Evening Star Newspaper, April 6, 1935, Page 8

"~ A-8 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C BATURDAY......April 6, 1835 THEODORE W. NOYES. . .Editor ‘The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: Chieneo Omce” Lake-Mi European Office: 14 m:um 8t., London, England. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Rexuls The Evenine The Evening an (when 4 Star. . . .. 4bc per month d Sunday Star days) . 80c per month ar .65¢ per month .. 8¢ per copy Richt Binal and & ight Pinal Star Collection ma mont! rders telephone National Rate by Mail—Pa; Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sund: + $10.00; » Daily only... . $8.00: 1 mo.. 50c Sunday only. . 00: 1 mo.’ 40¢ All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday. 1 yr. $12.00; 1 mo.. $1.00 | Daily only_ . 1yr. $8.00:1mo. 73c Sunday only.. yr.. $5.00: 1 mo.. 50c Member of the Associated Press, Tre Associated Press is exclusively en- | titled to the use for republication of all | news dispatches credited to it or not other- | wise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. Al rights of i es hel publication of special dispatch rein are also reserved. e The Government Cornucopia. After a stormy passage the Presi- dent's $4,880,000,000 relief and work | relief bill has finally come to port.| As soon as the Chief Executive's sig- nature is attached the measure will be a law, the greatest single ap- propriation act ever passed by any Congress. Under its terms the Presi- dent becomes the arbiter of all spend- ing. More difficult still, he is to be| the arbiter of all wages paid on the | work relief projects, with the excep- tion that on permanent buildings for the Government the “prevailing wage” | must be paid. If the President’s program is car-} ried out, 3,500,000 persons will be taken from the relief rolls and put to | work on relief projects. Of the total outside. It does not matter much, if any, that the gun was a real one and not a fake. Dillinger got away, led the officers of the law a long chase, caused several deaths in the course of the pursuit and was finally trapped and slain in Chicago. There was care- lessness at the jail, possibly corrup- tion, whatever the actual means of escape. Since Dillinger’s escape much head- way has been made against the pub- lic enemies who a year ago defled the laws, kidnaped for ransom, held up banks, slew right and left, de- moralized police organizations and wellnigh destroyed public faith in the efficacy of the safeguards against crime. Practically all of the bands of looters, man stealers and wanton slayers have been dispersed, many of their members have been killed in pursuit, some of them are in prison, some have been executed in THE EVENING the mother country—he was the cap- tain of an army of rebels unknown to fame who, having postulated their in- dependence and suppofted its theory in battle, then chose him to protect their victory by the erection of a Fed- eral Unfon based on constitutional rights. Of course, the thinker is conscious of the genius of such eminent indi- viduals and does not underestimate the significance of their power to guide the populace. He remembers Napoleon and is abundantly aware of the dis- turbances he initiated. But he also realizes that even & Bonaparte must have a following, and it is the mind of the throng which, when the drama is analyzed, s found to be the con- trolling factor nine times out of ten. Fear of “the mob,” however, is a natural reaction of many timorous souls who frankly but needlessly are worried by untrammeled democracy. Their panic is prompted, as Mr. Oliver penalty of their crimes. The public psychology regarding the strength of the safeguards against crime has been | changed and confidence prevails, whereas only a few months ago there was doubt and almost despair. Dillinger's “wooden pistol,” though | now proved to have been in fact a genuine deadly weapon, may well remain in the public mind as a| token of the turn in the tide. The present task is to carry on the work of enforcement of the laws, without abatement, without mercy for the | criminals or for their wccessories, corrupt officials and unethical legal counsel. ——— Army Day. On this eighteenth anniversary of | our entry into the World War, the| people of the United States onte. again celebrate Army day. Here in| ‘Washington it is being marked by; an impressive parade of units repre- | senting all branches of the Nation's| defensive establishment. In numer- ous other centers of the country similar demonstrations are taking place amid ceremonies of various amount carried in the bill, $4.000.- 000,000 is supposed to be for work re- lief and $880,000,000 for direct relief— | that is, for distribution where no work is performed. The work relief pro- | gram announced by the President has been hailed in many quarters as a new step. The truth of the matter is that the Federal Government has been con- tributing many millions of dollars al- ready to States, cities and towns to be used for so-called work relief projects. ‘The kind of work done, for example in New York, has recently come to light. “Boon doggling,” the investi- gation of what becomes of ancient safety pins, are among the types of employment on work relief that have been criticized. Take the State of Massachusetts. The Federal Govern-| ment has contributed millions for re- | lief there, but not a dollar for direct relief. All has gone for “work relief.” | What is planned, apparently, is| work relief on a more gigantic scale | than has been tried ever before. The | size of the appropriation is staggering, ‘ particularly if it is to be followed by | It hnsi' other similar appropriations. sent cold shivers down the spines of responsible legislators, men and women who understand that the gov- ernmental expenditures caanot be maintained at such a rate for long‘ without bringing financial ruin. The big questions now are: Who is to handle all this money, to deter- | | mine the details of its spending, and | pay for that portion of national life April Fool has gone its way, for what is the money to be ex- pended? It has been stated that President Roosevelt will attend to the allocation of the money personally. If the President undertakes this task, | mended to his country in lieu of en- Lciceful airships skim the sky. it may be a back-breaking affair.