THE EVENING STAR
With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
THURSDAY...September 30, 1937
THEODORE W. NOYES.. Editor
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A Duly to the People.
5 Justice Black is back in the National
Capital, where he is expected to take a
seat on the Supreme Court bench next
Monday. He has indicated that he may
make a statement regarding his connec
tion with the Ku Klux Klan. The
American people expect him to make
such a statement. They are entitled to
it. They are entitled to it before he
.ascends the bench. If he has been a
member of the Klan, it is no private
matter. At the time he was elected to
the Senate the Klan was recognized as
a political force in many States of the
country. It was to his advantage that
he had the support of the hooded organ
ization when he campaigned for the
Senate.
For more than three weeks Justice
Black has been aware of the published
charges, not only that he was a member
of the Klan but that he accepted a card
of life membership in it. For more than
three weeks he has allowed the charges
to go undisputed and unanswered.
While his nomination to the Supreme
Court was under consideration the
charge that he had been a member of the
Klan was debated on the floor of the
Senate. He allowed the charge at that
time to go unanswered by himself. By
his own consent, apparently, his friends
in the Senate were allowed to make
denial.
. The time has come for Justice Black
to speak. The President of the United
States, who selected him for appoint
ment to the highest court, has declined
to comment upon the appointment and
the charges which have been made
against Justice Black until he has
Apoken. The President has in effect
declined to judge the case until Mr.
Slack himself has been heard.
; Much circumstantial and documentary
evidence has been produced to prove
jhat Justice Black has been a member
i>f the Klan, aiong with statements of
■persons who declared that they were
■present at Klan meetings with him. It
■Js evidence which the President who
Appointed him or the Senate which con
•Jlrmed the appointment could have
Obtained. The Attorney General of the
^Tnited States, who might have advised
•the President with regard to the ap
pointment to the Supreme Court, has
paid he would have considered it an
?‘impertinence” to inquire into the
private life of the then Senator Black
from Alabama. No more futile sugges
tion was ever made.
' Justice Black has had ample oppor
tunity to frame any statement he may
■Swish to make regarding the Klan con
nection. It is immaterial by whom the
■charges against him have been made.
;What the country wants to know are
■the facts in the matter. Senators who
poted for his confirmation have clearly
said that they would not have done so
had they known he had been a member
9t the Ku Klux Klan.
The peculiar circumstances under
which Mr. Black assumes office should
enable him to have an interview with
the President as to methods and pur
poses. He is entitled to all kinds of
•advice in order to meet a new situation
,with the greatest possible dignity.
m _ _
% * ^ > ■ ■
: New animals for the Zoo show that
it is not necessary to talk intelligently
Jn order to be interesting. With some it
Js noted with regret that as they grow
•.older they do not grow wiser.
• • ••• • ■
*
• Siesta.
; A President of the United States—it
.•does not matter which one—told an in
timate friend on a certain occasion: "I
/Wish I could have half an hour's sleep
In the middle of the day.” The burdens
•of his office forebade him such a luxury,
'but he envied those who were privileged
to enjoy it and said so, frankly enough.
: Doubtless, the Latins are wise in their
^devotion to the siesta. Even if they do
mot choose to slumber, they give them
jselves opportunity to rest between the
routine duty of the morning and that
"of the afternoon. Such a recess has the
Indorsement of the historian James
*Truslow Adams who, without apology,
■has advocated giving people “a chance to
^ponder for a few minutes on what it is
pB.ll about, why they are living and what
2hey really want.” He understands the
^significance of the "time out” which
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow must have
mad in mind when, in “The Children's
•iHour,” he wrote of “a pause in the day’s
^occupation”—not necessarily at sunset.
' Most men and not a few women have
'forgotten the meaning of relaxation.
?The whole world is tense with ceaseless
jeffort, constant strain. Psychologists
^testify that a plethora of nervous di
seases trace back to the habit of being
incessantly on the qui vive. Conditions
Jdemand that everybody should be alert,
“feut the price for unfaltering vigilance is
high. The sentry who never is relieved
eventually collapses at his post.
Of course, it is an error to suppose
that great numbers of people die of over
work. A far larger mortality accrues
from too little employment. Yet there
is merit in the ancient axiom about what
makes Jack a dull boy. Burning the
candle at both ends is traditionally
foolish.
