Evening star. [volume], December 03, 1938, Page A-8, Image 8

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

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pie Abating plat*
j' With Sunday Morning Edition.
THEODORE W. NOYES, Editor.
WASHINGTON. D. C.
SATURDAY_*_December S, 193*
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■-- - ■ "..^.-- -
War at $4,000,000 a Day
Next week it will be seventeen
months since the “North China” in
cident outside of Peiping applied the
match to the conflagration which
has raged in the Far East on a scale
which Japan did not remotely con
template. The price she is paying for
aggression has just been revealed at
Tokio. The Konoye cabinet was au
thoritatively notified that next year’s
war bill calls for the largest budget
in the Empire's history. It indicates
that Japan must continue indefi
nitely to spend $4,000,000 a day on
the conquest of her stubborn foe, in
addition to the ordinary expenses of
the government, including the army
and navy.
The 1939-40 budget totals 3,894,
000,000 yen. The yen currently is
worth about twenty-seven cents,
which is about twenty-three cents
below its normal, pre-war value. The
coming year’s expenditure will be
380,000,000 yen in excess of 1938-9.
Even these staggering figures do not
tell the whole story of how war is
sapping Japan’s vitality to the
point of exhaustion, for the $120,
000,000 of monthly outlay in China
must be met by supplementary
appropriations. Already the govern
ment nas raised 6,800,000,000 yen
($2,836,000,000) by this recourse.
Something more than one-third
(2,000,000,000 yen) was provided
shortly after the war began, in July,
1936, when General Arita and the
other advocates of military conquest
expected the “ever victorious” forces
of the Mikado to sweep everything
before them. On March 7, when the
war was only eight months old, an
other 4,800,000,000 yen of supple
mentary funds was requisitioned.
Now an additional 5,000,000,000 is
foreshadowed. Estimates in well
informed Tokio quarters place Ja
pan’s actual war outlay in China to
date at between 8,000,000,000 and
9.000. 000.000 yen. Piling the impend
ing 5,000,000,000 onto that makes it
probable that two years of the at
tempt to subjugate China will have
involved expenditure of roundly 13,
500.000. 000 yen, or, in our money, the
fabulous sum of $3,645,000,000.
It is announced that Tokio will
shortly appoint a “financial commis
sioner” to the United States, obvious
ly for the purpose of obtaining loans
or credits. If he embarks upon that
venture, it will reveal that whatever
else the war has <Jone, it has not
killed optimism as a Japanese na
tional virtue. Apart from the de
vastating dislocation of the Empire’s
economic structure, through the price
of war and the loss of good will and
actual business in former export
markets, the Tokio government must
know that the “new order” it has
ordained in China, including the
closing of the open door, is hardly
designed to popularize the idea of
American financial aid to Japan.
The C. I. O., having made itself a
“Congress,” has rapidly declared an
“adjournment” of Chicago stock
yards workers.
Streamlined Regiment
As a result of studies which have
been under way since the World War,
the Army now is “streamlining” the
Infantry regiment. The work is of
fundamental importance, since the
Infantry regiment is regarded as the
foundation stone of the entire Army.
Any modification of the regiment,
therefore, is of basic character.
The streamlined regiment will be
smaller but far more mobile and
possessed of greater fire power than
was the exceptionally large regiment
of the World War or the smaller
regiment of today. The reconstruc
tion, therefore, is thoroughly in keep
ing with the modernization of our
national defense in all its phases
which now is in progress.
The “streamlining” of the Infantry
regiment is a testimonial to mechan
ical progress in warfare. It is made
possible by and is designed to take
advantage of the development of
motor vehicles and semi-automatic
rifles.
Three of the new regiments will be
set up at once to undergo a year of
field tests in Texas. Last year, the
Army established for thorough tests a
"streamlined” division, also smaller
but harder hitting than the huge
World War divisions. Those tests in
dicated necessity for similar revision
of the basic regiment, along lines
which had long been under study.