| Certainly many of the details must be left to others. The Senate has | placed in the bill a kind of a guide t0 | beyond our shores is in turmoil and Patient plodding citizen the President in the allocation of | terror of another devastating interna- | Starts a war dance now and then— | money to varlous types of projects, | tional war the hour is fitting for | April Fool has gone its way, like highway construction, the elimi- | Avericans to resolve that on land, on ; Why prolong the reckless play. nation of grade crossings, rural elec- trification, etc_ - ‘There has been a demand for quick | spending of the money made avail- | able under this appropriation. Speed | in getting it out is the thing, it is| said. Committees of Congress have | tried in vain to obtain detatled state- ments from the administration as to what projects would be undertaken. If there is to be speed in spending, the chances of permanent and impor- tant public works growing out of the | expenditure diminish. It takes time to prepare for such projects. Launched on such a program of spending, the country will hope that it may obtain the greatest amount of relief, leading to recovery, from these efforts of the Government. Rellef is temporary and a failure unless re- covery can and does follow. A grow- ing feeling exists in Congress that this must be the last huge relief ap- propriation bill; that something must be done beyond palliatives. It is a feeling that has developed as strongly on the Democratic side as on the Re- publican. Yet the lure of money spending still has the Congress as well as the administration under its influence. When the showdown came on the adoption of the conference re- port on the huge bill only seventy members of the House and thirteen members of the Senate voted “no.” Stresa will be added to the list of names made historic as the scene of & conference. Dillinger’s “Wooden Gun.” ‘When the late John Dillinger made his escape from jail at Crown Point, Ind, & little more than a year ago, it was stated that he had bluffed the guard with a fake pistol fashioned from a stick of wood. It was quite evident that he had been assisted in some manner in getting the material and the knife. There was much dis- cussion of the laxity in prison super- vision and the woman sheriff who was responsible for the manner in which this dangerous “public enemy” was guarded was later disciplined. Now it is reported that investiga- tion proves that Dillinger actually broke jail with the aid of & genuine deadly weapon, an sutomatic pistol, ‘which had been smuggled to him from » | called to service. | kinds designed to call popular at-| tention to the importance of the Army in the preservation of peace, | honor, national safety and all the, other things the Republic holds dear. | Army day is an appropriate occa- sion, too, on which to recall in pride |and gratitude the valiant and vic- torious deeds of our soldiers on every battlefleld to which they have been The size, wealth and population of | the country considered, the United | States maintains, relatively, the small- | est Army in the world. It is essentially 3 | a defensive organization. It menaces no neighbor whose land frontier ad- | Joins our own and carries no threat to any people overseas. But all the | dictates of prudence require that the Army we do support shall be in every | respect a model institution, adequately | equipped and trained and kept abreast, ! especially in the field of mechanization, ‘ with the most modern developments. | The United States Army must also not be starved of officer and enlisted per- | sonnel. The military and civilian au- | thorities charged with the duty of | keeping it at the acme of efficiency | | have assured Congress that the in- distribution that have always puzzled | | creases of manpower recently recom- | economists. mended represent an irreducible mini- mum for national safety. The record sum of roundly $400.000,000 which has been asked for the Army's general purposes is a comparatively modest premium for the American people to insurance which proper strength supplies. That “respectable defensive posture” | which George Washington recom- military | tangling alliances is well exemplified | 9y the United States Army. At a moment when almost the whole world | sea and in the air this peace-craving Nation shall ever be kept in condition to protect itself in any emergency that | may suddenly confront it. Other | wars have caught it unready, with the | inevitable consequence of unneces- sarily prolonged sacrifice of both life and treasure. Army day should re- ming us afresh of the fatal folly of unpreparedness. ——————————— Poland naturally objects to any| effort to turn the famous so-called Corridor into something resembling a | militaristic peacock alley. | ——or—s The Average Person. When the late F. 8. Oliver first published his “Seven Ages: A Narra- tive of the Human Mind,” he prefaced his book with the proposition that civilization is now in the hands of the average person.” And the dogma, so asserted, passed unchallenged. No critic presumed even to suggest that civilization always has been, and al- ways will be, the possession and the responsibility of the people. Yet the facts are plain and clear. Humanity, in sober truth, has charge of its own destiny. Were it otherwise, it would be diffi- cult to explain the processes of social evolution whereby institutions arise, flourish or fade; states are organized, prosper or decline, and races appear, wax numerous and strong or gradually die out. The annals of mankind, his- torians agree, reflect consistent proc- esses of change under the influence of what psychologists have called “the mass mind.” But the main current runs deep, and the casual reader, viewing the stream thoughtlessly, may be deceived