Evening star. [volume], February 06, 1940, Page A-8, Image 8

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

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With Sunday Mo.'ulng Edition.
THEODORE W. NOYES, Editor.
WASHINGTON, D. G. .
TUESDAY..—February 6, 1946
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Liquor Investigation
Decision of the House District
Committee to authorize an investi
gation of the granting and revoca
tion of liquor licenses in the Capital
offers an opportunity for construc
tive service, provided the inquiry is
conducted with the sole view of
placing the supervision and regula
tion of liquor sales on the most satis
factory basis that is possible of
attainment.
The subcommittee in charge of the
Inquiry, which is headed by Repre
sentative Eberharter of Pennsyl
vania, should commence its work with
a clear realization of the difficulties
which confront the Alcoholic Bever
age Control Board. This regulatory
agency has been caught in the cross
fire of those who believe that too
many licenses for the sale of liquor
have been granted and the critics at
the opposite extreme who say the
board has been unreasonable in re
stricting the number of licenses
issued. Its lot is not a happy one.
Last month the Board of Direc
tors of the Federation of Churches,
representing 70,000 District residents,
made public a severe criticism of the
existing machinery for liquor sales
in the Capital. This statement
pointed out that 1,900 licenses for
the sale of alcoholic beverages are in
effect now, as against only 1.100 in
the old saloon days. The Board of
Directors also described as an “ob
jectionable” feature the “offensive
liquor store signs” now in use, and
called for legislation which would do
away with the private licensee system
of liquor sales and substitute a dis
pensary system controlled by the
municipality. But despite the num
ber of licenses which have been
Issued, the A. B. C. Board has been
denounced from timfi to time for
refusing to grant additional permits,
and occasionally for refusing to re
new some already in effect.
If worth-while results are to be
achieved through the pending in
quiry, the House subcommittee will
have to take these conflicting points
of view into consideration and work
out a solution, probably in the nature
of a compromise, which will offer the
greatest satisfaction to all concerned.
There is one additional matter
which the subcommittee should keep
prominently in mind. That is the
possibility that the members of the
A. B. C. Board, as a result of this
investigation, may come to feel that
they can be subjected to congres
sional pressure by any disgruntled
applicant whose request for a license
has been turned down. And any
amendment of the liquor control
act designed to weaken the authority
of the A. B. C. Board in the interests
of the liquor dealers or holders of
liquor licenses will be of distinct dis
service to the community and to the
wise control of the liquor business.
Washington's Farm
It 1 regrettable that the plans of
tlv George Washington Foundation
to purchase Ferry Farm, the first
UatiUaaJ V—-- ___
* *WU*V*W**V U MVJAAVUU AAUUtl,, A A Cl V U guuc
awry. The foundation was formed
about twelve years ago, and with
much enthusiasm began a campaign
for funds to purchase Ferry Farm as
a shrine dedicated to American
youth. It contracted to purchase
the estate from the Colbert family
for about $125,000. Some $85,000 was
raised by public subscription and
paid, but in the depression years do
nations were insufficient to take
care of the remaining principal and
interest. •
Finally an auction sale of the
470-acre tract was ordered to clear
the title and the property was
bought by the woman who has occu
pied it for years. Being a Colbert
herself, she acquired title by paying
$25,000 to her father’s estate and
assuming an $18,000 mortgage. Offi
cials of the George Washington
Foundation were not present at the
auction and they now have small
hopes of ever acquiring the prop
erty. It is inevitable that plans to
make shrines of historical estates
will fail occasionally, but such fail
ures are particularly unfortunate
when they occur after expenditure
of a substantial sum collected from
a patriotic public.
National shrines cannot be made
of all of the many places having his
torical association with George
Washington. But Ferry Farm is one
of the really outstanding localities
made famous by exploits in Wash
ington’s life. It was the scene of
»legendary incidents familiar to-every
schoolboy—the cutting down of the
cherry tree, th^p^rowing of a dollar
across the Rappahannock and the
accident with his mother’s colt.
