
I am glad this mighty Nation
Shows a gentle willingness
To provide some legislation
To assist my laziness.
Only Incidental.
“Do you pride yourself on your ora
tory?’’
“Not especially," said Senator Sor
ghum. “Politics is something like a
radio. In order to get an idea across
you need a w'hole lot of machinery
besides a loud speaker.”
Jud Tunkins says a man who tells
folk what they ought to do is great
in his way, but not as great as the
one who shows them how to do it.
Useless Contention.
Oh, let us quit the boisterous row
Upon this earth below.
We’ve got to live in it somehow.
There’s no place else to go.
“We often listen,” said Hi Ho, the
sage of Chinatown, “less in the hope
of learning for ourselves than in the
hope of finding some one wise enough
to relieve us of the burden of thinking.”
Music and Merchandise.
Composers great of long ago
Would have been filled with glad sur
prise
Could they have been allowed to know
The splendid things they’d advertise.
They might have been exceeding proud
As poverty oft came their way
Could some advance have been allowed
And let them cut in on the pay.
Counter Irritants.
“Do you like music when you dine?”
“Oh, yes,” answered Miss Cayenne.
“There’s always a chance that the music
may be good enough to take your mind
oft the food or that the food may be
good enough to take your mind oft the
music.”
“Opinions never kept anything worth
while from succeedin’,” said Uncle Eben.
“Some people don’t like flowers, but,
thank de good Lord, de flower* don’t
car*.”
l t
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.
Insurgent Republicans, like Senator
William E. Borah of Idaho and Senator
Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota, are
planning to throw out of the window
the Republican party organization as
it exists today and to start building a
new party from the ground up. Whether
the party shall continue to bear the
name of Republican is one point the
proponents of a clean sweep are still
pondering. They feel that the Repub
lican party is under the handicap of
being a sectional party—since it cannot
and never has penetrated the so-called
solid South except in the 1928 presi
dential election, when four of these
States voted against Alfred E. Smith, the
Democratic nominee. As soon as Smith
had been eliminated these States
promptly swung back into the Demo
cratic fold. The Democratic party, on
the other hand, is a national party, they
say, and their party also should be
national. * * * *
It is knowm that Borah and Nye and
many others in the party believe that
the G. O. P. can never get back into the
position of a controlling party so long
as it remains in the hands of the
present managers and the present na
tional committee. • There is no way of
throwing out the present members of
the national committee, since they were
elected by the State delegations at the
last national convention to serve for
the following four years. So the in
surgents plan to let the old organization
ride—if it can—and to build up an
organization of their own, new and out
side of the present national committee.
To do this, leaders and the rank and file
in the various States will be appealed
to, and after State organizations have
been perfected the plan is to call a
national convention. At that conven
tion a national committee would be
elected and questions of party policy
outlined—and the question of the party
name will be settled. While Borah feels
that to retain the name Republican
may militate, as it has in the past,
against any large development in the
Southern States, there are great numbers
of voters all over the country who are
attached to the name, and it may not be
feasible or possible to wean them away
from it.
* * * *
The insurgents feel that the question
of the name of the party is not the
major problem. What they wish to
accomplish is the establishment of an
entirely new national committee and a
new front for the party. Thus far the
movement for reorganization has been
confined to conferences here in Wash
ington among those who wish to throw
off the old yoke and to correspondence
with many men and women out in the
States. This year—an off year so far
as elections are concerned—is the
psychological time to effect such a re
organization of the Republican party.
To attempt it next year, when a cam
paign is under way, would be to court
defeat right at the start. The real drive,
if it is to materialize, will come within
a few' months, and possibly as soon as
the fight over the President's Supreme
Court program has been finished.
* * * *
Those who aae backing a new set-up
for the Republican party insist that a
great many members of the present
national committee have been of the
Old Guard, like Roraback of Connect.cut,
Hilles of New' York, Williams of Oregon.
Such men. the insurgents maintain, cm
never attract to the Republican party
the rank and file of the people, par
ticularly the mere progressive elements.
The Insurgents would sidetrack also the
present national chairman. John Hamil
ton, and the group in headquarters here.
This is particularly interesting in view
of the fact that Hamilton is now en
gaged in a speaking program on behalf
of the Republican party and made his
first speech Saturday night. Borah and
his friends do not expect to remake the
Republican organization without a real
fight. But they are basing their hopes
on the rank and file of the party and
upon those independents and Democrats
who have no use for the New Deal
Democratic party. Calls for meetings in
every district and county in the country
probably will be the first step of the
reorganizers. It will be possible in that
way to get some measure of the strength
of the movement.