Perhaps it would help if there could
be a gradual slowing up of the accel
- era ted tempo of life. A considerable
degree of fever is manifest throughout
the*earth. The passion for speed is evi
dence of it. But an excellent illustra
tion of its fundamental Irrationality may
be discovered in this anecdote of recent
local origin: A Washington resident got
home from the office three minutes early
and remarked upon the circumstance
to his wife. She replied: “What are you
going to do with those hundred and
eighty seconds?”—an impertinent ques
tion to which the husband had no con
vincing answer. \
The Price of Savagery.
Chickens are coming home to roost
in a manner bound to be disconcerting
and surprising to Japan and definitely
disastrous in an economic sense. In
Great Britain, which ranks close to the
United States and China in the top
category of Japan's markets, a move
ment is rapidly taking form for a
nation-wide boycott of the island empire’s
goods, as a sign of indignation over
ruthless attacks on civilian areas in
China by Japanese aircraft.
While it is the cruelties visited upon
helpless women and children at Nanking,
Canton, Shanghai and other populous
centers that mainly arouses British ire,
one is hardly far wrong in surmising that
the bombing attack on Ambassador
Knatchbull-Hugessen plays a role in
' the economic reprisals about to be taken
against Japanese wares. Not since the
"Mistress of the Seas’’ swallowed the
affronts offered by Mussolini during the
Ethiopian crisis has British pride suf
fered—and tolerated—a stiffer blow than
Tokio’s half-hearted apology for the
outrage on London's envoy. Evidently
the worm is about to turn.
Even if the Chamberlain government
formally withholds approval of the
"sanctions" to be imposed against Japa
nese produce, their popular support seems
assured. Interests as divergent as the
Labor party and the Church of England
are joining in the demand for a practical
demonstration of British resentment. A
leading London newspaper is sponsoring
a great protest meeting in Albert Hall,
at which the Archbishop of Canterbury
will preside. Badges emblazoned "I will
not buy Japanese goods" are to be put
on sale and the proceeds used to buy
provisions and medical supplies for suf
fering Chinese. Merchants from John
O Groat to Lands End will display win
dow signs reading: "We do not handle
Japanese stuff."
Japan knows from bitter experience
how deadly a weapon the boycott is.
One of the underlying causes of her
determination to chastise China is the
organized revolt of the Chinese people
against purchase of Japanese goods. The
famous boycott proclaimed by the guilds
a few years back threatened to bring
the.island's vast China trade to a stand
still. Loss, or even serious curtailment, of
that market is almost a matter of life
or death for Japan's industry. A British
boycott, especially should it spread to
the dominions and India, would be
almost as fatal. And there is always the
danger that a buy-nothing-Japanese
movement, once it gained momentum in
the British Empire, might not stop there.
Suggestions that Americans declare sucht
an embargo began to be heard soon after
murderous events set in at Nanking.
There is no evidence as yet that mere
diplomatic remonstrances will dissuade
Japan from forms of warfare which
the League of Nations, with the concur
rence of the United States, on Tuesday
branded as unwarranted in law and con
trary to the principles of humanity. But
the high price of savagery cannot fail
to penetrate even the Samurai mind,
which takes account of bravery and
patriotism but not of chivalry, when
world condemnation is expressed in terms
of the yen.
Conversations are desired which will
allow the Mediterranean Sea to become
orderly and not seem to prevent Eastern
Asia from establishing new standards
of human slaughter.
A sequence of Errors.
Mr. Justice Black, upon his arrival in
this country yesterday, not only failed to
make the best of an opportunity but con
tributed to the public concern as to his
lack of the judicial temperament which
is regarded as essential in a member
of the highest tribunal in this land. Yet
when he landed and was confronted by
the representatives of the press in search
of1 such a statement he declined to speak
other than to say: “When I have any
statement to make that is definite and
final on any subject it will be in such a
way that I cannot be misquoted and
that the Nation can hear me.”
This was a distinct implication that
the American press was not to be trusted
to print his statement in full and with
out garbling. Of course, such a sug
gestion was entirely without justification.
