Evening star. [volume], May 17, 1948, Page A-10, Image 10

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

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lining £Iaf
With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
Published by
The Evening Star Newspaper Company.
FRANK B. NOYES, Chairman of Hie Beard.
FLEMING NEWBOLD, President.
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A—10 _MONDAY, May 17, 1948
This Should Be Done Now
At one time the proposition was ad
vanced to do away altogether with Gal
linger Hospital’s psychiatric division and
transfer its functions to St. Elizabeths.
But that was abandoned on further
study. Some day Gallinger Is going to
be the great general hospital it should
become. A psychiatric division is a neces
sary element of a general hospital. The
psychiatric division should not be aban
doned. rlt should be Improved.
A step toward sucn improvemeru woum
be a simple change in existing law, per
mitting direct admission to 8t. Elizabeths
of a class of mental patients requiring
prolonged hospitalization. These now go
to Gallinger for preliminary examinations
which later on are repeated at St. Eliza
beths. The duplication is unnecessary,
it is wasteful and it is hard on the patients.
Furthermore, the presence of these cases
at Gallinger adds to the congestion and
congestion is the root of some of the
difficulties which have become notorious.
The public health consultant brought
here last year to inspect Galllnger’s
psychiatric division recommended the
change. Dr. Winfred Overholser, super
intendent of St. Elizabeths, has recom
mended it. Commissioner Mason put
himself on record as favoring it some
time ago. It was even mentioned as one
thing that could be done now to Justify
a postponment in construction of new
and larger facilities at Gallinger.
The change should have been ready for
consideration by Congress when It met
last January. Unfortunately, there has
been a delay. But the effects of the delay
can still be overcome by concerted action.
Representative A. L. Miller of Nebraska,
a physician and chairman of the House
District subcommittee on health, has in
terested himself in tfce proposed amend
ment and is ready to work for its approval
by the House District Committee at one
of its final meatlngs of the session this
week. H V2E£$.
The confWenfiaJn Commissioner Mason’s
office this aftelmoon should agree to it
and our municipal officials should lend a
hand in seeing it through.
First step, in a proposed program to
explain the atomic bomb to the man in
the street: Tell him to get in off the
street.
“There is no ideal marriage,” says a
British physician, in his innocence. Why,
to our personal knowledge, one Hollywood
blonde has been a party to five.
After the Korean Election
The people of Southern Korea have
voted for members of a projected National
Assembly charged with drawing up a con
stitution besides functioning as a provi
sional government. For the Koreans, this
has been a unique experience—the first
popular election in their history, which
runs back more than 4.000 years. That
they appreciated the opportunity is evi
denced by the fact that fully SO per cent
of the registered voters went to the polls,
despite Communist threats and attempted
sabotage.
The outcome of the election was hardly
a full cross-section of public opinion be
cause the Communists and kindred left
wing groups boycotted it on orders from
the Soviet-dominated regime in Northern
Korea, which denounced the election and
claims to be the true government for the
whole of Korea. This Northern regime
Is seeking to force recognition from our
Military Authority in the southern zone
by cutting off electric power that normally
supplies about one-half of the south’s
power needs. Our authorities refuse to
recognize a regime which they consider
merely a puppet of Soviet Russia, set up
by Moscow unilaterally and in contraven
tion of the original agreement between
the American and Soviet Governments
regarding Korea, made at the close of
the war against Japan It is, of course, the
consistent refusal of Moscow to honor its
obligations and its persistent maneuvers
to force us out of Southern Korea that
have caused the entire series of troubles
that bedevils Korean rehabilitation.
The two leading parties in the projected
National Assembly will be the Independent
Party headed by Dr. S.vngman Rhee and
the Hankuk Democratic Party whose
leader, named Kim, is a wealthy Japanese
educated scholar. The chief issue between
them is the type of government to be
written into the con^itution. Dr. Rhee,
who lived in exile for many years, some
of them in the United States, advocates a
form of government modeled closely on
our own. The Hankuk program is for a
government on the French model, with a
President possessing limited prerogatives,
the real power lying in the hands of a
Prime Minister responsible to the legisla
ture in accordance with the parliamentary
■ystem.
