Evening Star Newspaper, December 10, 1935, Page 8

ZA-8 | THE EVENING STAR ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY ............December 10, 1935 THEODORE W. NOYES...........Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Business Offic 1th St. anc Pennsylvania Ave. ice: 110 East 42nd 8t. Office; Lake Michigan Building, ce: 14 Regent St.. London, Bugland. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Regular Edition. Star eemeeea85c per month b¢ per copy ight Final Edition. ght Pinal and Sunday Star-...70c per month tht Final Stal—eo..-. - --_b5c 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. Marviand and Virginia. Fm u:1 Sunday...l yr. tlg o el U unlu [LTE —— 0 All Other States {ly and Sunday. “J only____. ay only=ZZ2ZT Member of the Assoclated Press. ‘The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to all news dispatches the nd also g rights of publication of special dispatches rein are also reserved. Shifting the Burden. * Imagine an enterprise financed by two partners, Partner A holds all the voting stock, but provides not quite fif- teen per cent of the annual outlay for operation and development of the con- cern. Partner B has no voting power, but is required to put in approximately eighty-five per cent. Of course, one would have to use {magination to conjure up such a situa- tion in the business world. Yet that is substantially the basis on Which the National Capital is being financed to- day, as a result of the practice Congress adopted eleven years ago of furnishing the Federal share of the city’s expenses in an arbitrary lump sum, bearing no fixed ratio to the total to be spent. An additional unique peculiarity of the National Capital partnership is that Partner B, the eighty-five per cent con- tributor, pays also part of the fifteen per cent contribution of Partner A. The latter’s contribution is drawn from na- tional taxes paid in varying amounts by forty-eight States, two Territories and the District of Columbia. The District pays into the national tax fund more than twenty-three States and two Ter- ritories, more than nine States com- bined, and more per capita than twenty- eight States. Partner B thus contrib- utes heavily on both sides of the part- nership account and has not by law a word to say concerning the raising and spending of his tax contribution on either side of the partnership. The Federation of Citizens’ Associa- tions is fully justified, therefore, in urg- ing, as it did on Saturday night, that Congress correct the inequity of the present situation by returning to a fair and equitable Federal payment before recommendations are made as to new or increased taxes locally. In the absence of voting power, the taxpayers who make up the local end of the partnership have only the right of petition, as exercised by the Federa- tion in the resolutions it has just adopted. It is to be hoped that when the mem- bers of Congress reach the question of appropriating for the Capital City this Winter they will recognize that the abso- lute power which they possess over the residents of Washington carries with it & greater responsibility to see that jus- tice is done between the Nation and the local taxpayer, who has no vote in the body which taxes him. The definite percentage ratio of fiscal relationship which prevailed for nearly half a century—first on the 50-50 basis and later 60-40—protected the local com- munity from inequity. But a decade of experience with the lump-sum Federal payment has demonstrated what Wash- ingtonians feared in advance, namely, that the burden would be transferred more and more to the unrepresented local partner. —— e Tt is easy to make light of the United States Supreme Court, but as complica- tions increase it is handy to fall back on in an emergency. “Petition Denied.” ‘The summary manner in which the Supreme Court yesterday denied the petition of Richard Bruno Hauptmann for a review of his trial in New Jersey for the murder of the Lindbergh child was altogether characteristic of that tribunal. It never differentiates between cases on the score of public interest, but regards them all as merely items of procedure, whatever their sensational backgrounds. In this instance the Hauptmann appeal was one of eighteen requests for remedy at the hands of the ‘highest court and was merely listed ‘with them, after two of the brief orders were read, with the announcement that all would be “posted by the clerk.” This denial closes the doors of the highest court to the New Jersey peti- tioner, who now has left only his final appeal to the State Court of Pardons, which, at the present stage, can only grant clemency in the form of com- mutation of the death sentence to a term of imprisonment, perhaps for life. ‘That court cannot set aside the verdict, which can be rescinded only by the original trial court in case a pléa of new evidence, accompanied by a positive showing of material discoveries, is judged worthy of consideration. There has been much talk of such new evidence, but nothing tangible has developed. Senational statements have appeared to the effect that a certain detective of some local repute as & solver of crimes has uncovered such material. He Jnow denies that he has made discoveries of this nature. The Governor of the State, who recently arrested public atten- tion by visiting the condemned man in *his cell, & most unusual procedure, gives *no further indication of a partisanship ")uuesuva of a disposition toward clemency. Hauptmann 1s entitled to the benefit of A THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. €. TUESDAY. DECEMBER 10, 1935. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, any reasonable doubt that may be raised on the score of his guilt. He has, indeed, been already given that benefit in the course of his trial, during which he was permitted through his counsel to present every conceivable scrap of evidence to combat that of the prosecution. Twelve jurors have unanimously declared him to be guilty. The State Court of Appeals has likewise unanimously refused to re- view the case in his favor, thus affirming the verdict on the score of the sufficiency of evidence as well as upon technical points of law and procedure. The Su- preme Court has found no ground for review. The next phase of this tragedy will be the definite setting of a date for execution, Defense of the A. A. A. President Roosevelt, speaking to the American Farm Bureau Federation in Chicago yesterday, painted a glowing picture of the benefits that have come to agriculture under his administration. The farm income of the United States, he said, has increased approximately $3,000,000,000 in the last two and a half years. This has enabled the farm- ers to buy more farm machinery and to purchase automobiles, and the effect of the increased farm purchasing power on these industries has been marked, resulting in great employment of labor and production., The effect of the in- creased buying power of the farmers has been felt in many other lines as well. It happened that the President’s ad- dress to the farmers was timed almost to the minute with the opening of the argument before the Supreme Court of the United States in the Hoosac Mills case, challenging the constitutionality of the A. A. A. and its processing taxes., The President made no mention of the case before the court. In one part of his address, however, the President said that the “organized power of the Nation™ should never permit a return to the days when the “rule of tooth and claw” threw farmers into bankruptcy and turned them virtually into serfs. “I say the organized power of the Nation advisedly,” the President said, “because you and I, as Americans who still believe in our republican form of constitutional government, know as a simple fact that forty-eight separate sov- ereign States, acting each one as a separate unit, never were able and never will be able to legislate or to administer individual laws adequately to balance the agricultural life of a Nation so greatly dependent on nationally grown crops of so many kinds.” What the President said sounds like a reiteration of his earlier position with regard to need of Federal action where problems of Nation-wide scope are in- volved. He took such a position imme- diately after the Supreme Court handed down its decision holding the N. R. A. unconstitutional. If the Supreme Court should hold now that the A. A. A. is unconstitutional, would it be surprising if the President in ferceful terms again laid down his theory of Federal control? And if the President’s theory is adopted by the country, can there be any doubt that the original idea of “sovereign States” as the basis of the governmental structure in the United States will fall more and more into “innocuous desue- tude”? Every one will agree with President Roosevelt that justice is the need today, ©Of the 1,196 planes it now possesses, only 838 are combat. Apart from his aircraft recommenda- tions, the Secretary of War advises maintenance of the Regular Army at a minimum strength of 14,000 officers and 165,000 enlisted men, involving an addition of 2,000 officers. He urges keep- ing the National Guard at not lower than 210,000, an increase of about 15,000. He would raise from 20,000 to 30,000 the minimum number of organized Reserve officers to be given two weeks’ annual training and enroll 50,000 youths in citi- zens’ military training camps instead of the 30,000 accommodated last Summer. The War Department chief finally sug- gests the inauguration of a munitions procurergent program to provide a full complement of modern weapons and other equipment for the Regular Army and National Guard at, peace strength. All these recommendations, not omit- ting the important matter of completing the Army's housing program, compre=- hend genuine, rational preparedness. ‘They carry no suggestion of “militarism” or aggressive intent. They represent at all points the country’s minimum needs in the realm of land defense. Mr. Dern speaks nothing but the simple truth when he points out that “in the absence of any effective assurance of permanent peace” the American military establish- ment must be maintained at peak effi- ciency “to provide against unforeseen eventualities.” ‘Well organized and liberally financed agencies are at work to undermine the American people’s faith in preparedness and to influence Congress against making adequate provision for the Army and Navy. ‘Warnings against an ostrich policy, such as President Roosevelt has recently uttered in referring to existing international conditions, and the sane proposals submitted by Secretary.Dern deserve, as they will undoubtedly receive, the attentive and favorable eonsidera- tion of Congress when it tackles the vital subject of national defense. Administration, House