Evening Star Newspaper, July 2, 1935, Page 10

G_STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, JULY: 2, 1935. P .U —— S e s S THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editien. WASHINGTON, D. C TUESDAY ....ovcenvenser.. July 2, 1935 THEODORE W. NOYES..........Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Business Office: 11th St._and Pennsylvania Ave Cno e D sice Miehigan Bridine i ce: Lake Mic i European Office: 14 Resent St.. London. Engiand Rate by Carrier Within the City. Rerular Edition. The Evening Star S The Evening_and Sunday Star ui (when ndays v and Sunday Star v8) . 2 45¢ per month 60c per month 65¢ per munth Bc per copy Night Final and Sunday Star....70c per month Night Final Star : 55¢ per month Collection made at the end.of each month. Orders may be sent by mail or telephone Na- tional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily ard Sund; .. $10.00: 1 mo.. Daily only .. $6.00: 1 mo. Bunday only $4.00; 1 mo., 86¢ B0c 40¢ All Other States a Daily and Sunday.l yr. § Daily _only 1 iyes Sunday only. .. ..1 yr. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press s exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited 1o it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. = — = Rough Going. The President and his New Deal have begun to run into snags. The first body blows to the Chief Executive and his advisers came when the Supreme Court, in unanimous decisions, determined that | the N. R. A. was unconstitutional and that President Roosevelt had illegally removed from office the late William | E. Humphrey, a Federal trade com- missioner. pointing public response. The first was a clear intimation that he intended to seek a constitutional amendment giving the Federal Government control over the people so that it could interfere with social and economic affairs. The second was a demand for a “share-the- wealth” tax bill and its inclusion by the | Senate as a ‘“rider” on a House joint resolution extending certain excise taxes. The response from the country to these trial balloons was emphatic and unfavorable. There has been no recom- mendation from the White House for a constitutional amendment to legalize the New Deal. The effort to affix the President’s tax program as a rider to the excise tax resolution was abandoned. The House, acting in committee of the whole yesterday, by an overwhelming | vote turned down the President on his demand that the “death sentence” clause be placed in the public utility holding company bill. It was a major revolt. It happened in a body which has accepted every piece of legislation sent it by the Chief Executive in the last two years. There is in the offing another possible defeat for the White House, when the T. V. A. bill comes before the House. The Senate Banking and Currency Committee has reported to the Senate the administration bank- ing bill, much modified. Signs are not lacking, too, neither the House nor the Senate de- sires at this time to go ahead with the restricted tax reform program of the President. Committee is expected to begin hearings on the tax program next Monday. In the Senate the Republican leadership has offered a resolution proposing that the enactment of a tax program be studied carefully before it is undertaken | and that its consideration by Congress | be put off until next Fall. When the Congress balks at taking orders at the hands of the President, it is a fair deduction that the country is | becoming restive. The Anierican people have never been inclined to take orders. Their basic law, the Constitution, pro- vides for three branches of g8vernment, each separate, distinct and independent of the others, and so designed to prevent dictatorship. The first is the legislative. ‘The second is the executive and the | “All legislative | third, the judiciary. powers herein granted,” the Constitu- | tion reads, “shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.” For two years, however, legislation—revolutionary in many of its aspects—has originated in the White House and Congress has taken it whether it liked it or mot. If the Congress has finally determined that it shall be the sole boss of legisla- tion, perhaps it will occur to the New Dealers that Congress would be just as ! well out of Washington. e Italy Rejects a Bribe. To what extraordinary lengths Great Britain is prepared to go, to prevent an Iulo-Ablssinian war, was disclosed on Monday®in the House of Commons. It became the painful duty of Capt. Anthony Eden, minister for League of Nations affairs, to report the ill-starred results of his recent trip of conciliation to Rome. In token of British zeal to safeguard League prestige and restrain Mussolini from making war on the Ethiopians, Capt. Eden told II Duce that Britain was ready to give Abyssinia a slice of territory, in order to facilitate a settle- ment with Italy. The strip would be carved out of adjacent British Som- aliland, and afford Abyssinia access to the sea, which she now lacks. The immediate purpose would be to enable Haile Selassie to make concessions to Mussolini as a means of avoiding