Apparently, neither of these parties will
have a clear majority, the balance of
power lying with a number of splinter
groups representing a wide variety of
ideas and often reflecting the personalities
of their leaders rather than political
principle*. Since the Communists and '
allied groups boycotted the elections, they
will have no direct representation in the
Assembly. But they will doubtless be able
indirectly to make their influence felt,
with backing from their mentors to the
northward.
Republicans and Trade
Acting as a solid bloc along strict party
lines, the Republican majority of the House
Ways and Means Committee has rejected
the President’s request for a three-year
extension of the Reciprocal Trade Agree
ments Act. It has voted, instead, to renew
it for only a year. In addition, it has
written in restrictions that would give
Congress the power to veto future reci
procity pacts not approved by a reconsti
tuted and independent Federal Tariff
Commission.
To describe these proposed changes as a
complete undermining of the fourteen
year-old reciprocal trade program would
not be accurate. If adopted, however, they
most certainly would weaken that program
and place a confidence-shaking question
mark over its future.* kn spirit, they lean
backward toward the days of high protec
tionism when our tariff-making was largely
a chaotic, irresponsible and essentially
dangerous business of selfish logrolling
in Congress. To put them into effect
would be to give the rest of the world good
reason to suspect the United States of
trending back to a policy of economic
isolationism.
This is a suspicion we cannot afford to
let hang over us. For years now we have
been trying, with considerable success, to
preach the doctrine of reciprocal trade as
something essential to the development
of a sound peace and a healthy world
economy. Since the end of the war—at
places like Geneva and Havana—we have
prevailed upon a great number of other
nations to join with us in applying that
doctrine to promote a freer flow of inter
national commerce on a mutually bene
flcial basis of quid-pro-quo concessions—
concessions aimed at lowering or elimi
nating the kind of tariff walls that breed
friction and economic depression among
nations. Above all, under the European
Recovery Program, we have made it one
of the conditions of our aid that the
participating countries must put the reci
procity principle actively to work among
themselves.
Considered against such a background,
the vote in the House Ways and Means
Committee strongly suggests that the Re
publicans are in a mood to exempt the
United States from practicing the very
thing It has been preaching to the rest of
the world. It suggests, too, that they are
inclined to give too little weight to the
fact that our reciprocity program is an
important part of our foreign policy in
the sense that it is a key economic support
to the political aspects of that policy.
Finally, it suggests that thfcy are indif
ferent tp this long-range reality: That
trade is a two-way proposition and that
unless countries abroad can sell to us they
cannot acquire the dollars they must have
to buy from us—a deficiency that will lead
to factory shutc}<nw» large-scale
unemployment-h* America' Jf ever we
revert to mghNprotectlonism.
It is for reasons of this sort that the '
polls have shown a great national ma- j
jority, MgarcUaaa of politic**-affiliations, *
in favofciwtrifif reciprocal trade program.
Most Republicans 'in Congress, however,
seem decidedly hostile -to tbAidea. If they
are not, then why have they begun to
nibble away at it in the House? As a
party hoping to win the presidency they
ought to make their answer unmistakably
clear, defining precisely where they stand
on the issue of economic isolationism.
The American people have a right to know
in this crucial election year.
The man who doesn’t live for himself
alone will plan the garden to include a
row or two of giving-away vegetables he
wouldn’t eat on a bet.
“I’ll give him this,’’ said the voice on the
morning bus. “I think he’s sincere when
he says Wallace is sincere.”
Man Against the Insect
The age-old war between men and in
sects is being won by men. Spectacular
evidence to that effect has just been pre
sented here to delegates of the forty-two
nations represented at the joint inter
national congresses on malaria and trop
ical medicine. The story is a highly
significant one. Besides that, in a world
full of woe and worry, it is psychologically
the most refreshing news of its kind that
has come along in a month of Sundays.
Biggest of the facts involved is this:
That with airplanes and the latest types
of dust-sprayers, mist-makers, fog-produc
ers and aerosols, man now has the where
withal to conquer most of the insects that I
spread deadly disease and destroy crop*.