Not only would every word of the
justice's statement have been published,
but without the slightest change or ad
dition. And it would have reached the
whole people as surely and as effectively
as though it were given the fullest spread
by radio, to which Mr. Black indicates
he will later resort. Thus he marked his
arrival with an affront to the press,
which was not precisely in keeping with
the new role which he now occupies,
that of a dispassionate and unprejudiced
member of the highest court in the land.
Nor was this evasion discreet. For it
spread the matter of the propriety of his
appointment over a further period of
time, whereas the part of wisdom would
have been to make the shortest course
toward the bench without continued
%
t
disputation. Recently it was reported
that the President remarked that he saw
that the “Black case” had gone off the
“front pages” of the newspapers, mean
ing that it was no longer a settled ques
tion of interest sufficient to keep it in
the public eye. Yesterday's happening
at Norfolk, on the contrary, brought it
back to the “front pages," from which,
indeed, it had not entirely vanished.
And it will again take that position when
the justice goes on the air, as he indi
cates he proposes to do, to state his case
directly to the people, without the
chance of “garbling" and omission.
This whole matter of the selection of
a successor to Justice Van Devantef has
been handled in a manner to make for
disputation, rancor and opposition. It
suggests the possibilities for public con
cern involved in the enlargement of the
court to fifteen members, as proposed in
the presidential message of February 5
last. If one appointment has caused
such a turmoil, continued even after
nomination and confirmation, vacation
abroad and return home, what would
have been the public agitation over six—
perhaps seven—selections for the highest
bench? The possibilities in such a situa
tion are veritably appalling.
As time goes on the words of Mr.
Farley become more precious. There
can be little doubt that he loves his
fellow man, but question arises as to
whether he can devise a line of comment
calculated to make everybody feel that
he is getting an even break.
Japan's military prowess is severely
challenged when it is intimated, for all
the world to see, that she does not know
the difference between, a bombardment
and the use of weapons in indiscriminate
slaying.
It is a mystery to students of Oriental
politics that China should have gotten
into so much difficulty with scarcely a
passing acquaintance with the League
of Nations.
It is believed that Russia may be able
to do something about the fight in China
if in some moment of further exaspera
tion she does not decide to sacrifice still
greater groups of fighting material.
The unruly behavior of Japan may
find its conclusion when it is fully com
prehended as a cause of disorder in
Europe.
In order to make the present impres
sion complete some student of antiquity
might turn back a few chapters and
recite adventures at the Tower of Babel.
A son of Mussolini may discover a way
to persuade Hollywood picture stars to
remember that as artists they may find
it necessary to assume to be warriors.
Shooting Stars.
BY PHILANDER J0HN80N.
Great Guessing Contest.
Talkin’ 'bout the troubles some of which
are not our own.
You either hold a meetin’ or you grab
the telephone!
This good old world seems always just
a little out o’ fix
And most of all the fun we get is talkin’
politics!
It’s just a guessin’ contest, in which
everybody quotes
The line of talk that he believes will
serve to win the votes.
We learn of lasses and of gains in many
a strange report
And talkin’ politics remains the public's
favorite sport.
Good Government.
"What is your idea of good govern
ment?”
"I'm no different from the old-time
statesman,” answered Senator Sorghum.
"My idea of a good government is one
that does pretty much as I dictate.”
Jud Tunkins says a dollar bill begins
to look so little that he wouldn't be sur
prised if in a few years it was rated
merely as car fare,
Fish.
I went a-flshin’ long ago,
And saw the waters ebb and flow.
The catch was small, not like the tale
Of dear Old Jonah and the whale.
Locating Responsibility.
"What did the traffic cop say to you?”
"Just a few words,” answered Mr.
Chuggins. “And as he said them he
looked straight into the eyes of Mrs.
Chuggins, who was driving from the
back seat ”
"Avarice, said Hi Ho, the sage of
Chinatown, "leaves a man sadly over
burdened with things he cannot hope to
enjoy.”
Seasons Change.
An Autumn chill pervades the breeze
Along the ocean shore.
The beauty contest meant to please
The eye will please no more!
The lassie who was once so cute
A fashion new will note:
Instead of a small bathing suit
Shell want an overcoat.
“Dar ain’ no chance foh a lazy man,”
said Uncle Eben. “Every dollar you kin
save in hope of takin' life easy calls on
you t to hustle harder to protect it.”
Another “March” in Sight.
Prom the Charleston (W. Va.) Mall.
