Evening Star Newspaper, July 6, 1935, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editien. WASHINGTON. D. C. SATURDAY .. ..July 6, 1935 THEODORE W. NOYES..........Editer The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Business Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave e T OmER 1 R 0 2 Chicago Office: Lake Micl 3 Furopean Office: 14 Regent St.. London. Englan Rate by Carrier Within the City. when The Evenins (when 5 The Sunday Night Final Editios Kight Pinal and Sunday Star....70c per month Night Final Star * " B5¢ per month Collection made at t! h. Qrders may be o a- tional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advancs. d Virginia. - S1300 1 me: B6e 100; 1 mo., 40 Daily and Sun Daily only .. Sunday only All Other States ai Daily and Sunday.l yr. Dally only.......1 ¥ ;R . Sunday only. .....1 yr. $5.00: 1 mo.. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this Paper ana also_the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved Canada. 2.00: 1 mo.. $1.00 1 mo. = 75¢ — The Crime Report. The committee of District officials selected by the Commissioners to report on the crime study prepared by the House District Committee has confined itself to the proposal of certain broad policies and does not make the mistake of centering its fire on individuals. The result is a series of recommendations which, while lacking the color of more spectacular proposals, should be con- sidered by the Commissioners and in- terested members of Congress with profit to the community. Certain changes proposed in the local parole law, with a sharp line drawn to differentiate between treatment of the “habitual criminal” and the first offender, and with more emphasis placed upon the facts revealed in the prisoner’s past record, should be considered along with other legislation proposed to remedy defects in the existing parole act. It is worthy of note that the committee does not fall into the error of con- demning the principle of parole, arguing merely for a more practical application of that principle in a manner that protects the community while offering a chance for regeneration to those who have demonstrated their fitness to receive it. Another recommendation for recodifi- cation of the District criminal laws, with special attention paid to procedure in minor criminal cases prosecuted by the corporation counsel’s office, reflects the close study that Corporation Counsel Prettyman, a member of the Commis- sioners’ committee, has already made in this field. Mr. Prettyman is firmly convinced, and has compiled strong arguments to support his case, that the procedure in reference to minor crime inal cases here is far behind the times, does not properly take note of new conditions and problems, and is in need of revision. That is a matter which can be taken care of only by appropriate legislation. Of the proposals immediately affecting the Police Department, two of them are worthy of close attention. One would set up, through the co-operation of Virginia and Maryland, a small squad of detectives who might function in adjacent territory without regard to State lines. The need for some such arrangement has been amply demon- strated in the commission of crimes just across the District line by criminals manifestly working out of Washington. The other proposal, for greater cen- tralization of responsibility with the precinct captains for conditions within their precincts, is in accordance with sound police administration. It should have the added merit .of increasing the standards required for police captains and increasing the emphasis on effi- ciency as judged by their records. While the Commissioners should go slow in adopting any plan which diminishes the importance of written examinations ~—for, after all, 2 man who becomes & captain of police should be able to express himself intelligently in writing— there are advantages in adding weight to a captain’s record in considering his availability for promotion. The proposal for establishment of a permanent Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Crime, sound in so far as it might stimulate the community’s interest in the problem of law enforcement, would depend for its effectiveness on the type of citizens chosen and in the nature of the tangible responsibility assigned them. Citizens’ committees merely given the job of advising, and with no re- sponsibility and no power attaching to such advice, are sometimes superfluous. Abyssinia is anxiously inquiring Whether the roll call of the League of Nations cannot be made to go further than the letter A. ‘Taxes required to finance a dole would bring comfort to gll except the taxpayers who are working hard to escape it. The Connecting Parkway. Completion of the connection between Rock Creek and Potomac Parks is at last at the point of execution. The Commissioners yesterday approved a project for the construction of the last link in the roadway, between K and P streets, at & cost of about $80,000, to come from the fund of $973,000 recently allotted to the District out of P. W. A. funds. Bids for this work are to be opened within two weeks and the con- struction is to be completed by the end of the year. Soon after the river flats were trans- formed into & public park and the Rock Creek Valley was set aside for & similar purpose the proposal was advanced to ‘unite these two areas by & park drive- way that would permit continuous pes- THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., SATURDAY, JULY 6, 1935. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Hains Point to the northern boundary of the District. There was at first a difference of opinion regarding this land, some urging that the creek be arched over for the entire stretch between the parks and the depression filled to make ., space for street and building develop- ments. This was eventually negatived and decision was reached that the parks should be united. From time to time appropriations were made to acquire the 1ands necessary for this purpose, Prog- ress was very slow. There were com- plications at the southern end, owing to the survival of certain rights of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. These in turn were extinguished and at last the way was opened for a completion of the connecting parkway. Still the funds were laggard and the work progressed only by slow degrees. At last the com- pleting link is to be provided. When this road has been constructed, as it now appears it will be by the end of the year, it will be possible to drive wholly within park lands from Seven- teenth street and Constitution avenue down to Hains Point, back along the Wwashington Channel, across the road of entrance to the Lincoln Memorial, and from that point through the connecting parkway to the northern corner of the District, & distance of nearly twenty miles. Nowhere else in the world is there a drive of such length and beauty of scenery and natural attractiveness of surroundings. It has been worth wait- ing for, though the time has been long and irksome. For Peace in Abyssinia. With a speed and terseness which de- note the decisiveness of the United States’ attitude, Secretary Hull has lost no time in notifying Emperor Haile Selassie that this Government is not minded to interfere in Abyssinia’s dis- pute with Ttaly. The Ethiopian monarch appealed to Washington to examine the Kellogg pact with a view to its invoca- tion for prevention of threatened war in Africa. In skillfully chosen terms, the Abys- sinian Emperor is made aware of the United States’ unwillingness to take the proposed action under the multi- lateral pact, of which both Italy and Abyssinia, along with sixty-one other nations, are signatories. The Secretary of State at the same time points out that the United States “would be loath to believe” that either party to the present controversy “would resort to other than pacific means” as a method of dealing with it or “permit any situa- tion to arise which would be inconsistent with the commitments of the pact.” Thus, while the American Government refrains from acceding to the request for action under the pact, it leaves no doubt of this country’s enduring belief in its purposes or of the United States’ conviction that agreement should not be violated on the occasion now menacing peace. It would be difficult to conceive of a more astute presentation of the American standpoint. Secretary Hull's note is & model diplomatic paper. Rome will not minimize its true inwardness. Of perhaps even wider significance is the indication that the League of Na- tions is regarded at Washington as the appropriate tribunal for “peaceful set- tlement” of the Italo-Ethiopian con- troversy. Secretary Hull, emphasizing America’s abiding “interest in the maintenance of peace in all parts of of the world,” expresses gratification that Geneva is dealing with the quar- rel and hopes for “a decision satisfac- tory to both governments.” The League powers, which are bent upon restraining Mussolini from going to war, will find in the Washington statement indis- putable support of their efforts. Il Duce will not underestimate the importance of Washington's attitude on this score either. Though there is no evidence of the United States’ inclination to go that far, League members may be encouraged to think that this country, in the event of collective action under article sixteen, might even join in economic sanctions against Italy, The League would rely .in that connection on the famous state- ment by Norman H. Davis at Geneva that the United States would refrain from any steps designed to defeat col- lective efforts for peace, if this country concurred in League judgment in the case of & given aggression. Such a development is for the future to determine. FPor the present it is gratifying ' that ways and means have been found for manifesting the United States’ earnest desire for an amicable adjustment of the Italo-Ethiopian dis- pute, while indicating