Evening Star Newspaper, January 13, 1924, Page 67

Prehistoric and Other Animal Life Studied in District of Columbia ]'qost Extraordy'nary Land and Water Fauna Floun'shecl Over ANl This Territory at an Early Pfl"rod—'-l’rcof of Existence Furnished by Fossil Remains—Developments in the District in His- toric Times Are Reviewed—Slaughter of Snakes and Their Economic Value to the Various ) THE SUNDAY ¢ Communities—Some of the Harmless Varieties That Have Suffered. BY DR. R. W. SHUFELDT. AR back in the early ages of the world there was a time ‘Wwhen the living forms that Inhabited the t erritory we Tow designate as the District of Co- lumbla wers widely different from those that constitute its present fauns. It was the home, doubtless, ©f races of people of which we pos- ®ees no history and of wild animals of which we have no knowledge. All of the lower forms—or those ereatures below man In the life scale ~—were, beyond all question, far more abundant, not to say varled, then than now, and this likewlse ap- Dlies to trees and plants. Species of inse®s could be collected which “re no# forms of the past, and this may be emid with equal truth of such 8roups as we have In fishes, reptiles, Lirds and mammais. For example. it has long been known that our now almost extinet buffalo roamed over this country in #reas adapted to its needs; several speclus of deer and elk doubtless oc- curred in herds, and bears were here in plenty, as well as not a tew of the large and dangerous animals of the cat order. Lower in the scale we would have met with various repre- sentatlves of the rodent group, of the mustelines, the otter, wolverine, #nd their relatives near and remote, while animals In that particular age, ©f which we now have no knowledge &t all, may have died out. &il this applies to the birds and Teptiles, and especially to the latter, =8 many far mors easily | of the reptile group arel exterminated than| | with marked rapidity, began to dls- are birds, and for the sufficient rea- | a8ppear. son that they do not possess the power of flight; that man is usually their great exterminators, and they ure more sensitive to changes in their environments. As to the fishes that then inhabit- ed the Potomac and such of its tributarles as came to it from the land area here being consldered, they, too, were different with re- #pect to the species represented, and forms than existing have since be- come ereatures of past eras. Still earlier than this—tar earlier, long before man appeared upon the scene—there 1s no manner of doubt that @ most extraordinary land and water fauna flourished over all of this territory, great beasts of many familles, glant ostiches; ponderous alligators and other reptiles swarmed in the waters, together with hosts of their various allles of many genera- tions, ail being now for ages and ages extinct, the only proof we pos- sess of their former existence being a meager display of their fossil re- malns. * x ¥ % WO &reat factors worked to the end thus far briefly pictured, one being changes of various descriptions in the land and water areas, and, ages later, the appearance of man in the mammal group. Some of the changes in topography were extremely grad: ual, while others were far more rapld and varied in character. Changes in topography involved many other changes in the matter of alterations in plant life, In land and water configuration and in climate. All this reacted upon the animal life of the region, causing many forms rapidly to disappear, and, gradually, very gradually, altering the physical characters of others. After the introduction of man, and he became the dominant type, the forms below him in the scale of life paid a far heavler toll, as, for food or for fun, he simply, with varying <degrees of deliberation, wiped out en- tire groups of those animals that co- existed with him. We have discovered, unraveled and studled a great deal along such lines, and made & very fair contribution to our literature and knowledge in the same flelds; but we are still a long, very long, way from possessing any- thing like a full history of the changes that took place during the almost in- concetvably long periods and ages of geologic time, during which the vast modifications in form, habits and dis- tribution of the living specles were «ffected. No, not even in such a lim- “ited area as the one thut we now call the District of Columbia. It matters little whence the man of the region came or the line of his descent; that is a question that does not concern us here. Upon the other hand, his influence as the dominant type in the mammalian fauna of the reglon is a matter of great interest t0 us. mot to say importance. As he rapldly gained the ascendancy in vower to destroy life—and only rare- ly at the expense of his own—the forms below him, either gradually or Skl S i & As already stated, many were slain for food. while many others fell to furnish him with what he them con- eidered, and still considers, sport. All of the larger forms disappeared first and these were followed by others at varying periods and times. Many