Evening Star Newspaper, August 1, 1935, Page 10

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY ..c..cv.v00s.August 1, 1935 THEODORE W. NOYES...........Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Business Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave, New York Office: 110 East 4:nd St. Chicago Office: Lake Michigan Building Buropean Office: 14 Regent St., London. Engiand. the City. Rate by Carrier Within Rerulay Edition. ;‘n- Evening _45¢ per month enii B Rresne s -60c per month -65¢ per month ( days) when 5 Sundays S The Sunday Star__ Night Final Editl Night Pinal and Sunaay Star. Night Fina: Star________ Collection made at the T Orders may be sent by mail or tel tional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, ily an Sun aily only Sunday only.. All Oth Daily and Sunda: Daily only Sunday only. 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 and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Non Sequitur. ’ “soaking | If the President’s ideas of “soaking | upper branch of Parliament still re- the rich” or “sharing the wealth” were confined to the subjects discussed at the ‘White House yesterday with the corre- spondents he would not encounter the Stiff opposition which has marked public reaction to the curious tax bill now be- fore the House. The President referred to methods of | tax avoidance or evasion practiced by some of those whom he ironically dubbed the “thrifty,” declining to discuss the | pending tax bill. He had before him Treasury statistics relating to the “fifty- States"—those whose incomes in 1932 exceeded a million dollars. out that thirty-seven per cent of their aggregate income was tax free, having been derived from investment in tax- exempt securities. So—what? In his message to Con- gress on tax legislation the President suggested a constitutional amendment | dealing with tax-exempt securities. Such | be | ! court in only one instance—the gold an amendment would doubtless necessary to affect the issues of securi- ties by States and municipalities. But the Federal Government could remove such exemptions from its own future issues of securities any time it chose. As long as these issues are in competition with local issues, of course, it would be placing Government securities at a dis- advantage to make them taxable. But there is the additional fact that unless the Government sought to repudiate another clause of its bonds, the out- standing issues of Government securi- ties, totaling in the neighborhood of thirty billion dollars, not to mention the great total of outstanding local Gov- ernment securities, would not be affected by any constitutional amend- ment. They would remain tax exempt, and only the new issues would be affected. The matter of tax evasion by the wealthy, either through the legitimate method of investing in Government bonds—which enjoy an inviting privi- lege not accorded private issues—or through the formation of “family trusts” to escape inheritance levies or through | gifts in advance of death, has nothing | to do with the illogical and unsound proposition of ‘“sharing the wealth” through destructive taxation of wealth. Tax evasion is practiced only by the very wealthy. If the Government chooses to cut off its nose to spite its face by taxing its own securities nobody will seriously object. And the tears that are shed by closing other loopholes to tax evasion will be shed by a relatively few taxpayers—not many more than the fifty-eight “thriftiest” taxpayers men- tioned by the President. But the weight of the tax burden will bear down, as always, not upon the very wealthy, but upon the ordinary run of people. That fact cannot be disguised by shadow boxing with share- the-wealth theories. r——— Abyssinia regards itself as holding some slight strategic advantage in the fact that no part of it has ever been advertised as a Summer resort. e Mussolini edits his own newspaper, which enables the cub reporter to feel like one of the dogs of war. ——e—. The Scouts’ Jamboree. Following a special conference of pub- lic health authorities yesterday an- nouncement was made that there is no occasion to cancel the “jamboree” of the Boy Scouts which has been scheduled for August 21-30 in this city. Fears had been expressed lest this gathering of Youngsters, estimated at 25,000 in num- ber, would cause a dangerous spread of poliomyelitis, commonly known as in- fantile paralysis, which is now somewhat rife in certain States nearby and to some extent in the District. After a full survey of the situation, however, those conferring, eminent in the study of disease and in part representing the areas affected, concluded that the risk of infection was too slight to justify a change of the program. If there were such a prevalence of this dread disease in and around Washington as to constitute a menace to the health and possibly the lives of the Boy Scouts certainly the great assemblage of the organization should not be held. In no manner or degree should there be any fnvitation to an epidemic spread. The judgment of those at yesterday’s confer- ence is