its determina- tion not to become involved in an affair distinctly not of American concern. Lobbyists used to be depicted as dis- tributing big black cigars. The eco- nomic significance of former Vice Presi- dent Tom Marshall's reference to the Nation's need of a good five-cent cigar is only just beginning to be understood. Oliver Herford. Oliver Herford has written his last epigram. That prolific originator of witty comments on life, whose writings and sayings form s unique chapter in American literature, has passed at the age of seventy-two. He left no great works. Indeed there was nothing in his productions that will endure to serve as a landmark in letters, but in the course of his many years of contri- butions to magazines and his occasional books he created many veritable classics that will long survive. Herford was mainly a punster, playing with words. But he was gifted with & wit that lifted that traditionally “lowest form” into the higher range of satire. Some of his expressions have become part of the currency of speech. ‘To Oliver Herford words had many .are typical of any holiday. heights far greater than those which can be attained by the punster. This talent of turning the accepted, general meaning of a word into an unexpected channel was a rare gift, and his least expressions often became celebrated. A peculiar characteristic of this quaint personality was his modesty regarding his talent for sarcasm. He never trou- bled to keep a record of his works and when asked to list his books and writ- ings he coul¢ not remember them all, often making ely different lists, none of them fully inclusive. Usually the professional wit is more of an egotist, Jjealously conserving his expressions and productions. To Herford there was no particular value in these outgivings, and his business sense was so poor that he was negligent and haphazard in the matter of cashing the checks which he received for his writings. Nature plays some strange tricks in the make-up of humanity and one of these was Oliver Herford, who, with just a little more of industry and self-esteem, might have become one of the out- standing figures in letters instead of re- maining always a shy, modest, occa- sional joker. Moronic Celebrants. A majority of Fourth of July casual- ties reported locally and for the Nation Deaths from drowning, from automobile accidents or from other conditions resulting from crowds merely reflect dense highway traffic and resorts, true of any National holiday. Injuries or deaths sustained from fireworks, however, are significant of Independence day celebrations, and when the risks involved are considered it is remarkable that there were no more of them. This year's reports, however, indicate an increase in the number of activities of that particular type of moron who delights in throwing lighted firecrackers into or from automobiles. A number of injuries are reported from such cause. And the serious part of the business is that the participants were not all chil- dren; many of them were adults. It seems useless to argue against sich a thing as throwing a lighted firecracker in an automobile, or from an automo- bile. PFor those capable of such insanity do not respond to argument. But the existence of such & menace gives pointed force to the movement for doing away with all fireworks, except those displayed under something approaching official auspices. PFor while ninety per cent of the people may be trusted to use judg- ment and discretion, there is always the ten per cent that cannot be trusted, and the only logical form of protection against this minority lies in complete prohibition. It is shown statistically that this coun- necessary for the Department of Agri- culture to do more work in getting the typewriter synchronized with the cash register. Prof. Einstein discusses possible errors in his calculations. While they may be of importance in the vast relativities of space they may have to be forgotten in studying the circumscribed yet baming relationships on earth. —r—e—————— Mahout Herbert Hoover is doing what he can to co-operate with the 8. P. C. A. and arrange for a few “be kind to ele- | phants” weeks for next Summer. e Base ball scores are still heard with interest as things that have nothing to do with taxation or crime waves. ——— Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Einstein. My friend the professor—a marvelous guesser— Has frequently got on our nerves. He says Light in strai_“t lines may be a progressor Instead of proceeding in curves. In all this wild tangle we must have an angle, Prosperity corner to turn, As the Light we pursue we rejoice as we wrangle And we always have something to learn. i Leader. “You are a natural born leader,” said the old friend. *“I am,” said Senstor Sorghum. “I may have to weaken occasionally in Congress. But you ought to see me leading the revelries in & night club.” Jud Tunkins says Jonah had an easy time with the whale compared to the man who has been swallowed