and Senate will be properly constrained in the imme- diate future to curtail Federal expendi- ture to the bone. But to pare down unduly appropriations for the Army and Navy will represent a penny-wise, pound- foolish policy. Secretary Dern puts it tersely and sensibly when he says that “in the event of a sudden war, we should find that our so-called economies were in reality a hideou: extravagant waste of money and lives.” The Nation’s experience in 1917-18 amply justifies that statement. It should be the lamp to guide us out of dangerous and costly paths in future. e e e The great China Clipper came back laden with flowers for the mayors of New York, Chicage, Omaha and other com- munities. Lobbyists who often assemble in the District of Columbia should at least have had some buttonhole bouquets. ———e— Modern research calls attention to Socrates as the companion of Alcibiades in interviews with Aspasia. Xantippe, famed as a shrew, may, after all, have had her side to the story. —_— Some of the college magazines have become so classically jocose as to call for a reversion to ancient dialect in men- tion of anything for which the Greeks had a word. as it has been in every other day—jus- tice to the farmer, to the industrial worker and to the consumer. The aims of - the President and his administration are admirable. The question of method is another matter. The wisdom of great crop curtailment and the payment of benefit checks to farmers for not pro- ducing crops out of money taken from the processors and the consumers in so- called processing taxes has been chal- lenged and will be challenged again. There is reason to believe that the farmers themselves are restive under such a plan, although until they have a substitute they are likely to stick to their benefit checks. The appeal in the President’s Chicago address was not alone to the farmers. He was in effect asking the industrial workers and the consumers to bear with the A. A. A, on the theory that through benefiting the farmers they will benefit themselves. And just as the President appealed to the industrial workers and the consumers not to be disgusted with the A. A, A, so he urged the farmers not to be discouraged over the new Canadian reciprocal trade agreement. That agreement has been interpreted in the agricultural areas of the Northwest as detrimental to American agriculture and to the advantage of certain industries. —_—————— The United States is not a member of the League of Nations. The fact obviates unpieasant experience in contact with what seems to threaten as a process of dismemberment. The Army’s Needs. War history of the United States is an unbroken record of victory, but it is also a record of consistent unreadiness for every major emergency which has confronted the Nation. Graphic attention is drawn to that historical fact in Secre- tary of War Dern’s annual report on the needs of the Army. “It is a pity,” Mr. Dern points out in a pithy passage, “that we should have become as oblivious to the bitter lessons of the World War as to allow our defense to dwindle until, if any other war should be forced upon us, we should, as usual, be unprepared for effective action.” As far as that reproach applies to present deficiencies in the military estab- lishment, Secretary Dern recommends concrete remedial measures. Taking cognizance of the immense role that air- craft now plays in the field of defense, he urges immediate steps to provide the Army with a five-year program under which a minimum of eight hundred fighting planes would be purchased an- nually. Such a program wupld equip the Army with three thousand combat planes by the end of the five-year period. e Canada and Uncle Sam have always been good neighbors. This relationship cannot be disturbed by any intimations of Yankee shrewdness in bargaining. - Shooting Stars, BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. ‘Wings. We're traveling on from Here to There, Through circles in the ether, ‘We're going to land we don't know where. It won't much matter, neither, We're traveling on through distant space To some fair destination, ‘Where we may dwell in gentle grace, Nor fear assassination. We cannot fly beyond our sky In aeronattic glory. Perhaps we'll get there, by and by, On wings of oratory. Tribute. “Do you enjoy flattery?” “Very much,” said Senator Sorghum. “While flattery may not always imply sincere admiration, it invariably indi- cates genuine respect for power.” Jud Tunkins says farmers are happier than they used to be. He can remem- ber when nobody cared whether they applauded a campaign speech or not. The Value of Time. A political pull of rejoicing is full With cigarettes, coffee or tea, ‘When the radio Toreador fights the Bull With antic so frantic and free. ‘With non-partisan care it likewise fights the Bear. Political pull is sublime, As it gives any speaker whose standing is fair Unlimited radio time. Exercises. “Are you fond of music?” “T used to be,” said Mr. Dustin Stax, “put I gave up piano lessons in boyhood. I'm now looking for a professor who can teach me to play a proper tune on the cash register.” Confidential. A confidence man with a wonderful plan Came by with a wonderful smile. The figures he showed with delight I would scan, And he showed them in elegant style. His confidence gay such a charm would display, 3 My confidence also bespoke. T discover today, with a