Evening star. [volume], July 22, 1940, Page A-8, Image 8

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

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With Sunday Morning Edition.
THEODORE W. NOYES, Editor,
WASHINGTON, D. C.
MONDAY.July 22, 1940
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The Ramspeck Bill
Following the pledge of the Demo
cratic party, in the platform adopted
at the Chicago convention, to extend
the merit system forthwith “to all
positions in the executive branch of
the Federal Government except ac
tual bona fide policy-making posi
tions,” the Senate should promptly
pass the Ramspeck bill, the enact
ment of which will remove statutory
barriers that prevent the extension
of the merit system to many Federal
agencies. The House approved the
bill in February by a majority of ap
proximately two to one. The meas
ure was favorably reported to the
Senate last month, and is now on
the Senate calendar.
Under the Ramspeck bill, upward
of 200.000 positions will be covered
into the civil service by non-com
petitive examinations. Many of
these are in the so-called emergency
agencies, exempted by law, in re
cruiting their personnel, from civil
service rules. Inasmuch as these
agencies, for practical purposes, can
no longer be regarded as “emer
gency” in character, there is no valid
reason why future vacancies should
not be filled by competitive exami
nations, under the merit system.
Though favoring the extension of
the merit system to all non-policy
forming positions, the Republican
party, in its Philadelphia platform,
urged that this be brought about on
“a truly competitive basis.” Repub
licans in Congress have sharply
criticized the Ramspeck bill as a
move by the party in power to
“freeze” the jobs of New Deal pa
tronage appointees. In the House,
Representative Rogers of Massa
chusetts, ranking Republican on the
Civil Service Committee, offered an
amendment which would have sub
stituted open competitive examina
tions for the non-competitive quali
fying tests proposed by the bill for
incumbents of positions brought into
the classified service. The House re
jected this amendment by a vote of
101 to 82.
Of the Federal employes who will
be brought into the classified service
if the Ramspeck bill becomes law,
many have held their present jobs
for several years or more. The ex
perience thus obtained has increased
their value to the Government and
it would hardly be fair, now that so
much water has passed over the
dam, if the positions they hold
should be thrown open to competi
tive examination. To weed out the
inefficient, the Civil Service Com
mission will impose qualifying tests,
and future vacancies will be filled
through competitive examinations.
The enactment of the Ramspeck
bill, therefore, will represent a sub
stantial extension of the merit sys
tem in government. For this reason,
it is to be hoped that the Senate will
quickly approve the bill, thus com
pleting congressional action on this
important measure.
Election Estimates
Certainly, it is much too early to
attempt anything like an accurate
appraisal of the relative strength of
President Roosevelt and his Repub
lican rival, Wendell L. Willkle. The
present period of history particularly
is one which defies the ordinary
formulas of prophecy. No man can
be sure about what will happen be
tween the present moment and No
vember 5, a total of 105 days.
Yet on both sides it will be part of
the business of the leaders to gauge
public sentiment with reasonable
efficiency. The 1938 vote for Repre
sentatives in Congress, “compiled
from official sources for the clerk
of the House,” is the most recent
index available. It shows that 27,
989,751 ballots were counted that
year for Democratic candidates and
26,837,245 for their opposition.
Twenty-six States—Alabama, Ari
zona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida,
Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky,
Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri,
Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New
York, North Carolina, Oklahoma,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Ten
nessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wash
ington and West Virginia—turned in
majorities for aspirants most of
whom had received the blessing of
the New Deal. The electoral college
strength of this group was 314,
enough to place a Democrat in the
wlhite House had the presidency
been at issue.
But Republican gains were regis
tered in three States which together
hold 112 electoral ballots. Change
of 111,191 popular votes in Illinois
would have cost the Democrats
the .Commonwealth which produced
Abraham Lincoln and currently is
supposed to be ruled by Edward J.
Kelly. In Pennsylvania a “switch”
of 76,290 votes would have given the
Republicans conclusive victory, while
in New York a similar defection of
66,327 votes would have had the same
effect. If either candidate carries all
of those States this fall, his chances
of election would be excellent.