by & loan shark. Pofitical Ideals. Ideals must control our ways ‘Wherever we may turn. The individualist displays His wish to live and learn. A man may be misunderstood’ As ardent pulses throb. Is your ideal public good— Or just to hold s job? Heroine Worship. “Are you in favor of women in Ppolitics?” “No,” answered Cactus Joe,” not for Crimson Guich. ‘T can't remember a woman that was really s first-class shot since Annie Oakley.” Dream Staff. ‘We often listen to & man ‘Who steps along anew And tells us that he has a plan For “making dreams come true.” But nightmares frequently sre known. I say, “For pity's sake, Kind friend, please let my dreams alone And keep me Wide Awake!” “Backsliders have deir use,” said Uncle Even. “Dey’s de ones dat keeps up demand foh camp meetings.” Il Tolerance Makes for P ) Temperate Drinking To the Editor of The Star: We prohibitionists allowed the first step to be taken toward the open saloon in Washington when we permitted the law to be interpreted in such a manner that mixing was removed from the separate room—kitchen—and performed in the silly little cubicles now known as the “hidden bar.” Since all but the fanatics among the drys acknowledge the impossibility of prohibition enforcement, and since we are now fully reconciled to public and private drinking under sanction of law, why do we continually cry out in favor of the very thing that is bound to bring back the objectionable saloon? “There are now in excess of 3,000 places in Washington where liquor may be pur- chased, against only a few hundred in the saloon days,” shouts a dry viewer in alarm. Bless her simple soul, does she not know that is one of the reasons why the saloon cannot come back in ‘Washington? If we had only a hundred drinking places in Washington, the drinkers would congregate there in droves. The con- gregation of drinkers in the saloons was the principal evil of them. Saloons, mostly for men, were places where men met and drank and drank and drank. There are no such places now. A man would find it pretty difficult to find a place not patronized or partly conducted by women. In each place more people are eating than drinking exclusively. Bottled goods are sold by the grocer and whisky is delivered with the family flour. Drinking is no longer indulged in as a debauch. Treating no longer is done in complete rounds. By making the drinking and purchasing of liquor com- monplace and easy, it has lost its glamour, and our drinking habits have become sane. Wide and easy distribution of spirits will not eliminate drinking, but will eliminate much of the evil of drinking. The drys who think they must bring back the evils of drinking in order to justify a return of prohibition are out of step with the times. Prohibition is dead because, after trial, it failed. The best we can do from now on is to exer- cise tolerance toward temperate drinking. WALTER WALTON. ———————— Bus Travel More Costly Than by Street Cars To the Editor of The Star: I wish to add my protest to that of others against the use of busses instead of street cars. Car fare at present is 7' cents per ride if tokens are bought. But bus fare with tickets is 8'4. cents each ride. This is an added charge of about 11 per cent., which patrons must pay. Nor is this all. The street cars pay for certain street repairs, but the busses will not. The street cars also pay for certain traffic policemen, but the busses will not. Also, the street cars are probably the very safest means of mass transporta- tion, and much safer than busses. Also when crowded—and they are usually so during rush hours—the person standing | in a street car has a far easier position than one standing in a bus, as there is | less vibration due to cars being nearer the street level, and running steadier. At present a passenger may ride from Anacostia to Chevy Chase Circle for one | car ticket and only one change of cars. | try buys more than it sells. It may be | busses and one street car will be re- With busses, as proposed, at least two quired, and the fare much higher. Also no free transfers are given from busses to street cars, but are universally free between street cars, making a further | tax on the passengers. If any arrangement has been made to safeguard present free transfers and | lower rates on busses than at present, I have failed to note same. It seems the public gets nothing but loss from the added use of busses. J. M. CAMPBELL. Avoids War, Not Licking. Prom the San Prancisco Chronicle. Prof. Phillips Bradley of Amherst, who gave the House Foreign Affairs Com- mittee so realistic a program by which America could keep out of future for- eign wars, might have added a couple more to his four proposals. One would be something like this: Notify all Americans that their Gov- ernment will not do a thing for them if they go abroad and get mistreated. Let them stay at home if they wish to be safe. And the other: Let the United States withdraw itself inside a wall s0 high foreigners cannot