Evening star. [volume], May 14, 1951, Page A-12, Image 12

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

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Wit fattening J&Iaf
With Sunday Morning Edition
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A—12 « MONDAY, May 14, 1951
Now the Project Can Go Forward
It is gratifying to know that the long battle
between the District Commissioners and the Na
tional Capital Park and Planning Commission
over the East Capitol street bridge is at an end.
The way now is cleared for an actual start on
construction of this badly needed Anacostia
crossing.
The disagreement arose over the location
of the new oridge, the Planning Commission
contending that it should follow the line of
Massachusetts avenue Southeast and the District
Highway Department arguing, quite persuasively,
for the East Capitol street site. The Massachu
setts avenue site cut squarely through the
grounds of Oallinger Hospital, making It ob
jectionable to hospital officials. The District
S engineers declared that traffic studies showed
that East Capitol street was a better location,
f as it would better serve the growing areas north
^ of Anacostia.
The planners, on the other han^, pointed
** out that the East Capitol route cut through the
proposed East Capitol Plaza and asserted that
| this would ruin the plans for a stadium and other
^recreational facilities in the area. The District
Highway Department took note of this problem
designing approaches for the bridge and de
veloped an arrangement of access streets that
finally has received the approval of the Planning
*1 Commission. It is too bad that the site con
i'- troversy arose, for it has delayed construction of
•'••• a bridge that is an urgent necessity. It is to be
hoped there will be better liaison and under
standing on future bridges, including those pro
4 posed for relief of bottleneck conditions at the
existing Potomac crossings.
JKjf..
*Nehru's Tactics
Representative Cox of Georgia adopts what
. may -be an '•fextjreme view when he says that
Prime Minister Nehru is trying to “blackmail”
Congress into- supplying India with 2,000,000
tons of grain. The effect of Mr. Cox’s statement
is to clothe in political garments an issue which
this country should treat as a humanitarian
question. Thousands upon thousands of people
in India are faced with starvation, and that is
the basic factor which should guide our action.
It must be admitted, however, that Mr.
Nehru is making it extraordinarily difficult for
this country to handle the grain question in the
proper way.
The Associated Press reported Saturday that
the United States had suffered a propaganda
setback in India as a result of “Russia’s skillfully
timed move to send 50,000 tons of wheat” to the
people of India. It looks as though the propa
ganda setback is due more to the efforts of Mr.
Nehru and other Indian officials, however, than
to Russian skill.
The Indian Prime Minister went out of his
way to applaud Russia in announcing the 50.000
ton shipment. He did it in a way to blunt the
effect of his subsequent announcement that leg
islation pending in Congress for 2.000,000 tons of
American grain was satisfactory to him. And
he neglected to mention that the United States
for some time has been shipping grain to India
at the rate of 100,000 tons a month. Although
the Russian grain, according to Mr. Nehru, was
purchased on a “cash basis,” he has indicated
that It may be difficult to arrange any satlsfacT
tory terms for the American grain. As a kind
of barter transaction, he said India would “gladly
supply such materials as are available in India
and can be spared.” He emphasized, however,
that this did not apply to any materials related
to the production of atomic and like weapons
—a reservation which apparently would deny us
access to much-needed Monazite sands in India.
This country, however, needs other strategic
and critical materials found in India, such as jute
and manganese. Do these fall in the category of
materials that cannot be spared?
If it develops that this is the case, the reac
tion in Congress may be adverse enough to
defeat the wheat shipments. That from many
points of view would be unfortunate for us. It
would be tragic, however, for a large segment of
India’s people. Mr. Nehru, if not his own worst
enemy, may yet prove to have been theirs.
Let the Nimitz Group Do Its Job
Congress should not allow the Nimitz Com
mission to die before it even has had a chance
to begin its important work. This work is a
thorough review of Government loyalty pro
cedures, with a view to striking a proper balance
between the task of protecting the Government
against subversive infiltration and the need for
safeguarding constitutional rights of the in
dividual. There have been charges that both
types of protection are faulty under existing
policies and procedures. An over-all study by
an impartial citizens’ group would be helpful in
evaluating the criticisms and Improving the pro
gram where needed.