war. Apparently the idea is that the land with which the British are ready to part would compensate -the Ethiopians Jor concessions' to Italy, territorial, eco- nomis ana otherwise, designed to give Mussolini definite political advantages in Abyssinia. This subtle and simple solution made no appeal to the im- perious Fascist chieftain. Capt. Eden informed Parliament that as the pro- posal had met with instant rejection, it had been withdrawn. Mussolini is not ready to be bought off. Foreign Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare, replying to remonstrances against cession of British t‘lwry to a foreign Next, the President sent up | two trial balloons and met with disap- | that | The House Ways and Means | power without consultation with the House of Commons, declared that the government must be trusted with full powers in “a very dangerous situation.” Sir Samuel indicated that he had not abandoned hope of a satisfactory settle- ment, but it is dificult to concelve how it is to be brought about, with Mussolini in uncompromising mood. Capt. Eden reminded Parliament that Pritain’s concern in composing the Italo-Ethiopian controversy is not dic- tated by British interests in Africa, but by snxiety to save the League. He asserted candidly that British policy is founded upon the League to &n extent that makes it impossible for London to view without alarm any developments capable of undermining Geneva's use- fulness. , There is a plain hint here that Britain insists upon the League's right to demand submission of the Italo- Ethiopian affair to pacific settlement, and an equally plain indication that Mussolini’s rejection of such procedure would mean Italy’s defection from the League and grave complications in Europe. An international organization minus the membership of Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States would be a sadly emaciated institution. It is to prevent Geneva's dwindling to such impotent proportion, with incidental perils to Europe's balance, that Britain is now battling. Whether she has ex- hausted her resources in that direction the weeks just ahead will show. oo | The Local Relief Problem. Announcement of a proposed initial grant of $1959,043 for the District’s work-relief program will presumably be supplemented later on by an explanation of details relating to the local relief problem as & whole. But local welfare officials are still considerably in the dark as to what these important details will be. A great deal was said, before and after passage of the work-relief act, about transferring relief recipients from the “dole” to the pay rolls, and the work to be done was to be substantial and of some value to the community. An- nouncements have indicated some de- termination, to\&é;nte the emploxnbles from the usmployables, to make the care of the latter the direct responsibil- | ity of the local communities and to make the employment of men and women who can work the direct responsibility of the Federal Government. The situation now faced by the Dis- | trict, as revealed last week in & signifi- cant speech by Frederick W. McRey- nolds, chairman of the Board of Public Welfare, may be typical of the problem in other communities. | There were, in May, 20,500 cases—most of these representing families—on the local relief rolls. The number repre- sents a gratifying, though slight, de- crease below the yearly average, but with new applications for relief, or the return of old cases to the relief rolls, a con- tinuing load of 20,000 cases a month is anticipated. About 5,000 of these cases are classified as unemployables. They will not be included in any scheme for work relief. If their care is made the responsibility of the local government, the current appropriation of $2,000,000 | for the new fiscal year will be inade- quate, covering little more than the cost | of direct relief and neglecting neces- sary social service work. of them, it is to be remembered, repre- senting families—about eighty per cent are classified as unskilled labor, for which the proposed rate of pay is to be $45 a month. Allowing nothing for ma- terials, the initial allotment of $1,959,- 043—exclusive of administrative funds— ! would supply a year's work at that rate for about 3,600 men and women. But | there are now on the local rolls 1171 relief cases which represent families of six, seven, eight and nine people, and the wage earner’s maximum pay of $45 a month will not cover their support. | There are, in addition, some 2,000 cases where the proceeds of existing outside employment do not cover the family | expenses, and must be supplemented by relief grants. Other complications arise from temporary illness suffered by the | family worker and from the fact that while some relief cases are classified as “employable,” no suitable employment for them has yet been devised. If the Federal Government is to base relief payments on earning power of employables, rather than on needs of relief families, the local welfare authori- ties contemplate added difficulties. If the Federal Government is considering both—work relief as well as relief