At full war strength the new regi
ment will have 2,411 officers and men,
compared with the World War regi
ment of 3,742 and the present regl
ment of 3,009. Instead of the 3,200
Springfield rifles carried by the
World War doughboy regiment, the
new regiment is to be armed with
1,492 semi-automatic rifles, giving
three times the fire power of the
World War regiment. It also will be
equipped with heavier and more
numerous machine guns and auxil
iary weapons. The 369 horses and
mules of the World War regiment
will be replaced by 141 motor vehicle*.
Infantry squads will be composed of
twelve rather than eight men.
Drastic though these changes may
appear to conservatives among mili
tary people, the Army is convinced
they are sound and necessary. The
studies upon which they are based
have taken into account experiences
of the Italians in Ethiopia and the
Japanese in Manchukuo and China.
They indicate that our national de
fense is in the hands of men who are'
alert to changes in world affairs and
scientific progress.
Finish the Job
The Montgomery County Civic Fed
eration scored a signal victory yes
terday when the county commission
ers rescinded their move to legalize
infractions of the zoning laws.
The success of the civic campaign
to stop an unwise course on the part
of the commissioners came quickly
on the heels of the Federation’s tri
umph in getting the commissioners
to authorize the Brookings Institu
tion to make an extensive survey of
the county government. The two in
cidents again demonstrate the value
of an alert; intelligent, non-partisan
and active civic body which speaks
with such weight that the county
government respects its opinions.
Although the danger of losing the
protection afforded by the zoning
laws is past, the zoning issue is by
no means closed in Montgomery.
Civic leaders still would like to
know just what caused the commis
sioners to recommend that all in
fractions of the past ten years be
legalized. The commissioners have
said the step was taken because liti
gation imperiled an allotment of
Federal funds for park development.
The divic leaders point out, however,
that the litigation was dropped and
the funds made available before the
commissioners acted. The unusual
procedure became all the more mysti
fying when counsel for the park
board announced the commissioners
had acted without his knowledge, ap
proval or acquiescence.
Now that the subject of infractions
of the zoning laws is before the pub
lic, the time is ripe to prosecute
them.
The citizens of the county who
have rendered such valued service in
preserving their zoning ordinances
cannot afford to rest on their laurels
now. Every effort should be made to
see that all agencies co-operate to
the fullest in enforcing the zoning
code so that the law will afford a real
protection to property owners by dis
couraging any and all violations.
Parkway Progress
The Army engineers report their
survey work on the Washington
Baltimore parkway project is’ sixty
per cent complete, which brings the
plan into the zone of realization
within a shorter time than had been
expected originally. Through aerial
surveys, part of the great air map
project of the entire Nation, accuracy
and speed, which would have been
out of the question under ordinary
methods, have been made possible.
While the date of completion of the
work is uncertain, the project is one
of great value to Washington, and
watching it grow will be most
interesting.
Tne first results probably will be
the elimination of flood hazards, not
only at Bladensburg, but all along
the Anacostia valley. Early steps will
include the elimination of pollution
from the Eastern Branch and its
tributaries.
Later will come the building of a
great parked highway, similar to the
Mount Vernon Boulevard, free from
grade crossings and commercial en
croachments. This highway, opening
up a new, safe, high-speed route from
Baltimore to the South, will, in ef
fect, be a continuation of the new
Governor Nice Highway through
Northeastern Maryland on the route
to New York. It will tie in with the
proposed “short cuts’’ to Baltimore
and Annapolis on the roadbed of the
old Washington, Baltimore & An
napolis electric line, the late units of
which are now being negotiated for
by the State.
Insofar as the National Capital it
self is concerned, the project affects
the expansion of Anacostia Park and
will provide access to the newly
acquired water lily gardens, across
the branch from the National Arbo
retum. The whole job will take years,
bub it will be worth watching.
Anthony Eden's Visit
Washington very much hopes it
may have a look at, and a word or
two from, Anthony Eden. The youth
ful scion of British statesmanship,
who relinquished the foreign secre
taryship early this year, is arriving
in the United States next week, to
address the National Association of
Manufacturers at New York. His
sojourn will be brief. He is not
known to have any public engage
ments beyond the one which brings
him to these shores.
The statesman who was at the
helm of the foreign office before he
was forty and is now only forty-one
years old, made a vivid appeal to
the American imagination when he
left the Chamberlain government in
protest against the Prime Minister’s
policy of European appeasement
through “realistic” accords with the
Italian and German dictatorships.