Dubious as these stories may be,
there is no doubt that he came to
the farm at the age of six and there
grew to manhood, studying to be a
surveyor, taking part in athletic
events and participating in military
drill. In some future day the farm
may yet be acquired as a shrine, but
if that happens the initiative appar
ently will have to come from Con
gress.
Mr. Vandenberg on Trade
Senator Vandenberg has per
formed a valuable service in defining
the point of view of the Hull recip
rocal trade pact program’s oppo
nents. He is the author of the
foreign trade board bill, now on the
Senate calendar, a measure which
would mean the death of the Hull
program. The Vandenberg bill
urges a “realistic” approach to the
problems of world commerce as they
affect us. Nations abroad, Mr. Van
denberg reminds us, “have resorted
to unilateral actions, such as ex
change controls, quotas, embargoes
and other export and import controls,
and they have extended such ar
rangements through a constantly
growing network of exclusive, bilat
eral agreements, most of which leave
our interests entirely out in the cold.”
The United States in its turn “must
cope with these realities by equipping
ourselves to meet these conditions,
which are not likely to pass in our
time”—in other words, by embarking
ourselves on a system of bilateral,
preferential, discriminatory agree
ments.
It is true that nations abroad have
resorted to exclusive controls, em
bargoes and quotas, to our detriment.
It is just as true that the Hull pro
gram is the greatest force in the
world for the razing of these con
trols. Germany under peacetime
National Socialism, from 1933 to 1939,
had recourse to bilateralism more
tnan any otner country, ana witn
what result? Under a bilateral com
mercial agreement, one country, say
Germany, offers another, say Hun
gary, certain exclusive concessions if
the other country in turn offers con
cessions to Germany and only Ger
many. This sort of “realism” has the
unhappy effect of limiting the bilat
eral country’s commerce and of
arousing enmity among the coun
tries discriminated against by this
sort of trading. It is a short-sighted
policy, which puts one country in a
feudal relationship with the other.
A Hull agreement is a most-fa
vored-nation agreement. That is
the heart of its merit. Under a
most-favored-nation agreement, the
United States extends to all coun
tries the tariff benefits it negotiates
with one country. At the same time
every nation signing a Hull agree
ment must extend to all countries
the concessions granted to the
United States. The result is the
gradual elimination of the discrimi
natory controls which rightly alarm
Mr. Vandenberg. Even during the
European war, which already has
had a grave effect on the size and
the nature of our international com
merce, the worth of these agree
ments is apparent. The United
Kingdom agreement broke down a
great wall of British Empire trade
discriminations against the United
States. The increase in American
commerce with the empire noted
shortly after the United Kingdom
agreement became effective is still
apparent. The most important fact
to remember about the Hull trade
agreements is that under them our
exports have expanded tremen
dously.
Unity in the Balkans
It was the spirit of the American
patriot, John Dickinson, voiced in
“The Liberty Song” (1768), that
hovered over the conference of Ru
mania, Turkey, Yugoslavia and
Greece at Belgrade over Balkan
problems on Sunday. They decided
that “by uniting we stand, by di
viding we fall.”
What secret understandings among
themselves, what undisclosed agree
ments with non-entente Hungary
and Bulgaria, what undertakings of
non-aggression toy the great powers
—notably Russia, Germany and
Italy—preceded the four-state “com
mon vigil” compact among the
Rumanians, Turks, Yugoslavs and
Greeks the outside world can only
surmise. Even the army of one hun
dred and fifty foreign newspaper
correspondents who descended en
masse on Belgrade met with no suc
cess in ferreting out the obvious
and possibly ominous behind-the
scenes maneuvers which produced
the seven-year prolongation of the
Balkan neutral entente.
Meantime, Germany hails it as a
rebuke of Great Britain. Berlin sees
in the non-committal outcome of
the conference a clear rebuff of
British aims as voiced in Mr. Church
ill’s recent appeal to small states to
realize betimes on which side their
bread is buttered, lest, when it is too
late, they find themselves in the
plight of Poland, Finland and
Czecho-Slovakia.