* * * *
In the opinion of Senator Borah, the
Democratic party of today bears no
semblance of the party of Thomas Jef
ferson, of Grover Cleveland or Woodrow
Wilson. Rather the New Deal Demo
cratic party is the counterpart of the
party of Alexander Hamilton, standing
for a stronger centralized party than
even did Hamilton in the early days
of the Republic. In order to combat
this New Deal party, Borah believes
that it is necessary to set up a party
which, can have the support of the
masses. That, in his opinion, will never
happen as long as the Republican party
as now organized continues to function.
Once the masses have become con
vinced that a party represents "privilege”
and wealth, he maintains, the party
cannot come back. As he sees it, the
Republican party as organized and man
aged today has become branded as the
party of privilege.
* * * *
One thing which troubles the In
surgent Republicans Is money. They
realize that to start a Nation-wide fight
to build the party anew and from the
ground up is going to take a considerable
amount of money, even though many of
the leaders give their time free of
charge. They are hopeful that men of
means may be found to make initial
contributions and that small contribu
tions will come from a great number
of others.
The drive for a new party organization
does not come alone from some of the
Republican members of the Senate.
There are members of the House who
are heart and soul in the movement, too.
When and if the drive starts, the
chances are for a bitter intraparty strug
gle, for many of the old leaders—men
now in position of great power in the
organization—will resist the effort to
unhorse them. The movement for a
new Republican party organization has
been in evidence under the surface for
months. Indeed, the discussions began
early last Winter, soon after the dis
astrous defeat of the Republican candi
dates at the polls in November, 1936.
* * * *
What position some of the younger
prqjpinent men in the Republican party
mw take is yet to be divulged. What
will Senator Vandenberg of Michigan
do? He is an outstanding figure in
the party today and one of the most
potent voices in the country against
the New Deal. What will be the position
of two new Republicans, Lodge of Massa
chusetts and Bridges of New Hampshire,
both active and up and coming men?
Lodge is almost unbelievably progressive
—considering the fact that he is the
grandson of the late Senator Henry
Cabot Lodge, who was a conservative of
conservatives.
One thing that has encouraged the
Republicans who hope for new party
alignments is the attitude of a great
many Southern Democrats who have no
use now for the policies of the present
administration.
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
Browsing in a big book store Is an
altogether delightful thing, provided
that the proprietor and his clerks are
booklovers themselves.
Lacking that, it is not much fun, for
everybody seems to be suspicious, as if
afraid the browser is going to slip a
volume under his coat and walk out
with it.
In the right sort of establishment the
honest lover of books can have the
"time of his life” almost any hour he
can spare.
He is not killing time.
Far from it!
He is making time live.
Books make time alive for the person
who enjoys them.
It is easy to understand why some
unfortunate persons do not "like to
read,” as they say.
It is mostly a matter of (1) innate
disposition, and (2) education. There
are some types of mind that, no matter
how hard they try, never get the knack
of reading. They may enable their pos
sessors to make a million dollars, or
excel in sports, but they cannot make
them like to read.
This is no discredit to them. Only an
pducation-mad age would dare say it
is, and it has been said very few times.
Lack of the proper sort of education
also is responsible for persons who do
not care to read, genuinely and honestly.
This is mostly a matter of eyesight. It
is said that eyes were never made for
modern work, but only for use in the
chase, at war, and looking at the far
horizon for the appearance of enemies.
It may be imagined that there are
hundreds of persons who never get the
right "hang” of eye use for reading.
There also is to be taken into considera
tion the fact that pleasurable reading
requires a certain quickness of percep
tion, both physical and mental. This
is not given to all persons. The very
fact that the eye chases after itself^
word after word, in reading, often
taking in an entire line or sentence at
a glance, means that the mind is noti
fied that it must hustle up. Now some
minds cannot hustle. They may be
very good minds, but the ability to
"wisecrack,” to make an instant, and
what is commonly regarded as a clever
retort, is beyond them. f
The eye itself is just a part of the
brain. One spot in it is actually that,
a prolongation of cranial tissue. We do
not see with our eyes, but with our
brains. Hence it is impassible for the
mind which is what is commonly called
"slow” to enjoy reading, which is, by
the very smallness (comparatively) of
type, an activity which requires speed.
Educational methods, in themselves,
old-fashioned or new-fashioned, we be
lieve, seldom go at teaching reading as
an art, which, properly interpreted,
means as an enjoyment.