Reports state that the agricultural
income is at the highest point in 10
years. Soon the farmers will be pros
perous enough to go to Washington to
demand relief.
Naval Aliases.
Prom the 8aginaw News.
With all this mystery about the iden
tity of those Mediterranean submarines,
naval records of the future may have to
contain the aliases of warships as well
i as their names.
Favors Extension of
District Boundaries
To the Editor of The Star:
As a home owner and business investor
in Greater Washington the writer has
lived in Montgomery County for over
eighteen years, and as a civil service
employe resided in the area for ten years
previous to that time. During the later
period the operation of the county gov
ernment has naturally been a matter of
considerable interest and. partly through
a membership in the National Municipal
League, has been the object of some
study. As a result it seems to me that
there is more to be said for the report
of the National Resources Committee
advocating enlargement of the unit of
municipal government than js being
said.
There are reasons, for being glad that
some of the idiosyncrasies of the Dis
trict government do not extend to us in
Maryland. But there would seem to be
some opportunity for getting rid of those
things and also of certain difficulties in
local county politics by an extension of
the District of Columbia area which car
ried with it the extension of a local, non
partisan franchise and congressional
representation.
In the Virginia area President Hoover
extended to civil service employes the
privilege of local political activity, but
in Maryland this privilege is restricted
to a few small incosporated “villages”
and does not extend to the really impor
tant county government.. This so re
stricts the highly intelligent civil service
element that it might almost as well not
have any local franchise at all. Those
few who do vote necessarily take a de
sultory interest in local politics which is
easily influenced by misleading propa
ganda.
Moreover, despite the otherwise unde
sirable “declaration of intentions” law,
it is difficult to keep machine politics
from voting residents of the District
who have no real interest in the county.
The political atmosphere is thus sur
charged with an unhealthy civil service
disdain for local politics that extends
largely throughout the better class of
potential voters and the “declaration of
intentions” requirement promotes this
attitude of indifference. Indeed, munic
ipal utilities are already largely con
trolled, as in the District, by appointive
State commissions and not by the
elected county commissioners. This is
not true of any other community in
Maryland.
The result of this state of affairs is
that the membership of such a civic
organization as the Civic Federation has
a large element of non-voters who can
not deliver at the polls in favoring such
worthy projects or restrictions as they
may desire: and it is a tribute to the
character of the' back-country rural resi
dents that the county government is not
worse than it is. Certainly the practica
bility of a continuation of this situation
is °Pen to serious question, and there
doesn't seem to be much to be said from
a common-sense point of view for the
existence of the District of Columbia
State line in the very midst of what is
essentially one community. It is an
expensive political luxury, to say the
least, and constitutes a large factor in
making Maryland State politics the too
rigid, partisan-machine affair that it is
because of the development of a munic
ipality which has one political leg in the
District's political grave.
ALDEN A. POTTER,
Recalls Famous Champions
of Half a Century Ago
To the Editor of The Star:
Mike Jacobs’ fight show "deciding" (?),
more or less, four championships
reminds us of 45 years ago. The great
New Orleans Boxing Carnival (Septem
ber 5-7, 1892) established or re-estab
lished three famous champions. George
Dixon remained featherweight king bv
defeating one Turk Skelly of Brooklvn.
N. Y. (eight rounds); the noted Jack
McAuliffe knocked out Billy Myers of
Streator, 111., in 15 rounds, and James J.
“Corbett of California dethroned the
mighty John L. Sullivan (21 rounds).
McAuliffe, in 1893, retired as the
undefeated lightweight champion (9
years). He is still living (weighing
about 200 pounds). Not well-to-do by
any means, he is getting bv. John L.
Sullivan retired then and there. A mag
nificent tub of lard, I had seen him in
the Spring before he went into training.
He played the hero in a melodrama,
"Honest Hearts and Willing Hands."
For 13 more years he traveled with John
Barleycorn, under the skull and cross
bones. Deserting him. John enlisted
under the lily-white colors of the late
Wayne B. Wheeler. Lecturing for the
Anti-Saloon League he became quite a
figure on the dry platform. His vast
paunch, the frock coat and the wing
collar helped a lot. In 1918 he died in
the odor of sanctity (age 60).