But time will have to tell whether
Balkan hopes of immunity from the
ravages of the European war are
destined to be mere aspirations or
will be realized. That, unfortunately,
is not primarily for the Balkans to
determine. Everything will depend
on whether Germany and Russia, on
their part, Italy on hers, and the
allies on their part find it perma
nently in their respective interests
to have due regard for the neutral
rights of the Balkan states. There
is no sign, for example, that Hitler
is min3^$ to renounce a strong
hand with Rumania, if by no other
means can the Nazis replenish their
oil and food supplies; nor has
Stalin exhibited any altruistic pur
pose to abandon Russia’s designs on
Bessarabia. Hungary covets Tran
sylvania with undiminished zest,
while Bulgaria’s longing for the
Dobrudja is as keen as ever. One
significant item of news that leaked
through the* mesh of censorship at
Belgrade is that Rumanian Foreign
Minister Gafencu played a “trump
card’’ in agreeing to restore a piece
of the Dobrudja to the Bulgarians
and that economic concessions and
some minor political pledges sufficed
to remove the immediate threat of
Hungarian aggression on King
Carol’s hard-pressed little country.
So, preferring to bear the ills they
have rather than fly to others they
know not of, the Balkan states have,
for the nonce, decided that for them,
too, self-preservation is the first law
of nature, and to refrain as long as
they may from outside commitments
that would rejustify their historical
role as the cockpit of Europe.
Harmful Delay
Although careful deliberation in
the making of judicial appointments
is eminently desirable, it is to be
hoped that the President will take
action at an early date to fill the
vacancy on the bench of the United
States District Court which occurred
when Justice Joseph W. Cox died
six months ago.
Justice Cox, who had practiced for
many years in Washington before
receiving his judicial appointment,
was a skilled technician in the law
of the District and an indefatigable
worker whose death was a serious
handicap to a court already laboring
under the burden of a badly con
gested docket. The recent appoint
ment of two new justices has tended
to relieve this congestion, but some
thing more is needed, and Mr. Roose
veil couia mane an lmporiani contri
bution to the efficient functioning of
the local judicial system by filling the
existing vacancy with the early
appointment, of a judge who would
be qualified In all respects to under
take at once his full share of the
court’s work.
This can be accomplished only by
the selection of a lawyer who, by
virtue of long experience in District
practice, is familiar with the pro
cedure and the law of this jurisdic
tion. There are, of course, many
other sound reasons for the appoint
ment of a local man. At the present
time only five of the eleven members
of the lower court received their legal
training in Washington. Importance
also should attach to the fact that
approximately 90 per cent of the
court’s work consists of what might
be called strictly local cases, a con
sideration which lends weight to the
claims of the local bar for a fair rep
resentation on the bench.
Nor can it be said that there is any
dearth of splendidly qualified lawyers
in Washington, men who wTould be a
credit to the bench. In this connec
tion, however, the task of making a
suitable selection has been made
easier by the unprecedented char
acter of the indorsements given
United States Attorney David A.
Pine. Added to his excellent work
as prosecutor is the persuasive con
sideration that he has received the
unqualified indorsement of the Dis
trict Bar Association, the Barristers’
Club, the Federal Bar Association,
the Women’s Bar Association of the
District, the Federation of Business
men’s Associations, the American
Good Gbvernment Society, the
National Democratic League, the
Virginia Democratic Association and
a large number of other civic groups
and individual citizens’ associations.
Rockville (Md.) high school stu
dents have hunted for weeks in vain
for the perfect driver. A tip to them;
look in the rear of almost any fairly
full two-seated car.
Disastrous Explosion
This is indeed a war-minded world.
Nations not actually engaged in con
flict are accumulating munitions and
storing them in isolated rural depots
to minimize the risk. As an instance,
several million small-caliber high
explosive shells were stored in a barn
near Indianapolis. They were of an
ancient type, first developed by the
Indians centuries ago, but still
popular.
A Krnlrn Aiit T4- enAolre mnl 1 f
the bravery of Hoosiers in general
that every one within reach rushed
not away from, but toward, the scene
of disaster, undismayed by the din
of sound and the myriads of white
puffs as each shell ripped open.
Children were especially eager, and
had to be forcibly restrained by their
elders. All munitions went off except
a few duds which obstinately refused
to function under the stimulus of
heat.