Meanwhile, there is reason to be
lieve that Mr. Willkie has a good
chance to carry New England, with
41 electoral votes, and in such key
States as his native Indiana, Ohio,
Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North and
South Dakota and Colorado. He
needs to get only one more electoral
vote than 261 in order to win.
Littered Streets
The disgraceful condition of the
streets in the National Capital, lit
tered as they are with papers, bottles,
cans and other trash, can be reme
died in one of two ways.
Primarily, the maintenance of
clean streets is an individual re
sponsibility. Each resident of the
community should be as solicitous
of the public highways as he is of
his own property, but that, unfor
tunately, is far from being the case.
Hundreds of persons who are proud
of the appearance of their homes
will throw trash into the streets
without giving a thought to the fact
that they are thereby contributing
to an unsightly city.
The first step in rectifying exist
ing conditions lies in enlisting the
voluntary co-operation of all the
residents of Washington, insofar
as that may be possible. This could
be undertaken through civic, com
mercial and professional groups, and
possibly through the schools and
similar organizations. If an effort
of this sort were properly directed,
with emphasis placed on the respon
sibility of each individual, it should
be productive of marked improve
ment.
The second phase calls for the en
forcement by the appropriate au
thorities of existing regulations for
bidding the throwing of trash into
the streets. As revealed in an article
in The Sunday Star, these regula
tions are being flagrantly violated,
and there is virtually no effort to
enforce them. While the natural
reluctance of the police to arrest
every person who drops a piece of
paper on the street is understand
able, there is no reason whatsoever
why persistent and defiant viola
tions of the regulations should not
be made the subject of prosecution.
In a matter of this kind, when vol
untary co-operation is not forth
coming, the only alternative to
proper exercise of the police func
tion is the acceptance of littered
streets as a permanent disgrace to
the community. In that situation
there should be no hesitancy on the
part of the members of the Police
Department to take the steps which
the law requires of them.
Educational Aid
Announcement of the allocation
to District schools and colleges of
$147,640 by the National Youth
Administration calls attention to a
highly worth-while service being
carried on by the Federal Govern
ment here and in the forty-eight
States and the Territories.
In its Job of providing part-time
work to selected students to enable
them to continue their studies, the
N. Y. A. is filling a real need in
American education. The increas
ing establishment of scholarships at
the various institutions has done
something to alleviate the condition
whereby education in this country
had been limited only to those who
could afford it. The N. Y. A., in a
less conspicuous and smaller way, is
doing and will do more.
Some “mute, inglorious Milton”
will no longer be mute and inglorious
because he is poor. More than 1,600
boys and girls in the District
chosen by their school and college
officials on the basis of “proven
need and demonstrated scholastic
ability”—will get a chance next Sep
tember when they might otherwise
have had to Join the ranks of the
unemployed.
Germany's Oil
As Europe’s war approaches the
decisive stage, Britain and Germany
are making a close check of all pos
sible factors in the struggle. One of
the most vital is Germany’s lack of
access to petroleum sources.
News dispatches from London in
dicate that British leaders are en
couraged by what they consider the
extremely critical condition of Eu
rope’s oil supplies, and their belief
that tightening of the blockade will
reduce the oontinent’s available
petroleum to the point where Ger
many’s resources will be wholly in
adequate for the operation of her
vast mechanized war machine.
Exactly what oil reserves Germany
has after the campaign of Flanders
and France and the intensified sea
and air war is, of course, a military
secret which those outside the high
command are not privileged to share.
There can be little doubt, however,
that in spite of Germany’s acquisi
tions by conquest the petroleum sit
uation in the Reich still must be
critical.
Adolf Hitler’s victories in Western
Europe probably added substantial
supplies to the Reich’s reserves, but
these are temporary and without
access to wells on which to draw
over a long period of time, Germany
may be compelled to strike for a de
cisive victory over the British.