Culturally, the late James J. Corbett
stood out among the bruisers as "Gen
tleman Jim." Like Gene Tunney, he
had a pen-and-ink background. And
that put him above the former coal heav
ers and cement workers who aspired to
fistic honors. At least, he thought so.
From 1886 (age 20) up to 1903 he fought
most of the great heavyweights of his
time: John L. Sullivan, Peter Jackson,
Robert Fitzsimmons, Tom Sharkey
Charley Mitchell. Jake Kilrain, Kid Mc
Doy, James J. Jeffries. Later he became
quite an esteemed actor, and his book,
“The Roar of the Crowd.” is considered
a classic. He died in 1933.
“Who were better, these old timers or
the champions of here and now?” This
question, of course, ’ll never be answered.
You can't match.live human beings with
spirits. But I wonder how all of these
worthies would relish th? .old “Homeric
Code.” The ancient Greeks didn't be
lieve in “a fair stand-up fight.” They
put their money on “a fair sit-down
scrap.” "Seated on two flat stones, the
contenders would move close enough
for their noses to touch. Their hands
were encased in fingerless gloves, and
the knuckle part of these would be
decorated with iron spikes. At the word
‘go’ they would go to it.”
Those were the happy days for the
managers. Deducting the funeral ex
penses of the fighters, these Joe Jacobses
and Julian Blacks collected the whole
of the “net” gate. None of this fifty-fifty
business. God is good to the managers.
FRED VETTER.
Cross-Word Puzzles and
New Arrivals at Zoo
To the Editor of The St»r:
I wish to express to you my pleasure
in the cross-word puzzles, both daily
and Sunday. I have learned very much
from them and extended my vocabulary
to a considerable degree.
I feel so grateful to Dr. Mann for
bringing those rare zoo specimens to us.
There are fourteen on the list that I
have learned about from the cross-word
puzzles. I have cut out the list and
checked those from the cross-words and
pasted the list in my notebook, which
I shall take to the zoo and enjoy their
reality. ,
Thank you very much for my daily
enjoyment of the cross-words.
MISS LILLIAN DUSENBURY.
The comic spirit has many aspects.
A very dignified man, one who sel
dom smiled, burst into a roar of laughter.
His companions looked at him in
amazement, but said nothing, knowing
that he would explain.
He did.
“Do you see that woman going along
there?”
He indicated her, who, fortunately, had
neither heard him nor seen him laugh
ing.
"Well,” he continued, slightly ashamed
of himself by this time, “that woman
must be the girl they modeled these dum
mies in the store windows after.”
It was true.
He had, in a flash, caught the spirit
of a face, and had connected in squarely
with the right thing.
“I always wondered where they got
that face,” he continued, serious by this
time.
* * * *
It was the old comic spirit at work.
Another essentially dignified gentle
man, but possessing fhore of the impish
spirit than the other, burst into laughter
recently at the sight of the headlines
about the Black affair.
He laughed “ha-ha,” and he laughed
“ho-ho,” in a way which his companions
of the moment had not seen or heard
from him in a long time.
Something in the situation touched his
funny bone.
He. too, after a little, seemed slightly
ashamed of his droll outlook, and short
ly got back to normal.
The spirit of the comic had got him.
Seeing the funny side of things is all
the better, we may believe, if not in
dulged in too often.
Who is more boresome than the gay
person who always sees the humor in
every event—whether it is there or not?
It is significant that in the two in
stances given above, the main characters
actually did put their finger squarely on
something comic.
The face of the lady did resemble the
faces of the models.
It took a good eye to catch it, though,
for there is a vast difference between
the live and the inert.
The now famous “situation" really has
a vastly comic side to it, provided one is
willing to see it.
* * * *
There is not a funny side to every
thing. ■ Those determined persons who
manage to see something “funny," as thev
say. in every single event are perhaps as
off-key as those w-ho never relax at all.
Consider the wag w'ho cannot greet one
with a simple greeting, such as “Good
morning.” or “Hello.” but has to make
some “wise-crack” each and every time
he meets one.
People in time get to have a sinking
feeling, every time they see him.
But he must be met.
There is no getting away from him.
His intentions probably are of the best,
but his means are unfair.
He is personal to a degree. He does
not care at all whether he hurts the
feelings of his victims.
He must have his Joke, at all costs; and
often the costs are too heavy.