that there is mo such danger. The “jamboree” is certain to be most carefully conducted, in circumstances and with equipment of inspection cal- culated to lessen to a negligible point the possibility of contagion. The Boy Scouts are trained in obedi- ence to regulations and are exceptionally amenable to discipline. That they will conform to all the rules of sanitation during their big meeting is assured. That N | cipline the Supreme Court. eight thriftiest people in the United | e they Will be most scrupulously watched to detect the first signs of the transmission of this disease is certain, To cancel the meeting, after such elaborate prepara- tions NAVe been made for it, with their camping sites carefully chosen and with sanita’y equipment provided as on few previous occasions, would be deplorable and requisite only in the face of a greater menace than that which has been feared by some. These boys will come 10 the “jamboree” in z00d health, That is g requisite con= dition of their attendance. That they will benefit physically from their par- ticipation in the meeting, as well as otherwise, is assured, barring some un- toward And unforeseen contingency, and in the light of yesterday’s conference there 1S N0 likelihood of an epidemic spread of Poliomyelitis. A Supreme Court Drive. Something more than a quarter cen- | tury ago. David Lloyd George led a movement to restrict the powers of the House of Lords. Americans probably | will not recall the struggle, but it was a classic battle and it ended in victory for the aggressive Welshman—“a con- stitutional revolution of the first magni- tude was effected,” and the peers were obliged to recognize the “legislative su- premacy Of the Commons.” But the tained its status as the “highest court of judicature in the realm,” and not even the Labor majorities of the Au- tumn of 1923 could change its character in that regard. Apparently, the British | electorate is too temperamentally con- servative 10 be willing to submit the principles of fundamental law to the untrammeled influences of unmitigated democracy. The voters of the United States, how- ever, just now are being invited to dis- No frank announcement has been made of any | such campaign, nor is it likely that one He pointed will be, but the highest tribunal's deci- sion in the N. R. A. case admittedly has earned for it the active displeasure of all those adventurous individuals and | opportunistic political groups who wish to take advantage of the depression to accomplish drastic social reforms “by legal processes 1f possible, but by other methods if necessary.” The Roosevelt administration has been indorsed by the clause matter, approved by the narrow | margin of a single vote; and the Presi- dent himself repeatedly has expressed his resentment. Mark Sullivan sums up a popular impression when he says that the Chief Executive seems to be plan- ning an appeal for re-election “accom- panied by a mandate to curb the power of the court, or change the Constitu- tion, or both.” But Mr. Roosevelt is somewhat handi- capped to command a drive of that kind. It happens that he is under oath to “preserve, protect and defend” the Con- stitution, and only an excessively liberal conception of that covenant with God and his country could excuse any effort | on his part to alter it expediently. His duty, rather, is to adjust himself and his policies to the basic formulas of the land, and there would be serious danger in & political Armageddon fought to enlarge the executive powers at the ex- pense of the judicial. He might win— Wwhich would be cataclysmically disturb- ing to the Nation; or he might lose— which would be fatally destructive of his hope for another term in office. Doubtless the problem is being con- | sidered by Mr. Roosevelt's political ad- visers. Clever men as they are sup- posed to be. they may prefer a less perilous issue for 1936. But, if so, they will be obliged to act promptly. Their enemies, it is indicated, are delighted over the prospect of defending the court against its critics, the fundamental law against its radical foes. s Much has been said off the record. When a complete picture of dominant | policies the record is likely to present | problems resembling those of the jigsaw | puzzle, ——————— Meat prices have gone to a point that | makes vegetarianism popular. Patriotic thrift will take its spinach gracefully. r———— American Roadways. Coming back to the United States from foreign climes, the average American, 1t would seem, cannot fajl to notice the disorderly condition of land abutting upon the common highways of travel. In no European country would he ever see such untidy confusion. characteristic aspect of the national mind is disclosed by the waste repre- sented. Less rich communities simply cannot afford to discard so many po- tentially useful materials, An old auto- mobile in Germany, for example, would be reduced to its basic elements and refabricated; but the values represented probably do not appear to be worth the trouble in America. Also the matter of civic pride is involved. The typical Britisher