Mr. Eden opposed in particular the
idea of an entente with Italy in ad
vance of commitments by Mussolini
not to undermine the British Empire
in Africa, the Mediterranean and the
Near East. He looked askance upon
any concessions that would seem to
have been extorted by pressure, hold
ing that threats provide an unstable
foundation for peace. Basically,
Eden contended that until the totali
tarian powers had pledged a readi
ness to abandon force and aggression
as an Instrument of national policy,
they were not entitled to the friend
ship or co-operation of the demo
cratic states. Doubtless, Chamber
lain’s dynamic lieutenant felt an un
quenchable sense of humiliation over
Italy’s defiance of League sanctions,
of which Eden was the arch protag
onist when Geneva essayed those
abortive measures to thwart the
conquest of Ethiopia.
During, the months which elapsed
after Chamberlain and Mussolini
negotiated their peace pact, and
while intervening events subjected
the British Prime Minister to fierce
political opposition, Mr. Eden re
jected all overtures to turn the situa
tion to personal advantage. He re
mained a supporter of his former
chief within the ranks of the Con
servative party. Munich provided
Chamberlain’s foes with renewed op
portunity for attack. Chaos and
strife in Palestine, too, were similarly
exploited. The anti-Semitic excesses
in Germany have visibly depopular
ized the Prime Minister’s program of
conciliating Hitler.
Postal Regulations
The postmaster at Atlantic Beach,
New York, who admitted embezzling
some twelve hundred dollars in
postal funds, offered the novel de
fense that he had supposed the post
office was ‘ his own little business,”
and that he was entitled to all re
ceipts. With this understanding he
had even gone so far as to move the
post office to what he thought was
a better location, and put on an ad
vertising campaign to make th$
public stamp-conscious.
To avoid repetition of such inci
dents, it is rumored that hereafter
the following circular letter will be
sent to all new postmasters:
“Dear Sir—You have been tendered
a signal honor in being given the
privilege of serving your glorious
community as postmaster. This is
the height of something or other,
and marks an epoch in the Nation’s
steady trend toward political purity.
You are requested, however, not to
lose sight of the facts of life, the most
important of which is that I am not
Santa Claus.
“Please feel free to sel' a’l the
stamps and money orders you can,
even to Republicans, but do not offer
discounts for cash or reduced rates
for quantity orders, and be sure to
put the money away in the safe every
night. It belongs to the Government,
sad to say, in spite of any impressions
to the contrary you may have re
ceived.
ine stove m your omce is not
nailed down, but please refrain from
selling that, or the building itself.
Do not feel discouraged because the
postal funds are not yours. Just when
life seems blackest, and you wonder
what you are going to use in place
of money, you will receive a salary
check from the Government. Trust
ing that you will continue to vote
Democratic, and indorse the policies
of the administration, whatever they
may be, I remain sincerely yours—
Uncle Sam.”
Shooting Stars
By PHILANDER JOHNSON.
The Victim.
When the corporations grow
Sinful in their thoughtless greed,
Who's the man who has to go
Very cautiously, indeed?
Who must pay for each device
Of these financiering men;
Who must hustle for the price?—
Ordinary citizen.
When strange blunderings arise
’Mongst important folk who should
Try to be a little wise
Even if not very good;
When disaster fills the air
As its cries resound again,
Who the fiercest shock must bear?—
Ordinary citizen.
Mighty phrases we invent
To reprove the reckless great,
But these efforts eloquent
Sound and fade and dissipate.
Though the carelessness or crime
We upbraid with tongue and pen,
Who’s the victim every time?—
Ordinary citizen.
Second Thought.
“Remember,” said the prudent man,
“that words once spoken can never be
recalled.”
“No,” answered Senator Sorghum, “but
you can always make a fuss and say
you were misquoted.”
“The man who goes to sleep in
church,” said Hi Ho, the sage of China
town, “gets more blame than the man
who puts in the other six days showing
disrespect for the sermon.”
Extremes.
This life of ours is surely rough,
And happiness is hard to touch.
If poor you do not eat enough,
And if you’re rich you eat too much!
Bad Enough.
“Some day we shall be conversing
with the inhabitants of Mars.”