based on need—the present expenditure of more than a million a month on District relief will be greatly increased, as it will everywhere else. Another important question which will await partial solution in Commis- sionier Allen’s statement of his plans relates to the nature of the local work projects to be undertaken. The work- relief plans bear close resemblance, so | far, to the discredited C. W. A. Com- | missioner Allen’s anneuncement of what he proposes to do with money allotted for “work-relief may indicate another line of attack, which will be most gratifying. Fame in the Air. Two young men have established an- other record in the air. The Key brothers, who have been flying in a borrowed plane over Meridian, Miss., for nearly 2 month, without landing, yester- day ended their endurance contest against previous performances of this character, having remained aloft for 653 hours and thirty-four minutes. This ex- ceeds by very nearly one hundred hours— more than four days—the official world record scored by the Hunter brothers at Chicago in 1930 and by slightly more than six hours the unofficial record of Jackson and O'Brien at St. Louis in the same year. A great performance, indeed! But for what purpose other than to make a new score of continuous flight? What does it prove? The men, “spelling” one .nother'lkconml of the plane and Of the 15,000 remaining cases—most | kept supplied with food and fuel by attendant machines, could perhaps have gone on for a longer period. The ma- chine, however, was reported to be showing signs of deteriorationi through the crystallization of some of the metal- ‘lic parts. As a test of the mechanism it was a significant performance. But the machine was not a new one, and thus the test is not of particular value. This sort of flying is not a satisfac- tory demonstration of the capacity of men and planes for long-distance flight. There must be canstant replenishment of .supplies, for men and machine. In actual distance flying such replenish- ment is not practicable. The aviator who flies alone over wide wastes of water and great strdtches of land without assistance does more to advance the art of aviation than the stunt fiyer who circles around for hours and days at a stretch, with a oomp_nnlon for relief, and breaks a record. Yet there will be acclaim for these two young men who have just reached a new mark, even as there will be for those to come who will break their record, which is veritably certain, for the lure of publicity through a new endurance test which tops the previous score of hours in the air grows more potent with every fresh contribution to the continued story of ambition for fame. e And Why Not a Woman? Mrs. Henry Grattan Doyle was the logical choice of the Board of Education to be its president. There was, indeed, one black mark against her. She hap- pened to be a woman. No woman has ever been president of the board before. It was a question of considerable mo- ment whether that precedent should be smashed. g . But those who know Mrs. Doyle—and these include her male colleagues on the board—realize that it was no mere spirit of gallantry that moved and made unanimous her election. Mrs. Doyle is & woman, but to say that she represents the New Womanhood is merely trite and inadequate. She represents our finest type of citizen. A college graduate, a teacher, a successful wife and mother and an interested and always intelli- gent participant in community affairs, she brings to her new position of influ- | ence an understanding knowledge of ‘Washington and its problems, a sympa- thetic and unusually intimate acquaint- ance with the school system and a very level head that is blessed with that sometimes rare quality—common sense. ! The community will feel assured that in Mrs. Doyle it possesses a working representative as president of the board, willing to devote her capable energies to its interests. The community and the Board of Education are to be congratu- lated on her election. — e ‘Mexico, by forgiving all who have been engaged in revolutions during the past twenty years, will make a pleasant im- pression on a very large percentage of | the population. —_— a—————— Flag ceremonials are rendered con- fusing in Austria, owing to arguments as to what kind of flag it is expedient to hoist. ——rt——————— The former Kaiser of Germany and the King of Italy might enjoy a con- versation on the merits of side-stepping as a diplomatic policy. —_— According to some analysts, the ele- phant that once roamed the political wilds has been superseded by a galloping | herd of dark horses. B — Rambling utterances of suspects call attention to possibilities of narcotic com- plications in the crime situation. Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Wealth of Wisdom. Day after tomorrow ‘We'll banish all sorrow, Repeating our lessons with care. While sunlight is glowing Or night is bestowing New charm on the rockets’ red glare. ‘We'll make it & gay day, A glorious play day, Uplifting & cheer long and loud For this wealth of the Nation. No form of taxation Can touch this inheritance proud. Competitive Endeavor. “Do you admire men who seek great wealth?” “I do,” said Senator Sorghum. “It may not be so regarded, but the rivalry for wealth is a ggnerous competition to see who can pay the most taxes.” Jud Tunkins says a brain trust is easy to manage compared to the man who gets hisself a reputation as a brain ‘monopolist. Dear Mama! ‘When you see the idle chatter That in College Print appears, You may think it doesn't matter, Yet it leads to sundry fears. For suspicion rises later, After many a merry game, That this dear old Alma Mater Is & somewhat rowdy dame. “Do you enjoy the Fourth of July?” “Very much,” replied Miss Cayenne. “It is an excellent idea to instruct young people to amuse themselves with fire crackers instead of machine guns.” Eggs. The hills are not so far away, Nor distant is the ocean shore, But statesmen at their task must stay As heat distresses more and more. Upon the pavement you may fry An egg. It's flavor will be flat. And any one will proudly ecry, “I de not like my eggs like that.” “De man who says he knows more dan anybody else,” said Uncle Eben, “is liable to feel out o' luck if his turn comes to ml&' ‘ Responsibility of Holding Companies ‘To the Editor of The Star: There is so much complaint of hold- ing companies being irresponsible, and of their controlling the corporations in which they hold stock, and the whole system of subsidiary corporations lends itself so largely to the building up of fictitious financial structures like the Insull empire (of which there are doubt- less many others on a somewhat smaller scale), why would it not be a good thing to forbid any corporation to vote its stock in any other corporation, leaving the voting privilege to natural persons only? Corporate management would still be free to carry on-actual useful business. The corporation as an institution would still serve its original purpose of a co- operative device to make the corporation a different entity from the individuals who compose it. That was the original and justifying aim of the corporation, but now it has come to be a trick by which business men evade their just obligations, and especially the subsidiary corporation is a trick by which the main or “parent” corporation can slip out of its duty—its duty to the public and its duty to stockholders and bondholders. If corporations wish to invest their surplus funds in the stock of other com- panies, let them do so; they can invest in bonds or in stocks, but deny them the right to vote the stock *they buy. That way they could not capture and control other corporations, but the par- ent company would have to give up its control over subsidiaries, or else buy them out and use the property in op- erative business instead of in financial Juggling. ® The ordinary investor who puts sav- ings into stocks has no control over the companies of which he is part owner. If furthermore each corporation were required by law to furnish every stock- holder with the names of all the stock- holders, it would put corporation busi- ness somewhat on the plane of public corporations (cities, counties, etc.) in which citizens are stockholders. Perhaps Federal incorporation would be necessary to carry out this policy. Federal incorporation is being seriously considered as a necessity already, and this might be one way to make it beneficial. WILLIAM C. LEE. Japan Buying War Material From U. S. To the Editor of The Star: Tt has been frequently stated that the United States and Japan will never at- tack each other, as we are mutual good customers. Japan buys from us iron, steel, cotton, oils and other basic mate-, rials that are vitally necessary to the carrying on of war. Of course, they do not intend to keep the stuff, as it only awaits a favorable opportunity to be tossed back at us along with “twenty- one demands.” Japan sells us silk and other luxuries, but recently they have created a “howl to high Heaven” from our big manufac- turers because of the dumping of large quantities of manufactured goods on our home markets. When the Japanese was brought here to compete with our farmer and laborer he was a “dear little brown brother.” Now that he “swipes & hunk of pie” from big business he is a “yellow peril.” The Japanese is not dumb and quickly learns his lessons. Commodore Galbraith Perry gave him his first hard lesson 80 years ago, “Our might is our right.” He learned it so well that he was able to surprise the world by taking the Russian bear to the cleaners. Some day they will do the same to us that Commodore | Perry did to them, They will come here in force and tell us what to do. We furnish them with the means. Business men and money lenders have no conscience when it interferes with a chance to make money. The corpulent gentleman questioned by a senatorial committee says the Japanese are good customers. He sells them plans and submarines which may be used against us some day. “What fools we mortals bel” ALBERT H. RYAN, Capital’s Small Parks Are Sadly Neglected To the Editor of The Star: There are some curious inconsistencies in the apportionment of public funds. Lovers of trees and parks, which