What this means is that we are entering
an age when people will be able to save
vast amounts of food heretofore lost every |
year to little crawlihg things. It means,
too, that we can look forward to opening
up great areas of the world now closed to
habitation because of menaces like the
tsetse fly.
Thus, as reported to the scientists meet
ing here, insects annually destroy 10 per
cent of the crops in the United States
alone. Last year, for example, they de
stroyed an estimated 300,000,000 bushels of
grain valued at $600,000.000—the equiva
lent of the relief supplies we sent to
Europe. Now, however, with our new
weapons, losses of this kind can be cut
down to the vanishing point, not only in
America, but throughout the globe—a
promise of very great importance in a
world whose population is growing so fast
that it must take far-reaching measures
to provide enough food for itself.
Similarly, by waging aerial warfare
against insects, many of the earth’s un
inhabited areas can be made habitable.
In Africa, for instance, there is a no
man’s land about 50 per cent larger than
the United States. It is rich in resources
—food and mineral—and its climate is
fair, but it lies undeveloped because it is
the home of the tsetse fly, the carrier of
African sleeping sickness. With a con
centrated effort, however, this tremendous
area can be swept clean over a period of
years and a great new continent thus can
be made available to accommodate a
good percentage of the world’s growing
population. .
This picture has been drawn by Amer
lean and other scientists not as a theoret
ical possibility but as something altogether
practical and within reach. Of course,
with the atom, a case can be made for
the thesis that human beings are going
to become extinct one of these days and
that the bugs will at last take over. If
sanity prevails, however, that will not
happen. The earth will remain ours. The
insects will not inherit it. With his new
aerial techniques and equipment, man can
become their absolute master. He has the
upper hand now. He will not lose it If
he keeps his head and refuses to blow
himself up.
How to Be a Baby Sitter
It is a good thing that somebody finally
has gotten around to considering the rights
and duties of the baby sitter. They do
have certain rights—although most of the
emphasis in the past has been on their
obligations. Now comes the Baby Sitters’
Association of America to train folks In
the fine points of sitting up with some one
else’s babies. Fifty women have just grad
uated from the association's first course
of instruction in New York City.
They learned that theirs is a profession
of dignity and responsibility, requiring
technical training, tact and patience.
Especially patience. The association is
so right. It takes a certain amount of
technical ability to fold a diaper. It takes
considerable tact to deal with a playful
youngster bent on cutting pictures out of
the family album. And it takes a vast
amount of patience to banish a subcon
scious urge to stuff a pillow in the mouth
of a bawling brat. The association frowns
on pillow stuffing—and its lexicon excludes
that last word, no matter what the provo
cation.
The association's “Rules for Baby Sitters"
include a lot of “don'ts.” For instance, a
baby sitter should not call the boy friend
up and ask him to come over and help
her sit. She (or he) should not use the
telephone for any purpose without permis
alon—except in an emergency. Tne oniy
kind of a bottle a baby sitter is entitled
to take out of the pantry fa a milk, bottle.
If permission is granted, a soft drink can
be consumed by the sitter, but never any
thing alcoholic. Special emphasis is given
to a warning against slapping a child to
make him behave. “Never strike a child
for any reason,’’ the rule book admonishes.
Some questions remain unanswered.
Take that striking business. What is a
well-trained sitter supposed^ to do when
the child conks bis custodian with a ham
mer or toy locomotive, topping it off with
a poke in the eye? What is the approved
procedure for removing bubble gum from
the hair? Does baby sitting encompass
any other household duties—such as wash
ing and drying junior’s dishes or sweeping
up the nursery after he is put to bed?
These are questions which a lot of baby
sitters would like to have answered. So
would the association, in all probability.
This and That
By Charles E. Tracewell
“UPTON STREET.
"Dear 8ir:
j. ‘This is the Home for Incurables.
"This afternoon another patient called me
to look at some unusual birds that had been
fluttering about in our garden, they were very
cle*£Tellftwr. »nd ** large starlings.
two otOhe larger birds and
four o¥‘'flVfe'jailer odes, evidently*a family
teaching the young ones tg fly.