The Reich continues, as the British
blockade draws tighter, to depend on
Rumanian and Russian supplies, the
first hampered by difficulties of
transportation, the second by Rus
sia's own needs and a disposition,
of which there Is growing evidence,
not to co-operate too far with Nazi
Germany.
British war leadership is taking
some hope from this situation, but
German prospects have not de
teriorated to the point where it is
wise to believe that the Reich will
fall for lack of oil. It has been
able to pursue the plane and sub
marine campaign against the Brit
ish blockade, which would seem
to indicate that Germany’s chief
tains feel secure in their oil supplies,
at least for the moment.
If Germany makes the decision to
invade Britain more petroleum prod
ucts will be needed than were used in
the land campaign through the Low
Countries and France. Warplanes
will have to be sent to England in
swarms, and co-operating with them
must be many submarines and all of
Germany’s available naval strength.
It means that Germany, to avoid
too deep inroads into her petroleum
reserves, will have to draw more and
more upon those supplies of oil which
now are going to all parts of Europe,
and that conquered and unconquered
sections of the continent will have to
sacrifice fuel and lubricants for the
German machine.
Greenbelt Expands
Greenbelt, the model planned
community, has reached the stage
which tests the planning of any
community—the period of expan
sion. Plans have been announced
for the erection of additional homds
in Greenbelt, but it is notable that
they will be built in a different man
ner and for a slightly different pur
pose than the homes now there.
Instead of being erected entirely
with Federal funds, as were the origi
nal Greenbelt homes, the new ones
will be built by private contractors.
Instead of being rented they will be
sold. The prices, according to an
announcement of the Farm Security
Administration, will be about $5,000
and the mortgages will be insured
by the Federal Housing Administra
tion.
It is anticipated that there will be
a heavy demand for the new homes,
as there has been for the ones now
in use. Those who move to Green
belt have the benefit of unusual
facilities. Its educational and rec
reational advantages and co-oper
ative setup are found In few, if any,
communities of similar size with the
exception of other towns erected on
the Greenbelt plan by the old Reset
tlement Administration. Incidentally,
all of those towns will be enlarged
in the same manner as Greenbelt.
The latter now has about 000 living
units, although it was planned to
accommodate 3,000 eventually. Under
the circumstances it is only proper
that, with its attractive rural setting,
its lake, swimming pool, schools, ath
letic fields, theater and co-operative
stores, Greenbelt should be made
available to as many people as pos
sible.
Taxpayers will be relieved to know,
however, that the expansion of
Greenbelt will not call for additions
to the vast public funds that were
spent to build the town. There has
been much criticism on that score
and of the project in general, but
there has been practically no indi
cation that those who live there find
their community lives less pleasant
than they anticipated. There is
every indication that they will be
glad to share their good fortune with
the newcomers, for the move to have
private ownership of homes in
Greenbelt originated with those who
now rent the houses there.
Some of the present tenants, in
fact, hope to be among the first
Greenbelt landlords.
Batter Up
There seems to be an uneasy feel
ing in the air of the sporting world.
Some fans are completely jittery
over the sad fate of the Yanks if
or when Mr. Farley steps into the
box and takes over. They go around
with sad faces, hoping against hope
that there is at least one good Dem
ocratic southpaw on the team who
will keep his job and serve as a
nucleus until the Republican staff
can be replaced.
The prediction is ventured that
Mr. Farley will play ball with them,
not politics. The outfielder who can
pole one over the left field wall with
the bases crowded can stay, even if
he is so eccentric as to poll a vote for
Mr. Willkie in November. A Repub
lican pitcher who strikes out the
opposition can balk all he wants,
off the field, at the New Deal. The
shortstop who can step up to the
plate and bat .360 will have made a
hit with Farley and can vote for
Browder later if he likes. When Mr.
Farley needs a new third baseman,
it is not likely that he will put in a
call for a deserving Democrat. In
stead, he will use a method not
ordinarily in favor with him; he
will draft. Even if things go wrong,
heads will not necessarily fall; no
doubt he will follow the time-hon
ored custom of blaming the umpires.