add | so greatly to the beauty and charm of Washington, were cheered to read re- cently of an extra grant to carry on the valuable work of the National Capi- tal Parks, and to extend the park areas of the city. Meanwhile, the parks that already exist go unwatered, unweeded and un- kempt for lack of adequate maintenance funds. I look out of our windows and across the street to see the grass of our local : small triangle burning brown for lack of sprinkling and growing messy and unkempt for lack of policing. After every public holiday all of our | parks present a disgusting spectacle. They are a mess of flying newspapers and scattered iitter, such as no other country would tolerate and very few cities even in this country. Instead of spending millions for un- necessary construction and destruction, such as the indefensible devastation of the Mall and Botanic Gardens, a large proportion of these sums might much | more profitably be spent in upkeep and | ence of the meningococci in the spinal maintenance. The park police force should be vastly increased so that all of the parks, even the small ones, would have permanent custodians to see that they were kept neat and clean. If this cannot be afforded I suggest that at least a huge loud speaker end up every public park event with the proclamation, “Pick up your newspa- pers!” THERESA RUSSELL. Italian-Abyssinian War And ‘Slavery Suppression’ To the Editor of The Star: S Statements to justify the invasion of Abyssinia by claiming the noble motive of “suppressing slavery” may prove ade- quate to satisfy world indigation at gross aggression, but, like the old Spanish claim to “Christianize the Indians in the New World,” they merely hide ul- terior motives. What i3 so often reported as “slavery” among the ,Jon-white peoples of the world is but the persistence of the patri- archal system in which the father and/or the tribal chieftain has absolute juris- diction over those under and related to him. Such a system prevailed when Abraham offered Isaac, in biblical his- tory, and leads Africans today to sender their sons even in labor in the service of those whom they consider their friends with no thought of pay. Un- spoiled American Negroes have the same attitude toward receiving pay for service or hospitality to friends. It used to make Southern hospitality so gracious a social custom, and giving of an “hon- orarium” where the service is of the character that prevents bargaining as to price is & remnant of the same custom. ‘What the world ought to know is “the Mmz.'nwummutywmm ) | been fatal. The Summer cold is a nuisance. A cold at any time of the year is not so hot, as the vernacular has it, with more or less truth, but some way the gne acquired at this season is worst of all. One suspects the fat lady, who sat in the first seat in the bus, and who sneezed vigorously at every other stop. A cold vietim must suspect somebody. That he picketl up the malady of his own free will, out of a blue sky and a hot day, is something he will not admit. If the germ theory, in all or any of its moods, is true blue, there is no reason why he should place the blame on himself. Always it is pleasant to blame some one else, and in few things may this be done with less likelihood of error than the ordinary acquirement of the com- mon cold. ok ko Yes, the large lady was to blame. She sprinkled the air with an assorted million or two germs. What mattered that 999,999.999 of them perished at large, if one found a lodging for the night? What a nuisance a Summer cold is to be sure! They speak a great deal of nuisance taxes, but a cold during hot weather is a nuisance, and a great tax on the system. It clogs the breathing apparatus at the very time breathing is at a premium. While the human bodily economy is not in the same class with the cold~ blooded fish, whose rate of metabolism is increased as the heat goes higher, there is enough resemblance between the two to make full functioning desirable. ‘When one cannot breathe except with difficulty, the sad state of affairs often brought about by the common cold, one s at odds and ends with the world through that very deficiency. Hence signs of anger and impatience are to be regarded as among the very first indications of “taking cold.” The first words of anger, from an otherwise sweet disposition, ought to be looked upon with deepest suspicion. Those who hear them, instead of be- coming angry in turn, or feeling hurt, ought to realize that in all probability they are merely symptoms. No one becomes angry over some one else’s symptoms, ordinarily. Usually offers of ways for relief are in order. Hence any one who is “jumped on” by another member of the family for some real or fancied offense, ought to look critically at the person, and say, “I think you must be coming down with a cold.” The novelty of this counter attack might deter the sick one from re- crimination. If he had sense, and some modicum of self-observation, he would realize the justice of the remark, and take imme- diate steps to remedy his malady and | his disposition at the same time. *x * * x During hot weather