• “They hadrvbeen quite hear among some
bushes under uiy friend’s window and she could
see they had brown about beak and ends of
tall and wings, and the wings united in sharp
point over back.
"When I got there, they were perched in a
crepe myrtle, too far for me to see anything
but balls of yellow among the bare branches.
They sang sweetly in a gentle twitter. Can
you tell us what they might be?
“When I lived on Adams Mill road I wrote
you about the scarlet tanager and a flock
of cedar wax wings that liked the mulberry
tree. You finished up one of the replies
with a section about turkey buzzards. I won
dered if you could have known I was from
Charleston, S. C., where in my youth these
birds were sacred and valuable assistants to
the scavenger department—but they never
came to town on Sunday.
"We will watch The Star for your reply.
“With many thanks for your coiumn,
“Sincerely, M. L. and M. J.
“P.S.—Mrs. J. doesn't agree that they were
singing—when she first saw them the older
birds were giving the younger birds excited
orders. She said their wings and tails were
all brown and beaks and much of their heads
brown. We will watch together to see if they
appear again. We can each have our opinion
about the singing.”
We, too. are at a loss to know what the
birds might have been. If any reader has
an idea, we will be glad to send It along.
There is some possibility they might have
been belated evening grosbeaks, but not with
young, for the nesting is done far, far North
of here.
No two persons ever see 'a bird exactly the
seme.
There is also the possibility of color blind*
ness to be taken into account. For instance,
the grosbeak's bill is pale, hot brown, etc.
We recall one correspondent who described a
bird as "orange,” when the color he meant
was cardinal!
* * * * *
As to whether bills of birds are brown or
part brown, or yellow', or white, or buff—these
are just some of the disputed questions in bird
watching.
It will be noted in the above letter that one
correspondent did not see the birds closely.
As to whether they sing or "give orders”—
that, too, is a moot question. Sometimes one
observer will think one thing, another some
thing else, and the resulting argument is likely
to be hot or tepid, according to the dispositions
of the disputants.
But all such issues are taken in good nature;
we have never heard of any serious trouble
over such matters.
It is all part of a fine game, one especially
wholesome for invalids.
Bird watching is a specialty for them. It may
me undertaken by any one who can see. The
beauty of the bird on a branch is helpful to
the person who may be "laid up,” as the ex
pression has it.
The boon of bird watching may be had any- !
where. Even in the closely packed city there
are birds. Old starlings have brought peace
and comfort to those in hospitals.
Just one starling we knew of entertained
one patient for several days. The bird came
to a window box every day. and proceeded to
preen its feathers, and twist and cavort for
the benefit of the sick one—at least so he
thought.
Nothtng written here should be construed as
against two persons looking at birds at the
same time! That is, indeed, one of the very
best ways, because what one misses, the other
may see.
Points at issue may be debated hotly, but in
the end a better idea of the bird is secured.
The interest created by trying to Identify a
species may be really helpful to the shut-in.
Above that, however, comes the simple joy of
watching such beautiful creatures, divine signs
to us that all life was made for freedom and
happiness, and that somehow, in somewav,
and somewhere, the heavenly goal will be at- ,
tained, let atom bombs fall where they will.
Some Postwar Contrasts Abroad
Destruction or Government Policy Has Left a Mark
That Varies Throughout Europe
By Sevellon Brown
Editor of the Providence' (R. I.) Journal and Bulletin
Mr. Brown has just returned from Europe
where he served as a member of the Ameri
can delegation to the International Confer
ence on Freedom of Information in Geneva.
Before and after the conference, he had an
opportunity for a Quick look at Western
Europe three years after V-E day. In the
following article, he records his impressions. x
Nothing U so striking about the European
scene three years after V-E day as the wide
divergence in circumstances between various
countries due both to past war destruction
and to present government policy.
Britain fights for recovery the hard way—
which her Labor Socialist governors of the
day consider the just way. Thus, Labor gov*
eminent policy greatly emphasises the even
distribution of practically all the material
things of life, and foregoes the incentive to
effort which the opportunities for individual
gain under freer enterprise would provide.