by the frothy wavelets which irritate only the surface. For the philosopher, how- ever, the science rather than the ro- mance of human life has attraction. He perceives, as the fictionist probably does not, that emperors and kings, princes and premiers are symbols of movements rather than causative forces. Cromwell, for example, did not create parliamentary revolution nor invent the Commonwealth—he was the leader of thousands of average persons dedicated to a social ideal, & national concept of reform. Washing- ton, again, did not sponsor the sepa- ration of the American Colonies from | who have had little or no opportunity | | which those fortunes have emerged.” | the people—the aggregate of average | said, by the spectacle of the “whole fortunes of the human race” being committed to a “multitude of voters | | | of acquainting themselves with the | great controversies of the past, out of But more exact knowledge of the “great controversies” would be excel-" lent medicine for their anxieties.| There is nothing vastly new in cur- rent turmoils, and those who distrust | persons—might do worse than re- examine the stories of such “danger- ous men” as Savonarola and his secu- lar prototype, Rienzi. They stirred up | the people with vengeance, but vainly; | and contemporary agitators can do | neither more nor less. — e A gift of an art collection by Andrew Mellon would be studiously considered for purposes of tax assessment. The tax would not be so much if valuations | were placed at the figures for which the original artists were willing to sell | their works. o cmeae Suburban scandal has become so versatile as to include hints of every- thing from an assassination plot to high finance. For peace and quiet it is becoming necessary to seek a top room in a metropolitan skyscraper, —_— e ———— It becomes the duty of Capt. Eden to report that all Europe is preparing for another war. As an officfal an-| nouncement, the news is impressive, but no seasoned reporter would boast of it as exclusive. | ————————— It is the privilege of Postmaster | General Farley to regard a third-party | threat as likely to prove a canceled | postage stamp that never got any-| where in the first place, | —————————— | When Relief Administrator Hopkins | complains of a dumb audience he is not precisely original. Former Vice | President Curtis did the same thing. — caee | There is & democracy in the world of fowls thfat brings the blue eagle into the court of justice side by side with the Brooklyn chicken. B Well-financed relief projects cannot | be quite free from the problems of | e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Prolonging the Practical Joke, Why prolong the reckless play? War jokes are devoid of wit, They have never made a hit. They'll be bombers b¢ and by When, to thrill us with surprise, They have shifted their disguise. Artistic Satisfaction. “You have been making that same | speech year after year.” | “I'm very proud of it,” answered | Senator Sorghum. “It hasn't changed anything.”" “No, but it is something to have taken so many encores.” Jud Tunkins says he is in favor of ; taking the profits out of war and more in favor of keeping out the losses. When Sunday Comes. When Sunday comes I shall reflect And seek a course all circumspect. Il bid my consclence stand apart And whisper to my beating heart, Bidding it keep a rhythm true TUnmoved by threats that rise anew. For heavenly bliss or earth’s content Can’t be acquired by argument. Wasted Belligerence. “I am surprised to learn that some of the college boys don’t want to fight for their country,” said Miss Cayenne. “They are devoted to art.” “That is quite proper. I don't see the patriotic advantage in encourag- ing foot ball players to slug or glee club prima donnas in trying to scratch each other's eyes out.” Dispersed. Conversation sort o' drags At the crossroads general store. No one sits arcund and brags Like folks used to do of yore. Graft and politics drew nigh. Left us in a state of doubt. A grand jury happened by And just cleaned the audience out. “Some men,” said Uncle Eben, “gets de credit or blame foh big doin’s when dey ain’t actually any more respon- sible dan de Weather Bureau is for thunder and lightning.” B Matrimony in China. Prom the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. Chinese plan for holding mass weddings at wholesale rates is all right so long as mass divorces are not granted on a similar basis. Air Hiking, From the Roanoke (Va.) 'nmi-; The other day an airplane carried an automobile 90 miles. So even the motorists have taken to hitch-hiking. / {1t at all STAR, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. The outlook for lilac blossoms this year is excellent at this writing. More flower buds are on the bushes than in recent years and unless some- thing goes entirely wrong with the weather the National Capital and suburbs ought to see more lilacs than in several years. It seems to be shaping up rather queerly, this present Spring. For some obscure reason the time- tried forsythias are not doing so well, yet the magnolia trees and the weep- ing cherries are excellent. Forsythias are a mystery to some of us. Everywhere many of these shrubs show only a few scraggly blossoms, whereas maybe on the opposite side of the street there will be a bush in full bloom. The blooming bushes occur on both the north and south sides of the street, 50 it cannot be that. People will tell you wisely that un- due pruning last season is responsible for the lack of bloom this Spring. Well, the forsythia must be pruned, flowers or no flowers. Many persons do not care particu- Iarly for the greenish-yellow blossoms of this hardy shrub. Yet it must be | admitted that they do make consider- able splash on the average landscape. It is better to prune this bush, to keep it in bounds and so lose some flowers, than to permit it to develop into a sprawling shrub, as so often seen. The latter may do for back fences and similar situations, but when the forsythia is at the front, it ought not to be permitted to grow too large. * K % % The claim of some gardeners, that many persons put too much stress on bloom and not enough on leaf, is ex- cellently demonstrated in the common type of forsythia, so widely planted. The green tinge of the flowers makes this shrub not liked by many, whereas others profess to find it exceedingly attractive. That is always the way. It can be sald, however, that, as a general thing, green ought to be in the leaf alone, not in the flower. Those who do not care for their green misplaced will find that it makes no particular difference whether their forsythias bloom or not, just so long as the shrubs themselves leaf out well later. This is one of the shrubs, of course, in which the flowerlets come on the boughs before the leaves. It 15 the other way ’‘round with lilacs. After all, even the ardent gardener often cannot work up much enthusi- asm about the forsythia, but even the oldest grower of plants will wax elo- quent concerning lilacs. America long ago took the lilac to its heart. It has come from many lands to | make itself thoroughly at home here, but so often it fails to bloom. Sometimes it seems that the more the gardener desires this shrub to flower the more sturdily adamant it will be in this respect. It is with lilacs as with the com- mon “cold”; every one seems to know a “cure” for it, in respect to shy | blooming. Unfortunately, when one attempts to put these cures into practice on the home bushes, they somehow refuse to work. * x ok ® Too much stress has been put on bloom in the modern garden, perhaps. STARS, MEN Notebook of Scienc Laboratory BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Tastes differ. They differ from person to person and, in the same individual, from hour to hour. They differ so profoundly that one's ability to taste a specific concentra- tion of a certain substance at a cer- tain time may eventually be used in | medical diagnosis. Such, at least, is the suggestion of Dr. Albert W. Blakeslee of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in a report to the Na- tional Academy of Sciences on an ex- tensive series of experiments on taste discriminations. Several years ago Dr. Blakeslee found accidentally that there were curious differences in the ability of | different persons to taste a chemical substance known an phenyl thio car-| bamide. To most tongues it is ex- tremely bitter. But, Dr. Blakeslee found, some persons could not taste regardless of the amounts used in the test. They were described as “taste blind.” Others were ex- iTemely sensitive to very minute di- lutions. The majority fell in the middle ground. Investigation showed that these differences were hereditary. Now, it is shown by the experiments of Dr. Blakeslee and his co-worker, Theodora N. Salmon, that the taste sensitivity for this substance tends to go up and down all day long. Persons were tested every 15 minutes. Some- times the sensitivity differed to the extent that eight times greater con- centration was needed to be detected in one of the test intervals as in an- other. There was no regular sequence to the variations. Sometimes the taste sensitivity increased and some- times it decreased., This apparently threw out the assumption that the taste sense was subject to fatigue, or the contrary hypothesis that it was stimulated by an initial dose. Some- times, over the course of a day, the concentration of the substance that could be detected varied more than a hurdredfold. “The reason for this variation,” says Dr. Blakeslee, “is not clear. An inspection of the graphs as well as inquiry of the subjects would seem to eliminate the possibility of a regular rythmic change in taste sensibility as- sociated with routine daily habits or with regular periodic changes in the physiology of the subjects. It is our belief, however, that the changes ob- served in taste thresholds are in some way connected with differences in physiological states. If this should prove to be the case, it might be possible to use taste thresholds as an index of unrecognized internal con- ditions, and such an index might prove to be of clinical value.” * K Kk The experiments with phenyl thio carbamide have been followed up with measurements of the taste sensitivity of individuals to 17 different sub- stances. These included vanillin, po- tassium chloride, table salt, saccha- rine and sucrose, hydrochloric acid, aspirin, picric acid and various other substances. They were selected to cover the human taste range—sweet, sour, salt and bitter. With nearly all these substances the same taste varia- tions with time were found. Moreover, in their subjective descriptions, the tasters described quite different sen- sations. There were striking differ- ences in abllity to taste specific con- centrations. Aspirin had a range of six grades. A WASHINGTON, D. C., SATURDAY, ‘The herbalist's way of regarding plants is better—especially when somehow a specimen will not bloom. Then it is good, truly wholesome, to be thankful for the good growth and leaves of the plant. Every part of a plant is interest- ing, especially when it is part of the garden picture, which, of course, includes the house. ‘There is no point in wasting tears over fallure of any shrub to bloom or to be dissatisfied with it on that account. If one will look at any of the garden magasines or pages devoted to answering questions, one will see that many persons permit themselves to be hugely unhappy over the failure of some plant to bloom While blossoms are lovely and the main reason why we grow garden flowers, they are not all there is to a plant, by any means. Surely the heart-shaped leaves of the lilac must be considered as a real part of the charm of that shrub by any person honestly interested in plants. * kK % The famous “‘water table,” depleted by the drought of several years ago, ought to be replenished by this time. Blankets of snow on the ground for two months during the past Winter and the one before that placed mil- lions of gallons of water directly into the soil, since snows melt from the bottom first. In addition, there have been plenty of heavy rains. Already this Spring much water has fallen, with enough warmth to encourage the best results from our plants. 