“I hope not,” answered the weary head
of the house. “Telephone tolls for con
versation within the narrow limits of
this earth are big enough to make one
shudder at the thought.”
Time to Develop.
A law suit when first brought to light
Quite easily is tried;
But whether the decision’s right
Twill take years to decide!
"Conscience," said Uncle Eben, “is
what dey calls a still, small voice. And
some o’ dese here grafters make it seem
dat every year it’s gettin’ still smaller."
-< >■
1
Of Stars, Men M
And Atoms
Notebook of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas R. Henry.
Cryptic records of a lost million y_.s
of life's history now are being decoded
by Smithsonian Institution paleontolo
gists.
Dr. C. Lewis Gazin, Smithsonian
paleontologist, has just returned from
a site first opened last year In Western
Utah, from whose tom and battered
rocks he recovered teeth and bone frag
ments of warm-blooded creatures who
preceded the present mammals on earth
and may have been indirectly ancestral
to them.
The rocks were laid down in that
crucial period between the end of the
Cretacious era and the extinction of the
great reptiles about 80,000,000 years ago,
and the dawn of the Eocene, approxi
mately 60,000,000 years ago when, as if
in a great explosion of new life, the
modem types of birds, mammals, fishes
and flowering plants first appeared. It
was a time when the lowly mammals,
freed from the competition of the dino
saurs, were becoming earth’s dominant
creatures.
Far back in the Cretaceous there were
crude mammals and mammallike rep
tiles, weak, clumsy, creatures, who cut
very little figure in the turbulent life of
the time. Then the stage was cleared
for them and for the budding of that
great April of time, the Dawn Age. The
approximately 20,000,000 years between
the end of the Cretaceous and the begin
ning of the Eocene is now called the
Paleocene.
The classic locality has been the San
Juan Basin in New Mexico. In the San
Juan rocks, piled on top of each other,
are two mammal “horizons.” The first
is the so-called “Puerco” horizon in
whose rocks are found the scattered and
broken fossil bones of varieties of mam
mals utterly unlike anything now known
on earth, crude, clumsy creatures, both
flesh and grass eaters. Just above the
Puerco is the so-called Torrejon horizon,
in which are found the bones of much
the same types of creatures, but showing
evidence of considerable evolutionary ad
vancement. Considering the slowness
with which evolution works, there must
have been a great time Interval between
the tw'o. The great deposit of Paleocene
fossils opened up by the Smithsonian
Institution a few years ago in the Crazy
Mountain region of Montana may fall
partly into this gap, but most of the
forms are such as can be matched in the
Torrejon horizon.
The rocks with which Dr. Gazin worked
this summer seem to fall squarely into
the gap. The mammals are further ad
vanced than those of the Puerco and not
so far advanced as those of the Torrejon.
They are represented only by fragments
which are difficult to interpret and these
teeth and broken bits of bone will require
much further study. There is one flesh
eating animal, about the size of a collie
dog. Another belongs to the race of
Condylartha, believed by some paleon
tologists to be a connecting link between
the hoofed and clawed mammals, al
though not directly ancestral to either.
There are also fragmentary remains of
insectivores, a race best represented at
present by the shrews, who are believed
to have remained closest to the original
stock from which all mammals origi
nated.
All these Paleocene mammals, as de
scribed by Dr. Gazin, were an awkward,
stupid lot. Their brains were small,
compared with those of even the
“dumbest” mammals of today—hardly
an improvement over the brains of the
cold-blooded creatures who had gone
before them. But the new race had
capacities for development and adjust
ment which their predecessors appar
ently had lacked.
All these creatures were extinct before
the beginning of the Eocene. There is
nothing alive today, says Dr. Gazin,
which even remotely looks like them.
The ancestors of the present-day mam
mals were doubtless alive somewhere in
the world at the time and were at least
distant relatives of some of those whose
bones are found in the Utah formation.
These themselves, however, represented
divergent lines ill-fitted to survive.
They might be looked upon as discarded
experiments of nature in devising types
fitted for life in the modern world.