In fact, there is every reason to
suppose, with his experience as Post
master General, that neither snow,
nor rain, nor heat, nor night, nor
batting slumps will stay the Yanks
from their appointed rounds.
There are’’inThls countryprattling
children, and even infants yet un
born, who some day can make the
proud boast, “My father was one of
the outstanding boo-ers at the Dem
ocratic Convention of 1940.”
“No empties to take back,” run
advertisements of cooling drink con
tainers. Not as long as front lawns,
beaches and woodsy dells are so
handy.
Whenever an Egyptologist goes on
a vacation he seems to pass his time
thinking up brand-new ways to spell
the names of ancient Pharaohs.
Indorses Effort to
Clean Up City
Present Condition of Steets
Held Disgrace to
National Capital
To the Editor of The Star:
I notice in last night's Star that, at
long last the most beautiful city, the
most untidy, bellttered city of grand
dimensions in our country, is to have a
public education in tidiness and neat
ness. For some years past I from time
to time have tried to cause something to
be done about untidy, belitttered Wash
ington! being ashamed for the thou
sands of visitors coming here month after
month to see how slovenly we, the cus
todians of their National Capital, keep
house In our public streets and public
parks. But my voice was like one cry
ing in the wilderness; my letters went
unheeded. Now, seemingly, something
is to be done about it, but it will only
be done If ,the newspapers take up the
cudgel and educate the careless pub
lic; shame the people into neatness.
The general public will not like to be
told that it Is slovenly and untidy, but
he who runs may read. The Nation's
Capital is littered with trash from one
end to the other; the streets become the
dumping place for old newspapers, frag
ments of newspapers, empty cigarette
packages, cellophane cigar wrappers, dis
carded match holders, empty liquor bot
tles, tom up advertising matter, paper
bags, handbills of advertising, etc. In
one morning's walk from my house in
Cleveland Park to the Calvert Street
Bridge I counted S3 discarded news
papers and fragments thereof along the
sidewalks and streets, without trying to
count the other bits of litter cast aside
by an untidy people. Through a mili
tant newspaper campaign the general
public must be taught it may not cast
aside into the streets and onto the side
walks the unsightly trash it may wish
to discard at the moment. Newspaper
delivery boys must be taught that they
shall not unwrap their bundles of news
papers and cast aside the wrappings the
bundles have arrived in from the trucks,
to be blown, willy-nilly, all over the
streets. Neatness and tidiness, with re
gard to our streets and sidewalks must
be the predominating thought and it
can only come about by being dinned
into the people, to make them self-con
scious about it and to make them proud
to be as neat about their streets and
sidewalks as they are about their per
sonal cleanliness.
The city authorities can do a great
deal to help. There shall be vastly more
trash receptacles everywhere upon the
streets in which to deposit trash—we
now have not anything like the number
that should be available all over the city—
and plainly marked to be easily notice
able. Drivers of trash-collection trucks
should be made to fasten cloth cov
ings over their loaded collections of
trash in moving about the city from
place to place. Dirt-hauling truck
drivers should be caught and fined for
cone-shaped dirt loads spilling over
onto the city streets, because the loading
of the trucks was so slovenly done where
the load was taken aboard. School chil
dren should be taught that it is untidy
and wrong to litter people's lawns with
discarded school papers on their way
from school. Picnic parties in Potomac
Park and Rock Creek Park should be
educated to their duty to clean up the
litter which a majority of them now
leave behind them for the park attend
ants to clean up after them. Go to Po
tomac Park any Sunday evening and
observe the great American people at
play, hundreds of them enjoying the
beautiful places that have been provided
for them at public expense, and see what
a discouraging, heart-sickening mess
they have made of it—their public play
grounds. And it is so easy to observe
the virtue of neatness and tidiness. Were
it a hard task there might be some slight
excuse for carelessness. Actually there
is no valid excuse for slovenliness.