France and Italy, following the lead of Bel
gium, have gone in the direction of freeing
enterprise as a means to increase production,
and have risked the social and political strains
which that policy involves. England, conse
quently, has little or no communism, while
France and Italy still have a Communist
strength of about 30 per cent. But the conti
nental countries appear to be regaining pro
ductiveness faster than England.
England Seems Still to Lag.
At least, perhaps from the superficial point
of view, there appears to be more drive, more
nervous energy and, for those who can afford
it, more to buy in the continental countries
than in England. England seems, indeed, not
only drab, but austere. The fixed price of
restaurant meals is adhered to, and certainly
the fare offered is not what it U in a great
many French restaurants, only partly because
the French have greater culinary skill, but
also because the black market thrives In France
as it cannot in England.
Which has chosen the better road? That is
a debate for economists and sociologists. I
attempt only to give personal impressions,
quickly absorbed.
There are shortages, of course, in France.
The people on the streets are not gay. The
French countryside was never more lovely
than in this spring of favorable weather. But
the struggle for balance and for progress is
evident everywhere. The visitor is always con
scious of the meaning of the franc at >00 to
the dollar, from Monte Carlo, where roulette
play carries on with 15-cent bets, to Paris,
where lunch with young worklne newspaper
people, earning perhaps $55 a week, shows
you how hard the very high costs of meals
and other things in France are upon the aver
age worker.
In the midst of this sits Switzerland, with
hard money francs, with prices only a shade
different from those in the United States and
with whatever you want to buy at those prices
in practically all the shops or restaurants of
any Swiss city, except that the Swiss are tak
ing moderate measures to prevent visitors
from spending too much in their restaurants
and shops lest such purchases drive prices too
high for the Swiss people.
And north of Switzerland is the French and
then the American zone of Germany, with
bombed cities in a state of shocking de
struction and rubble. The bombed areas in
England have been cleaned up and fenced
about, though devastated areas and small moun
tains of rubble show clearly enough what was
the extent of the damage. But in Germany,
street after street ana city alter city mignt
have been bombed the day before.
All In all, the Impression of Germany is one
of impossible chaos, stagnation and demorali
sation, with a cumbersome army machine im
posed upon it; necessary for defense purposes,
no doubt, but probably a handicap to recovery.
Yet you do see evidences of individuals trying
to get started again. Hope in the human
breast seems to spring eternal, even in defeated
Germany. But of any success with attempts
to democratize Germany and to bring the
people of the American zone to sound demo
cratic self-government, we could find no evi
dence.
What is the great need to revive German
Industry? A reform of our currency, say the
German heads of state, who have been given
political responsibility under the American
Army of occupation. Not currency first, says
the manager of an automobile works, but food
and clothing and shoes for my workers. He
told us of having made an export sale of
Opel automobiles—I believe that it was to
Switzerland—and of having been able to get
in return a shipment of fat which he divided
among his workers. He said that had done
more to boost morale in his plant than any
thing he had been able to do for many a day.
Somewhere along the line, government policy
seems to have made impossible the sale of
German-language Swiss newspapers to the
Germans in our zone. It seems to me that it
would be an exceedingly wise move to re
move those barriers and to encourage the
widest possible purchase of the very good Ger
man language newspapers published in
Switzerland, which is the soundest and most
democratic of European countries.
A Better Press is Needed.
Which bring* us to the problem of the
newspaper press of Europe. Outside of Switz
erland, it is all of It in wretched condition.
While we were struggling in Geneva for in
ternational governmental agreement to keep
newspapers in the democratic countries free,
it was obvious to all of us that true freedom
of the press for England and continental
Europe will never be possible until better eco
nomic conditions are available to the news
papers of those countries.
One of the greatest handicaps, beyond all
doubt, to the restoration of normal social and
political thinking in Europe today must be
ths limitations placed upon newspapers by
the bad economic conditions under which
they are published. Limited to four pages
or less—except in Switzerland—they have not
the room to give an intelligible report of
news. The governments have their fingers
in the newspaper pie. They are politically
ridden from the right and from the left. Only
two moderate, relatively nonpolitical news
papers in Paris are in anything like sound
condition today.