Nature takes care of that best of all cold remedies, a good sweat. The unfortunate part of it is that she also provides drafts. While there are those who sneer at | the idea of drafts (or draughts, if you prefer it that way) giving any one a | cold, we hold unswervingly to the idea | that they not only can, but do. At least the current of moving air is a contributing factor, by chilling the skin, and causing obscure changes in the heat-making mechanisms of the STARS, MEN body. These mechanisms, as marvelous as they are, in holding the temperature of the body at a preconceived figure under all conditions of temperature and clime, must have their ups and downs along with the remainder of the body. Hence it is possible that the draft has more to do with our “catching cold” than some profess to believe. After all, it is no wonder that the doctors have not made much progress in fighting this malady. They are, as a class, very healthy men, and those who catch cold easily are not so healthy. But it is the latter who must be studied, with all their whims and chrochets. The common belief that a draft of air is a contributing | factor is not to be sneezed at. It is this air movement, no matter how slight, which causes the main trou- ble with the Summer cold. Nature en- forces a sweat, which is a good thing, but the slightest current of air, under such conditions, is likely to make the cold worse. And few persons, moreover, no matter how determined, are brave enough to get under blankets and “sweat it out” in Summer. He would be a hero, indeed, who, on a | hot Summer night, would drink copiously | of hot lemonade and crawl under sev- eral blankets. The mere thought makes one shudder. * K ok % 4 The victim of a Summer cold, then, will have to take unusual precautions, we believe, to shield himself from vagrant breezes, if he can find any. He may be sure that the breezes, however slight, will find him, and chill a moist skin. Perhaps it is this fact which accounts for the well known per- sistence of the cold at this time of year. Temptations to cool off are many and varied during the hot months. More than ordinary powers of will are neces- sary to resist them. Perhaps if one will keep in mind that by refraining from cooling off, one at the same time will be doing the most possible to cool the cold, the sufferer will be in the best position to do as he ought in this very delicate and critical matter. *x X X x Fortunately, the need for plenty of water is enforced by the very season. Nothing is better for the common cold, from the standpoint of the victim's wel- fare, than copious water drinking. If this includes fruit juices, so much the better. There can be little doubt that as much physical rest as possible is helpful in this so common malady, whether in Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter. Despite the fact that the people have | conspired to minimize the cold as much as possible, in their talk and personal actions, mostly because of necessity and because often it can be dismissed, owing to the healing powers of Nature always at our command, there is no escaping the fact that an ordinary cold is helped | on its way to cure by complete rest. If one will not or cannot take this | best way to a cure, almost any one has | in his power the next best thing, to go to bed as early as possible during the several days the cold is in the ascendency. This will be the next best thing to taking a complete rest. Such simple home remedies as one has found helpful, in the given case, should be combined with as much sleep as possible. The main point to be kept in mind, in fighting a Summer cold, is the one we put first, keeping out of drafts, how- ever pleasant, after the first sniffle. Take advantage of Nature's heat, and bake it out, AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. A new and serious disease which occurs sporadically all over the United States has just been diagnosed by the Public Health Service, and the filterable virus responsible for it has been isolated. It is called “acute lymphocytic chorio- meningitis.” Both animals and humans | are susceptible to it and there may be a reservoir of the virus in animals from which it is acquired by human victims. | The disease superficially is like the dreaded cerebro-spinal meningitis, but | the symptoms are not so severe and | none of the cases reported to date have The malady may have been | in existence for many years without | may even have been responsible for | being recognized as a disease entity. It | some of the curious meningitis epidemics, | The discovery is announced jointly by Dr. Charles Armstrong, Public Health | Service surgeon, and Lieut. Comdr. | Paul F. Dickens of the United States | Navy Medical Corps, in a Public Health | Service report. Although the symptoms are similar, the new disease differs from about the $ame symptoms. A little later cerebro-spinal meningitis, one of the most serious of all human ailments, both in its severity and in the causative agent. Meningitis is caused by several strains of a microscopic organism, the meningococcus, which attacks and