Loss of the services of such an outstanding
group of citizens as Admiral Nimitz and his
associates would be a severe blow to plans for
such a study. Yet the refusal of the Senate
Judiciary Committee to approve exemption of
this temporary group from the conflict-of-In
terests laws threatens to kill the whole study
project at the very outset. Certainly Admiral
Nimitz and the other members of the commis
sion cannot justly be criticized for resigning in
a body. It would be most unfair .to demand of
these citizens that they forfeit their rights to
have business relations with the Government
now or for two years after their loyalty Job is
done. No such demand was made of the members
of the Hoover Commission or of a number of
other temporary advisory groups. If these other
groups were entitled to exemption from the re
striction, so is the Nimitz Commission. Why
A b
single out this body for a thumbs-down attitude?
The conflict-of-interests laws were neces
sary ones, designed to put an end to abuses by
public servants of the knowledge that had come
to them by reason of their access to Federal
Information and procedure#. The laws prohibit
civil servants from engaging in business deals
with the Government during their term of serv
ice or within two years after resignation. But
to insist on invoking such laws against every
temporary advisory committee whiqh the Presi
dent may appoint would be to make it almost
impossible for the executive establishment to
obtain the services of such advisers.
President Truman is justified, therefore, in
urging the Senate committee to reverse itself on
the Nimltz commission bill, which already has
received approval of the House. ' If the com
mittee will not heed this reasonable request, the
Senate should take the matter out of the hands
of the committee and see to it that the Commis
sion on Internal Security and Individual Rights
is permitted to go ahead with its job.
Peiping, the U. N. and Our Veto
As he has told the Senate committees In
vestigating Gen. MacArthur’s dismissal, Defense
Secretary Marshall strongly believes—“at the
present time”—that the United States should
veto any proposal to admit Red China into the
United Nations. On the heels of this statement,
however, Ambassador Austin, our chief delegate*
to the U N., has made a point of indicating that
such a proposal, even though we would vote
against it and “do everything In our power to
persuade the majority” to reject it, would be
non-vetoable.
In thus expressing a view that seems sharply
at variance with Gen. Marshall’s, Mr. Austin has
given the impression that the course of events
has not led our Government to change its past
position on this matter. That position, as de
fined by Secretary of State Acheson prior to the
Chinese Communist aggression in Korea, may
be summed up as follows: That if at least seven
members of the Security Council recommend
the admission of the Peiping Red regime into
the U. N., and if the recommendation is then
adopted by two-thirds of the General Assembly,
the United States, though voting in opposition,
will abide by the majority decision on the ground
that the issue is procedural rather than sub
stantive.
Of course, as made clear in-the U. N. Charter,
only substantive matters are subject to the veto
of any of the five permanent members of the
Security Council. Accordingly, if the question
of Red China’s admission is in fact merely pro
cedural. then the United States can hardly do
more than what Mr. Austin has Indicated. The
procedural interpretation, however, is based on
such a narrow technicality and involves such
legalistic hair-splitting that it simply cannot be
reconciled with the hard realities or be made
to add up to common sense. Certainly, the
American people, having in mind the dark crime
committed by the Chinese Communists, regard
the issue Involved here not as an issue of simple
procedure but as an issue full of the greatest
and gravest substance.
As for the technicalities, it has been argued
that it 1s important to distinguish between (1)
the question of voting to accept a new member
into the United Nations and (2) the question of
changing the representation of an old member.
Thus, according to this view, since China already
belongs, the issue to be considered is not the
substantive one of admitting it (it has been
"in” from the very start) but the procedural
one of deciding whether the Nationalist govern
ment of Chlang Kai-shek or the Peiping Reds
should be allowed to speak for the Chinese peo
ple in the world organization. But this legalism,
besides being highly debatable even on narrow
technical grounds, entirely overlooks the fact
that the Communist regime of Mao Tze-tung
has criminally violated all the Charter principles
and obligations that a government or state must
live up to to be eligible for a seat in the U. N.
Under those principles and obligations, all
members must, among other things, be “peace
loving”; renounce “the threat or use of force”
against the territory or independence of other
countries; support the U. N.' in whatever meas
ures it adopts, and “refrain from giving assist
ance to any state against which the United
Nations is taking preventive or enforcement
action.” Conceivably, before they crossed the Yalu
River and cut loose with their massive aggression
in Korea, the Chinese Communists might have
qualified for a seat in the Security Council and
the General Assembly. But today, in ,view of
what they have done, with all the'blood and
guilt on their hands, it is a mockery of the
moral realities, and of everything that the
Charter stands for, to suggest that the question
of admitting them into membership is a mere
procedural matter immune to our veto.