There is the widespread charge in England
that British Labor government policy is
deliberately restricting the size of the British
press which is, of course, predominantly tory
and against the Labor Government. Without
passing Judgment upon this charge, it cer
tainly can be said that no heavier responsi
bility rests upon the American people in what
ever effort they make to rehabilitate England
and Europe than to get their newspaper pres*
in better shape, so that the people of those
countries may read sufficiently .of the truth
to have the basis of informstlon'iilti£,|rhich to
conduct themselves in a politically rational
manner. * * ,*r <
Letters to The Star
'r-'v; ?mT
‘Study in Futility’
To th« Editor of The 6t»r: '
"A Study In Futility,” an editorial appear
ing in your Sunday edition, together with
one today entitled "Paralysis of Do-Nothings
ness," must cause every native of the city,
together with those of us who have adopted
It as our home, a twinge of shame.
During recent year* The Star and Its com
petitor, the Washington Post, have found It
necessary to campaign against certain things
In this city. Each paper has done a notable
Job in its respective field. Both are deserving
of the thanks and appreciation of every citizen
of this city for their efforts to correct wrongs,
end abuses, Initiate better conditions in in
numerable Helds, but, above all, to keep the
citizens truly informed of all conditions, good
or bad.
But the real study in futility is the very
nature of the government of the District of
Columbia. During my years of interest in
this city it has had some good governing of
ficials but never before have I felt that the
whole local government was open to criticism
from top to bottom.
If the people of this city were able to elect
their officials, their present governors would
be among the unemployed.
Surely the people who manufacture the ma
terials for making whitewash must be doing
a whale of a business In this city alone, for
gallons of the stuff have been used in Just the
past two or three years. Certainly callous in
difference on the part of responsible govern
ment officials has reached an all-time high In
this city.
The present bill in the Congress to give us
some degree of local self-government Is only a
half-bfked arrangement at best, but it Is a
start. Maybe when it gets Into operation
(if it ever does* some leadership will arise to
fire the imagination of the people so that we
shall be able to get complete self-government.
Meanwhile, as we view the futility of things,
together with the policy of do-nothing which
seems to be the motto of the present Com
missioners, perhaps it would not be out of
order if your paper were to institute a plea to
the President of the United States to remove
the present Commissioners from office. I feel
certain if The Star were to start such a cam
paign and circulate petitions for the citizens of
Washington to sign, it would get tons of sig
natures. Certainly, the indifference of these
officials alone would be sufficient for their re
moval, to say nothing of their general lack
of excessive ability. SNIKSAH.
Say» Mr. Brown Errs Geographically
T» th» Editor of Th* Star:
In his column on May 6, Constantine Brown
claims, apparently with reference to some
secret data known to him, that: “American
units • • • were ordered to withdraw behind the
Oder River ” in order to give the Russians the
privilege of capturing Berlin.
The Russians reached the Oder River on
March IS, 1945, by capturing Kuestrin; and I
might add that Mr. Brown is confused as to
the location of the Elbe and Oder Rivers. The
Elbe River had been reached and crossed by
American forces.
This is not the first time that Mr. Brown,
who was called "well informed” by a South
American diplomat, made this mistake. In his
column on April g, he spoke about imminent
sovletization of the Soviet occupation zone east
of the Oder River, and on April 16, about
nations (meaning Western nations) west of
the Oder River. Actually, the area east of the
Oder River has been put under Polish ad
ministration as provided at Potsdam and
Letters for publication must bear
the signature and address. of the
writer, although it is permissible for
a writer known to The Star to use
a nom de plume. Please be brief.
therefore does not need any more sovietlza
tion. The Soviet zone begins at the Oder River
going to the west, ciosslng the Elbe (with a
small exclave around Hamburg), for at least
100 miles In the same direction.
NORMAN ISRAELITE.