The Paleocene formation explored by
Dr. Gazin lies directly on top of Creta
ceous rocks in which was found last year
the bones of a great dinosaur, appar
ently one of the last of the great reptile
race. There is no discernable boundary
between the two rock strata, and the
great sweep of time which must have
intervened ean be deduced only from
the difference in the fossils.
Dr. Gazin has named the new rock
page of earth’s history the “Dragon hori
zon,” after the Utah canyon in whose
walls the bones -are found. It was first
found three years ago by Drs. E. S.
Spieker and J. B. Reeside, Jr., of the
United States Geological Survey and the
first systematic exploration was carried
on in the summer of 1937.
These Endure
I have known Borrow; I have known
laughter,
Echoing up to the highest rafter;
I have known sweet, and the bitter after.
I have known falsehood’s thrusting
dagger;
sThe hurt of defeat and the boaster’s
swagger;
I have known hunger’s uncertain stagger.
But I have listened, expectant still,
To hear the spring wind, sweet and shrill,
Singing over the woodland hill.
And I have seen a white filagree
Of mist, on the pale anemone,
And a crescent moon in the apple tree.
And I have walked a fragrant lane
Through falling plum bloom in the rain
And known a beauty that was pain.
Z have learned this: That sorrow and
weeping
Scarcely abide the night’s deep sleeping,
But the lovely things are for our keep
ing!
MARION H. ADDINGTON.
THIS AND THAT
By Charles E. Tracewetl.
Mr. and Mrs. Templeton Jones had
squirrels In the attic.
Every night the rodents got in some
how, and spent much time galloping
around, when they weren’t eating wood
work.
It is amazing how much noise a scam
pering squirrel can make. And how
much wood they can eat.
"Galloping” becomes just the right
word, but if it had been Just noise it
wouldn’t have been so bad, the Joneses
thought.
Why the rodents wanted to feast on
the windowsills was a problem which
only squirrel experts could solve.
* * * *
The Joneses laid no clais to being
experts, in this regard, although pri
vately they thought they were becom
ing so. •
Not every family, even those who
claimed to love these rodents, had ’em in
the attic.
Mostly they had ’em in the trees, and
the garden, and maybe in the bird feed
ing station, if the family went to that
expense.
Only a few, however, had real live
squirrels in the belfry, galloping around,
keeping the family awake, and, what was
worse, gnawing great slivers out of the
sills.
Templeton Jones wondered why they
did it.
Evidently they had free access, and
could get in and out at will.
The getting out was the most impor
tant. Jones had read that squirrels,
coming down chimneys when a family
was away on vacation, had been unable
to find their freedom again, and in their
despair had wrought real havoc.
No friend of animals could blame
them, under the circumstances.
But an expert had proclaimed the fact
that squirrels would not chaw up a
home if they could get out.
Jit * * *
“Pfui,” said Jones, or some such sound.
He had squirrels, the squirrels had free
access to the open air—as well as to his
attic—and yet they insisted on doing
any amount of destructive nocturnal
work.
Jones had always thought these ro
dents slept at night quietly in their beds
in the trees.
Now he knows better.
“Why,” he said, in describing their
activities to friends, "they race around
all night long, and when they aren't
racing, they are eating.”
"Eating?” ask the friends. "What is
there to eat in an attic, even a fancy
attic such as yours?”
"Woodwork,” says Jones enigmatically.
"Woodwork?"
“Plenty of it,” continues Jones. “My
squirrels will never go hungry', evidently,
as long as the windowsills last.”
Jones’ squirrels became something of a
joke to hie friends, but they were no
joke to the Jones family.
The question was: What tq do? All
the members of the family took pride in
their playful rodents, with their great,
bushy tails and amazing acrobatic feats
in the great trees.
Shooting them, then, was out of the
question. Getting “rid” of them in any
other manner was equally unthought of
in the family. Some method would have
to be thought of which would get results
without cruelty, one way or another.
* * * a
So they trapped them.
Overnight they became trappers, with
a good haul for beginners.
Three of the fattest young squirrels
anybody ever saw, all roaring and fight
ing to get out.
What should be done with thenj?
Such cleverness as they had exhibit
ed, in getting into a well built house
without visible loopholes, should merit
some reward.
They should be taken down to. the
park, and let out in a new environment.