The “task.” so called and so under
stood, can never be entertainment. Who
does not remember how he hated “A
Tale of Two Cities" in school, and how
he enjoyed it in later life?
* * * *
The book store browser is he or she
who loves books because at home with
them, then.
He is, she is, in the last analysis, the
book buyer of the ages.
There may be some abuse, but, in the
main: The person who likes them well
enough to look them over for minutes,
hours at a time, often with longing in
heart and mind for a particular volume,
is the person who in the end buys all
of them.
Thousands, hundreds of thousands,
millions of volumes, pouring from the
presses every year, not only in this
country, but in England as well. They
are having quite a guessing contest over
there as to what becomes of all the
books published, who buys them, and
why.
The answer is easy. They are bought
by people who love books two-fold, as
things, and as books.
Other sorts of people do not buy books,
either for themselves or for their friends.
They borrow them, etc.
It is necessary to have admiration for
physical books, before one can love
them as mental books. Books are like
people, they have bodies as well as
minds.
It is easy to fall in love with the
body of a book. It has appeal. It may
be beautiful cloth, or Just paper bound;
it may be hand-tooled leather, or one
of these wonderful old folios kept in
museums.
The browser in a book store is keen
for this sort of thing. Even the paper
jackets, now matters for hushed con
ferences at the publishers, have their
mighty appeal to the real bookman or
book worn an.
Consider that “Gone With the Wind"
jacket. Who shall say it did not have
something very definite to do with the
sale of the book? Those big letters in
the title, covering the entire jacket
sort of hit everybody in the eye, knocked
’em off their feet, as it were. Had to
have something between the covers,
though, and it had. A novel which
reads better the second time than the
first. Try it.
* * * *
Browsing in a store brings to eye so
many books one will never read, but it
Is good to know about them at first
hand.
The sense of values is helped by the
hand. We are hand-minded, as well
as eye-minded. The things we touch
are the things we keep.
The real lover of books will consider
that the volumes in the store are not
his, but probably will be somebody
else’s before long. Therefore he will
handle them carefully, taking pains not
to split their backs by yanking them
open suddenly at page 125; he will
avoid soiling them, realizing that the
next booklover to come along will not
want his book with smudges on it; he
will not put his fingers in his mouth
to wet them, in order to turn the pages,
for such action is altogether unsanitary
and totally unnecessary; he will not
rumple the sheets, or bend back the
corners, or deface in any way the paper
covers.
He will treat them, in other words,
as if they were his own. The golden
rule has plenty of opportunity here as
elsewhere. Treat other people's books
as you would like your own to be treated.
Or don't you care? If the latter is
true you are scarce a browser of the
true type, for he is as fussy about all
books as he is about his own precious
ones.
Proprietors should not, therefore,
frown upon the browser, and, as far as
we know', sensible ones never do, for
they realize perfectly that these are
the elect of bookdom, those who in the
end make publishers and authors and
books possible.
Shabby young fellows, like the true
opera lover in the "peanut gallery,'’ may
buy few books today, maybe only one
a week or month, but some day, when
they come into their own. as the saying
has it, they will fill many shelves.'be
cause the urge to do so is in their blood.
Fine cars and night clubs may seem
to get most of modern America’s
money, but not all; there are just as
true booklovers today as ever, and,
heavens, how many more books!
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS R. HENRY.
What is water?
Perhaps the most familiar, abundant
and indispensable substance on earth,
its peculiar properties long have mysti
fied physicists and chemists, but recent
studies with a new technique at the geo
physical laboratory of the Carnegie In
stitution of Washington are beginning to
throw light on its internal structure.
By means of the Raman spectrum of
water Dr. James H. Hibben of the geo
physical laboratory staff has been able
to look inside the familiar H20 molecule
and watch its constituent atoms at their
work and play. The inside of this mole
cule is a busy and exciting place, he finds,
with complex pullings and shovings going
on which hitherto have not been sus
pected.
Dr. Hibben sends beams ot light, ot
known wave length, through the water
molecules. When a particle of light hits
an atom in the molecule it is bounced
off and loses some of its energy from the
impact. It comes out a different wave
length—consequently a different color—
than w’hen it went in. By studying the
changes which have taken place in the
light Dr. Hibben is able to deduce where
an atom was when it was hit and what it
was doing. Thus he is able to construct a
hypothetical picture of actual events in
the invisible world.
The picture changes markedly as the
H20 combination passes from one to
another of its three familiar states—
steam, water and ice. But the changes,
Dr. Hibben finds, are quite different from
those which ordinarily accompany a
transition from the gaseous to the liquid
and the liquid to the solid state. The
findings have just been published in
detail in the Journal of Chemical Physics.