were destroyed for the sole reason ! that they were Inimical to his inter- ests; some because they were danger- ous to his existence, and others for reasons already mentioned. As time passed sclence gradually claimed her share for the purposes of study, description and illustration. As the years rolled by and history passed on to present time this quota proved to be by no means a mean one, and 1t is one that is practically in full operation today. Some species are still taken In numbers for food; many are destroyed for no purpose whatever; sclence claims her share; other natural causes that have ever been In operation kill off many others, and, finally, thoughtless and ignorant people still take wild bird and ani- mal life for fun—destroying snakes, lizards and many batrachians; pull up wild flowers by thelr roots all over the District and do many other things too numerous to mention that tend towar@ making a desert of the area In due course of time. * ¥ k% EVENTY--FIVE years ago, when ‘Washington was practlically but & good, big village and many parts of the District of Columbia were fairly wild territory, it was remark- able to note, even then, the abun- dance of life as seen in the plant and animal world. Hundreds of species of wild flowering plants flourished everywhere, and of these the pitcher- plants and others have entirely dis- appeared. When the vernal migra- tion of birds took place it was truly a joy to see the numbers and the varieties that flooded northward at that time. Many species of these come no miore, while others are very, very scarce. Time was when orioles, tanagers, warbler and many others nested in the midcity districts, but at present these are so very rare that few of us ever see them—or they pass with- out having been noticed at all. Wild turkeys and grouse were by no means uncommon and wild fowls flocked in hundreds on the Potomac. Where beautiful gulls and tern flew along the shores in great numbers, none are now to be seen at any time of the year—and so on with all the other avian genera. Again, man has, In the area In question, almost exterminated the mammalian fauna. Shrews, mice, muskrats, rabbits and an occasional fox, yes; but all the rest is gone and gone forever. For various reasons, too obvious to mention, fish have been fairly well protected, prcserved and restored when notably decreasing; but turtles, tortolses, frogs and their various allles are now rapidly being wiped out. When the demand s great enough to preserve them for food, as THE KING SNAKE. in the case of the diamond-back ter- rapin, they are bred in great numbers at speclal establishments for that sole purpose. Throughout all these years and ages of slaughter and extermination per- haps no group has suffered as severe- ly as the snakes. There are several reasous for this, the chief being, pe haps, that some species In the snake fauna of most countries are venom- ous, and that untold thousands of deaths have, in time, resulted from their bites. From the earliest writ- ings in history down to modern times the snake has been made to represent all that is evil in human nature. As a result. most people dread or even hate the very sight of a snake of any description, and it is, indeed, a rare incident to have such a one meet with a living specimen in its habitat that it {s not at once dispatched and generally mutilated. Since the earliest time the snakes of the -District of Columbia have formed no exception to this treat- ment, notwithstanding that much popular literature is extant pointing to the fact that at least nine species out of ten in this area are entirely harmless and not to say of value economically. There was a time, not 3o many years ago, comparatively, when the banded rattlesnake, the copperhead snake and the water moccasin or “cotton- mouth” snake were anything but rare in the area daesignated as the District of Columbla, but at present there is every reason to believe that all three specles have been entirely exterminated, although a straggler from Maryland may occasionally be found up the river among the rocks there found, though none has been reported lately. In former years the copperhead was also found at the head of Rock Creek Park, within the District line, and a stray one may yet be seen in that locality. There are storfes In plenty, every summer and spring, of some one having “heroically” slain a “blg cotton-mouth or copperhead” not far from Washington, but when careful investigation is made, and the epecimen, if Tecovered, ia exam- ined by some one competent to make a correct identification, it Invariably turns out to be one of the common water snakes still to be found along the water front or perhaps a “puff adder,” if discovered inland in the less frequented parts of the District. * % % % THIRTY or forty years ago, it was no unusual thing to meet with these venomous reptiles within the precincts of the District, especlally the copperhead, but those days are past. This snake is still by no means rare in northern Virginia, and in some parts of southern Maryland, over which territory they are now