Mr. Dolbin Not Present
To the Editor of Th* 8t*r:
6n Wednesday, May 12, The Star published
an article In which it was said that the
Charge d'Aftalres of the U. S. S. R., Mr. Grigori
G. Dolbin, had been at a party on Monday,
May 10, at the United Nations Club "and
remarked to the maltre d'hotel as he left that
It had been a lovely evening."
The embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics desires to state that Mr. Dolbin
was not present at the club that evening.
Due to the fact that the United Nations
Club had ignored Mr. Dolbin's protest of May
>, he returned his membership card to the
president of the United Nations Club on
May 11 with the request to remove his name
from the membership list.
V. MARCHENKO,
Secretary, Embassy of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics.
Senator Capper Not Too Old
• To tht Editor of The Bt»r:
We very deeply regret the AP story in The
Star of May 12 re statement attributed to
Roy Roberts, publisher of the Kansas City
Star, who opposes the re-election of Arthur
Capper to the Senate after nearly 30 years
of service.
It certainly is not a sin to grow old. We
never tire of lauding the contribution made to
laying securely the foundation 6f our country
and the perfecting of our Constitution by the
octogenarian. Benjamin Franklin. Nor can
we forget William E. Gladstone, known as
the “Grand Old Man" of England, three times
Prime Minister under Queen Victoria, doing
his best work at about the same age as
Senator Capper.
And how about Moses, whom God called to
be the liberator of Israel, and the greatest
law giver in the history of the world, at 80,
and kept him in office until he was 120? And
Noah saved humanity from extinction in the
deluge when he was 600 years old!
Arthur Capper is not only a Senator, second
only to one in service, but he is a publisher
of nine publications with over 5,000,000 circula
tion. No one need defend his record. Few
men have gained greater fame in service to
the Capital City, his State, his Country and
the world. CLINTON N. HOWARD,
Editor, Progress; Superintendent of the In
ternational Reform Federation.
Another Echo of AAUW Controversy
To tht Editor of The Bttr:
As a holder of an A. B. degree from a college
which restricts its matriculates to the white
race, I wish to congratulate Laura K. Pollock
on her well-written letter in The Star of May
12. She especially is to be commended for her
subtle attack on the AAUW for its failure to
put Howard University on its accredited list,
and her defense ofhfr racial attitude 1* per- j
feet. I am satisfied that no one else is better J
qualified to express an opinion, as she does,
as to the course that "highly educated Negroes
should follow." VIRGINIA KINCAID.
Stars, Man and Atom
Navy Instrument Picks Up
Sounds Too Faint to Hear
Device I* Sensitive to Frequency
Of One-Fiftieth of Cycle
By Thomas R. Htnry
The sir Is full of inaudible “voice#.’’
These sounds out of silence are being picked
up with extraordinarily delicate apparatus at
the Naval Ordnance Laboratory at White
Oak, Md.
They constitute essentially an hitherto
unknown phenomenon of nature, the signifl
eanee of which remains entirely problematical.
The apparatus records with a fluctuating
needle sound waves with a frequency as low
as 1/SO cycle per second. Waves of 15 cycles a
second are about the lowest limit which eaa
be detected by the human ear.
The majority of them, it is believed, are
due to tiny whirlpools in the atmosphere from
25 to 73 feet in diameter. They are present
everywhere most of the time, even on what
appear to be exceptionally quiet days. While
the existence of such small atmospheric “vor
tices,” or pigmy cyclones, has been recognized
before, it now is possible to make a scientific
study ef them.
These, however, constitute only the general
background of the inaudible air noises. Inter
spersed among them at irregular Intervals art
other atmospheric voices, the pattern of which
shows clearly that they must have a quite
different cause. There is a possibility that
they may be associated with weather changes
and thus be eventually a tool of some value in
forecasting.
The recording device must, of course, be
insensitive to ordinary noises. It is deaf to
the clatter of the laboratory where it is placed.
It would even be partially deaf to the ex
plosion of a bomb outside the window. A
favorite demonstration stunt is to elap the
hands sharply in front of it. The needle
does not move. Then a hand is moved through
the air slowly and silently. The instrument
records the “noise” of the movement.
A curious fact is that the noises of the
air show a marked increase when there la a
light snow on the ground. Air from the out
side is brought to the instrument through
pipes.