It seems hardly conceivable that our Govern
ment still adheres to the position it took prior
to Red China’s invasion of Korea. Yet Mr.
Austin’s statement, in contrast to Gen. Mar
shall’s, suggests otherwise. Secretary Acheson,
when It is his turn to appear before the Senate
committees, ought to straighten out this matter
without the slightest equivocation—in a way
that will make clear to the world that unless
and until the Peiping Communists completely
reverse themselves, and make due amends for
their crimes, our American veto will be em
ployed to the full to keep them out of the U. N.
Not simple procedure, but the full substance, the
basic integrity, the very heart of the Charter
is at stake here.
Natural Calamity in the Desert
Many of Earth’s tragedies are man-made,
but there are some that are the result of Nature
itself making mistakes. The Colorado desert of
California illustrates the principle involved. Not
since 1946 has it had any rain worth mentioning.
That means that the plants and animals which
ordinarily live in that area are perishing. Some
varieties already have disappeared completely.
Whole sectors are denuded of vegetation. In
others only a few parched and stunted weeds
survive.
Two scientists—Dr. Raymond Cowles and
Lewis Beall of U. C. L. A.—are studying the
problem close up. They are living in the desert
and trapping specimens of its fauna for sys
tematic examination. Always in the past, they
say, the dwellers in the Colorado depression
have managed to come through cycles of drought
without too great decimation,' but the current
era of dryness is a particularly hard one. Noth
ing but rain can solve the problem.
So the natural cataclysm proceeds. Similar
disasters also may be developing elsewhere in
, both hemispheres. A vast change in the surface
of the globe is occurring. The world is getting
warmer It follows that the seas are becoming
deeper and heavier. Their weight is forcing land
levels higher. The gradual elevation spells
drought A chuckwalla in the Colorado basin
will not understand what is happening. He
merely suffers and dies under his rock pile.
8cience records his passing as a relatively in
consequential parallel of human disasters which
could be avoided, yt^are not
Second-Guessina an Airolane Crnch
By Irving F. Lash
ECHOES of the Morningside, Md.,
i plaije crash can still be heard a
month after the tragedy. Reverbera
tions include varying suggestions as to
how the disaster, costing the lives of
two children and their uncle, might have
been avoided.
One thought persistently expressed is
that had the pilotless B-25 bomber been
equipped with an automatic pilot, it
could then have been directed with cer
tainty to a watery grave in Chesapeake
Bay—with harm to none, unmourned
by all.
That precisely is what the pilot had
in mind when he and his crew bailed
out after first failing to shake down
the plane’s stuck wheels, which made it
impossible to come in for a normal land
ing. The bomber was “trimmed,” its
controls fixed on a course that it; was
fervently hoped would end somewhere
in the bay.
But something went wrong. A whimsi
cal wind, or the change in the plane's
weight when the crew departed, sent
it ripping through a cottage in the
little Maryland village.
There is no guarantee that an auto
matic pilot would have provided a hap
pier ending to the.flight. This device,
affectionately known to weary airmen
as “Iron Mike.” or "Charlie,’ is one of
the wonders of aviation. But the auto
matic pilot is not fool proof by any
means.
Witness the case of a C-87, World
War n cargo version of the B-24 Liber
ator, which developed an uncontrollable
fit of shudders over Florida a few years
ago.
The Air Force crew of this fractious
monster tried everything in the book
to make the plane behave. But it con
tinued to groan and heave until all
aboard were sure the plane would shake
itself to pieces within minutes if not
sooner.
The C-87 had an automatic pilot and
“Charlie” had performed faultlessly on
other occasions when the flesh-and
blood pilots felt the need of a rest on
long routine flights, in good weather
where flying was merely a matter of
holding on course.
Near the coast, in the vicinity of
Miami, tne pilot adjusted the automatic
pilot of the shuddering plane so it was
headed directly into the Atlantic Ocean.
The cretf then lost* no time in para
chuting to safety.
The pilot reported the incident to
the proper Air Force authorities with
out delay and everyone agreed that the
right thing had been done in an emer
gency. It was too bad about losing
such an expensive piece of machinery,
but this was war. Planes were expend
able. And nobody ever expected to hear
of this one again. The Atlantic was
gigantic and the C-87 likely would go
down in some desolate patch of ocean,
its plunge unwitnessed by human eyes.