1t is all the more queer, then, when something refuses to bloom, such as the forsythia. 1t it were just an individual in-| stance, it might be considered to be | an assured thing that unwise prun- ing last year had so resulted. When an entire city displays the same phenomenon, some other under- lying cause must be sought. It may be suspected that the weather has something to do with it, because the weather is everywhere, and in a lim- ited area, such as that comprised in the District of Columbia and adjacent suburbs, the weather is more or less the same. Even though the suburban areas uniformly show about four or five de- grees less temperature the year around, the relative proportion of their “weather” is the same. The ups and downs occur at the same time, and in much the same way. The only factor that may differ is the amount of moisture, aside from the difference in soils, but the latter may differ materfally in the same | small garden. Many amateurs fail | to take this into consideration. It is not commonly realized that some sections of a comparatively re- stricted area will go rainless for a long time, whereas heavy rains may | fall in other parts of town. The amount of precipitation in a year | may average up all right, but the droughts, small though they may be, will do harm at the time. Man has no control over the weather, but he is helped by the | large tolerance which Nature has placed in all her earth-locked chil- dren, the plants, shrubs, trees, grasses and other forms of vegeta- tion. They cannot get away from where they are, and Nature knows | | this, so she gives them a wide latitude i in which they can live and grow. AND ATOMS e Progress in Field, and Study. | | To most it tasted sour, although some found it salty and a few bitter. Hydro- | chloric acid ordinarily would taste | | quite sour. But some reported ac- | companying sensations of sweet, salt, | bitter and astringent. | . Sweet-tasting substances were found difficult to grade, since the taste sen- | sation is fleeting. Among the taste | | sensations which came with sucrose, | | underlying the predominant sweet, | | were reported fragrant, fruity, sour, | astringent and slippery. Sweet, sour, | bitter and soapy were reported for | substances whose ordinary taste would | be_disagreeably salt. | Dr. Blakeslee found 13 grades of vanillin tasters. Some described it | as sweet and others as “tasting like chocolate.” To one subject cascara | was twice as bitter as quinine and to | another quinine was 256 times t- | ter as cascara. To one subjec Cc- charine was 2,000 times as sweet as | cane sugar, | “No two of the subjects were alike | in all their thresholds” says Dr. Blakeslee in his report to the Na- tional Academy. If enough substances were used as test reagents, it might | be possible to show that no two people | are alike in their sense reactions. No two would have the same sense for- mula. Each of us lives in a different world and each, within limits, in a world which is subject to change with- out notice.” { e These taste differences, Dr. Blakes- lee finds, are by no means theoretical, but explain some of the real likes and dislikes of persons in common foods. Because another does not like some- thing which you find delicious may mean that to actual taste it is different to him. For example, Dr. Blakeslee distributed at a dinner of biologists tablets each containing five milligrams of mannose, one of the rarer sugars. Fifteen per cent could not taste it at all. Twenty per cent said it was sweet. Ten per cent found it bitter. Fifty-five per cent said that it was both sweet and bitter. Information also was obtained on differences in after-tastes. Following a salad of artichokes about three-fifths of those present found that drinking water tasted sweet, while two-fifths could detect no change. Even more striking differences have been found in the reactions of in- dividuals to odors. Thus, Dr. Blakeslee points out, it never will be possible to stabilize the environment of any two persons. Everything might be precisely the same, so far as physics and chemistry could make it. But what is real to the individual is the sensory impres- slon—not the thing itself. In fact, he has no other means of experiencing the thing itself.So, as long as people have different eyes, noses, ears and tongues, will the world be a place of an infinite variety of differences. Still, the general pattern of the human sensory world seems to vary very little. To a vast majority of per- sons a substance s sweet or bitter, although there may be some slight variation in the degree. It appears to be these slight variations that are responsible, at least in part, for the commonly accepted fact that “there is no accounting for tastes.” There can be no accounting for them, ac- cording to the Carnegie Institution experiments, so long as they cannot be standardized. Then, of course, the habit differences underlie the phys- fological and chemical and may be the most important factors of all in what persons like and dislike, - o' APRIL 6, 1935. THE LIBRARY TABLE BY SARAH G. BOWERMAN. MAKING THE BRUSH BEHAVE. Fourteen Lessons in Water Color Painting With Twenty-nine Illus- trations. By Eliot O’'Hara. New York: Minton, Balch & Co. Like the author's earlier book, “Making Water Color Behave,” this is the result of his experience in teaching water color technique in courses given throughout the coun- try, but especially in the Ellot O'Hara School of Water Color Painting, Goose Rocks Beach, Me. “As nearly as is possible, through printed type and without dcmonstration, also without the advantage of questions by the student, it tells how certain effects may be obtained with the brush and colors.” Those who have seen Mr. O’Hara’s own paintings, exhibited in Washington on different occasions, know the unique effects he himself succeeds in making brush and colors produce. His books are such clear | and practical hand books, demon- strating