being more or less rapldly exter- inated. Some of our snakes, constantly be- destroved as venomous, within the District lines, are not ‘only entirely harmless, but very beautiful in ap- pearance, and, in their way, further man's interests, especially in the mat- ter of consuming great quantities of THE EXTINCT FLESHEATING REPTILE, CERATOSAURUS NASCORNIS, WHICH PROB, BIT- ED THE AREA WHICH NOW IS THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. T AN f STAR, WASHINGTO D. BY WALLACE IRWIN, To Editor The Btar: BAREST SIR: The Japanese Thinking Soclety, of which I are a membership, held its regular annual meeting last night at McWeevil's Dance & Bootleg Palace where we go because Police so seldom come there. Question before that meeting were following: What Are the World Coming to This Week? Arthur Kickahajama, Japanese un- dertaker, set in Hon, Chair and make knock with the presidential hammer, but that do not accomplish very much because S. Wanda, Japanese socialist, come there with his seed- looking cfbthes and lots of objec- tions all over his loud mouth. “I bject!” he narrate, slamming to 2nd hand feet. ‘How you could do that?” require Arthur, “when nothing has been sald as yett?” “I wish put my objection in early,” he explain, “so that all will know I dishagree.” * ‘Then say your oration now,” man- ipulate the Chair with 3 legs. “& after you finished talking maybe we noxious insects. For instance, {n some localities one may discover a spect- men of our handsome king snake, a specles running to about sixty inches in length, glossy as newly glazed porcelain, and beautifully marked with black, yellow and white. While a lttle spiteful when first captured, it very soon becomes gentle and tame, and it makes an Interesting pet. And when we know that it s the greatest enemy of the rattlesnake, next to man, we may admire it all the more. It will capture and swallow any of our venomous reptiles—indeed, it ac- | tually hunts for them for food. Strange to say, the king snake is entirely immune to snake venom, and the bite of a big rattler in no way {ncommodes it, beyond the mere punc- llures of the fangs. The poison of the [can begin thinking.” most venomous snakes in the world| “Then T say this,” commence S. has been injected into the circulation | Wanda with 1 Ib. hair on his kneck. of thls smake with a hypodermic | "Mexico are now in state of Revolu- syringe, but, outside of a few pa g ,“""' Pnb g doing? | ing symptoms, has had no visiblemer- | “NOUMDE! holla T Anazuma. Jap- |fects whatever. In this particular it |%"F® barber tror Woh:' o . i probably stands alofe, and it would TAEate 6 Walidh Wik shacs be difficult to account for the origin |yq; ofisHe Inimunity. “If you would come to my Shave & All of our pretty little garter snakes | Hair Raising Parlor more oftenl: are harmless. As a matter of fact, |negotiate Anazuma, “maybe you could any one of the genus Is easily tamed | get ohance to learn some wisedom.” and soon becomes a very gentle and! «Aint that ike the Money Classes!™ interesting pet. It will take Insects|yall S Wanda. “Always drubbing up from one's fingers and behave much |business. Yet I repeat it. What a: after the fashion of a pet lizard— |we doing about Mexican Revolution? such as the American chameleon. “From where we stand,"~yall Cousin Another harmless snage occurring | Nogl, standing on his legs, “nothing in the District of Columbia is the'can be done to stop it puft adder or blowing viper—a monl top 1t?” require 8. Wanda with interesting species. It has the habit (tall eyebrows. “I do not come here to of pufing itself up, hissing and flat- |5top it. I wish this Society to think tening the fore part of its length out |UP Some good way to keep it con- 80 as to look very dangerous, not to “‘7,‘;;“‘1'“" X "‘"‘l"":- I say ferocious. and this behavior has | ' IaYbe We Sould takie up collection cost many & ome its life. The young |y S0 YOu Bt GHeEw repo = jof this snake are very pretty little| - S = fellowe, and 1t s amusing to see the [ I obleot?” whollup § Wanda -1 cunning way in which they imitate | %) D there on & ed ticket and their elders in the blowing feat. B miier b Y e v Our harmless snakes should be un-|your of your valueless time telling der the protection of the law, a8 they | 0" o mathing. are generally quite as eflicient in the | . X destruction of noxious and harmful] S & €Tone heatd everswheres Insects as any insectivorous bird that & ever came into the District of Colum-| “In all Western Hemispear, {nclud- bla—and thelr habits are equally |n& Venezuela and Oklahoma, Mexico worthy of study. are the one hope for a Revolution. America, false America, merely set back and let Geo do it. Here in this uncivilized nationality working per- sons are too lazy to stop work and take up explosives. Brickliars, plasterers & plumbing specialists puts thelr dis- honest 2003 in pocket cvery Satdy night and go to a emotion picture show. How disgusted! It give me a feeling of deep Nassau of the stum- mick to ges so many laborers labor- ing when Freedom sets forgotten on the fire-escape. * ¥ ¥ % «JRUT