The following day came a report from
Mexico that a plane had crashed Into
the mountains there. It was just a para
graph in the papers. There was no de
scription of the plane, no Indication of
how many crewmen or passengers. A
search and rescue party was dispatched.
Airlines and military air bases ran a
p fast check on their flights and accounted
for all of their planes operating in the
Southwest. It was quite a mystery.
Another day went by before the fol
low-up came in. Searchers had located
the plane. It was a bomber with Air
Force markings. The number of the
plane went over the wires. Neither vic
tims nor survivors could be found.
Picture the amazement of all con
cerned when it was determined beyond
shadow of doubt that this plane which
crashed in Mexico was the same one
that was supposed to fly to its doom in
the far-off Atlantic—in the exact op
posite direction.
No one knows yet just what hap
pened. The theory is that the C-87
maintained altitude all right, but that
it slowly changed course on the way,
doubling back across the continent or
swinging to the right over the Gulf of
Mexico until its big tanks were ex
hausted.
Maybe it even got over the shudders
when the crew Jumped. “Charlie” is
a good flyer, but he makes mistakes,
too.
The same thing could have occurred
had the B-25 in the Momingside trag
edy been equipped with a robot pilot.
There is no telling where the flight
might have ended, perhaps with ah even
greater toll.
i
. , . —Newmmn Sudduth.
Pilotless airplanes do unpredictable things, such as the converted B-24
which crashed in Mexico a few years ago. The Automatic pilot was supposed
to end the plane’s flying days in the expansive Atlantic Ocean But it
boomeranged, possibly over the route traced above
Astronomers Discover
'Simmering Nova'
Gently Boiling Star
Is in Aquarius Group
By Thomas R. Henry
Finding of a new kind of star, a
"simmering nova”, has just been An
nounced by astronomers of the Carnegie
Institution of Washington.
It is a gently boiling star in the con
stellation of Aquarius, the water carrier,
which is located approximately on the
vernal equinox. Basically it has the
characteristics of a cool, red star of the
type which constitutes about a fifth of
all the known stars. i
Just On Boiling Point
Thte picture of its surface region, how
ever, is unique. It is quite close to that. J
of a liquid in a pot over a low flrewvhich I
is just on the boiling point. Sometimes
it bubbles 'quite vigorously but soon ■
sinks back to a gentle simmering, spec- ^
troscopic studies reveal.
It is a double star, as probably are
the majority of celestial objects. The
companion is a small star, perhaps
quite heavy, concerning which the as
tronomers could get little information.
The two stars revolve around each other
in a period of about 36 years.
The evidence, as cited by Dr. Paul W.<
Merrill of the Carnegie staff, is that
this star underwent a tremendous ex
plosion a few centuries ago and flared
up for a few days to many times its
normal brightness.
Common in Milky Way
Such an outburst occurs in the Milky
Way galaxy every few years. The Star
of Bethlehem may have been such an
exploding star. There is no historic rec
ord, however, of this particular event.
Ordinarily such a star falls back to
normal or sub-normal brightness after
such an explosion. In this case, it seems,
the explosion fires are still burning with
the resulting “simmering” effect which,
so far as observations go, is unique in
the skies.
The curious star is at least 600,000,
000,000,000 miles from the earth. Its
light now being observed on earth start
ed on its way more than 100 years ago.
7
I U A Cj.^ __ Pen-names may be used if letters carry
•—C l ICI J l U I i It Oiar . . writers' correct names and addresses.
AH letters are subject to condensation.
+ m . • ^
juccess jrory m Reverse
While going over the pros and cons
of the Korea argument, it might be well
to ask about the effects of certain events
on young men who might consider the
military life as a career.
There is no doubt that we have need
for the professional military man. But
the future for an “officer and a gentle
man” is not so encouraging.
Prom Billy Mitchell, who advocated
preparedness in air power, to MacAr
thur, who says the purchase of time
with the blood of 80,000 Americans in
nine months is a poor bargain—the
story is the same. When your knowl
edge and experience might count for
most, you are right at the point where
you are most likely to be dishonored.