If the newspapers will pitch in and
help, we can tidy up Washington and
keep it neat and tidy, but it is every
one’s bounden duty. We owe it to our
selves, to our own self-respect, and above
all we owe it to the thousands of visi
tors who flock here to see their Capital
City, those W'ho must now observe what
slovenly, untidy housekeepers we are
indeed in their Nation's Capital.
July 16. ENOCH A. CHASE.
Deplores Puppet Behavior
Of Convention Delegate!.
To the Editor of The Star:
What has become of our democracy?
The lack of all democratic principles In
the proceedings of the Democratic con
vention at Chicago would be laughable
if it were not so tragic.
In The Star it was reported that a
bitter fight in the convention's Platform
Committee was settled only after a long
distance telephone call was put In to
the White House, where, it was indicated,
Mr. Roosevelt decided for the whole
party the point at issue.
Today radio announcers and the
newspapers informed the country at
large that the President had told the
convention that the choice of the Dem
ocratic party for Vice President must
be the “able” Secretary of Agriculture,
Henry Wallace.
And in assuming all this authority
Mr. Roosevelt was not a member of the
convention, and by his own words was
not a candidate.
Surely democracy is on its way out,
if not already dead, buried and all but
forgotten—in Europe under the mailed
fist of Hitler and his blitzkrieg—In
America, under the smiling "musts” of
Roosevelt and his New Deal puppets.
It seems to be about time for the
American people to realize that not only
can one man gain complete dominance
over the Government, but that during
the past eight years such has come
dangerously near being a fact. I. Q.
Elk ton. Md.
July 18.
Wonders if Pacifists
Would Forego Liberty.
To the Editor of The Star:
Much of the “no war” talk now being
heard in this country is totally devoid of
sincerity, the veriest rot.
According to some of these pacifists the
American Revolution was a fools’ war,
George Washington an idiot and Patrick
Henry an imbecile.
What has become of men’s love of
liberty? A. B. CANNADY.
Orescent city, Fla.
July 15.
THIS AND THAT
By Charlea E. Tracewell.
Summer Is the best time of the year
to appreciate the contrasts of light and
shade in the outdoor scene.
Persons interested in photography
know this, but others should realize it,
too, in the mere looking.
Every scene is a picture, if we look at
it rightly. And nothing does more to
that picture, of course, than light.
The science of light is one thing. The
appreciation of it in the outdoors an
other.
Prom the first peep of dawn until
night falls there are counties! natural
pictures, whose very existence depends
upon light, in a sense.
And yet there is more to it than that;
light is the supreme color, with tones
and shades all its own.
* * * *
One need not worry whether this
would make sense in the art of painting.
One knows what one knows, and looks
into the light, regardless of what some
one art has to say about it.
Then the light becomes a thing in it
self. In fact, some painters have be
come so enamored of the light, and its
possibilities, that everything else in their
canvases becomes but an addition, a
supplement of the main theme, the light
itself.
This is because light has both color
and form.
It is the great background, as it were,
of perspective. What we see is because
of light, and the way we see it wholly
due to it.
* * * *
Some morning about 7 o'clock, if you
have a shady yard, look at the tops of
the shrubs and vines where the sunlight
comes from the yard beyond.
Here is a dramatic Instance of the
difference between light and shade.
The realization comes to you instantly,
as you look.
The chances are that you will say,
“Why, I never realized before what a
difference there was!”
Darkness, on one side, light, on the
other, each set off by the difference.
And those pools of sun which are al
lowed to lie on the grass, focused
through openings in the leaves
The dark portions of the grass are
green, and the light portions are green,
so we have two types of green made by
the light. Yet the light itself, despite
the green, has a color all its own.
* * * *
Sunlight on the grass is a sort of
thing you feel as if you could reach out
and grasp with the hand, it is that
tangible.
Children often try, Just as they'reach
for the moon. There seems to be no
reason why it cannot be taken in hand.
This is because light, despite its fra
gility, seems solid as anything we know.
Maybe it is. Certainly it is capable of
the most solid results, as witness sun
burn. As every one today knows, it is
the light rays, and not the heat, which
do the burning. It is the light rays
which form the images on the photo
graphic film or plate.