Mexico, fair Mexico! Qquote you some poem: “‘In that land of red bandannas ‘Where they do not ralse bannannaa, Flying Disasters. BY DONALD EDWARD KEYHOE. HE fate of the French dirigible Dixmude recalls several other aerial mysteries and disasters which have occurred from time to time since the first successful flight. Years ago an Arctic explorer named Andre, @ man of utmost courage and great devotion to his work, made a ‘brave but ill-advised attempt to reach the north pole by ‘means of a small free” balloon, in which he set himself adrift, trusting to the northerly air currents to carry him over his goal. Nothing ever was heard of him again and his name has gone down in history as one of the martyrs to the explora- tion of the frozen north. Perhape some intrepid explorer of that unknown land will chance on the remains of Andre's frail “ship” and the final sentence can be written to a tale still unfinished. A more recent case is that of the five men who set out from Pensacola, Fla., with the intention of drifting mnorth- ward in a standard Navy balloon, and who were next heard from by a carrier pigeon message stating that they were over water, out of sight of land and slowly sinking. Seaplanes, station boats, naval vessels and private craft were hastily dispatched to scour the Gulf of Mexico, but since the unfortu- nate alrmen were unable to fix their position only a general search could be 1 will O the editor: Perusal of the ad- vertising columns of some of our leading periodicals shows that whatever else this country may be shy of, they aln't no lack of correspondence schools that learns you the art of short story writing. The most famous of these schools goes so faras to state that one of thelr puplls cleaned made up $5000.00 and no hundreds dollars plgeon returned to the alr station with | had took the course tHOER °F UO8 © 0T a second messake to the effect that the |f that amt. was earnet ' L E PF balloon was only & hundred feet from{ However for some Teasen &I Secia the surface of the water, all ballast{don't hardly ever pick up & TE7 s sone, and that the end was near. magazine and find more than continual search was maintained and [OF als that e o several daya later the empty basket of | Skeleton keys at this or story writ- the balloon was found, waterlogged but | Ing college. In fact the :“n:z lgl o' Az still floating, a grim, silent witness of { Successful authors of sho: y rage rtake never went to no kind of a college or :::“;ML" TRERSIasion e if they did, they studieq plano tuning peaed or the barber trade. They could of got e rio oo Toing o aho | just as far tn what 1 call the literary on watch, who also must have doged |52 if they had of staved home those A yre. er CArTYy O off for & while, during which time the | ¢ Y™ &0 helped m; wind shifted, carrying the balloon out | STMPLY botties. 2 over the gulf before the occupants were | The answer is that they ain't no aware of thelr predicament. school in operation up to date, whether Almost every one is famillar with the |it be a gen. institution of learning or a accident to the fll-fated Roma, which [school that specializes in story writing, dived to earth at Hampton Roads, Vir- | Which can make a great author out of ginla, striking high-power transmission & born druggist. lines which set the huge hydrogen-filled| But a littls group of our younger bag afire, resulting in a terrible loss of | drinkers, realising this, has suggested life. The accldent was ascribed to de- | that maybe boys and gals who wants fective controls and served as a costly |to take up writing as their life work warning which was carefully remem- }would be very little benefitted if some bered in the building of later dirigibles. | person 1tke I was to give them a few Not long after this came the fatal hints in regards to the technic of the test flight of the ZR-3, the English- |short story, how to ga about planning bullt dirigible which was destined for |it and writing it, when and where to the United States. In the crash which {plant the love interest and climax, and followed the buckling of its framework |finally how to market the finished the greater part of its crew was killed, |product in & way that won't leave no among the victims being many of the |bad taste in the mouth. Americans who were to have brousht! wweii friends, it seems to me like the the huge alr crulser across the Atlantic {pege method to use in giving out these Numerous Zeppellus have been lost 1n | Sorcanet Seomgune trows she time T vot the same way or through fire, among |ingpired till the time the manusoript wmleh was the l:no that fell in England |, rqea, during the world war, with some of the & ek d bodles of ita still in their ‘Well, the first thing I generally al places in the blackened framework. . Still another ingldent of the Amer- | nary flight and disappeared completely. fecan naval air service, but which hap- | Search was instituted for the plane pily did not end in tragedy, was the |when it fafled to return, but it had much-described flight of the three bal- | vanished without leaving a single