easily reach OVH\:M if a foreign nation does reach over and slap us, do nothing about it. These prescriptions might help to keep us out of war. But would they keep us from taking lickings? Who is the boy at school who takes a licking every day from the other boys? ‘The boy who won't fight. ‘The nation that will not fight in defense of its rights and its honor can expect to take plenty of lickings. The ancient Scots expressed the right principle when they placed, under their badge of the thistle, the words, nemo me impune lacessit—no one injures me with impunity. Quick Settlement. From the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Daily News. Senator Norris's proposal for a consti- tutional amendment to prevent 5-to-4 decisions by the United States Supreme Court on constitutional questions will provoke a great deal of debate, certainly; but there is one part of his plan which should meet wide acceptance, and that is his scheme for giving the Supreme Court original and exclusive jurisdiction in all law suits involving constitutional questions. As things are now, if you wish to test the constitutionality of a law, you file suit in any Pederal District Court. If that court feels the law to Be unconsti- tutional, it can restrain enforcement of the law, and many months may elapse before the question finally reaches the Supreme Court. Senator Norris would have the issue taken directly to the Supreme Court without all these intervening steps, and his idea looks sensible. It might, in fact, be even more sensible to have the court decide on a law's constitutionality the moment it is passed, before any attempt at enforcement is made. Failing that, the Norris plan is at least a step in the right direction. Willing to Be Leisurely. From the Lowell (Mass.) Bvening Leader. If the Puerto Ricans are not much excited about that proposal of statehood, it is perhaps because they are in no hurry to be subjected to a Federal in- come tax. ' A Rarity. Prom the Grand Rapids Press. Once in a long time a man walks into 2 drug store and asks for some kind of a drug. ————————— The Race Is Safe. Prom the Grand Island (Nebr.) Independent. A scientist warns that too much work 'mwukenmrm.sothereun\ml tmmediate danger of disintegration. ‘Templeton Jones sometimes wondered if he didn't permit the bad traits of humanity to impress him more than the good ones. In this he was very human and normal. If this were a favit, he thought, to concentrate on the faults of humanity, he had « great deal of company. Mostly he found other pecple, as well as himself, gave others credit for the worst motives. . They did this cheerfully, as if ex- pecting nothing else. A grouchy person, for instance, was called a grouch, just so. No one ever called him a sick man. Yet often enough he was so, and Jones, for one, wondered why he wasn't given credit for it. R ‘There was too much calling criminals sick, not enough calling sick men sick. No doubt there was something in- tensely wrong with the person who sold his birthright, but that there was any- thing not right with the ill man seemed too seldom recognized. Some of the ill in the world could be assuaged, if some attention were placed on trying to recognize the speech, habits and mentality of the physically sick person who perhaps does not show it. One might think that after all these centuries of living, as a race, mankind would recognize the sufferer, even when he attempted to hide it, but nothing is farther from fact. Every one knows of men and women who have gone com- pletely through their lives, without once being recognized as invalids, or semi- invalids, by the amazing obtuse persons around them. “Why I was talking to him yesterday!” they declare, as if that ought to settle the fact of his health, when all it shows was their own complete unawareness of the signs of ill health. Not all is gold that glitters, and often the desperate attempts the chronically ill person makes to hide his or her defi- clencies fool every one. But the ques- tion remains why they do. If we had half as much sense as we think we have, we should be able to detect the | fraud, not to lecture, or make misguided attempts to cure, but to treat with charitv and kindness one who needs it most. x oo ox What is more cruel, after all, in this curious life, than the treatment meted out, in all ignorance, to the many persons who show no particular signs of illness, but who, nevertheless, carry in them the seeds of speedy dissolution? If they were in beds, or rolling chairs, no one would be so cruel as to expect | much of them, in the ordinary harsh ways of the world, but because they are on their feet and attempting to go through the battle with the strong, they are treated on a par with the latter. It is no wonder they are grouchy, ill at ease, complaining, querulous, unable to “take it,” unwilling to see the joke in life. ‘The sad part of it is that the great average person—how many of him and her there are, to be sure—never makes the