loves his home town too keenly to be willing to have it surrounded with public dumps for the convenience of lazy citizens. He keeps his own house and garden neat and clean and expects his neighbors to do likewise. One explanation of his attitude, perhaps, is his conviction that landscape is a salable commodity—no tourist, he knows, wishes to journey to Canterbury, Oxford or Stratford through a wilderness of discardeq tin cans, aban- doned furniture and weegs, The ubiquitous billboarq customarily is banned abroad for simjlar reasons. It is understood that the pilgrim from the West has not come to Europe %o ride through miles of battered hoardings dedicated to propaganda for rival brands of commercial products, The purpose of his visit is appreciated, and & con- sclous and deliberate efrory is made by the whole population of the Nether- lands, for instance, to Justify his expec- tations of an unmarreq countryside. Ordinarily, however, Amerjcans see no point in using space, time or energy in behalf of neatness along arteries of traffic. The principal objectjye of travel in the United States is thay of getting Perhaps & | A—10 e BT THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, _— " somewhere by the shortest and quickest route, and if the way lies through an ugly stretch of territory it does not greatly matter. One day in the future, however, there may be an awakening. Possibly the depression will open the public’s eyes to the dangers of extrava- gance and the perils of expediency prac- ticed at the expense of others. A neater country, surely, would be a happier as well as a healthier country in which to reside and travel. —— 'Hle Health Fund, The communify is indebted to the members of House and Senate whose reported agreement in conference on a $45,000 item—contained in the pending deficiency bill—ior the District Health Department will make possible a .be- ginning, at least, on an adequate health program for the District. Senator King, in particular, is to be commended for his interest in this matter; his un- flagging support of the community in- | terests which led to the insertion of the item in the deficiency bill after its defeat at the hands of the conferees on the District appropriation bill. ‘While $45,000 does not meet the needs of the Health Department and does not permit the work which Dr. Ruhland and the community anticipate will later become a regular, normal function of the Health Department, it represents approval by Congress of the principle and makes possible a beginning on the program. That is something. And when the appropriation is finally made in the deficiency bill it will point the way | for the increased health funds which must be included in the District bill for the next fiscal year. It is as short-sighted and as illogical for a community to save money by neglecting its public health needs as it | would be for an individual to place his health in jeopardy by refusal to assume | the cost of necessary medical attention. The local taxpayers have not been in favor of any such wasteful “economy,” nor will the members of Congress who are willing to take the time to examine the needs for which the money is sought. + e ‘The late Sam Gompers feared the insidious intrusion of Communism. He had his own chiselers to fight and he carried on the fight with unremitting | vigilance. ————————— Communist organizations in this coun- | try are not likely to be formidable. There are habitual joiners who go into every new society just to learn what it is all about. ———— As rumors revive it seems that not only should West Pointers be taught to dance, | but that statesmen of all nations should be schooled in the polite formalities of diplomatic interchange. e The Reconstruction Finance Corpora- tion handled some large transactions, but R. F. C. is liable to figure among the forgotten alphabeticisms as affairs pro- gress into the billions. —— e The idea of a naval ratio is resolving itself into an understanding that permits | any nation to build as many battleships as it thinks it can afford. e Crops that need harvesting are p.o- viding work for the jobless, with none | of the humiliating suggestions that are | supposed to attach to the dole. e e Shooting Stars, BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. One Prayer Granted. @entle T. Marshall, good Vice President, Offered one phrase to soothe our dis- content. 