* * * *
The spectator and sometimes victim of
this attempt at the comic will wonder
whether the fellow actually thinks what
he says is "funny.”
If so, he is easily pleased.
If not, why does he do it? Perhaps it
is some sort of “complex” or other, a
determined attempt to overcome timidity,
or something.
He could select more efficient methods,
one may feel sure.
No doubt there are scores of crude
actions in public based on lacks in the
individual psychic make-up. The sad
part of it is that the rest of humanity
can have no way of knowing about these,
and therefore see no excuse for such
actions.
* * * *
The man with the invariable greeting,
the same words day after day, mostly
becomes a great bore.
This is especially true if what he says
really reflects in some way or other on
the appearance, judgment or understand
ing of those greeted.
Often enough this is the case. A great
segment of the American public has
trained itself to believe that mock-quar
reling is a sign of good fellowship.
It indicates, according to the code,
that one is not going to let anybody else
"put anything over” on him.
It shows that he can “take it” in the
best approved fashion.
Just why this code arose is not easy
to see, unless it is based on the belief
that blufT—Orientals call it "face"— is
the one essential thing.
If peace is the one desired thing, never
admit it, but immediately start a mock
wrangle, even when there is no possible
need for it.
* * * *
A rather silly performance, such
actions, in deed and word, all the more
silly because, like so much that goes on
nowadays, it is so unnecessary.
The comic spirit, on the other hand,
demands a truer appreciation.
It calls for the proper idea at the
proper time, a good understanding of
what is just and fair, and a determina
tion, above all, to be discriminating, to
have a sense of values, and a realization
of what is appropriate and what is not
appropriate.
All this necessarily requires what is
known as education.
Yes, but not in the ordinary school
sense.
Education of the sort demanded rather
comes under the head of experience, both
in and out of school. Many persons have
gone through school wuthout getting
much real experience out of it.
Experience is education; the right sort
of formal education is experience.
From both may come the comic spirit,
the true elixir of long life and a happy
one, which, if a man possesses, he mav
lack many other things, and still have
very much the best of life's bargain.
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS R. HENRY.
Man may read his own future in the
cryptic pages of the rocks.
He is moving subconsciously toward
probable extinction in response to forces
that have operated since the beginnings
of life on earth, associated with the con
stant battle between the eater and the
eaten.
Such Is one of the suggestions in the
first report of the National Research
Council’s Committee on Paleoecologv—
the relationship between extinct life
forms to their environments and to each
other—which has just been issued. Says
Dr. E. C. Case of the University of Mich
igan in his report on the paleoecologv
of vertebrates:
"Defense may be by active or passive
resistance. Flight, or offensive defense,
or passive donning of armor may all be
employed but any method implies a
reason for its adoption, and every ad
vance in either method implies increased
power of attack from the eater. The
process of such adjustment is continu
ous and leads to specialization which is
the shortest road to extinction. In the
case of armored forms versus armed
forms it has led invariably to but one
result and in every group in every a?°
the story has been repeated. As the
armor grew heavier the projectile and
propulsive force grew stronger. Tooth
and claw and muscular power have been
balanced against ever heavier and more
complete armor. The invariable result
has been the extinction of both. The
same history has been written and is
being written by warring men. One
dares prophecy the same result.”
Anomer ascomsmng aeaucuon irom
the relatively new science of paleoeco
logy. Dr. Case points out. is that plants
from the beginning have been more pro
gressive than animals in their evolution
toward modern forms. Thus modern
leaf-shedding trees sheltered some of
the great dinosaHrs during their last
days on earth. This has led to much
confusion in time associations but. says
Dr. Case, “the paleoecologist who would
see rightly must not flinch from the vi
sion of a tyrannosaurus stalking through
a forest of modern aspect. Certain if
such a vision were granted he would give
thanks for the towering heighth of the
elm or the sturdiness of some giant oak.’’
The new' science also may shed light
on the coming of disease into the world.
Single-celled bacteria in some form must
have been among the earliest of all
forms of life and present practically
from the beginning. There is plenty of
evidence that throughout the ages they
have been causing the decay of organic
material, both plant and animal. But
there has been scant evidence of actual
disease caused by them.