slightest attempt to judge on the possibility of these facts. Because he has made a brave atiempt to take part in the battle on his own feet, and with his own hands, he is accepted as one of the soldiers, and treated accordingly. The spectacle will remind the observer, perhaps, of the war days, when with concave chests were listed as “A-1," when the very men who so listed them knew they would, or at least ought to, be thrown out at the encampment. STARS, MEN ‘While there might be some danger of making mistakes, surely none of them would be very serious. While some persons might put one over on the kindly person, now and then, in the main the bulk of humanity only would benefit from his attempt to be kihd in his judgments. Every one, Templeton Jones thought, might make a start by keeping in mind, ut least now and then, the possibility of illness being to blame for grouchiness. Many a case of “just pure cussedness” is nothing but a hurt somewhere. Perhaps the very tissues of the body, in their dumb cellular way, have pre- monitions, too. The joy and happiness of life is not for them. Something has gone wrong with the chemical composition of the blood, or something, and even the great chemist cannot put it right. Sullenness lies in the very centers of the corpuscles, like a hidden hurt. How can the whole man, then, that curious aggregation of cells, tell life’s tale with gladness, when the hidden hurt of him cries out for ease and surcease? *x ok o If we were to be charitable in this preliminary judgment, and hold every man ill who wrongfully uses us, instead of writing him down an ass, a la Shake- speare, we might in the end come to some approximation of that good esteem we s0 easily hold of ourselves. ‘We ought not to wait for the evident signs of illness, the declining weight, the ashen brow, the mounting temperature, the hastening pulse, but see in the harsh word and the unhappy eyes the real evidences of sickness. This attitude would lower the snooty face, cause one’s self-esteem to take a | downward tumble, elevate the regard felt for others. It would put right things in their correct place, remove injustice from the position of swaggering aplomb. * % ¥ % Old man anger is still king of mankind. In the hundreds of cases in which most of us might judge more leniently, anger flares forth, causing us to give forth instant, harsh judgments. Instead of trying to believe the fellow ll, we find it more soothing to the aforementioned aplomb to consider him a mutt. If at all possible, we look at him angrily, because it is human to do it. It would be angelic, of course, to con- sider him ill. If we thought him sick, we would have to be sorry for him, and the anger in us does not want us to be sorry for him. It prods us on to forget if we see, or not even attempt to see, the possibility of some fault or flaw in him which makes him act or talk so. We are willing to admit his big flaw, but not the little ones which may be the real cause of the big one. Why is it that one must grow pale, or fall over, or be carried hence on a stretcher, before many persons will credit | Surely the cult of | health has something disastrous in it, | | patrol in a large city?—P. B. one with illness? when it deprives so many of the possi- bility of looking with charity on their | fellows. Health is grand, health is glorious, health is all the enthusiasts say it is, but ill health and sickness, of one sort or another, are waiting at the door for all, and he is wise who is able to understand this, and profit by it, both for himself, and those he loves, and even for those he knows not and loves not, yet would regard as com- rades on a strange journey to a land | he knows not. AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. The great Milky Way galaxy of stars | and star clouds is a single dynamic unit. That the billions of stars which com- | pose the celestial disk of light whirling | with terrific speed around its center obey a common law and are bound to- gether into a single system much like the sun and its planets is becoming increasingly clear with the latest find- ings of astronomers, is the contention of Prof. J. S. Plaskett of the Canadian Dominion Observatory in the annual report of the Smithsonian Institution. The dynamic unity of the system long has been suspected, he points out, but astronomers are just now approach- ing the accumulation of observations which will enable them to prove it. It is still a difficult task. The stars appar- ently are scattered through the heavens in patternless profusion, like a titanic swarm of mosquitoes. They seem to move at random, without any order to their movements. They congregate as family groups or act as individuals. There are whirling wheels within wheels, sometimes moving in opposite directions to each other. If stars were conscious they probably would think that they were doing as they pleased. But all the time they are subject to a universal law to which their indi- vidual behavior or the