Light is the wonder maker of an age
of wonders, so many of which, alas, have
been perverted in their use.
* * * *
Forward so much, backward so much
—this seems to be the law of use.
When people shut up their parlors and
pulled down the blinds, in order to pre
vent the sun from "ruining,” as they
said, the new carpet, they brought about
the reaction which led to semi-nudity on
the beaches.
Suntan became the rage, as an an
swer to the age which feared it.
Now the reaction seems to be coming
again. We are told that too much tan
is harmful, and that our eyes will be
hurt by the sunshine.
Hence the appearance of beautiful
maidens in goggles of frightening mein.
Many will refuse to budge in their
admiration of "suntan” and all its works.
It feels good, it looks good, and it must
be good. So runs their reaction. Cer
tainly, within reason, there is nothing
to fear from plenty of sunshine. This
depends upon how you “take it.” The
good in burning comes from the building
up of the coat of tan, not in the tan
Itself. The latter is regarded as "quite
the thing,” with a beauty all its own, but
the medical value arises from the pro
cess of tanning’. No one need worry
over the fact that he or she does not
tan well, but simply gets red. This get
ting red, and subsequent fading out, is
where the good arises. He who tans
and stays tanned simply has built up
resistance. Thereafter the sun cannot
do him much "good.”
* * * *
The beauties of light, then, are both
physical and spiritual.
The appreciation of these beauties ex
tends to the physical changes in the hu
man skin and covers the multitude of
eye appeals in the outdoors.
One of the best places to see tha
changes is indoors, as strange as that
may seem. That is, by looking out at
the sunlight from a covered porch, for
instance.
Thus the stay-at-home, the invalid,
or shut-in, has excellent opportunity to
watch the marvelous play of sunlight.
These changes are as dramatic as any,
once you get used to regarding them in
that light.
Very early morning, known as dawn,
and very late afternoon, known as dusk,
are the two very best times for watching
these theatricals of light.
The magic is plainer at these times
than at any other. All color values are
made more intense. The unexpected
happens in a moment, and vanishes al
most as suddenly.
Sometimes the wooded area just be
yond will instantly go dark, except for
one thrilling spot of sunlight, which will
gild,the trunk of a tree, a single locust,
as high as three feet, but no higher.
This is the supreme magic, the linger
ing light which stands out amid a forest
of darkness, making dramatic the dif
ference between light and darkness, and,
by inference, between good and evil.
Letters to the Editor
Denies Popular Front
Caused French Collapse.
To the Editor of The Stir:
The swift collapse of democratic
France under the Nazi blitzkrieg has led
to a great deal of speculation concern
ing the reasons for this collapse. One
of the explanations which has been ad
vanced in certain quarters and which
many people appear inclined to accept
is that the social reforms of the Popular
Front government of Leon Blum and the
activities of organized labor were some
how responsible. This explanation has
been seized upon by various anti-labor
groups as pointing to the necessity for
curbing progressive labor legislation in
the United States and for labor unions
to be as docile as possible.
However, in reading the editorials,
columns and letters on this subject
which have recently appeared in the
press, one is struck by the fact that not
a single statistic on the effect of the
French “new deal” on the production of
defense materials appears in any of
them, nor is any source quoted to sup
port the theory that such production was
adversely affected by the acts of the
Blum government or of the labor unions.
On the other hand, figures reported in
the press show that after the Popular
Front government reorganized and semi
nationalized the airplane industry pro
duction Jumped from 30 to 250 planes a
month within 10 months. More rapid
expansion was prevented by lack of tools
and raw materials, both of which eame
from abroad. At no time was there a
shortage of labor.
With over twelve million unemployed
in this country, fears that the limitations
of the Wages and Hours Act will cause a
labor shortage appear to be utterly ri
diculous. What those who are spreading
these fears really mean Is that the prof
its of the arms manufacturers will not
be as high as they otherwise might be.
July 17. 8. ROSS.
Tell About Explorations
Of Caves in West Virginia.