trace. loonists who left Far Rockaway, N. Y., | There was no storm, nor was there any one day early in 1921 and were lost for | known cause for an accldent. Time days, being given up as dead before [passed and the matter was almost for- tidinge of their safety were carried to[gotten. In 1930 a few pleces of pe- & trading post from the desolate part|cular-looking wreckage were found of Canada In which they had landed. near a small bayou at a distance from Many Chicagoans still remember the | the air station and it is thought this awful sight they beheld some years ago | may have been the long-lost “ship,” when a small dirigible which was|but it was impossible to identify the crulsing above the skyscrapers caught |ruins. fire and burned in midair, while the| Later another seaplans disappeared doomed fivers jumped to their deaths|at that station in almost the same way. below. Thanks to the adoption of |One of the larger planes capable of helium, such horrible disasters will be |carrying & dosen men left for & navi- non-existent in the future. gation “hop” and did not return, nor All the preceding incidents have|was any aign of it found upon search Gealt with lighter-than-air craft, but{of the Gulf of Mexico and the country heavier-than-gir service is not without |surrounding Pensacola. Perhaps a its cases of “missing ships.” forced landing In the gulf stove in the Several years ago a two-seater sea- |bottom of the hull, causing the “ship” plane took off at Pensacola for an ordi- | to sink with all on board. C, JANUARY 13, WHERE REVOLUTIONS GROW WILD 1924—PART 5. Japanese Schoolboy Hears Talk on Mexico. 000000 00 . “MEXICO ARE NOW IN STATE OF REVOLUTION.” Yet they labor and they tofl well Setting fire to manny a Ol Weli, There the patriots, man & maiden, Walk around and are well laden Like the push-carts in the ghettos, Fuil of shoot-guns and stilettos; And when Presidents feel slighted They ere quickly dinnamited. Att aboy! You bat we need’ em In the Land of Perfect Freedom! “Yay, meln Kamrades:” negotiate S. Wanda with weeps, “When America g0 around wasting her time, thinking | about Henery Ford, Tncum Tax and other publick axpenses, Hon. Mexico always can be counted on for at leastly one (1) Revolution. There the Him of Hate are played on every fun- nograft record. Fires of dishcontent smudge & smell from every patch of native cacktus, warning hearts In Chicago, Minnyapples & St. Paul. Are th: not an unspiring thought?” Vhat are the use of that Revolu- tion when you got {t?" require Syd- ney Katsu Jr. from his new collar. “What are the use of Revolution?” repeat §. Wanda, scratching places where his hafr wasn't cut. “That are a dishagreeable question. Are you at- tempting to insult me’ “Umpossibly,” narrate Sydney. “But according to my education, there are use for everything In this world Even mosquitos are useful to keep summer boarders from playing Mah- Jong too late. But what can you do ! with a Revolution when you got| one?” ¢ 1 “Same can be said of prize-fight explode S. Wanda. “Yet do that stop persons from sending to Argentina for to get a swollen puncher what can be knocked down 9 times without paln?" ‘Revolutions do not get the world anywheres,” howell Cousin Nogi. “I reply ditto about all fights (prize, | | bull and chicken). der rich ofl magnates from paying Yet do that hen- 963 plus tax to set on box seat by the ring-edgo where they can see every- | thing? Answer {s No 100000000t ! I* We all get silent when hearing this great chunk of intelligence. “Nelgh, neigh!” whooper S. Wanda. “Object of Revolution are to revolate and see what happens afterwards!. And for that reason, if any, Mexico should be helped in every ways. For why, 1 ask it? Because 80. Do we not encouridge foreign products from other lands? Yes indeedly. We go to Key West for our Cuban cigars, to Treland for our Police, to Brazil for cur nuts. Then why should we not send to Mexico for our Revolutions, buying them in shiploads from land where they grow cheap & wild in every vacant lot? “0 Mexico! -uitar and a sweet Stingorita dance while T sing thy praze!” “Goshes!" holla Sydney Katsu Jr. “It he are going to sing again I shall adjourn “Tm-ta-ta! Um-ta-ta” S. Wanda, clicking his thumbs— “‘O Mexico, dolchy far niente, Land of the stabbed Presidente— For a 5c cigarro I'd travel tomorrow 'To get in some trouble a plenty. “Id go in a neat little car-io And start up a revolutionario, A double attraction With plenty of action That looks like a Belznik scenario.” £ % % x “Odor in the courtroom!” holla Ar- thur Kickahajama with Chair. “Mr. Orator, when you got Mexico what would you do wit {t?" “Are it necessary to do anything with a country after it revolutes?” require S. Wanda soclally. to Ring Lardner Competes With Regular “I SET DOWN AT THE DESK AND LAY OUT 3 OR 4 SHEETS OF COPY PAPER AND LOOK AT THEM WITH ONE EYE TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHICH IS THE MOST LIKELY.” ways do is to get a title like for inst. ‘Basil Hargrave's Vermifuge" or ‘Hoof and Mouth” and then set down at the desk and lay out 3 or 4 sheets of copy paper and