2 Said he, “Although our needs most numerous are, ‘The greatest is a good five-cent cigar.” But there are other needs which must | arise While seeking the cigar that satisfies. | We need the lazy hour when roses sweet | Send perfume Lady Nicotine to greet. We need the gentle memories that smile | While wreathing rings may frame them | for awhile. | As delicately cares may drift afar, | At least we're grateful for a good cigar. Retribution. “Do you see any good in reducing cur- rency values?” “Some,” answered Senator Sorghum. “It’ll serve the boys who got a little graft right to discover that the money isn't worth anything in particular.” Jud Tunkins says agriculture needs | farm hands once in awhile to help pay | the taxes that may be needed for relief. Mpysterious Transformation. The story Stevenson once told Perhaps a moral will unfold. Of Dr. Jekyl we have read, And Mr. Hyde has brought us dread. A politician is benign And next to hatred will resign All the affection that he knew— It is a story, strange but true. Civic Betterment. “Has Crimson Gulch a group of cit- izens to work for civic betterment?” “Yes,” said Cactus Joe. “But during the crime wave it hasn't been able to do much beyond serving as a coroner’s Jury.” Encores Not Requested. History repeats itself! As old facts are revealed With tales of envy and of pelf We'd rather leave concealed. History repeats itself! With tales of cruel fright. I'd rather leave it on the shelf To be forgotten quite. «Dar is all kinds of alphabet talk goin’ around,” said Uncle Eben, “but dey don'’t seem to git de best of dat old com- bination, ‘L. O. U.'" r. r THE POLITICAL MILL By C. Gould Lincoln. FALMOUTH, Mass, July 31.—The Roosevelt tax bill, share the wealth or what you will, is before the House as drafted by the Ways and Means Com- mittee. The bill gets away from some of the President’s recommendations. Senator Pat Harrison has rushed to the defense of the President’s tax plan as is. It sounds as though the President, not the Congress, is elected to put through tax legislation. The Ways and Means Committee of the House, however, has shown some signs of independence—not a great many, but some. It has been a tradition that the taxes are to originate in the house, not the White House. So the Ways and Means Committee has abandoned the President’s idea that the individual income surtaxes shall be raised only on incomes above $1,000,000 and has brought the higher surtaxes down to in- comes of $50,000 and more. It has also discarded in the main the President’s plan for levying corporation taxes according to the size of the corpo- ration and has substituted an excess profits tax in these organizations of capital and industry. % % % It has been charged from the start that the Roosevelt tax*bill was merely & political gesture. Certainly no one will contend that the tax bill as reported to the House from the Ways and Means Committee is in any way adequate to meet the needs of the Federal Govern- ment for money to balance the budget. If the President’s plan had been fol- lowed to the letter, it would be even less a budgét-balancing bill, for it would have raised much less than the $275,000,000 additional revenue that the experts now estimate will flow from the new bill. There is a group of Progressives in the Senate, however, who do not care par- ticularly whether Mr. Roosevelt scores a political gesture or not. This group, with Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wis- consin as a leader, is intent upon having passed a bill that will raise something like $1,000.000.000 more revenue. It is true that this group is not par- ticularly concerned with balancing the | Government budget. La Follette is one of those who believes in even larger appropriations for public works than the | Roosevelt administration has advocated. The group, however, really believes in raising more taxes on the ground that they are needed. To raise more taxes will mean to tax more people—to make the burden fall on millions where the President’s bill will affect only thousands or less. * ok ok x Senator Harrison, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and there- fore in charge of the tax bill when it shall have reached the Senate, is likely to find it a tough job to cut the tax bill of the House back to the dimensions of the President’s plan. The Progressives are out to do just the other thing. They want a tax bill much more extended. ‘The tax bill, it looks now, is going to D. €, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1935. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. “This book belongs to Roger Ascham and his friends.” Modern klovers will be grateful to the old scholar for that sentence, written in Greek across the title page of one of his volumes. 8 It points straight to one of the su- preme happinesses of books, the sharing of them. Who today, however, has such friends? Now it is the friend who forgets to return the book he borrowed— The friend who dog-ears the corners, and turns down the pages— ‘The friend who, eating chocolate candy as he or she reads, leaves a trail of smears from page to page— The friend who permits the children to scrawl at will down all the margins— The friend who loans borrowed books— Who stains the covers, cracks the back, leaving an inevitable split that will never come out— Who spills ink over the title page— Who might, if he would, give us the pleasure Roger Ascham knew— But who, of course, never does! Ascham was a famous man Jn his day, best remembered as tutor to Princess Elizabeth (later Queen) and Lady Jane Gray. Living between 1515 and 1568, writ- ing mostly in Greek and Latin, he is remembered today because he was among the first to praise English as a vehicle of thought and literature. He came in just the