The study Is being carried out as part of
a fundamental investigation of sound phe
nomena. It is expected to add to man’s funda
mental understanding of atmospheric structure
and behavior.
Questions and Answers
A rKdtr e»n se. tht uunt to any auestlon of
tic', by writing Th« Erenln* Star Information
Bureau. Sid Eye (treat NX. Wadilnfton 3. D. C.
Please Inclose three (3) cents tor return postage.
By THE HASKIN SERVICE.
Q. Is it necessary to shut off the radio dur
ing an electrical storm?—S. B.
A. The National Bureau of Standards re
ports that it is advisable to turn off the radio
during an electrical storm because the line
surges occurring during a storm might damage
the radio set.
Q. Where in the United States is the point
at which the boundaries of four states meet?
—B. R. D.
A. About 25 miles northwest of Shlprock, New
Mexico, the boundaries of Utah, Colorado, New
Mexico and Arizona meet.
Q On how many occasions has the United
States resorted to conscription?—F. L. G.
A. Conscription was first used during the
Civil War and again in 1917, after war had been
declared. The third .instance was in 1MQ, be
fore the United States entered World War H.
Q. What is the weight of a hen’a egg of
average size?—D. B. R. r
A. The average egg weighs two ounces. It.
measures 2.27 inches by 1.72 inches.
Q. When was the famous old Waterloo
Bridge in London replaced?—O. R. X.
A. Old Waterloo Bridge, named for the battle
of 1815, was replaced by a new one opened in
1942.
Q What proportion of the total population
of the United States actually voted in the last
presidential election?—F. D. O.
A. In both 1940 and 1944, the national rate
of voting of the whole population was 88 per
cent.
Q. Please give some Information about St.
Christopher's Inn, that is located at Garrison,
N. Y.—R. A. B.
A. The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement
at Graymoor Monastery, since its establish
ment in 1899, have cared for several hundred
thousand men of all creeds, conditions, and
professions. The men who apply for help are
asked only two questions by the Brothers
Christopher: their names and the name of a
relative to be notified in the event of sickness
or death. Free meals and lodgings are provided
for the destitute. The men are given work at
the monastery during their stay and an allow
ance for tobacco and candy.
Q. Are black pearls actually black?—J. R. N.
A. In the Jewelry trade the name black pearl
is given to any dark colored pearl that may
be black, gray, brown, blue, or green. The
principal source of these pearls is the South
Sea Islands.
Q What Is the inscription on the monument
to Edith Cavell in London?—J. McA.
A. The statue bears the following words:
"Patriotism is not enough. I must have no
hatred or bitterness for anyone.”
Q. What is the origin of the term "swing
shift-’?—E. B.
A. The "swing shift” is the fourth shift or
fourth crew of workers on continuous oper
ation schedules. The term sometimes refers
to the entire four-shift arrangement. The
name is derived from the necessary expedient
on round-the-clock operations of having one
shift (or all four shifts depending upon the?
nature of the "swing") rotate to different days
and hours at specified Intervals.
Q. When did Neville Chamberlain use thr
now famous words "Peace in our time”?
—G. E. L.
A. The words were spoken by Mr Chamber-'
lain to the crowd outside No. 10 Downing
street. London residence of the Prime Minister,
on his return from the Munich Conference, ’
September 30, 1938.
Free Empire
Let me not envy thote
Who heap their treasure» high.
My realm’s roide and deep.
Let me but love a rose,
Or a blue reach of sky,
And it is mine to keep
i
The mountain and the main,
The shaggy forest old
Are mine for loving them. ;
And mine the glimmering plain,
The sunset’s fount of gold,
The stars, dark’s diadem.
The birds’ pure Wildwood songs
Are of my wealth a part,
Misfortune to beguile.
Beauty to him belongs
f Who holds it in his heart—
Worshipping all the white.
For all l cannot buy
Sways to my scepter’s reign
To swell my treasure-trove:
’Tis gmen me if I,
Lord of a vast domain,
Exchange it for my love.
ARCHIBALD RUTLEDGl.