Now, Dr. Case points out, the rather
sudden disappearance of the great
reptiles just before the beginning of the
evolution of modern life forms after
they had dominated the earth for a
hundred million years has always been
a mystery. They may have been wiped
out by the first of all great epidemics.
The blood of modern reptiles swarms
with the single-celled animals known as
protozoans, some of which are respons
ible for virulent and fatal diseases of
cold-blooded animals. Shortly before
the dinosaurs begin to disappear the
first blood-sucking flies leave their first
traces in the rocks. These insects usually
carry the protozoans from one animal to
another. The interval between their ap
pearance and the disappearance of the
dinosaurs is just about sufficient to have
allowed the development of this sort of
an epidemic.
Nearly every animal group as it nears
extinction. Dr. Case points out, develops
giant forms. He says:
“The term giantism is, of course, used
relatively. Normally minute animals
may have giant species or individuals,
as well as normally much larger animals.
It has been noticed and commented
upon that in giant form* of vertebrate*
«
the seat of the pituitary gland is rela
tively enlarged, even to monstrous size.
A very probable relation between the
size of this gland and the size of the
animal has been shown. Evidence has
been brought forward to show that
giant forms have uniformly a pituitary
gland of large size and that the struc
ture of the animal shows abnormalities
of proportionate growth such as occur
in cases of enlarged pituitary in humans,
the condition called acromegally.
“That such a condition may be ende
mic in a population of vertebrates is
shown bv the discovery that a consider
able number of the skeletons excavated
on the site of one of the long lost and
forgotten early colonies of Northmen in
Greenland showed obvious evidence of
acromegally. The cause is obscure, but
if it shall turn out to be some lack or
excess of material in the food supply, as
the thyroid is affected by lack of iodine,
the relationship of giantism to the en
vironment is obvious. It is very con
ceivable that such a small thing as ionic
concentration in the water which the
animal inhabits or imbibes may be the
determinant factor in its development
and fate.”
Story on Arlington House
Popularity Is Misleading
To the Editor of The Star:
Dear Sir: On September 12, 1937, an
article headed “Lee Home More Popular
Than Lincoln Shrine” appeared in The
Washington Star.
“The old home of Gen. Robert E. Lee,
known as Arlington House, in Arlington
National Cemetery, is more popular than
the shrines here associated with Abra
ham Lincoln, the National Park Service,
Interior Department, revealed yesterday,
in announcing that all-time registrations
were shattered this Summer at the
Lincoln Museum and the house where
Lincoln died.”
I have had many letters about this
article, which is very misleading. Many
visitors go to Arlington to visit the
National Cemetery and the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier and incidentally visit
Arlington House, which is. of course, a
show place and w’hich The Star calls
the Lee Home, although it has been
explained many times that it was built
by Mr. Custis, and occupied by Lee after
he married the daughter of Mr. Custis.
The Lincoln Museum and the house
where President Lincoln died are in a
congested business section where parking
space is not available. Whereas ample
parking space has been provided near
Arlington House.
I understand the above-mentioned
article was not printed as released by the
National Park Service, Interior Depart
ment. HELEN F. DOWNING.
Baukhage Incorrect on
Governors of Nebraska
To the Editor of The 8t»r:
In your issue of September 25, Mr.
Baukhage writes: ‘‘No Governor has ever
held a third term in Nebraska.” He
should consult any one of several good
Nebraska histories and learn that Gov.
Bryan completed a third term less than
three years ago; that the first State
Governor, E^avid Butler, was elected
three times; and that the last territorial
Governor, Alvin Saunders, served six
years, which is the equivalent of three
terms. A proposal is now pending, how
ever, to lengthen the term to four years.
CHARLES S. LOBINGIER.
One Sure Soarer.
From the Savannah News.
There used to be a saying that all that
goes up must come down, but it doesn't
seem to be applicable to the national
debt.
4
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. Is it true that Jimmy Scribner on
the Mutual network impersonates all
the characters on his program, the John
son Family?—E. H.
A. Mr. Scribner takes all of the parts
himself. He is capable of doing as many
as 67 different voices. He writes his own
script and works out the sound effects.
Q. When will Yellowstone Park close
for the season?—M. H. C.
A. It closed on September 25. Lack of
funds made it impractical to admit late
Fall visitors.
Q. Is God mentioned in the Constitu
tion of the United States —L. T.