right age for it, and it was to bear glorious fruit, too. * kK x “This book belongs to Roger Ascham | and his friends.” Surely, that is the right attitude. Seldom will one find it put so suc- cinctly, however. The brotherhood of the republic of letters is stated, so that there can bé no doubt of it at all. The book, once and for all, though purchased and legally owned by Ascham, belongs to him and his friends. There is nothing ambiguous there, nothing in the least resembling a sen- tence written by another famous man, “I do not choose to run.” * X X x Perhaps Ascham did not write that note on all his books. No doubt he did not. Not all books are for others, friends or not; some books are for one’s own self, and none other. The Greek professor of another age than ours, a more stately age, we like to think without any attempt to detract from our own, loved his books in the right way. A few he kept for himself, alone, but most of them for his friends, likewise. Every one would like to! It is a sorrow of the age, that few can do it. We have enumerated some of the sad results of trying. | Every one who loves books knows | them. Also many another. The list is as long as the carelessness of mankind. get itself into the coming national cam- | paign, one way or another. Democrats do not like the idea of imposing heavy taxes on a lot of people in the face of ! an election. It is not playing the game according to accepted rules. The party that imposes taxation on the people has to bear the burden of criticism. If the Republicans in Con- gress vote for it, attach itself to the party in power. So the Republicans can, if they wish, go right to it and support the increased | taxes with comparative political im- punity. Whether they will or not is an- other thing. Anyway, the needed rev- enue is apparent to every one. e ‘The sooner the people generally un- derstand that they have to pay for all the expenditures which the Roosevelt administration is making the better. The Republicans, however, still do not seem to be able to get together in their attack | | on the Roosevelt New Dealers. Chair- man Henry P. Fletcher of the G. O. P. National Committee issued a blast over the radio the other night. Instead of striking a responsive chord in the breasts of some of the Repub- licans in Congress, it evoked some criti- cism from them. For example, Senator McNary of Oregon, the Republican leader of the Upper House, does not agree that Chairman Fletcher should deal with questions of legislation. McNary, however, has never been sat- isfied with the selection of Fletcher to be chairman of the Republican Na- tional Committee. He is disinclined to oppose some of the New Deal measures, for which he and other Republicans voted in Congress. Yet the New Deal is to be the issue in the next campaign. How it can be straddled by some of these Republicans presents a serious question. Perhaps the election in the first congressional district of Rhode Island next Tuesday, to fill a vacancy in the House, may result in putting a | little courage into the Republican heart as a whole—if the G. O. P. nominee should win or run very close to his Democratic opponent. Last Monday there was an election in Stonington for borough officers. The Republicans won 14 out of 18 offices con- tested for. The only Democrats to win were those indorsed by the Republicans. This is the first Republican victory in the borough in 40 years, the Democrats having dominated the borough during all that time. Whether the Stonington election is an indication of State-wide disaffection with the Democratic party is a question. It may, however, be a straw. X K K ok A good deal may hang on the result in the Rhode Island district next Tues- day. * If the Republicans should win, and send a Republican to Congress in place of a Democrat, certain gentlemen who are having doubts as to whether to get into the presidential race may perk up and show more courage. All they need to know is that the tide is turning against Roosevelt and their hats will go into’the ring fast enough. It is the early candidate who gets the delegates, nine times out of ten. On the other hand, if the Democrats win handily in this district, the President and his followers will interpret the elec- tion as a vindication of the New Deal. They will be more ready than ever to go forward with their demands for New Deal legislation. 