Here is Dr. Hibben's picture of water
in its vapor form, as reconstructed from
its Raman spectrum:
The atoms in its molecule are arranged
in the form of an equilateral triangle.
At the apex of the triangle is the rela
tively heavy atom of oxygen. Forming
the base are the two mtich lighter atoms
of hydrogen.
These three atoms are never at rest,
but are continually oscillating toward and
away from each other. Thus the tri
I angle pattern is always distorted. It is
like a three-cornered tug-of-war which
goes on forever.
This oscillation is apparently the only
movement of the oxygen atom as a whole.
The two hydrogen atoms, however, are
continually rotating at increasing speeds
as the temperature of the vapor is in
creased.
The vapor is cooled down until it be
comes a liquid. Then, Dr. Hibben finds,
comes the rare phenomenon of “blocked
rotation.” This may be a unique prop
erty of water, although there is some
evidence that it might be found in vari
ous complex alcohols. The molecules
are closer together and appear to exert
such an influence on each other that the
hydrogen atoms cannot make complete
rotations, but are restricted to half or
quarter rotations, the arc traversed be
coming smaller with decreasing tem
perature until, with the final crystalliza
tion of water into ice, the rotating move
ment is inhibited altogether.
Now w'ater has always been looked
upon as a liquid, perhaps the typical
liquid. But in a liquid presumably the
molecules have no arrangement in defi
nite patteme—that is, In crystals—which
is the definitive character of solids. This
interaction which inhibits the rotation
of the hydrogen atoms at the base of
the triangle can only be interpreted, Dr.
Hibben says, as evidence that water is
made up of semi-crystalline patterns of
the triangular molecules.
Therefore, he concludes, it must be con
sidered as a semi-solid, something on an
ill-defined border line between liquid and
solid. This is a condition which is rare,
if not unique, in nature. It is perhaps
in large measure responsible for the pe
culiar properties of water which make it
indispensable for life on earth and per
haps the only possible environment in
which the infinitely complex combination
of chemical elements which constitutes
protoplasm could have come together
and persisted, to form the basic structure
of life.
The pattern varies. Dr. Hibben finds,
when anything is in solution in the water
and also according to the atomic com
position of the water. Physicists now
recognize the possibility of eight or 10
kinds of water. There are three known
atoms of hydrogen—single, double and
triple. There are at least two kinds of
oxygen molecule. All the possible com
binations of these into the H20 formula
constitute water and the kinds are in
distinguishable except with delicate
physical tests.
British and American
Tax Systems Compared
From the Charlotte <N. C.) News.
An income tax that is an income tax
has just been proposed in the United
Kingdom. To defray the cost of a vast
rearmament program running into the
seven billions of dollars, the income tax
rate would be raised to 25 per cent. In
addition, there would be a 33 per cent
tax on what might be called excess busi
ness profits; that is, profits greater than
in the year preceding.
The English and the American income
tax structures differ in many respects.
That of our cousins begins at a lower
level—exemptions aae $625 for a single
man, $2,000 for a married man with
three or more children, contrasting with
$1,000 and $3,700, respectively, in the
United States. Theirs is a flat rate,
with no gradations, and it seems to us
in this country an excessive rate. Ours
starts low (4 per cent), but runs all the
way up to 79 per cent before it is finished.
But the greatest difference is in busi
ness taxes. In this country corporate
income is taxed as it is earned, sur
taxed again (1) to the corporation if it
is not distributed in the form of divi
dends or (2) to the individual if it is
distributed. Rates are high. But the
English have looked solely to the in
dividual. The new excess profits tax
is their first recourse to another field.
Another difference, manifest from the
foregoing, is in the attitude of the two
countries toward the income tax. There,
it is looked upon purely and simply as a
revenue producer, and that it produces
is shown by the fact that budgets have
been balanced approximately ever since
1920. Here, the income tax is used as
an Instrument of social and economic
reform, and the experts say that as
presently devised it has reached the point
of diminishing returns. ■
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.
Haskia, Director, Washington, D. C.
Please inclose stamp for reply.
Q. Who are the members of the Na
tional Labor Relations Board?—H. J.
A. The members are Joseph Warren
Madden, Donald W. Smith and Edwin
8. Smith.
Q. How much money is collected by
the Empire State Building in admission
fees?—J. H.
A. Entrance fees to the tower average
$1,000 a day.
Q How far does the average person
walk in a lifetime?—W. J.
A. The average individual walks 65,000
miles during his lifetime.