There they would find plenty of great
trees, which supply everything to these
rodents. Why there particular speci
mens ever wanted to leave them was
something of a mystery, after all. Jones
agreed partly with the experts—squirrels
seldom get in without reason.
A family council was held, with the
usual split of opinion.
One faction held out for the park.
The other for the yard of a friend in a
different part of town.
“Until this can be decided,” said Jones,
“I will take these fellows to the kitchen
and transfer them to a cage, where they
can think over their transgressions for
a time.”
Once in the kitchen, the fun began.
The first squirrel made the transfer
promptly, but it was that second one,
with the extremely bushy tail, which
upset kitchen routine.
It leaped to the light fixture, and
barked its fury.
The maid screamed.
Junior was bit on the hand. Senior
fell on a small rug—why was that thing
in here, anyway?—and tore down the
blind from the back window, as the
rodent played leap-squirrel over the
range and the refrigerator.
At last, amazingly enough, to the vast
relief of Jones and family, it obediently
entered the cage.
* * w *
“Well,” asked Jones, on his return from
work that evening, “have you decided
what to do about the squirrels?”
“Yes.” replied Mrs. Jones, quietly.
“Well, what did you do with them?”
“I turned them loose.”
“I thought you would,” said Temple
ton Jones. “And after all my work.
They deserve the park, at the least.”
“They like our trees,” said Mrs. Jones,
with some pride.
“And our attic, too,” Jones said.
“They’ll be back tonight to thank you.”
Letters to The Star
Says Church Cannot Be |t.
Christian and Fascist. *
To th* Editor of The Star:
The actions of certain members of the
clergy who insist upon entering the field
of politics must be a cause of constant
embarrassment to the Roman Catholic
Church.
Dr. Joseph F. Thoming has a perfect
right to be a follower and advocate of a
totalitarian form of government, but Dr.
Thorning should not imply that organ
ized religion indorses the barbarism of
Gen. Franco in Spain, or that there is
anything in common between Christian
ity and Fascism.
Strange it is that Dr. Thoming does
not mention the fate of Catholicism
(especially the fate of Catholic priests
who engage in politics in Germany and
Italy under Fascism. Dr. Thorning must
realize that, far from helping the situa
tion at home, he is only speeding the
day when honest people will turn away
in disgust from a religion that considers
the Ideals of pagan Moors and infidel
invaders more important than the teach
ings of Christ. The Catholic Church can
not support Fascism and Christianity at
the same time. JOHN C. ROGERS.
Alexandria, Va., November 14.
Asks Investigation of
Claims Procedure.
To the Xdltor of The St»r:
On April 23, 1935, I filed at Port Mc
Henry in Baltimore, Md., a claim for dis
ability incurred during war service (1918)
in Prance. I was a private, Headquarters
Company, 23d Infantry, 2d Division, A.
E. F. I tried to secure an examination
at Port McHenry, but I was told they
were too busy. Finally I was compelled
through inability to secure employment
to migrate to Hartford, Conn., and se
cured employment at the Chance Vought
Aircraft Corp. I at once had my claim
folder Transferred to Newington, Conn.,
and I was called there for the examina
tion and was promised an opportunity to
appear in person before the board for
rating purposes. That right was denied
me and I was patiently awaiting word to
appear when I received a letter stating
my claim was disallowed. I appealed my
case to the Veterans’ Court of Appeals
in Washington, D. C. In the meantime
worked slowed up in Connecticut and I
secured employment in California. On
April 16, 1936, I drew the bonus and my
wife and I left for Inglewood, Calif. I
at once got busy and secured four spe
cialists to give me an examination. They
were unanimous in their findings. Then
after much corresponding I finally got in
touch with a former buddy, who was in
Base No. 66 Hospital in Prance and occu
pied a bed in the same ward with me.
This buddy since being mustered out of
service in 1919 has held many high posi
tions in industry and I don’t think he
would perjure himself for me or any one
else. I presented this new testimony to
the Veterans’ Facility in Los Angeles,
Calif., and they threw my case out, as did
Newington, Conn.