By general agreement among pub
lishers, the story was played down,
and there were no scare headlines
announcing the catastrophe. Fortu
nately the casualties were few, con
sisting mostly of a series of juvenile
tummy aches caused by overeating.
It may be mentioned in passing that
the total loss was fifteen tons of
nature’s high explosive—pop corn.
Use short sentences in checking
the wrong-doings of Juveniles, is the
recommendation given by child guid
ance experts. Many of us can re
member two particularly efficacious
ones—“Bread and water for you!”
and “Come into the woodshed!”
About these new and speedy
“Airacobra” planes which the allies
are avidly seeking: Perhaps the next
news will be about an “Airomon
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas R. Henry.
This winter's flu germs are of low
virulence. The threat of a serious
epidemic now is remote and in a few
weeks will be non-existent, so far as
the United States is concerned.
Such is the indication of reports
from all parts of the country to the
Public Health Service, which show that
the dread malady is following a very
peculiar pattern. Por the past month
is has been burning like a slow Are in
the South Atlantic and East South
Central States. Prom these sections
there has been little change in the
numbers of new cases reported from
week to week. In other parts of the
country, however, there have been only
flare-ups lasting a week or so. Com
paring the flu virus to a forest fire,
Public Health doctors say it is obvious
that this year it cannot find any great
stretch of dry timber in which to gain
headway.
When the flu curve began to go a
little above normal at the beginning
of winter it was watched with more
than ordinary concern because of the
millions of men in military camps in
Europe—an ideal condition for the
disease to spread rapidly and gain in
virulence. This, however, has proved
a false alarm.
Even in the areas most affected, the
Public Health Service charts show, there
has been no commensurate Increase
either in pneumonia cases or deaths
from pneumonia reported. This is a
rough measure of flu virulence. The
outbreak of a serious epidemic, it is
explained, requires three factors—the
virulence of the virus, the susceptibility
of the population and the concentration
of susceptible persons.
There is a certain average degree of
resistance in the population at large.
Some persons are probably immune
to the most virulent sort of virus while
others are susceptible to the mildest.
So, at the start, a virus must be suffi
ciently virulent to more than offset the
average resistance.
The virulence Increases as the virus
passes from person to person. Hence,
in order to bring about a great epi
demic, there must be close concentra
tions at the start of persons whose sus
ceptibility is relatively low. Once the
virus has gained headway in such a
group, however, persons of progressively
higher and higher resistance pass into
the susceptible class.
Provided a virus of fairly high viru
lence gets a start, a military camp is
likely to be an almost ideal starting
place for a world-sweeping epidemic.
Such was the condition preceding the
1918-9 pandemic, one of the greatest
disasters that has ever struck the hu
man race.
In the United States alone it took
the lives of 450,000. In India, it is
estimated, 5,000,000 died. The influ
enza death rate was greater than that
from all other causes directly or re
motely arising from the World ^ War
combined.
The great pandemic started, Public
Health Service doctors now believe, in
an American Army camp in Georgia
in October. 1917. At that time the
virus was mild. Few of the victims
contracted pneumonia and died. It
looked like one of the local flare-ups
expected every few years, spread of
which was aided by the necessary con
gestion of living in an Army camp.
Many of the soldiers were sent over
seas in the late winter and early
spring of 1918. Apparently they car
ried the virus with them. It gained a
foothold in the much more congested
army camps of France and Germany,
and at the front. It is credited, among
other things, with delaying a projected
German drive toward Paris from the
north in the spring of 1918 and thus
contributed materially to the winning
of the war—but at a terrible price to
both victims and vanquished. Even
then it was not so bad, but .it kept
going like a forest fire fanned by the
wind. Apparently among the French
and German soldiers there were few
with much natural resistance. As the
virus passed from man to man it
grew more and more virulent. This
can be confirmed experimentally, Pub
lic Health Service doctors say. When
the influenza virus is cultivated in
test tubes it is found that it Increases
in virulence both with the quality of
the nutrient solution in which it is
kept and the rapidly of its transfer
from one test tube to another.