causes an inflammation of the meninges, | or linings of the column. One of the requirements in diagnosing it is to determine the pres- fluid. But for the past two or three years physicians in various parts of the coun- try have been puzzled by their failure to find any of these organisms in cases which presented all other aspects 6f the disease. The spinal fluid pressure would be increased. There would be charac- teristic changes in the cells. Patients would complain of intense headache, would exhibit the vomiting characteristic of the disease, and would have moderate fevers. The optic disks would be blurred. The physicians found that such patients usually recovered in from three to six weeks and that there was no residual paralysis, such as was common in re- covered meningitis cases. They began reporting such cases as “acute asceptic meningitis,” a meningitis for which no causative agent could be discovered. Some of the earliest reports were made by Lieut. Comdr. Dickens in 1932, * X X X The first clue to the nature of the the partition of Africa, and the next will be from the same cause.” Cer- tainly the part played in the World War by Africans and men of its background, as well as the interests threatened by the proposed invasion of Abyssinia, ought to arouse forceful sentiment against it. France stands to lose control of the immensely profitable single railroad from the hinterland through Abyssinia to the coast, and England depends upon waters overflowing the dam at Lake Tsana into the Blue Nile to irrigate her cotton growing in the Sudan. If the white man’s genius for governing were only restrained from destroying the cultures with which he must meet in time and space, all that is planned for the future of humanity might be realized. CHARLES M. THOMAS. m' brain and spinal | new disease came from work with monkeys at the Public Health Service | laboratories here by Dr. Armstrong. | Some of his animals were acting pe- culiarly. They would sit with heads drooping and eyes closed, but could be easily aroused to slow and hesitating | movemepts. The cerebral fluid pressure was increased and its cellular composi- tion differed from the normal. It looked as if these monkeys were suffering from meningitis, but without a causative agent. Dr. Armstrong was able to recover from them, however, a filterable virus —supposedly the most minute of living | things which is far too small ever to be seen under a microscope. but whose existence can be determined by the fact that it will pass through the pores of a | porcelain filter—which differed from any with which he was familiar. With the virus preparation he ob- tained he innoculated other monkeys with the result that they all exhibited came & report from another source that a similar mysterious virus had been iso- | lated from sick white mice. Tests with mice, monkeys and guinea pigs showed | that the two were essentially the same. Dr. Armstrong developed an immune serum from the blood of recovered monkeys which protected animals | against both strains of the new virus. The next step was to obtain blood serum from some of the human pa- tients ill with the “asceptic meningitis.” It was, under certain conditions, found to protect the monkeys and also guinea pigs who are susceptible to the disease. | This is considered practically to have | proved the case that there is a hitherto | unknown form of disease, similar to meningitis, which is due to a virus. Blood serum from both animals and humans had no protective power against | virus innoculations until after the second | week of the illness. The defense agencies of the body evidently are mobilized slowly against this new in- vader. After the second week, so far as animals are concerned, the protec- tion appears to be very high. The cases reported by Drs. Dickens and Armstrong had their origin in Cali- fornia, Maryland, the District of Colum- bia, Iilinois, Ohio and Virginia. It is considered highly probably that the dis- ease exists all over the country, but that cases of it have been wrongly diagnosed. * % X X The filterable virus exists at the very frontier of life and is estimated to be | about the size of a large molecule. The first life on earth probably was in the form of animated molecules which came together into cells which amalga- mated later into animal and plant bodies. This had led to the speculation that the ultra-microscopic organisms respon- sible for some of the most serious human and animal diseases may actually be new forms of life coming into existence today just as the ancestral forms of life today came into existence at the be- ginning. In this case new diseases might arise at any time. This is the first instance, however, in which the virus. was discovered first and the dis- ease for which it is responsible ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS By Frederic J. Haskin. A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Washing=~ ton Evening Star Information Bureawu, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washing- ton, D.C. Please inclose stamp for reply. g. l,Who is the President of China? A. The President is Lin Sen, who was re-elected for a second term in Janu- ary, 1934, Q. Is gravity present on the otnee Pplanets?