3 They might even be enticed into mak- ing some definite statement about a constitutional amendment to validate the New Deal and so get around the Su- preme Court of the United States and its decisions. * k Xk X Judge Charles F. Risk, the Republican nominee for the House in the first Rhode Island congressional district, is making his campaign an attack on both the Roosevelt administration and the Green admunistration in Rhode Island. Green is Governor. The mill people in Rhode Island are being asked by the Repub- licans why they should have their live- lihood endangered through the imposi- tion of “process taxes,” not only on cotton, but other farm products, and at_the same time have their costs of living forced higher and higher by the same taxes. It is rather a potent argu- ment in this part of the country. r still the blame will | STARS, MEN D Indifference is at the heart of it, 1s its core, its very point of life. Not so much indifference to the rights of otherf, as indifference to their evi- dent wishes. Just a lack of thinking, a lack of carefulness. Any one who borrows a volume in good shape migh: think at once, if he would think, that the owner evidently has kept it well because he loved it. He might then go on to think, a not stupendous task, that a little care on his own part were needful, in order to keep it that way. * ok x % He does not think that way, of course, for two reasons. He is not particular about his own books, in the first place, and he is in- different to the wishes of others. Carelessness and indifference, two curses of humanity, play their hands. And how! They smear fair pages, crumple them, dog-ear corners, bend down pages, crease them, stain them with edibles. They throw books around, drop them off tables, bear them along in the rain without protection, even tear off bits of the margins. ‘They use them as doorstops in winds, and to prop up windows whose pulley and cord arrangements have been broken, The friend of books can visualize a whole train of more horrible offenses, but prefers not to. He has not seen them, only heard about them. Any librarian can tell you of the un- thinkable things done to books, all in the name of education and reading. * x X % All this, of course, is just too bad, for no booklover asks more than to be able to share his books. with his friends. In an idyllic state of society, would be half the fun. Surely there is no heart so dead, no mind so shrunken, that it has not said that | to itself, “This is a swell book, I must lend it to Bill” Every one, even the careless man, knows the feeling, and honors it. It means that the republic of letters | is in operation. It means that the elation of good writing is to be passed on, to continue its good work of elation. of the reading of something good, as we say, does not last long. It is evanescent, that is all the more reason why it should be passed on to | others, so that they, in their turn, may evoke it, and keep its precious memories for their own. ‘This book, this precious volume, be- longs not just to me, but to my friends —alas! And they smear apples on it, if Iam so careless as to loan it to 'em. Roger Ascham, old scholar, was a fortunate man. He had friends who treasured his | books for him, else he never in the world would have written that precious line. Let us, over the ages, congratulate and thank Roger Ascham—and his friends. AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory An obscure substance known as panto- thenic acid may be a universal growth | elixir. | Preliminary experiments in which the | weight of alfalfa plants+was nearly doubled by placing minute quantities of this acid in the nutrient solution in | which they were grown are reported in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Charles H. McBurney, Walter B. Bollen and Roger J. Williams of the staff of Oregon State College. This acid, they explain, apparently is a constituent of nearly all living tissue, plant or animal. Not only is it a growth stimulant, but it glays a part in the | fixation of nitrogen in the soil where it | becomes available for plant life. To | learn the mechanism of this process was | the primary purpose of the experiment. | Nitrogen is taken from the air and i fixed in the earth through the co-opera- | tion of the leguminous plants, such as | alfalfa and clover, and certain soil bac- | teria. The latter form nodules on the roots of the plants and at some stage in this process the nitrogen fixation occurs. Just what happens, nobody has been able to determine. So far as known, the bac- teria will not fix the nitrogen in the absence of the plants, nor vice versa. | Fixation has not been demonstrated ex- cept where the plant-bacteria relation- ship exists. The presence of the bacteria | is necessary for the healthy growth of | the plant. | The Oregon scientists found first that the bacteria produce this pantothenic acid. The amount produced increases steadily as the bacteria colony grows, a | fact demonstrated by raising these mi- nute organisms in sugar solutions. | as the bacteria feed on the roots of the | alfalfa they pass on to the plant the excess amounts of this acid which they are producing, thus in turn stimulating its growth so that the partnership can be continued, and in the process fixing nitrogen in the soil so that other plants can live and grow upon it. * *x X % In the experiment reported alfalfa was grown in solution in three sets of test tubes. One set contained only the ordi- nary plant nutrients. One was innocu- lated in addition with soil bacteria. The third received the minute amounts of ‘pantothenic acid. After a few days it became apparent that the plants in the third set were uniformly larger and healthier than those in the other two. The difference between them and those grown in the