In the army camps the conditions
were luctti, a nunmu ucmg wmi aiu
natural Inununity was the very best
sort of nutrient solution. The packing
of human beings made transfer from
one to another very rapid. By the
late summer of 1918, when it began to
attack A. E. F. camps in France, it
was so virulent that there were no
means of stopping it and thousands
died. Still it was relatively mild com
pared to what was to come later.
Somehow or other it got back across
the Atlantic. In October, 1918, the
virus appeared at Commonwealth Pier
in Boston. Europe had returned the
virus many times more virulent than
it had received it. There followed the
worst pandemic since the black death.
It is estimated that there were 20,
000,000 cases in this country alone.
For years it was commonly asserted
that the pandemic had started some
where in Central Asia, made its way
westward through Russia into Germany,
and from thence spread to France,
Great Britain and the United States.
Extensive research has shown that the
progress must have been the other way
around. The earliest record appears
to have been from the Georgia Army
camp.
In Europe it got the name of “Span
ish flu," apparently without any basis.
There had been a fairly mild epidemic
in Spain but it followed the Georgia
outbreak and the outbreaks in the
.French and German Armies.
Disagrees With Bruce Barton
On President’s Courage.
To the Editor of The Star:
Representative Bruce Barton’s fore
cast of the President’s decision on a third
term shows lack of faith and courage.
The success of the President is due to
faith and courage expressed on the day
he took office, when he asked for divine
guidance to do the work laid out fpr him.
LAWRENCE HARTQROVE.
i January 24. £
THIS AND THAT
By Charles B. Tracewell.
•GEORGETOWN.
"Dear Sir:
"Thank you for your Information about
our bluebirds. I have frequently no
ticed that these beautiful birds are seen
only in certain places. When living
in Connecticut, about a mile from our
cottage we saw these birds, but never
immediately near us.
“Now may I ask you again about a
lovely bird which comes here occasion
ally—about the size of a sparrow, with
dark brown and tan markings, but about
the breast it turns to splashes of red,
with a bright red crest.
“To look at it quickly, it appears to
have been spattered with bright red
beet Juice.
“A neighbor of mine first noticed these
birds when they suddenly arrived in a
whole flock close to her cottage early in
December. Since then they seem to have
scattered.
“They are very shy, as I say. I have
seen only two or three of them at our
feeding station about three times.
“Thank you for any remarks you may
have on these pretty things.
“Sincerely, I. M. B. C."
* * * *
“LAKEWOOD, N. J.
“Dear Sir:
"I am writing to ask if you will be
kind enough to tell my sister the name
of a bird she saw at her feeder here the
last part of December.
“She is making a list of the birds that
come.
“The bird had a bright green head,
black wings with a wide white wing
bar and possibly a narrow bar below it.
“The rest of the bird was a light color.
“It was about the size of a tufted tit
mouse, or a little smaller.
"Thanking you,
"Very truly yours, E. C. T."
* * * *
The first of these birds probably was
the purple finch.
The second probably was the black
throated green warbler, although it was
pretty late for any warbler to be around.
There are so many warblers that only
an ornithologist is able to identify them
surely, even when he sees them him
self, and the thing is almost impossible
from somebody else's description.
The warblers, it has always seemed to
us. constitute a sort of post-graduate
course in bird observing.
Their numbers of varying colors are
appalling to the amateur, as he turns
over the colored plates devoted to them
in any large work.
Sparrows are even more difficult to
identify, at least by the amateur. There
are 19 species which come to the District
of Columbia alone, and, of course, there
are many more in other parts of the
country.
An honest amateur observer may be
forgiven for throwing up his hands over
sparrows and warblers. But it is fun to
plunge In, and try to Identify them, any
way; In time he will have a few warblers
and a few sparrows to his mental credit.
The prominent sparrows hereabouts
during winter are the English species,
the song sparrow, and the white
throated sparrow. These are the fun
damental sparrows, along with that
other beauty of the finch family, to
which they all belong, the Junco, or
snowbird.
Occasionally a local garden will have
a tree sparrow, too. The remainder of
the 19 sparrows will be identified only
by professionals, perhaps, or amateur
observers who are really professional
in this particular ability.