There was Admiral Taussig, who had
certain forebodings about Japan and
a feeling that the Asiatic fleet should
be stronger. Then Admiral Richardson
whose common sense and patriotism
would not allow him to concur in keep
ing our Pacific fleet in a spot so
easily bombed as Pearl Harbor—and
which was bombed in just the way Billy
Mitchell pictured. We have seen Ad
miral Denfeld removed because he had
the honesty to tell Congressmen who
inquired his views that flat-tops were
needed in active service and not in
mothballs—and how right he was.
In a nearly similar category are Gen.
Short and Admiral Kimmel. They took
the rap for Pearl Harbor but the in
quiry brought out, where all could see.
that they had been kept in ignorance
of the true state of affairs by their
Washington superiors.
This is a dismal picture for the young
men who might be aspiring to West
Point or Annapolis.
There has been so much of this sort of
thing in recent time that I think we
should seriously consider once more
whether the amending provision of the
Constitution should not be invoked
to take from the President the powers
of Commander in Chief of the armed
forces. Perhaps there is a better solu
tion of tha problem of where to place
the supreme military power. The Ro
mans did it differently. The Roman
Senate kept this power until an emer
gency arose and then picked a com
mander in chief, sometimes from among
its own members. But it strove to avoid
amateurs. What superior military judg
ment would you say we have seen
demonstrated by our recent Presidents?
Cato.
Medical Issue X-Rayed*
In regard to the problem of medieal
care for indlgents as related to the sev
eral hospitals that may lose funds for.
the care of such patients, I wonder if
the underlying problem has been stated?
No one has argued that they should
not be cared for. The real issue may be
an inadequate budget and facilities at
Galllnger. The funds can, be removed
from the hospitals in question but cer-*
tainly not the facilities. If Gallinger
nad the benefit of those funds It still
would be without the facilities.'
Prom my own experience of having
some of my referrals turned away and
from the present deficit of Internes and
staff at Gallinger, I don’t see how they
can care for more patients with Just
added funds.
It is difficult to divide a budget into
seven or eight parts and satisfy all con
cerned, but I don’t see how the city can
save money by centralization at one
place, unless the cost per ease is to
be cut.
If the aim is to provide cheaper
medical care, it necessarily means a
poorer grade of care.
Why not argue for the real issue,
an increased budget and facilities for
Gallinger?
R. G. James, M. D.,
Chairman, Committee on Indigent Care,
D. C. Medico-Chirurglcal Society.
No Home on the Range?
Through your good columns we wish to
warn our Senators and Representatives
from these here Western States that
they need not bother about coming
home, because there just ain’t a goln’
to be none for them—unless they throw
out the legal inhibitions on mining out
here.
We want these laws repealed and
quick, so our mines can go back to work.
How do they expect taxes with limita
tions op production? They’re just nuts,
that’s all, and the rest of the world is
laughing at them, but we’re dead seri
ous and no mistake. It’s time they woke
up and got down to brass tax.
Western Miner.
San Diego, Calif.
Veteran Speaks His Piece .
Several days ago 1 heard a brief radio
announcement concerning a bill to be
introduced by Representative Van Zandt
asking for a cost-of-living pay increase
for service personnel.
As a member of the Armed Forces I’d
like to speak my piece on this subject.
Personally, I have saved some of my
pay and have invested it over the yean
in Savings Bonds, War Bonds and Vic
tory Bonds, also insurance. The bonds
I bought in 1940 and 1941 have and are
maturing, and when I cash them I
begin to wonder about the axioms I
learned in school. In case I don’t make
myself clear, search through the flies
and read the ads for 1940-41 and com
pare prices with 1950-51.
The $37.50 I paid for the bond in
1940 then would buy a lot more of the
material things than the $50 I get for
the bond today. And what of my insur
ance? Suppose I carry it for another
20 years. Will my beneficiaries be able
to buy a headstone for my grave with
the cash value of the policies at that
time? I doubt it—that is, if this infla
tionary spiral we’re currently climbing
on keeps gjoing.
Mr. Van Zandt, as a veteran your
self, I know you think you’re doing the
right thing for service personnel. I hope
you are. However. I’d rather see you
light inflation and do something to
safeguard the hard-earned savings of
millions of Americans like myself—
service people, veterans, white, black,
rich and poor alike.
Fellow Veteran.
Revolution Against War?