by description, diagram and drawing, the steps in making a water color, that it seems as though the completely uninitiated might be able to | make a passable water color simply by following directions. “A water | color should not take more than an hour of intensive work,” but during that hour many steps must be taken and taken correctly if the finished result is to be satisfactory. Mr. | O'Hara first tells the mateials re- quired, then gives six exercises in| brush drill and follows with chapters | on values, warm and cool color, tree | strokes, the spectrum, neutralization, | lighting, reccession into space, reflec- | — tions in water, memory rketching and changes in color and light. With hu- morous appreciation, the book is ded- icated to his wife, “Shirley Putnam O’Hara, who made the text behave.” TO NOVA SCOTIA. The Sunrise Province of Canada. By T. Mor- ris Longstreth. New York: D. Ap- pleton-Century Co. A thorough but not at all formal account of personal travel, this book of Mr. Longstreth covers the whole province of Nova Scotia, both the mainland and the island of Cape | Breton. With an elderly and original | companion, Dr. Urbanus Weagle, Mr. | Longstreth started from Halifax and went down the south shore to Ches- ter, Lunenberg, Liverpool, where they caught a big tuna; Shelburne and Yarmouth, at the turn of the penin- sula. They then worked along the | north shore to Digby, Apnapolis Roy- al, Grand Pre, in the Evangeline country; Pictou, first settled by Phil- adelphians, and across to Cape Bret- on, with its Cabot Trail and Bras d'Or Lakes. The book would be just the right accompaniment to a holi- day in Nova Scotia, for il gives abun- dant information very pleasantly and with occasional humor and philoso- phizing. LOOSE AMONG DEVILS. By Gor: don Sinclair. New York: Farrar & Reinhart, | { However harrowing his title or his tale, no one need extend sympathy ! to Gordon Sinclair. He likes devils, as | he liked cannibals when he went in | search of them and then wrote “Can- | nibal Quest,” and whatever he finds | when he goes into anthropological | monstrosities in exotic places is always below his hopes. He is insatiable for sensations and doesn’t care for them second-hand, as most of us do, but | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN, A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Washington Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. How long has the Oxford-Cam- bridge boat race been held?—S. L. A. The race has been held annually from 1864, except for the four years of the war. Q. Are diseases often communicated through handling of books?>—M. D. A. Jean Broadhurst, professor of bacteriology, Columbia University, says: “Tuberculosis may adhere to| books, especially to the saliva-moist- | ened thumbed areas. Examination of library books for mouth bacteria | rarely shows streptoccocel in more than 1 in 20 books. This indicates| Cisease transfer through books is not very great. Billings, a former medi- cal officer, holds that 99 per cent of the cases of communicable diseases are transferred from person to person, and almost never by fomites, such as war with America, the debts of Great Britain and kindred topics appeared in 1777. He became famous for his interest in the Colonies and was in- vited to come to America to assist in its development. He was an intimate friend of Benjamin Pranklin’s. Q. Did any Negroes in the United States own slaves?—L. J. A. Previous to the Civil War many Negroes owned slaves. Many of thess were from families who had been able to purchass and hold to insure their not being egain sold into slavery, | According to the Negro Year Book it was estimated that at the outbreak of the Civil War there were 6,000 Negro slave owners with 18,000 slaves. Q. What is a maverick?—C. K. H. A. Soon after the Mexican War, Samuel A. Maverick began locating land and raising cattle. Eventually he owned more land and had more | cattle on the free public range than | any one else in Texas. In 1861 most of the cowboys of the region left to enter the Civil War, and Maverick's books. Many libraries disregard the possible danger from books entirely. | School books, which are often more closely associated with communicable diseases, might profitably be disin- fected before being used again Standing them for a day or two on one end with leaves spread out loosely | on an open window sill or porch in | sunlight will probably weaken or kill off ordinary human disease organ- isms.” Q. In which direction does a ship | travel going through the Panama Canal and on to the Pacific Ocean? A The ship travels southeast from | the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific| cattle were left to run wild. When the war ended there were tens of thousands of unbranded animals, and in the round-ups that followed Maver« ick was the greatest clalmant of un- marked cattle. So often was it said of stock that “these are Maverick's” that eventually all strayed calves and other unbranded cattle came to be referred to as mavericks. Q. By whom was the bell which hangs in the navy yard at the United States Naval Academy given to the academy?—J. J. A. It was presented to Admiral Perry by Japan on the occasion of the trip made by Admiral Perry to the Orient, which instituted the open- Ocean. How much money did the Farm Credit Association loan last year?— HE A. The loans averaged over $5,000,- 000 a day. Including farm mortgage loans. short-term production loans and loans to farmers’ marketing and purchasing co-operatives, the total amount advanced during 1934 was $1,830,000,000. . Is there any way to prevent wasps from building in eaves and at- tics?—H. G. M. | A. There is not. The nests should be located and removed, care being taken to protect the hands and face. | | If the infestation is serious within |invest doors, fumigation may be resorted to. ‘ ‘The proper fumigation to use is a substance such as hydrocyanic acid | gas, which will effectively kill any insects in the room where it is used. | Such fumigants are deadly poisons | and should never be employed except under exact instructions. | Q. What are the principal chemi- cals in Great Salt Lake?