The main thing about the sparrows,
for the strict amateur, is to realize how
many of them there are, and Just how
much alike they look to the untrained
eye. •
This is essential even for those who
think they know a great deal about
bird life. Even the most experienced
must remind himself, now and then,
that he probably doesn’t know all the
sparrows, by any means, and certainly
not all the warblers.
* * * *
As this column said recently, the
purple finch is a fairly common winter
visitant here, and an abundant spring
migrant, less common in the fall.
Its coming to an individual garden
is always an event.
The young birds and the females
often are mistaken for English spar
rows. There can be little doubt that
many of these fine birds have been
killed on the mistaken assumption that
they, were “nothing but English spar
rows.”
This is one reason why the observer
should make every effort to be as
broad minded as possible, in this sport,
and to err on the side of tolerance, if
tolerance can be called error.
The male purple finch is pinkish
purple and brown, the pink sufTusing
the breast and the tip of the head and
back.
The male really hasn’t a crest, but
rather a decided ruffling of the feathers
on the head, which gives a distinct ap
pearance of crest.
The female is a plain bird, olive-gray
above, white below.
The birds do not sing much at this
time of year, but now and then utter a
soft cheep, cheep, called the feeding
note.
These finches naturally consort with
the English sparrows, with which they
feel quite at home. It is always well tq,
scan a flock of the sparrows carefully,
in order to make sure there are not
some purple finches among them.
Another beauty which does not mind
but rather seems to enjoy the com
pany of English sparrows is the cardinal,
everybody's favorite. This, too is no
wonder, since U. belongs to the same
great bird family. If we value birds
by the company they keep, we must not
despise the humble English sparrows.
Letters to the Editor
Commends A. F. of L. for
Unemployment Stand.
To the Editor of The 6t*r:
It Is Indeed encouraging to read
statements like that recently issued at
Miami by the Executive Council of the
American Federation of Labor regarding
the causes of the prolonged and exten
sive unemployment in this country and
the need of a constructive governmental
program which will restore confidence
and give encouragement to private in
dustry.
This is not the first time that such
views have been expressed by the leaders
of the A. F. of L., but it is not certain
that they have been shared and ade
quately appreciated by the rank and
file of laboring people and by the voters
generally.
If this unemployment problem is to
be solved without the sacrifice of our
system of private enterprise, the de
pendence of our material prosperity on
production and the co-ordinate func
tions of capital and labor in that pro
duction must be generally recognized.
We cannot have high living standards
if the Nation’s production is at a low
level no matter what sort of ‘‘wages and
hours” laws we may place on our statute
books. We cannot have economic se
curity. job security or old-age security
if production is at a low ebb, no matter
what kind of ‘‘social security” scheme we
may adopt. Prosperity, high living
standards and economic security cannot
be obtained by legislation. They can be
obtained only through production main
tained at a high level. The more we
produce the better we can live and the
more secure will be our existence. And
in this production capital is as necessary
as labor, and the incentive to investment
is profits.
Finally, wre cannot hope to retain our
individual liberties if we are going to
expect others (as the “Government”)
to assume the burden and responsibility
for our maintenance. With liberty there
must be responsibility. With responsi
bility there must be power.
February 3. EDW. WOLESENSKY.
Makes Urgent Appeal
For Finnish Aid.
To the Editor of The Star:
Those who really feel sorry for Finland
and want to see that gallant little nation
survive, should send every dollar they
can spare to the Republic of Finland,
care of the Minister from Finland, 2146
Wyoming avenue N.W., Washington,
D. C. These contributions should be
sent Immediately by check, by money
order or in postage stamps.
Usually funds collected for Finnish re
lief are limited to the purchase of food
and medical supplies. The Finns don’t
need food. They raise what they eat.
What they desperately need are air
planes and anti-aircraft guns. So if
money is sent directly to the Minister of
Finland, he will purchase the things the
Finns need, and he won’t limit himself
to food and bandages.
The Minister from Finland, Mr.
H. P. P. Procope, may not solicit funds
In this country for his people, but we
can be mighty sure he will welcome
every penny sent him and we may also
be sure that the money he receives will
be spent on Finnish defense and none
of It for administrative expenses.