Since both President Truman and
Gen. MacArthur have now appeared
on our television screen and declared
solemnly their Intention to keep the
peace by the best method they can see,
it should be possible again to speak
about peace and claim to be in good
company. Joseph Stalin has been
known to speak on the subject, but per
haps we should find there a clue to
what the ordinary Russian people want
to hear. Lenin’s drive to gain a system
of government which would rule out the
possibility of war found support with a
nation tired of the rule of empire-minded
warmongers. It should be possible to
get from the people of the United
States and those of Russia some corre
lation of the wish for peace so that
the fracas in Asia shall be brought to
a close rather than extended.
The resources of the United Nations,
with those of our own country, should
be concentrated upon stopping the
spread of war’s infection and upon re
establishing the health of areas which
are relieved. Crtto.
Bellicose at G. 0. P.
If one were to judge from the volume
of noise emanating from the Republican
Party, one would have to assume that
the G. O.P. has always been staunchly
opposed to any trafficking with appease
ment. Thus it is worth turning the
clock back to those hectic days of the
early 1940s.
At that time wars were raging in
Europe and the Orient, and President
Roosevelt was determined to send aid
to those nations opposing Naziism. Did
the G.OP. rally around and indorse the
aid sent to the democracies, or did the
Martin-Barton-Fish party in the House
and their Senate counterparts do their
utmost to defeat any aid to the democ
racies?
Call a list of preparedness measures—
the “cash and carry" provision of the
Neutrality Act, Lend-Lease, the De
stroyer deal—to all of these and more
the G.OP. was opposed. This opposition
even extended six weeks prior to "Pearl
Harbor” to the draft bill. Thus the
record indicates that the G.OP. was
anything but bellicose in those days and
actually fought for appeasing the Nazis!
Nor were they so bellicose during the
recent debate on “Aid to Europe.”
When' did the change occur? Gen.
MacArthur offered the G. O. P. a splendid
opportunity to strike some political blows
against the administration. Thus, logic
and principle are cast aside, and with
fervent hopes the G.OP. proudly goes
forth in opposition to what they refer to
as “appeasement.”
M. S.
Questions and Answers
at
The Star'e reader* can let the answer to
any question of fact by either wrltlni The
Even'ni Star Information Bureau. 1200 I street
If.W Washlniton 6 D C . and meloalni 3 cents
return onstas* nr br telenhontni ST 7303
By THE HASKIN SERVICE.
Q. Will the new officer candidate
school of the Navy be open to civilians?
—R. C.
A. The new program will be open to
civilians as well as enlisted men from
the regular Navy and Naval Reserve.
Men at least 19 but not yet 26 yean
of age will be eligible.
Q. Please explain what is meant by
senatorial courtesy.—N. C. H.
A. It is a time-honored custom com
monly observed by the United States
Senate when considering presidential
nominations to Federal office. The Sen
ate will refuse to confirm such nomina
tions if the Senators representing the
State in which the nominee resides, and
belonging to the majority party, havs
not given their prior approval. The rula
does not apply to cabinet positions.
Q. Can an egg that is three or four
days old be termed “fresh”?—P. S. M.
A. “Freshness” is not so much a mat
ter of age as quality of the egg at th«
time of its use or testing. Eggs left foi
four days in a warm store or kitchen
(temperature 70 and 80 degrees F.) “lose
as much “freshness” as eggs that an
kept for several weeks in the refrlgeratoi
in a covered container.
Q. How many feathers are there on
an average chicken?—L. J. H.
A. The Oklahoma Agricultural Experi
ment Station did some experimental
work on this and found that the numbei
varied with the breed. The number on
a White Wyandotte adult hen was 9,515;
on a Plymouth Rock adult hen, 8.325;
and on a Brown Leghorn adult hen
7,000.
Q. If twin brothers are drafted intc
the Army at the same time will they b«
allowed to stay together?—J. D. R.
A. There is no law requiring that twin
brothers in the Army be kept together,
but it is the policy of the Army, when
ever possible, to keep them together 11
they request that this be done.
Q. Where are the nine naval base*
in the United States?—N. E.
A. Portsmouth, N. H.; New ^ork
Philadelphia. Portsmouth, Va.; Charles
ton, S. C.; Puget Sound, Bremerton,
Wash.; Mare Island, Vallejo, Calif.,
and San Francisco.
Q. What is the age of the oldest man
or woman in the world?—J. F. I.
A. In the absence of official record!
no one can say. The Soviet publication
Medical Worker last February re
ported the oldest man in the Soviet
Union, and possibly the oldest in ths
world, to be Masmir Kiut, a Caucasian
peasant, aged 154 years.