look at them with one eye cocked to try and find out which is the most likely and then I start the story with a view to making it harmonize with the name. For ex- ample if the name or title was “Fun at the Incinerating Plant” I would keep as far away as possible from the at- mosphere of the Fifth avenue demli- monds. I have always found it a good scheme o open up & story with a couple lines of dialogue, like: “Where did you put your gum?” asked Edith Quaver. “1 forget,” replied Dorothy Abtott. The two girls were spending the summer at & famous watering trough. ‘They had just been in bathing and at present were engaged in sorting the dental floss that come in by the after- noon post. "I am getting* sick in tired of this place,” went on Miss Quaver. “It is mutual” repiled her friend, shying a cuspidor at a passer'by. At the beginning a skilled writer could go most anywheres but it would be my tendency to drop those two characters and take up the life of a mule in the Grand Camyon. The mule watches the trains come in from the east and west and keeps wondering who is going to ride him, but never finds out. He don't even know after the ride s over. The love interest and climax would | .lS'CmHEMEvB “;‘% NOT“EVAEN Sng MY NAME TO THE STORY WHEN 1 MAIL IT." How T wish 1 had a| commence | 1 | “It are ginerally sipposed” dia Arthur. “that sometbing should be | done, or else something else.” “You are talking garbage rore | this Wanda. “Russia got her revolu | tion, did not? Yet nobody have done anything about it.” “Yet see how unhappy snuggeet Arthur. “Do that make some difference” require Wanda. “You do not need t: | be happy when you are Free. Ban zal! Ladies & gentmen, I wish a! members of this Thinking Society to please stand up and give 5 cheers | follows: 2% for Pres. Obregon 32 for the Other Sidc “Everybody ready for that? 8o please arise ull.” But unfortunately all members of | that Japanese Thinking Society arose up too quick for S. Wanda and what next happened he were making bumps | on stalrway by setting down rapidiy each time he hit | “What are this out rage?’ he rv | quire when he made last strike o street. “Revolution,” narrate Jr. with Santa Cruz express ‘How darest you start a Revolu tion without giving me notice” skweek Wanda, rubbing a broken bone in his collar. Hon. Trotsky will ask similar question on the evening when he bumps his head on Moscow,” collapse Arthur Kickahajama with hamm “So now, ladies & gentmen, we will resum our Question: What Are the World Coming to this Wee | ‘Therefore we all set back on chairs | while looking completely dazzed Hoping you are the same Yours truly HASHIMURA TOGO. (Oapyright. 1924.) she got Vers ney Kats ion. HOW TO PRODUCE SHORT STORIES Teachers come when a man and a lady that was strangers got to talking together on the train going back east. “Well,” says the lady, “what did you think of the Canyon?” “Some cave!” says the man. ““What a funny way to put it!” would be the lady's laughing remark. From that their friendship would ripen and rot into love and unless one or both of them is married, you could wind up the story in Chicago. So much for the writing. Now in re gards to peddling the completed work A good many young writers makes the mistake of enclosing a stamped, self addressed envelope, big enough for the manuscript to come back in. This is too much of a temptation to the editor and he can’t hardly help from yielding tc it. That is why so many manuseripts is returned. Personally I have found it a good scheme to not even slgn my name tu the story and when I have got ft sealed up In the envelope and ad- dressed, 1 take it to some nearb: town where I don't live and mail it from there. The editor dom't know who wrote the story so low can he send it back? He s in a quandary. Stories should be written on paper that nothing else has ever been written on and don't use more thau both sides of the sheet and neve: send a short story to an editor or a postcard. These is just a few hints for young writers and I wished I had time tc tell you more, but a man has got to pay some attention to his music. RING W. LARDNER Steel Shaving. Take Fire. PILE of steel shavings recentl: took fire at a large dynamo fac- tory, presenting the unusual spectac of a bonfire of steel. The shavin, became heated from some rubbish burning nearby, and water proved useless in extinguishing the blazing steel. It was finally necessary t rake the pile apart In order to subduc the flames. In such a pile of steel oxidation takes place faster than the resultine heat can be carried away, and any heating from an outside source may actually lead to combustion. Tea Tasting. TIIE grading of teas for marke! is accomplished by tasting. It cannot be done in any other way, To do it well is extremely difficult. Very few men have the delicacy of taste requisite for the purpose, and they are able to command large salaries An éxpert tea-taster will often taste as many as 1,000 eamples of tea in day. He does not swallow the tea. To drink much tea would render his taste less acute and his judgmea: proportionately less accurate.