behavior of their groups are subordinate. Without being able to get outside the system itself it has been difficult for the mind of the astronomer to grasp the dynamic pic- ture of which he himself is an uncon- scious part. Some of the high lights of this pic- ture, as presented by Prof. Plaskett, follow: The galaxy contains about 200,000~ 000,000 stars. All have about the same weight. The sun with its nine planets constitute an average of these stars. They are distributed in a disklike form, like a watch, which is approxi- mately 100,000 light years in diameter and 10,000 light years in thickness. A light year—the distance traversed in & year by light moving at the speed of about 186,000 miles a second—is approxi- mately 6,000,000,000 miles. The distances between the stars in this disk are emormous. The nearest star to the sun—Alpha Centuri, which is visible only in the Southern Hemisphere —is four-and-a-half light years away. An express train traveling without stop at the rate of & mile a minute would reach it in 57,000,000 years. ‘The sun is situated approximately half way between the edge and the center of the disk. Around the disk, but at immense dis- tances away and in no way joined to it, but forming a part of the same dynamic system, are about 80 globe-shaped clus- ters of stars. These form a shell, described as “a cluster of guardian attendants on each side of the disklike ” The stars tend to become thicker to- ward the center of the disk which is located in the constellation of Sagit- tarijus, Here also is found the center of gravity of the whole system. Around this center the whole disk is rotating at an average speed of 300 kilo- center of gravity of the solar system which is approximately the center of the sun. The actual speed of a star’s move- ment in this great circle depends on its distance from the center of gravity, just as the speed of a planet’s rotation | depends on its distance from the sun. | A star 5,000 light years nearer the cen- ter than the sun will have a rotation of approximately 335 kilometers a sec- | ond. One 5,000 light years farther away will have a speed of about 265 kilo- meters a second. It requires 250,000,000 years for the sun to make a single circuit of the galactic center. It has made only five or six revolutions in its orbit during geological history. The space between the stars is not empty, but is pervaded uniformly by an almost incredibly diffuse matter, millions of times more tenuous than the highest vacuum that can be produced on earth. The molecules are about a centimeter apart. There would be only about four ounces of this gaseous matter in the whole volume of the earth. It forms a component part of the disk and rotates with it. The statement which hitherto has been difficult to prove is that this celes- tial disk actually is rotating. The earth s a part of it. Man is riding on it and cannot look at it from the outside. But within recent years the evidence for ro- tation has accumulated so that today an almost conclusive case can be pre- sented. Dr. Plaskett himself presents six argu- ments for the rapid whirling of the star disk around its center of gravity. First, the great extra-galactic nebulae, which are coming more and more to be considered as very similar to the galaxy itself, are rotating. Rapid rotation has been spectroscopically measured in sev- eral of them. Second, the disklike shape itself con- stitutes an argument for rotation. It is the shape that would naturally be taken by a whirling aggregation of stars. Otherwise they would tend to assume a globular distribution. The third argument comes from the presence of the cosmic diffuse matter. which obeys the galactic swing exactly as do the stars. Only rotation could have kept this gas distended throughout the system and have prevented it from collapsing long ago into a dense nebulae at the center. Still another argument comes from the fact that the assumption of galactic rotation explains the observed move- ments of the stars and the differences in speed of movement with distance from the center of gravity. Fifth, is that fact that the observed residual velocities of the most distant stars and of the cosmic cloud agree so closely with those that would be pro- duced by a rotation of the galaxy as to make any other explanation highly 1m) probabie. ‘The last argument is that the dimen- sions of the system and the direction of the center as determined dynamically from the analysis of the velocities agree almost exactly with those determined by the direct geometrical measures of the distance and position of the center. 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 Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washing- ton, D.C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q fk::n many more automobiles in use now ther: were a year or 0 8go? —H. E. H. > o A. In 1934 automobile registrations increased by 1,106,113 vehicles over 1933. Q. What dog is considered the great- est racing dog?