10 lb blue bllCib UU livmg blUUK U]
any kind is to be found in the Dead
Sea?—A. J. S.
A. This is the common belief, but at
least 17 species of algae have been found
in sediments' brought up from the bot
tom of the sea. However, no animal
life can exist in its waters, and fish
brought down by the Jordan soon die
Q. How inuch did the late Andrew
Mellon pay for Raphael’s “Alba Ma
donna” which is in the National Gallery
of Art?—L. V. P.
A. Mr. Mellon paid over $1 million
for the picture, which was one of 21
paintings he purchased from the Hermi
tage Gallery in Leningrad.
A Blossoming Pear Tree
It might have been an angel standing
' there—
I had been stumbling on with tear
wet eyes
Until that shining presence seemed tc
rise
In blossomy garments shaped of light
and air.
Never was any earthly tree so fair,
So pure, so tremulous against the skies,
Nor earthly beauty in more radiant
guise;
My startled lips moved silently in prayer.
Bright-aureoled it stood. Withdrawing
showers
Had trailed a pearly cloud across the
blue
That wreathed the vision in transcend
ent light.
A burst of suhlight kindled every hue
Among the raindrops clinging to the
flowers, i
And rapture sang in me—and grief took
. flight.
Inez Barclay Kirby
t t
This and That • • • ^ ^ acewell
i
One of the most interesting traits of
the house cat is its stubbbmness.
Here it meshes squarely with human
ity: that is one reason why so many
persons are interested in cats.
M. S. J. of Park avenue (Brookdale)
writes of the family’s Tiger:
“How do you tell a cat he is not a
man?
“That’s what Tiger, a year-old mem
ber of our family, thinks he is.
“Tiger has many fine qualities—for a
man He wipes his claws carefully on
the doormat before entering the house.
“He washes his hands—I mean paws—
and face often.
"He is solicitous about my son’s diet,
Evidently Tiger feels I do not supply
enough fresh meat, so he brings moles
and mice to the child.
* *,
“He sleeps on the bed and eats off
the table.
“<lf no one sees him in time to knock
him off, that is.
“One evening a special delivery pack
age arrived at suppertime.
“The family, except Tiger, rushed to
open it.
“When the rest of us returned to the
table, there was Tiger eating corn on
the cob. He held it down with one paw
and nibbled the kernels off in neat rows.
“We put the corn on the floor, where
Tiger refused to touch it.
“But, after supper, when we put the
t
corn back on the table to keep from
stepping on it. Tiger jumped up and
finished his meal.
* *
“Tiger also refuses to drink water
from a little dish with little kittens
painted on it.
“This dish is kept on the floor under
the sink.
“Tiger prefers to drink, out of the
turtle’s bowl, flower pots, and even the
dishpan.
“When I speak to him, Tiger stares
at something going on behind me or over
my head.
"Surely his attitude says, ‘You are not
speaking to me. No lady ever speaks to
a gentleman in that tone of voice.’
“Is there a way to teach a pet good
table manners?’’
* *
The only way to teach any kind of
pet is in its childhood.
After a cat gets 8 to 12 months old,
its character, in a sense, is formed for
good and all. ,
That is why some cats do not know
how to come down out of trees.
They were not taught how by their
mothers.
When these untaught eats get aloft,
which they do easily enough, they can
not come down because they try to
come down head first.
They should back down. *
In trying to come down head first,
\
I
the round of the claws slides off the
bark.
Coming down backward, the points of
the claws catch, just as they do in
going up.
All good cat mothers teach their kit
tens this trick. Then it is theirs for a
lifetime.
v ★ *
Lovable, interesting kittens should be
“told” what to do—and then made to
do it.
If they are reproved the very first time
they hop up on the dining room table,
they will thereafter stay off. (Maybe.)
Their stubbornness is only equaled
' by their contrariness, which is a form
of stubbornness.
If you hold the door open for them,
they do not want to go out; the moment
you close it, they are right there meow
ing for exit.
If you provide fish, they want beef;
if at the next meal you hand out beef,
they say “No,” in effect; they want
salmon.
So it goes, and it is all very delicious,
because so—human, shall we say?
Though cats and humans do not belong
to the same animal family, there are
enough traits they share between them
to make them beguiling.
All you have to do is watch a cat
wash its face to realize that hers is
“one of the folks.”
b