To the Editor of The Star:
Washington cave explorers read with
a great deal of Interest Mr. Stevenson's
article in last Sunday's Star, describing
the scientific exploration of Hell Hole
and Schoolhouse Caves in West Vir
ginia by the District of Columbia
Speleological Society.
Hell Hole Cave, so accurately de
scribed by Mr. Stevenson, was first
entered by Mr. W. Krause of Romney,
W. Va., several years ago. Krause and
a friend were lowered with cable and
windlass 170 feet to the floor of the
big room, huge enough to contain all
of Washington's movie theaters.
Last year, Mr. Stevenson and mem
bers of the District of Columbia Spele
ological Society entered Hell Hole Cave,
using cable and windlass, and explored
two lofty passages leading out of the
big room.
Their adventures in Hell Hole and
Schoolhouse Cave described in The Star
aroused the Interest of a group of Wash
ington rock climbers to such an extent
that they tackled Hell Hole Cave in
midwinter, celebrating the New Year,
1040, on the floor of the cave, with snow
falling through the opening 170 feet
overhead. Donald Hubbard, Sam Moore,
Bill Schlecht and the writer, led by Paul
n
Letters to the Editor must
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the writer although the use of
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permissible. The Star reserves
the fight to edit all letters with
a view to condensation.
Bradt, descended on December 31. using
block and tackle, and were underground
two days and two nights, exploring and
measuring new passages.
Schoolhouse Cave was next entered
on February 22, Paul Bradt and Donald
Hubbard leading off, tying loops in the
rope as they descended. Some of these
loops, tied in the dork, were nuite a
stretch for those of us who followed:
Leo Scott, Sam Moore, Dr. Harold F.
Stimson, Victor Howard, Bill Schlecht
and Mrs. Schlecht.
On this, and on three succeeding trips
by the same group led by Paul Bradt.
Schoolhouse Cave was fully explored,
photographed, measured and a map
drawn.
On May 30 we descended again and
found another party on the balcony 120
feet down. E. A. Lord, Lowell Bennett
and Mrs. Bennett, ably assisted by four
other Washingtonians, had maneuvered
a 25-foot pole across the black depths
of a pit which had blocked their way.
They, too, had read of the Speleological
Society’s exploits in The Star and were
out to conquer Schoolhouse Cave.
Although Schoolhouse Cave has been
measured, mapped and photographed by
this group of Washington rock climbers,
the “Widow Makers” still remains a
mantrap, the “Gargoyle Pit” Is just as
bottomless, and the "Angel Roost” 140
feet up under the celling seems just as
impossible a pesxh as the day Paul Bradt
first crept out onto it.
July 15. TOM CULVER WELL.
Move to Outlaw
Third Term Proposed.
To the Editor of The Star:
Now Is the time for all good Ameri
cans to come to the aid of their country
by demanding that the Constitution of
the United States be amended, prohib
iting a President from serving more
than one term and limiting the term to
six years. Does Virginia, mother of
States, permit its Governors to serve
more than one term? No, it does not.
In its organic law, it is expressly stipu
lated that a Governor shall not suc
ceed himself in office. He must get out
after completing a term of four years
whether he likes it or not and regardless
of whatever emergency may exist at the
time. J. P. MADISON.
Richmond, Va.
July 18.
Free Trade With Whole
World Suggested.
To the Editor of The Star:
This would be an excellent time for
the United States to abolish the tariff
walls which surround the country and
so proclaim free trade with all the
world. In former years, the tariff tax
supplied the major part of Federal rev*
enue, but the Income tax and numerous
other taxes have made the revenue from
tariff taxation much less important.
HENRY WARE ALLEN.
Wichita, Kans.
July 16.
Haskin's Answers
To Questions
By Frederic J. Batkin.
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. Who pays the expenses of the dele
gates to the Republican and Democratic
conventions?—A. C.
A. Delegates to the national conven
tions pay their own expenses.
Q. What point of land in the United
States is nearest England?—N. C. O.