I then carried it to Washington, D. C.,
for a final appeal. On October 27,1937,1
received notice I had been turned down
again. In the meantime I appealed in
vain to R. L. Jamagin, chairman of Vet
erans’ Board of Appeals, for a new
examination. Mr. Jamagin denied
me this until after the Appeal Board
turned me down in October, 1937. *
I finally, after quite a struggle (my
wife is crippled), succeeded in getting to
, Hyattsville, Md., with jxactly $58. We
Letters to the Editor must bear
the name and address of the writer,
although the use of a pseudonym for
vublication is permissible. Please be
brief!
rented a one-room apartment In that
town, and I got after the Veterans’ Bu
reau again, and finally Mr. Jarnagin con
sented to allow me to appear before a
section of the board. Two doctors sit
ting in that section saw then I had been
telling the truth and arranged for an ex
amination at Mount Alto. Their findings
at Mount Alto concurred in part with the
four doctors and my contention.
During September, 1938, the Court of
Appeals granted me compensation, effec
tive September 30, 1938, instead of effec
tive date of April 23,1935. Now I have an
other appeal for retroactive action to
the 1935 date, and this has been hanging
fire since September 30, 1938.
In the meantime I have not had em
ployment and we were evicted by court
order from the apartment at Hyatts villa,
Md„ because we could get no relief.
My wife and I have lost our residence
in our home State and are in distress.
We have appealed in vain for assistance
to almost every charitable institution
here in Washington. We are at the
present in a tourist house and owe nearly
$200 board bill. What are we to do?
I have appealed in vain for my back
pay at the Veterans’ Bjreau. It wouldn’t
be quite so bad if the case were a new one,
but the damage was done in 1918 and all
these doctors know it.
In the meantime, what are we to do,
starve? LEON G. MACDONALD.
November 21.
Commends The Star
For Zoning Stories.
To the Editor of The Star:
The Star is to be applauded for the
part it has played in forcing the Board
of County Commissioners for Montgom
ery county to yield to public opinion
and rescind today their proposal to pro
test from prosecution violators of the
suburban zoning laws and, in effect, to
destroy the enforcement of those laws.
The news articles of Jack Allen of
The Star s staff ably covered a 'complex
political situation, some of the ramifica
tions of which are yet a mystery. Th^
articles made clear to the home owners
the true nature of this well disguised
proposal and the necessity for vigorous
and immediate action. Without the
benefit of such publicity the citizens
might well have lost their fight. Cer
tainly they would not have won it with
such promptness. In Montgomery Coun
ty there has never been to my recollec
tion a better example of the effectiveness
of vigorous newspaper publicity in speed
ily correcting political evils.
Mr. Allen and The Star have done a
fine thing for the county and deserve
the commendation of all citizens inter
ested in honest government.
December 1. FREDERIC P. LEE.
Prohibition Cure for
Pedestrian Plarue.
To the Editor of The Star:
By all means control of American <
pedestrians. We are so prone to obey
rules that it would not take more than
the equivalent number of pedestrians at
maximum traffic hoi^r as traffic police
to hold them in check! With curb bits,
evenl
LAW VOGE, M. K.
November 8.
r
Answers <
To Questions j*
By Frederic J. Haskin. 1
A reader can get the answer to any
question of fact by writing The Eve
ning Star Information Bureau, Fred•
eric J. Haskin, Director, Washington,
D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply.
Q Please give some information about
the clock in the Senate corridor of the
United States Capitol.—W. J. H.
A. The clock was bought by the Gov
ernment and presented to the Senate
in 1803, when the State of Ohio was
admitted to the Union. The 17 stars on
the front of the case represent the
States which were part of the Union at
that time, the seventeenth star repre
senting Ohio. The clock keeps accurate
time in spite of its 135 years of service.
Q. Which of the Philippine Islands is
the largest?—W. R. P.
A. Luzon is the largest, with an area
of 40,814 square miles.
Q. Where is Ellen Terry buried?—J H.
A. The body of the famous actress was
cremated and the ashes were placed in
St. Paul's, London.
Q. How old is McKeesport, Pa.?—G. R.
A. The city of McKeesport was found
ed in 1765 by David McKee. It was
chartered as a city in 1890.
Q* How far does the diving horse at
Atlantic City leap?—J. C. M.
A. Gordonel, the famous horse which
performs on the Steel Pier, dives from a
90-foot tower into a tank of water 20
feet deep.