Q. How much gasoline is used in motor
travel in the United States yearly?—
W. A.
A. Last year Over 18,000,000,000 gallons
were used. This was almost 11 per cent
increase over the gasoline consumption
for this purpose In 1935.
Q What university offers a course In
weather forecasting?—W. H.
A, There is one at the University of
New Hampshire, Durham.
Q Does national debt increase at an
accelerating rate?—G. G.
A. It does lor most countries, although,
prior to the present administration, the
United States was the one large country
which, alter every war, reduced its na
tional debt. 'In the twentieth century
national debts have increased at such an
accelerated rate that now the United
Elates debt is equal to what the national
debts of all nations in the world
amounted to in 1900.
Q. What moving picture company once
offered a prize for a substitute for the
word movie?—W. B.
A. In 1912 the Essanay Company of
fered a prize for such a substitute which
was won by a contestant who suggested
the word photoplay.
Q. What is the longest telephone call
that can be made within the borders
of the United States?—W. R.
A. The longest possible telephone call
in the United States is from Eastport.
Me, to Bay, Calif., a distance of 2,947
airline miles.
Q. Is there a memorial to Stephen
Collins Foster on the Suwannee River?
—C. M.
A. In 1928 a monument to the song
writer was erected at Fargo, Ga , head
waters of the Suwannee. It has recently
been announced that an amphitheater in
his memory will be built by the Florida
Federation of Music Clubs on the banks
of the river. Foster never saw the Su
wannee, but picked the name from an
atlas because of its sound.
Q. In what three wars did Admiral
Farragut fight?—1T. C.
A. In the War of 1812, the Mexican
War and the Civil War.
Q. Who first used the expression steam
roller in a political sense?—H. W.
A. It was first used by Oswald F.
Schuette, then Washington correspond
ent of the Chicago Inter-Ocean, to de
scribe the rough methods used to pro
cure the nomination of W. H. Taft as
the Republican presidential candidate
in 1908.
Q. How long has the Maryland Preak
ness been run?—F. R.
A. The race was first run in 1873 and
has been continuous except for 19 years
from 1890 to 1909.
Q. Who was the first American to
become a member of the Royal Society
of London—D. T.
A. The Rev. Cotton Mather. In 1713
hts “Curiosa Americana" was read before
the society and he was elected to mem
bership.
Q When was Liberia settled by Amer
ican Negroes?—S. S.
A. Liberia, in Africa, was founded In
1822 by the American Colonization So
ciety. In 1847 it became an independent
government, and early in this century
the United States assisted Liberia in
straightening out its financial affairs
and strengthening internal conditions.
Q. Is Lake Pontchartrain fresh water
or salt?—R. T.
A. Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana Is
a salt water lake. It communicates with
Lake Borgne and Mississippi Sound by
the Rigolets Pass, through which tide
water flows.
Q. What per cent of the persons ar
rested are found to have fingerprint cards
in the Federal files?—J. B.
A. During 1936, 39.7 per cent (183,140)
of the persons arrested already had fin
gerprint cards on file in the identifica
tion division of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. In addition, there were
9,996 records bearing notations indi
cating previous criminal histories of the
persons concerned, although the finger
prints had not previously been filed in
the bureau. This makes a total of
193,136 records containing information
regarding the prior criminal activities
of the persons arrested. The records
disclosed that 139,707 <72.3 per cent) had
previously been convicted of one or more
offenses. This number constitutes 30.3
per cent of the 461,589 arrest records
examined.
Q. Did President Woodrow WTlson
carry a good-luck piece in his pocket?
—W. H.
A. He is said to have carried a large
horse chestnut in his pocket for good
luck.
Q What was the name of Kipling's
brother-in-law- who was a wuiter?—C. M.
A. Wolcott Balestier was a writer and
publisher and edited Tid-Bits, a humor
ous weekly.
Q. Is Coin Harvey living?—E. W.
A. W. H. <Coin) Harvey died on Feb
ruary 11, 1936.
- -atr i ■
The Land of the Free.
Prom the Columbus Dispatch.
This is the land of the free, where all
men are bom equal and every major
league base ball club has a pennant
chance—in April.
- *■ -tit- 1
A Rhyme at Twilight
By
Gertrude Brooke Hamilton.
Spring Rapture
Golden the buttercups ’neath blue skies,
Clover and daisies bloom together,
Fragrant the water lllv lies
Still on Its pool In the gay weather.
Swallows nest In some chimney height.
Frogs are piping their twilight number,
Starry the heavens every night—
Dream* of you Invade all my slumber.