nutrient solution alone was striking. Those grown in the solution containing the bacteria were almost, but not quite, as vigorous. Growth continued for a month, after which all three sets of plants were har- vested. The control plants had achieved a growth of 31 millimeters, as against 45 millimeters for those grown in the tubes containing the bacteria and 51 millimeters for those which had been treated with the pantothenic acid. The total weight per plant of the first set was 4.70 milligrams, of the second 7.10 and of those which had had the benefit of the pantothenic acid, 8.05. Since the chemical composition of all the solution had been rigidly controlled, the pres- ence of the bacteria and of the acid afforded the only possible explanation for the increased growths. ‘WHen it came to nitrogen fixation In the solutions, however, the score was very heavily in favor of the bacteria. In the test tubes to which th€ pantothenic acid had been added there was only a trifie more than in those where the alfalfa had been grown with only a nutrient solution. As a matter of fact, the acid contains no nitrogen itself. Its actual formula still has to be worked out satisfactorily by‘ organic chemists. * ® % At the fixed nitrogen laboratory of the Department of Agriculture two years ago there demonstrated the nutritional Thus | which are parasitized by the organisms | and Study. BY TNOMAS R. HENRY. as “coensyme R.”. Apparently this is | supplied to the microscopic organisms by | the legumes in return for the panto- thenic acid which enables them to grow. The ingestion of the unknown sub- stance may be necessary to enable bac- teria to fix nitrogen, but that the plant alone, with or without pantothenic acid. has some capacity for this work is dem- onstrated by the Oregon expepmenls, * % x x . Firefly “constellations” are described by Gerrit S. Miller, jr., curator of mam- mals of the Smithsonian Institution, in a communication to Science. The synchronous flashing of large numbers of these insects in a given area has often been described. It is one of the spectacular phenomena of insect life. Apparently nearly all the fireflies over a field will flash and darken simul- taneously for several minutes at a time. The phenomenon is perhaps most spec- tacular when it takes the form of the “flashing trees” of the tropics, when a quarter of a mile long will alternately flash and become dark. Numerous efforts have been made to | explain the phenomenon, but none has | been accepted as entirely satisfactory. Mr. Miller thinks that no one explana- | tion will fit all cases. He saw firefly constellations in Jamaica, where the in- sects occurred in great aggregations. He describes them as constellationlike groups of from 20 to 40 simultaneously flashing insects forming and disintegrat- | ing at different points among the large and active firefly population then on the wing. The flashes were of short dura- tion and at the rate of about 20 a minute. The constellations formed 10 to 25 feet above the ground. On of them would remain clearly defined for two or three minutes, slowly drifting along. Only insects of a single constellation flashed simultaneously. Several groups existing at the same time flashed inde- pendently of each other. Also, there always were a few insects in the area of the “constellation” which did not take part in the synchronous flashings, but flashed independently. Mr. Miller offers no explanation of the phenomenon. ——oe—s Proper Garb for Il Duce. From the Indianapolis Star. Premier Mussolini should procure a chariot and a purple nightshirt if he wishes to revive the glories of the Caesars. Japan on Tour. From the Miami (Fla.) Herald. Japan is planning a good-will tour in the United States. Let us hope it is not the kind she is enjoying in China. A Rhyme at Twilight By - Gertrude Brooke Hamilton The Garish Way In youth he knew the level plain of peace. Rebellious of its quiet, ordered way From the monotony he sought release, Sought for a life more venturesome and gay. A broad and easy downgrade met his sight, 5 Gaily adventurous it stretched ahead. He chose the reckless pathway with delight, Not knowing, even caring, where it led! thotflthnfo:ndmmeolthat vale The upgrade is not easy to attain. of trail, This fine feeling, at the conclusion | | archery, | leaping, vaulting and other such games | fashion, | took him to Bath. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS By Frederic ]. 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. Is the present fad of shallow water diving a dangerous one?—N. H A. Fred Mills, national director of health and safety, Boy Scouts of Amer- ica, says that the sport is dangerous. Homemade equipment brings an added peril. Only equipment approved by the United States Government should be used, and then only by persons who have been properly trained. Q. Under whose instruction was Grace Moore’s voice trained?—M. McG. A. Miss Moore received the major por- tion of her musical education from Dr. Mario Marafiotti in New York City. Of course, she has done some work and coaching with European teachers, but she owes her splendid knowledge of music, opera and the proper use of the vocal chords to Dr. Marafiotti. Q. When will the national rifle and pistol matches take place?