—A. H. A. Sodium chloride and borax are the main substances dissolved in Great Salt Lake, Q. Why are there no snakes in Ire- | land?—A. A H. | A. Suakes are practically non-exist- | ent in Ireland and scarce in Great Britain because of geographical isola- | tion of these islands and their tem- | perate climate. Snakes appeared fairly late in geological developments and | therefore are absent from some por- | tions of the earth’s surface which became isolated before their time. Q. Who was the Dr. Price who was must dig them up for himself from invited to come to America to help | jungles and deserts and lonely islands | establish the Government after the and buried primitive communities and | Revolutionary War?—K. M. R. senal colonies, or any other places that | seem to him promising. This time he | and died in 1791. went, backed by the newspaper which | A. Dr. Richard Price was born in 1723 | He was a clergyman | in London. He became greatly inter- door policy with Japan. This bell is rung only when the Navy beats the Army in foot ball games. It was rung in 1934. Q. Who was the most famous of the ancient Greek astronomers?—O. G. R A. Hipparchus is generally so re garded. Q. How many people attend the Texas State Fair>—T. A. M. A.The average daily attendance is about 52,000. The record day's at- tendance was set in 1929, when 214,365 visitors crowded the grounds. To what amount do American ors hold foreign bonds?—A. H. . The total at present is about $7.621,000,000, according to a com- pilation of outstanding issues made by the American Hebrew. . Please give some information about the round towers found in Ire- lard—H F. A. The round towers are tall, nar- row and circular, tapering gradually from the base to the summit. They are among the earliest relics of the ecclesiastical architecture of the Brit- ish Isles. About 118 towers of this description are to be seen in Ireland, notably at Ardmore in Waterford, Clondalkin in Dublin, and Devenish in Fermanagh. Scotland possesses three similar towers. Q. What quality made Homer Mar- tin unique among American artists?— T. E. M. A. Heckman says he was “the first American artist to represent land- scape without detail in masses, ob- taining contrast by means of values of light and dark.” Q. Is there a model of the statue on the dome of the United States Capitol which can be viewed at close range?— B C. B A. In the rotunda of the old Na- | he represents, to the notorious penal|ested in the American Colonies and |tional Museum there is a plaster colony of Devils Island; then, in a | published in 1776 a pamphlet entitled | model. This gives a much better idea second jump. to West Africa to study voodoo and black magic and to hunt for the lost Canadian Presbyterian | missionary, William Thompson. ‘The actual Devils Island is only “a dinky bit of rock and trees smaller than a turnip field” and gave hospi- tality in March, 1932, to only six pris- | oners. But the whole colony of | French Guiana, over which “the black | vulture of death broods and breeds,” is | “known to the world as Devils Island.” | When his airplane left him in French | Guiana and went on to Brazil, Mr. | Sinclair’s spirits went into a “tail- spin,” but soon recovered when he be- | | gan the investigations for which he had come. From his account of the lot of the inhabitants of this French convict colony, “Forsake all hope” must be its motto. Of the 20,000 peo- ple in the colony, about half are either | convicts or ex-convicts, and according to Mr. Sinclair the second are little happier than the first. Escape with Tecapture means the guillotine. Mr. Sinclair went by boat to the | Gold Coast and made his plunge into the jungle from Lagos, the Nigerian capital. At Devils Island he saw the dregs left in the sieve of civilization; here he saw the murky stream which had never been put through the sieve. | It was less horrible, but fantastic and | often bloodcurdling enough. Methods | of poisoning refined enough for the | Borgias, the practice of the juju from | e distance of hundreds of miles, hu- man sacrifices, jungle justice—of all these and other things he learned enough to satisfy his quest for the| weird. One experience he had which | he did not seek, when a black mamba, | seized by a hawk, which crashed into | the windshield of his car, was dropped | through the hole in the glass straight into his lap. It is wholesome for ex- | plorers to have some adventures they are not looking for, HELL-HOLE OF CREATION. The Exploration of Abyssinian Danakil. By L. M. Nesbitt. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. The Eritrean Danakil region of | Abyssinia, a strip of coast about 40 miles wide, extending along the shore of the Red Sea from Massowa to Asab, is governed and policed by Italy; but the “untouched Danakil” lies to the west, within the borders of Abyssinia, and is a scorching desert waste, much of it an old sea bed below the level of the Red Sea. Three differ- ent expeditions, before this of Mr. Nesbitt. had been launched for its ex- ploration, one in 1875, another in 1881 and the last in 1884. Al were disastrous, for the Danakil is not friendly to man. But virgin fields for the enterprise of the explorer are becoming very scarce, almost extinct, so the Danakil tempted Mr. Nesbitt and two Italian companions to chal- lenge it in 1927. The formal report of the epxedition, with its scientific results, was presented to the Royal Geographical Society in 1928; this is the informal story, for any readers who enjoy the stories of other men'’s dangers and discoveries. Mr. Nesbitt's party set out, accom- panied by 17 porters, 25 camels and 4 mules, on December 3, 1927. It emerged from the Danakil country June 26, 1928, after “fully accomplish- ing our object.” A large, detailed map and smaller section maps show the course of the journey of 800 miles, from south to north. The tempera- ture was at times, in pockets below sea level, 165 degrees, and it was impos- sible to touch any