A. The nearest point of the United
States to England is West Quoddy Head,
Me. The distance from this place to
Lands End, England, is 2,434 nautloal
miles.
Q. Why is an opal regarded as un
lucky?—^ D.
A. The superstition regarding the
opal’s bad luck began in the 14th cen
tury at the time of the Black Death,
particularly in Venice. At that time the
opal was a favorite of the Italian jewel
ers, but it was said that opals worn by
those stricken with the disease became
suddenly brilliant and that their lustre
departed upon the death of the owner.
Thus the opal became associated with
death and an object of dread.
Q. When was the name Siam changed?
—J. R. s.
A. In 1939 the official name of Siam
was changed to Thailand, the ancient
name of the kingdom.
Q. What is the Shelley Memorial
Award?—F. T.
A. The Shelley Memorial Award is an
annual prize in memory of Percy Bysshe
Shelley, which was donated by Mary
P. Sears, who, in her will, left a trust
fund of *20,000 to be known as the Shel
ley Memorial Fund and administered by
the Old Colony Trust Co. of Boston.
The prize, approximately *800, is given
to a living American poet, chosen on the
basis of merit and need.
Q. How long has Paul Terry been pro
ducing his Terrytoons for the movies?—
W. J.
A. His first cartoon, entitled “Little
Herman,” was produced 25 years ago.
Q Please give the origin of the term
spitting image.—R. K.
A. The expression was used as far back
as 1751. when Smollett wrote, "He is the
very moral (model) of you, and as like
as if he had been spit out of your own
mouth.” An earlier usage in 1602 is
traced by Farmer and Henley.
Q. Who is President of Argentina?—
J. H. M.
A. Raymon S. Castillo recently suc
ceeded Roberto M. Ortiz, who resigned
on account of ill health.
Q. What does it cost to keep the Na
tion's money in circulation?—J. C.
A. The appropriations made in 1939
for the handling of United 8tates money
were as follows: Bureau of the Mint,
$2,311,920; recoinage of silver coins,
$500,000: Bureau of Engraving and
Printing, $10,200,000; Secret Service and
suppression of counterfeiting and other
crimes, $810,000.
Q. How many vehicles have passed
over the Triborough Bridge since it waa
opened in the summer of 1936?—T. W. 8.
A. Approximately 45,000,000 motor ve
hicles have made use of the $61,000,000
bridge and toll revenues have exceeded
$11,000,000.
Q. Under what circumstances can the
President call out the National Guard?
—S. S.
A. The statutes provide that whenever
the United States is invaded or in dan
ger of invasion from any foreign nation,
or of rebellion against the authority of
the Government of the United States, or
the President is unable, with the regu
lar forces at his command, to execute
the laws of the Union, it shall be lawful
for the President to call forth the mili
tia of the States.
Q. Please give the correct pronuncia
tion of the first syllable of William S.
Knudsen's surname.—E. L. B.
A. It is pronounced as if spelled nude.
Q. Should a message on a visiting card
be written on the face or on the reverse
side of the card?—W. M. S.
A. It is better to write the message on
the face as one on the back might be
overlooked.
Q. How old was Senator Wagner when
he came to this country?—E. M. E.
A. Senator Robert F. Wagner came to
the United States from Germany at the
age of 8.
Q. What is the origin of the name T.
B. as applied to a town in Maryland?—
L. L.
A. T. B. is named for Thomas Brooks
who acquired several thousand acres of
land in that neighborhood in Colonial
days.
Q. What is pneumonoultramlcroscopi
csilicovolcanoniosls?—P. D. S.
A. A technical term for silicosis, in*
flamation of the lungs caused by in
haling abrasive dust.
Special Service
For Star Readers
Last year nearly 50,000 readera of The
Evening Star took advantage of the serv
ices of the Information Bureau in one
way or another. This means that about
one in every three persons who bought
The Star either had a question an
swered or sent for a booklet. It is open
to all.
The Haskin Quiz Book
A compilation of 750 new questions and
answers on special and miscellaneous
subjects that are educational and enter
taining. See how many you can answer..
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