—J. G. A. These competitions will be held at Camp Perry, Ohio, September 1 to 19. Q. What became of Mrs. Patrick Campbell's husband?—E. H. A. Patrick Campbell was killed in 1900 in the Boer War. Q. What is the significance of Bull | Moose as applied to Theodore Roose- velt?>—C. P. A. The name was applied to Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 arising from his re- mark, “I feel as fit as a bull moose.” | Through constant use of this animal's | figure by the cartoonists in connection with Roosevelt's political campaign as the presidential nominee of the Progres- | sive party, he became known as the Bull Moose candidate and the party as the Bull Moose party. Q. What is stratigraphv?—A. G. A. That branch of geology that deals with the arrangement, age and succes- sion of rock strata, mainly as revealed by the contained fossils. Q. What was the Book of Sports?— FLcp. A. This was a popular name for the | proclamation issued in 1618 by James I, and ordered to be read in all churches, wherein it was declared that dancing. May games, morrice-dances were lawful on Sunday, but prohibiting bear-baiting, bowling and interludes. Q. Where is Tennyson buried?—M. P. A. He is buried beside Robert Brown- ing in Westminster Abbey. Q. What is the derivation of the term “must” as applied to legislation before Congress?—L. S. A. It comes from the newspaper office and was first suggested to President | Roosevelt in the Spring of 1934 by a | newspaper man’s question as to the relative importance of several pending measures. In newspaper parlance “must at the head of a piece of copy means that the story must appear in the next edition, regardless of space available. Q. Is the funny bone realiy a bone?— W. A A. it is not. The name is given to the ulnar nervé. It is so slightly proteeted | by the internal condyle of the humerus that it is easily affected by blows on that part. Q. Who is the ruler of the Tonga Islands?—R. C. A. A British protectorate over the Tonga Islands Kingdom was proclaimed May 18, 1900. The present ruler is Queen Salote, who has reigned since 1918. Q. What is stone coal?—M. S. A. The name is used to some extent | in the United States and in England for | anthracite coal | soft or bituminous coal. to distinguish it from On the conti- nent of Europe it is more frequently used to distinguish the older (carbonic) coals from the later Mesozoic and Cen- ozoic coals and lignites. Q. Do “falling stars” originate in our solar system or enter it from outside : | space?—T. M. row of trees sometimes as much a&s a A. A large percentage of the meteor- ites come from interstellar space. Q. How long has still-life painting been known?—C. J. 8. A. This branch of art flowrished from the earliest days of color decoratian, and was at its highest perfection’during the Alexandrian age. The paiptings gt Pom- | peii_and the Roman igosaics fyrnish many fine examples of it.- The ancient Greek painter Pausias was especially skillful in the representation.of flowers. Q. Who was the first American to be- come & missionary bishop of the Epis- | copal Church?—R. L. A. The Rev. Jackson Kemper. He was consecrated on September 25, 1835. Q. Please give a biography of Beau Nash—F. R. C. A. Richard Nash, English leader of was born at Swansea, Wales, October 18, 1674. He studied at Jesus College, Oxford, and was for a time in the army. In 1705 his skill in gaming Here he became a self-appointed but arbitrary master of ceremonies, becoming known as the King of Bath. His vanity grew with his power. He appeared in a monstrous cream-colored beaver and journeyed by post-chariot with three spans of grays, footmen and outriders. Gambling was prohibited by law in 1740 and Nash lost his trade. The town granted him an annuity of £10 per month. Q. In what way has the X-ray aided medical science?—S. T. A. The Public Health Service says that the invention of the X-ray is of three- fold importance to the medical profes- sion. It has made possible the examina- tion of fractured bones to insure proper methods of healing; the examination of internal organs such as the stomach and lungs, and consequent increase in knowl- edge as to the position and function; and finally, the rays themselves have a certain medicinal and therapeutic value, as in the treatment of skin cancers. Q. Who are the Yeomen of the Guard?—J. L. A. This veteran company consists of old soldiers employed on grand occa- sions in conjunction with the gentle- men-at-arms as the bodyguard of the British sovereign. These yeomen were constituted a corps in 1485 by Henry VII, and they still wear the costume of that period. Q. About how many lawyers are there in Washington, D. C.?2—R. H. A. Twenty-four hundred are listed in the Washington Telephone Directory. Q. How high are the tides in the Okhotsk Sea?—E. F. A. According to Russian investigators, these tides which occur only once in 24 hours, reach & height of 37 feet. ,