metallic parts of their rifies. Blistering sand storms, sulphurous volcanic smoke, rivers alive ch with hooked spikes, parched ground with fissures so deep as to menace the safety of the camels, were some of | present forces in hand, and regulate | | relationship is 13 to 14 per cent.” “Observations on Civil Liberty and the | Justice and Policy of the War With | A second pamphlet on the of the figure than can be obtained by viewing the original from the Capitol Park. Relaxatibn of Cl:ol) Control Renews ' Deba Uncertainty as to the future of crop control is registered by the press in discussion of the recent order of Secretary of Agriculture Wallace re- moving restrictions on the planting of | Spring wheat. It is assumed by most observers that this is not an abandon- ment of the established farm policy, but an attempt to avoid scarcity which might be cauesd by extensive | destruction of soil by windstorms. | Secretary Wallace is quoted by the Hastings (Nebr.) Daily Tribune, how- | ever, as stating that “farming has de- | rived about all the benefits that it can from crop reduction,” and that “fur- | ther benefits must come from im- provement of the domestic industrial condition.” That paper continues: “As he puts it. uncontrolled produc- tion will depend upon the possibility of foreign markets, and that is a mat- | ter of tariffs.” | “While Mr. Wallace is seemingly | impressed by the immediate sanity of permitting larger acreages than were | considered a year ago,” according to the Topeka (Kans.) Daily Capital, “he by no means, however, abandons the general processing tax program. It appears to be the policy to hold acreage according to temporary cir-| cumstances. On this plan acreage could be expanded this year if crop prospects proved poor, and if the con- trary could be even further curtailed next year, and so on. If this is the idea, it is a program of opportunism, subject to possibilities of occasionally missing connections, at considerable cost either to producers or consumers, and of interfering with mutual tariff arrangements intended to extend | foreign markets for American food products.” Finding a lack of definite knowl- edge as to production of Spring wheat, the Wall Street Journal points out that “not until June will there be anything to report on the condition of Spring wheat, and until that time the total wheat prospect will be a matter of individual interpretation of the effect of the weather upon what at present is not a pleasing prospect.” In defense of the agricultural pol- icy, the Fort Worth (Tex.) Star-Tele- gram quotes a statement by Secretary ‘Wallace in which he said: “Agricul- ture’s share of the national income, now about 10.2 per cent, should be from 13 to 16 per cent. The historic The Star-Telegram adds: “The Secretary declared that when the farmers hau received as much as 18 per cent of the national income they had competed for land and as- sumed a market which did not in fact exist. Except during the World their major difficulties; the minor ones were countless. Mr. Nesbitt's narrative of this conquest of the “hell-hole of creation” cannot be classed among the stories which lack action. Every day’s journey of the party was marked by new dangers and new efforts to overcome them and everything is described in such a way as to make the reader share the emo- tions of the-explorers. {A Rhyme at By te Over Policy War and the present period of re- covery agriculture’s share of the na- tional income has steadily declined in the last 25 years. In 1909 farm- ers obtained, according to the Depart- ment of Agriculture, almost 19 per cent of the total income realized from the production of goods and from services, omitting business savings. By the outbreak of the World War the figure had fallen to 16 per cent. In 1918 and 1919 it rose to 20!z per cent, but fell to about 12} per cent in 1921. It remained around that level for several years, then fell to 11 per cent in 1926 and 1927 and to 10} per cent in 1928 and 1929, In other words, while practically all other classes were prosperous, farmers were not holding their own. Many econo- mists see in this failure of one-fourth the population to prosper a central cause of the depression and of failure to rebound quickly from it.” Referring to statements that de- centralization of crop control is under consideration, “with administration in the hands of State experiment sta- tions and extension bureaus.” the Birmingham (Ala.) Age-Herald holds that “an effective crop control would have to depend upon a final centrali- zation of authority.” The Los Angeles Times, however, argues, from court decisions, that the A. A. A. is barred from intrastate business. On the payment of a bonus, under the new order, to farmers who raise a full crop of wheat, the New York Sun observes that “they are to eat their cake and have it, too,” while the Chicago Daily News remarks that “they will assess the cost on the peo~ ple’s bread.” The Akron Beacon=- Journal concludes: “With dust storms riding the Western States in portent that another drought is at hand even before planting takes place, Con- gress should return to the farmers their ancient and undisturbed func- tion of providing the Nation with its food supply.” “All Americans,” thinks the St. Joseph (Mo.) News-Press, “welcome & relaxation of arbitrary control of food production. Some degree of con= trol is doubtless essential, in agricul- ture as in industry, under our ‘price system,’ to prevent such overproduc- tion as will choke the markets and drive prices below production cost. But no American can find much sat- isfaction in preventing or destroying any kind of commodities while so many people need them. We shall have to find some way to get rid of too abundant production by more abundant consumption.” Twilight Gertrude Brooke Hamilton Public-Minded One who labors for his people, For their safety and their lands, Fighting graft in public spending, Putting plenty in their hands, In himself may forfeit vantage, Pitting ideals against 3 But he gains what others en In the government of self.