Q. From what poem is the line, “Closer
is He than breathing and nearer than
hands and feet”?—M. F. J.
A. It is from Tenhyson'a “The Higher
Pantheism.’*
Q. Who first used the word "nihilism- ?
—W. G. H.
A. Ivan Turgenev, the great Russian
novelist, coined the word In his “Fath
ers and Sons.”
Q. How many large cities has Ger
many?—E. S. H.
A. Germany has 53 cities with over
100,000 inhabitants; 47 between 50,000
and 100,000.
_ i
Q. Has Howard Spring, author of “My
Son, My Son! ’ written any magazine
stories that have been published in this
country?—T. H. B.
A. Mr. Spring has written an account
of his childhood called “Heaven Lies
About Us,” which will be published in
several installments in the Atlantic
Monthly, beginning in January.
Q. Is there a superstition that an ame
thyst prevents drunkenness?—T. J. K.
A. There is a line in “The Golden
Bough” that says: "The wine-colored
amethyst received its name, which
means not drunken, because it waa sup
posed to keep the wearer of it sober.
Q. When was the late Clarence H.
Mackay married to Anna Case?—8. M. G.
A. Mr. Mackay married Anna Case,
concert soprano, on July 18, 1931.
Q. Is the original manuscript of
“Home, Sweet Home” in existence?—J.
H. M.
A. It is in the Sibley Musical Library
of the Eastman School of Music at the
University of Rochester, N. Y.
Q. With how many nations does the
United States have foreign relations?
—D. S.
A. With 64. The United States main
tains 18 Embassies and 40 Legations. In
addition, there are Consulates only in
the following countries: Free City of
Dantzig, Principality of Monaco, Pales
tine, Philippine Islands ifor immigra
tion only), Republic of San Marino and
Syria.
Q. How much paper and confetti was
thrown at Corrigan, Lindbergh and
Hughes in New York City?—B. J. H.
A. Nearfy 2,000 tons of confetti were
thrown at Corrigan in New York upon
his arrival. Eighteen hundred tons were
thrown at Hughes and 1,900 tons w;re •
thrown at Lindbergh.
Q. What States produce the most gin
seng?—F. R. W.
A. New York, Wisconsin, Missouri and
Ohio lead in ginseng production.
Q. Where in the South is there a
Hindu temple?—J. K. M.
A. There is one on the campus of
Florida Southern College, overlooking
Lake Hollingsworth at Lakeland. The
temple is a memorial to the late Fred
erick B. Fisher, who was *. Methodist
bishop in India, and who brought It in
pieces from Benares, India, to have it
erected on the college grounds. Said to -
be the only imported Hindu temple in
the United States, it is 25 feet high, 5 feet
wide and 9 feet long, weighing about 10
tons. It is hand carved from red sand
stone and has been painted pure white
and surmounted by the Christian cross.
A reflecting pool has been built In front
of the temple and a garden of meditation
has been beautifully landscaped.
Is membership in the American
War Mothers’ Association limited to
those whose sons were killed in action0
—F. G. S.
A. The American War Mothers’ Asso
ciation consists of “blue star mothers.”
those whose sons returned unhurt; “sil
ver star mothers,” those whose sons were
wounded or disabled, and "gold star
mothers,” those whose sons were killed
in the service, or died from the effect of
their wounds, between the dates April
6, 1^7, to July 31, 1921.
Q. What great composer was once re
fused admittance to the Conservatory in
Milan because the faculty said he had
no "special talent” for music?—M. B. R.
A. Giuseppe Verdi, the most popular
operatic composer of the 19th century.
Q. How much canned fruit juice do
people in the United States drink?
Tomato Juice?—E. S. H.
A. During the fiscal year 1937-38
Americans drank 80,000,000 gallons of
canned fruit juices and more than 50,
000,000 gallons of canned tomato juice.
Q. Who is the champion cowboy?—H.
P.
A. Everett Bowman of Hillville, Arts.,
who last year competed in 34 rodeos all
over the country and won the largest ,
number of honors.
_
Q. What is the averag^Jife of an ocean
liner?—J. O. R.
A. The average life of the ocean liner
of today is 15 years.
A ’