A. He is not. The framers purposely
omitted such a reference, having Just
become emancipated from a church and
state regime. They wished to draft a
document under which people of all re
ligions could live in amity.
Q. Has Puerto Rico a good year
around climate?—W. R.
A. The climate is mild and uniform.
In the capital, San Juan, the dally
average is in the 70s, while the extremes
are 94 and 62 degrees Fahrenheit.
Q. What college has a course based on
the world's 126 greatest books?—H. W.
A. St. John's College at Annapolis,
Md., has such a course. It will consti
tute a curriculum leading to a B. A.
degree.
Q. Please tell what wines are suitable
a-t dinner—E. S. C.
A. Sherry’ wine may be served with
soups; chablis or champagne with oys
ters; dry white wines or sparkling Bur
gundy or Moselle with fish; light claret
or sparkling wine with entrees of red or
brown meat; champagne, sparkling Bur
gundy or light claret with game, fowl, or
veal; mildly sweet wines with desserts;
sauterne or light claret with cheese; port
with fruits, nuts and rich cakes; brandy
or some exotic liqueur with coffee.
Q. Which of the Great Lakes has the
deepest place in it?—E. A. S.
A. Lake Superior The deepest sound
ings of the five Great Lakes follow:
Superior. 1,290 feet; Michigan. 923 feet;
Huron. 750 feet; Erie, 210 feet; Ontario,
774 feet.
Q. Where do toothbrush bristles come
from?—H. W.
A. Toothbrushes are made from pig
bristles and most of the world's supply
of bristles comes from China.
Q. How many children has Bemarr
Macfadden. the publisher and physical
culture exponent?—E. J.
A. Mr. Macfadden has six daughters
and three sons. ,
Q. What is the name of the store In
London that offers $50 for every mistake
found in its advertisements?—L. W. R
A. Selfridge & Co. has a standing offer
of $50 for every mistake the public finds
in its advertisements.
Q. How large is the Statue of Freedom
on the United States Capitol?—C. D.
A. It is 19 feet 6 inches high. Made of
bronze, it weighs 14.895 pounds.
Q. How many boys and girls belong to
4-H Clubs?—A. D. A
A. There are now 68.341 members.
Q. What disease is most contagious?—
W. H. E.
A. Probably measles. There are very
few people who reach adult life without
! having had measles and this disease is
| epidemic and endemic in different parts
of the country at all times.
Q. How are Icebergs formed?—C. B E.
A. An iceberg is generally part of a
glacier discharged into the sea. the ice
being forced into the water until, by rea
son of its weight, the force of the waves,
or the buoyancy of the water, the sea
ward end breaks off.
Q. How many policemen are there In
Washington. D. C-?—D. C. K.
A. As of June .30. 1937. there were 1.317
policemen and 82 civilians in the Police
Department.
Q. How many workmen were used in
the building of the Empire State Building
ing in New York City?—J. E. E.
A. An average of 2,500 men was em
ployed daily in Empire State construc
tion work, the maximum number for any
one day being about 4.000.
Q. What actress received a bequest
from the late James M. Barrie?—E. J.
A. Elizabeth Bergner w’as bequeathed
$10,000 by the author “for the best per
formance ever given in any play of
mine.” The reference was to her work
in “The Boy David.”
Q. Is it true that alfalfa and red clover
seed imported "into this country has to
be colored?—W. H.
A. The Federal seed act requires the
coloring of all seed of alfalfa and red
clover imported into the United States.
■ »
Recipes That Tempt
the Appetite.
A tempting array of canapes, sand
wiches. salads, soups and hors d'oeuvres
to add variety to the menu. For Sunday
night suppers there are many unusual
club plate combinations. An exception
ally fine collection of 300 recipes that
will delight the hostess who is interested
in serving something unusual and at the
same time appetizing. Send today for a
copy of this handy booklet. It will help
you solve your problem of selecting and
making “hit” dishes for your next party.
Inclose fifteen cents to cover cost and
handling. ,
1. ...
Use This Order Blank
The Washington Evening Star
Information Bureau,
Frederic J. Haskin, Director,
Washington, D. C.
I inclose herewith FIFTEEN CENTS
in coin (carefully wrapped) for a
copy of the book, APPETIZERS.
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