Because the Finns have no cash with
which to pay for defensive armament,
they have asked for a loan from this
Government. No one doubts for a
moment that would pay tbs
I 9
Letters to the Editor must
bear the name and address of
the writer, although the use of
a pseudonym for publication is
permissible. Please be brief!
loan back, if she could get it. Her
record for paying her debts speaks for
itself. Compare Finland's record with
that of Russia!
But the politicians in Washington
frown on a loan to Finland. It might
appear unneutral. . Russia might ob
ject. Russia probably has already ob
jected. And the administration and tne
politicians appear timid about offend
ing Russia.
The administration is buying large
quantities of Russian gold at an arti
ficially high price, thus enabling Russia
to finance her unprovoked war on Fin
land. Isn’t that unneutral?
This country sells shiploads of scrap
iron to Japan, which permits her to
pursue her aggression in China. Isn't
that unneutral?
Yet the administration fears to loan
money to a Christian country like Fin
land for fear it might seem unneutral to
some other nations!
If this Government won’t loan to
Finland, there is one other way we can
get cash over here in order to buy
weapons, and that is by private, indi
vidual contributions from the American
people. Don’t delay! The Finnish
people need help desperately!
AN AMERICAN SYMPATHIZER.
February 4. —
Denounces Tactics of
Germany and Russia.
To the Editor of The Star:
The picture of those young Swedish
volunteers, lined up and waiting to be
sent to aid their Finnish friends, as
shown in The Star this evening, is a
most pathetic sight. Many of those
young, brave fellows, will soon be
stretched out on the snow, or ice,
wounded and frozen to death! And all
for what?
The fiendish, brutal and cowardly at
tack of that immense Russian Army upon
her little neighbor is another of the
many shameful disgraces which are hap
pening in this century of supposed
“civilization.’*
What wonderful “neighbors” Germany
and Russia have been to their border
ing countries! How very thankful we
should be that the neighbor to the
north of us is not of their breed!
The warring nations must have spent
millions of dollars for tanks and air
planes, which are being blown to pieces.
If this whole business is not supreme
folly, what would you call it? Let us
hope that those who started this mess
will not win anything but poverty, death
and disgrace, which they richly deserve.
January 31. H. B. BRADFORD.
Welcomes Formation of
Mothers’ Legion.
To the Editor of The Star:
Kathleen Norris, noted author, calls on
the mothers of America to Join the
Mothers’ Legion, formed to keep our
sons out of foreign wars. Many mothers
have prayed for such an organisation
so that the voices of millions of mothers
might drown the propaganda of the
internationalists who think we ought to
save Europe from Itself—again.
EWA SKELTON TOMB.
Toledo, Ohio,
f JanuargjgS.
\
Answers J|
To Questions fl
By Frederic J. Haskin.
A reader can get the answer to any H
question of fact by writing The Eve- H
ning Star Information Bureau, Fred• HI
eric J. Haskin, director, Washington,
D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply.
Q. Please give the origin of the '
Ferris wheel.—A. M. G.
A. George W. Ferris, an engineer of
Galesburg, 111., designed and constructed
the first of these revolving wheels for
the World's Columbian Exposition held
in Chicago in 1893.
Q. What is the average size of fami
lies in the United States?—R. W.
A. According to a computation made
in 1938, the standard family in the
United States consists of 3D persons.
Q. Please give a list of well-known
Negro pugilists of all time.—H. T. M.
A. Such a list would include Tom
Molineaux, Peter Jackson, George Dix
on, Joe Gans, Joe Walcott, Dixie Kidd,
Joe Jeannette, Sam Langford, Sam
McVea, Harry Wills, Jack Johnson, John
Henry Lewis and Joe Louis.
Q. What State had the first agricul
tural experiment station?—N. P.
A. The first State agricultural ex
periment station was established at
Savannah, Ga., in 1735.
Q. Please describe the President's
flag—N. B. D.
A. It consists of the President's seal
in bronze upon a blue background, with
a large white star in each corner. The
design of this seal may be seen in the
floor of the entrance corridor of the
White House.
Q. What is Eddy Duchins theme
song?—R. M.