—J. L. A. All of the planets have gravity, the force of which is proportional to thelr masses. Using the Earth as a basis of 1, the gravitational force of Mercury is 15; Venus, 5-6; Mars, 038; Jupiter, 2.5; Saturn, about the same as the Earth; Uranus, a little over 09; Neptune, 09. Q. What was the regiment of Col. Elmer Ellsworth who was killed in Alex- andria, Va., in the early days of the Civil War?—G. W. F. A. Col. Elmer Ellsworth had organized a regiment of 1,000 men from among the firemen in New York City. This regiment was known as the “New York Fire Zouaves.” Q. Who first used the word agnosti- cism?—L. B. A. The name agnosticism was coined by Huxley about 1870 to distinguish this philosophical attitude from others. Q. How much of the Nation's supply ofAn§vll stores comes from Florida? A. Florida's 5,450,000 acres of original pine forests produces about one-third of the national supply of naval stores. Q. Who were the Crypteia?—F. M. A. They were the secret police in ancient Sparta, founded, according to Aristotle, by Lycurgus. The institution was under the supervision of the ephors, who, on entering office, annually pro- claimed war against the helots, and thus absolved from the guilt of murder any Spartan who should slay a helot. Q. What was Artemus Ward's real name?—H. B. A. The humorist's name was Charles Farrar Browne. Q. Who made the first sewing ma- chine?—J. A. C. A. The first sewing machine was prob- ably made by an Englishman named Thomas Saint, who received a patent | on July 17, 1790. Thomas Saint’s patent was discovered within recent years by a search among the patent archives of the British Patent Office, where it had lain unnoticed for almost a century. Q. What country has the highest auto- mobile death rate per capita?—E. L. R. A. The United States with a rate of 23.3 deaths per 100,000 population leads | all other countries. Q. Where is the Beaufort Sea?—G. F. A. It is that part of the Arctic Sea that lies between Alaska and the Ca- nadian Arctic Islands. It is generally covered with drifting ice and many parts are unexplored. Q. What is the origin of the name | petrel as applied to the group of birds? —E. W. A. The name is derived from their apparent habit of walking on the water as St. Peter is recorded to have done, Q. Where is the deep-sea rodeo held? —R. W. F. A. The deep-sea rodeo will be held at Halifax, Nova Scotia, July 15 to 20. Q. How early was commercial training offered in the United States?—E. R. A. The first commercial courses offered in the United States early in the nineteenth century were for the pur- pose of training bookkeepers. Since 1894 commercial courses have included, besides bookkeeping, the subjects of typewriting and shorthand. Retail sell- ing was added about 10 years later. Q. Why is glucose used in confec- tionery?—H. C. M. A. It does not readily crystallize and does not grain or disintegrate, imparting instead the softness and elasticity indis- pensable for special varieties such as caramels. Q. Where was W. E. B. Du Bois, author of “Black Reconstruction,” educated? —T. L. A. Dr. Du Bois received his A. B. at Fisk University in 1888; A. B, Harvard, 1890; A. M., Harvard, 1891, and Ph. D, Harvard, 1895. He also studied at the Universities of Berlin and Paris. Q. What is the origin of the expression “You'll have to show me. I'm from Missouri”?—J. M. A. A. The phrase “I am from Missouri” was first used by W. D. Vandiver, Rep- resentative from Missouri in Congress, in the sense “I am not easily taken in” or “You will have to show me.” Q. How much ground is necessary for cemeteries in a city 'of a million people? —D. M. A. About four acres is required an- nually for burial in a city of this size. Q. Please give an account of Lydia Darrah, Revolutionary War heroine.— M. D. A. Lydia Darrah lived in Philadelphia in 1777. While some British officers were lodged in her home she overheard their plans to surprise Washington's Army. Under pretense of leaving her home to purchase flour, she walked 3 | miles through the snow and informed one of Washington's officers of the plan. ‘Washington prepared for the attack and the British expedition proved a failure. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton Savant and Samson In a house of stone one toils alone Thru silence and pain and care; A savant skilled, in cap and gown, Chained to & great wheel chair. Apart from all in his shut-off place, With the light of learning in his face, - He moves on wheels thru the shaded nooks, Delving all day in his scripts and books. At the meney mart one plays his part In turmoil and stress and brawn, Financial Samson with eyes of steel, Active from early morn. Where men hold battle 'mid walls of stone He fights for vantage and holds his own; His step gains strength with every fray, As he handles men all thru the day. At dusk, by a trick of the money street, Savant and Samson were fated to meet. Mused the scholar, “Which of us lives, my friend?” Laughed the fighter, “He who at! his end.” - '