—M. M. A. Menke's All Sports Record Book says: “Mick, the Miller, is regarded as the greatest racing dog ever known, though his exact breeding is unknown. He was owned by Father Brophy, an Irish priest, who raced him in London, 1929. He beat all competition. Four thousand dollars was offered for him by Arundel H. Kempton of London who agreed to give Father Brophy the purse if the dog won. The priest accepted the " offer, the dog won the derby and from 1929 to 1931 the brindled 66-pound wonder won $50,000 in purses for his owners, and almost countless cups and trophies. He made many records, in- cluding 34 seconds for 600 yards. He was retired in 1931 and is quartered at Walton-on-the-Thames for breeding i);arf?ses. He became 8 years old in Q. Is the dollar mark sometimes put after the numerals?—L. A. K. A. In Brazil and other Latin American countries, the dollar sign always follows the figures. Q. When was the peak of motion picture attendance?—A. K. W. A. In 1929 when 110,000,000 persons attended weekly. Q. When were tights first used in this country?—H. G. R. A. Tights were first introduced into the American circus in 1828. A bareback rider was forced to appear in his un- | derclothes, having failed to receive his costume in time for the performance. | Thereafter tights became the fashion. Q. Is Mother’s day observed in Eng- land?—E. T. A. It has been observed there since 1913. Q. What is a rotary motor? motor?—W. L. R. A, A rotary motor revolves about a stationary crankshaft. A radial motor is stationary and the crankshaft revolves. A radial Q. What is polenta?—E. F. A. It is an Italian dish, the chief ingredients of which are maize meal and salt. Sometimes wheat or chestnut meal is used. It is made into & thick paste, cut into fingerlike strips and baked, generally with an addition of cheese. It is eaten either by itself or with roast liver or steamed meat and sauce. Q. How many blocks does a policeman A. The area of a policeman's beat varies greatly with the neighborhood. In the downtown district of some cities. particularly in bad neighborhoods, 16 blocks would represent an average beat In suburban districts, beats occasionall: run as high as 72 blocks. Q. What is exorcism?—F. J. C. A. Tt is the expelling of an evil spirit by magic words or prayers. Q. Why are so many laundries named Troy Laundry?—M. B. A. The city of Troy, N. Y., the birth- place of the collar, cuff, and shirt in- dustry, was practically the home and for many years was the center of the steam laundry interests of the country, an interest which has now extended to every city or place of any importance in the land. So general is the recog- nition of this fact that the name, Troy Laundry, is still retained by hundreds of laundries in various parts of the United States and is even seen abroad. | It was natural that the earliest organ- ized movement to produce the machines demanded for laundering purposes should have been made in Troy. Q. Why did Heinrich Schliemann be- come an American citizen?—L. T. A. The great archeologist was trav- eling around the world in 1850. He happened to be in California when the territory became a State. Under the law Schliemann became a citizen of the United States. Q. What President was nicknamed Long Tom?—A. M. A. Thomas Jefferson was sometimes called Long Tom. He was tall and raw-boned. Q. Why can’'t a mongoose be brought into this country?—0. J. H. A. The Bureau of Biological Survey says that the mongoose is not allowed to be imported into this country be- cause it is notorious for its destructive character. It is true that this small mammal is a courageous killer of snakes, for which purpose it is used to advantage in India. However, it also kills poultry and ground-nesting birds and as an added example of its rapacity may be cited the experience of Jamaica, one of the large islands of the British West Indies. The mongoose was introduced into that island with the idea of ex- terminating the snakes there, but the species ran wild, multiplied enormously, and in a period of only a few years destroyed millions of dollars worth of poultry and game birds. Its importa- tion into this country is therefore pro- hibited under strict penalty of heavy fine. A few have reached the United States from time to time, but they have either been destroved or placed in zo- ological parks, and there is none at the present time. Q. What is the largest residence in the world?—E. W. A. The Vatican at Rome with several thousand rooms is said to be the largest., A Rhyme at Twilight By Gextrmde Brooks Hemilton Sun Cloud Blue track of sky and a great racing cloud, A chariot for the sun’s resplendent march! No shadows the diurnal journey shroud, The sun moves westward on the void of blue, Riding its chariot cloud in fiery hue. A friend of mine rides life that royal th':x{; entangling shxd(‘wws, brilliant, free. And, like the sun on a full-zenith day, He'll run an ardent course his whole - life through, ‘The world his chariot to the eternal bluel [}