A. It Is Chopin's "Nocturne in E Flat*
Q. Who are the oldest and youngest
United States Senators?—W. M.
A. Senator Rush Holt of West Vir
ginia, who was born on June 19, 1905,
is the youngest. Senator Carter Glass
of Virginia, who was born on January
4, 1858, is the oldest.
Q. Is there an animal called a lem
ming?—T. W. H.
A. Lemmings are rodents found chiefly
in the Arctic regions. They resemble
large field mice, having small ears and
long fluffy fur. Certain species of
this animal migrate in great swarms,
damaging crops, and crossing all ob
stacles, even bodies of water. When
they reach the sea many plunge in and
are drowned.
Q. How many Negro students are en
rolled at Notre Dame University?—
C. J. H.
A. There has never been a Negro stu
dent at this university.
Q. Who won the 1939 snowshoeing
championship?—W. W.
A. Clifton Cody of the Alpine Club at
Manchester, N. H., set a new one-mile
record for snowshoeing on February 19,
1939, at Somersworth, N. H., when he
won the American Snowshoe Union's ,
annual championship in 5:183s over a
course that was half snow and half ice.
Q. What was the name of a famous
minister who had to leave Kentucky be
cause of his anti-slavery speeches?—N. R.
A. John Gregg Fee (1816-1901) was
disinherited by his slaveholding parents
for his anti-slavery views. He preached
throughout Kentucky in that cause and
founded anti-slavery churches despite
insults and attempts on his life. One of
the churches he founded was Berea
Union Church, and in 1855 he estab
lished Berea College. He was driven
from Kentucky in 1859 and not allowed
to return until 1863. The rest of his
life was spent at Berea as pastor of the
church and a trustee of the college.
Q. Who were the Seven Wise Men of
Greece?—M. T. B.
A. Bias, chilon, Cleobulus, Periander,
Pittacus, Solon and Thales have been
so-called. Other lists are sometimes
given.
Q. Who published the first magazine?
—O. H.
A. Edward Cave founded the Gentle
men's Magazine in London in 1731. It
was the first periodical to use the word
magazine in its title. Samuel Johnson
was a contributor to the publication.
Q. What is a toby jug?—P. S. G.
A. This is a small pottery pitcher or
mug modeled in the form of a rotund
man wearing a cocked hat, a comer of
which serves as pourer. The jug is also
called flllpot, both names taken from
Toby Fillpot, inebriate character in the
18th century song "Little Brown Jug.”
Popular in England and America of that
day, the toby jug has become a collec
tor's piece.
Q. Where is Donner Lake?—T. H. K.
A. It is in the Sierra Mountains of
California, near Truckee. Here, in 1846,
the Donner emigrant party was carght
and blocked on the east side of the range
by an early blizzard and forced to winter
on this lake without adequate supplies
and shelter. Only 45 of the 79 survived.
Q. What fur is sold under the largest
number of names?—I. N. T.
A. It is probably rabbit fur, which is
sold under the following names: Aus
tralian seal, Arctic seal, sea-musquash,
sealette, sealine, French seal, New Zea
land seal, lapin, Red River beaverette,
Belgian seal, molin, moline, visionette,
nutriette, French sable, ermillne, ermi
nette, coney-leopard, chinchilletta and
Baltic tiger.
Q. What is the inscription on the
marker erected at Murray, Ky., in honor
of Nathan Stubblefield?—H. T. M.
A. It is as follows: “Here in 1902 Na
than Stubblefield, 1860-1928, inventor fit
radio, broadcast and received the human
voice by wireless. He made experiments
10 years earlier."
Q. What is the meaning of Mizpah?—
R. P.
A. The word Mizpah means: The Lord
watch between me and thee, when we are
absent from one another.
Q. What is a gargoyle?—H. T. B.
A. The term gargoyle is derived from
a French word meaning throat, and is
applied to the spouts placed on the roof
gutters of Gothic buildings for the pur
pose of carrying rain water from the
walls. Gargoyles came into use about
the end of the 12th century and from
the 13th to the 16th century they were
carved fancifully, terminating in gnj.
tesque shapes of animals or