sense of dismay, That confidence left me flat broke. “When a man puts on airs,” said Uncle Eben, “he aip’ doin’ much, An electric fan can do de same thing much better.” A /] sl Sugar-Coated Text Books On Marxism and Leninism To the Editor of The Star: In The Evening Star of December 3 and 7 there were two letters which are typical of the gross misrepresentation that is indulged in by almost every one who writes in favor of the teaching of communism in the public schools of the District of Columbia. Both of these writers pretend to be- lieve that those who are fighting the teaching of communism in the public schools are trying to hide the truth. In no publication of weekly readers or of history books in the District of Columbia schools have I been able to find the truth about Russia. All the stories—and there are plenty of them— are sugar-coated platitudes about how Russia, under communism, has made good, or the kindly Lenin or philosoph- ical Marx. Why have none of those his- tories printed Karl Marx's own definition of the dictatorship of the proletariat, which Marx says is communism? The Communist Menifesto, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, thus defines com- munism: “The slum proletariat is formed by the putfefaction of the lowest strata of the old society; the proletarian has no property; his relation to wife and chil- dren is utterly different from the family relations of bourgeois life; modern in- dustrial labor has despoiled him of his national characteristics. Law, morality and religion have become for him so many bourgeois prejudices. Proletarians have nothing of their own to safeguard; it is their business to destroy all pre-ex- istent property safeguards. The pro- letariat, the lowest strata of extant society, cannot raise itself without dis- rupting the whole superstructure com- prising the strata which make up that society. “Abolition of the family! Even the extreme radicals hold up their hands in horror when they speak of this shame- ful communist proposal. At worst, com- munists can only be charged with want- ing to replace a hypocritical and con- cealed community of women by an of- ficial and frankly acknowledged com- munity.” That is the beautiful cqmmunism a lot of foolish people are trying to force upon the children in our schools, but so sugar- coated that the children will think com- munism is a “noble experiment.” If communism is going to be taught in our schools, let's have “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” and not sugar-coated poison. AMOS A. FRIES. e Diplomatic Disregard for Life and Plea for Revenge ‘To the Editor of The Star. I observe with a great deal of surprise that the Iranian Minister to the United States has protested to the Department of State, demanding punishment of the two officers in Elkton, Md., who stopped his speeding automobile and subdued the irate Minister with handcuffs. What is more surprising is that the town of Elkton has given some consideration to the diplomatic complaints. As one American speaking, T am sure, the sentiments of millions of others, I desire to compliment these officers on doing their duty. I have in mind par- ticularly an occasion not many years ago when the wife of some third assist- ant secretary attached to the same lega- tion, then known as the Persian Legation, with the Ambassador's automobile was in such haste to transport three army officers on diplomatic business to An- napolis that she ran into and overturned an automobile in Washington, at the intersection of Nineteenth and M streets northwest, killing one of the occu- pants. Of course, the driver of the car claimed diplomatic immunity, but neither the regrets, nor the large basket of fruit sent the family, paid for the demolished automobile nor restored an American life. Personally I want to compliment the town of Elkton for its American officers. If their resignations are demanded I am sure they will make a success in some occupation where manhood counts. Of course, we expect the Department of State to be diplomatic under all con- ditions. What is left for American com- munities, in dealing with situations of this character, except to use their own means for curbing inconsiderate diplo- mats. We ought to have more officers like Biddle and Ellison and a few less diplomats like the Minister from Iran, HERBERT S. WARD. Do We Need Outsiders to Tell Us What We- Are? To the Editor of The Star. Why all the fuss about “Becker’s His- tory”? Haven't our citizens’ associations condemned it? Isn't that enough? Why should Yale and Cornell and all these other outsiders send us telegrams about it? They're telling us we're dubs. Don't they think we know it already? Liv- ingston Farrand used to live here. He knows we're dubs, and he knows that we know that he knows it. He doesn't need to telegraph. And we're proud of our citizens' associations. Aren't they as intelligent as the monkey-law legis- lature in Tennessee? Perhaps more so? And they're our representatives, aren't they? They know we're dubs and they're telling the world about it. Why shouldn’t they? What's the objection? Aren't we dubs? And we're proud of our Board of Education, too! They're one of us, and they know that we're dubs, and proud of it, proud of it! Shan't they support our citizens’ associations? “Becker’s History” may be the very best, but we don’t want it! We want what we want. Isn't that our privilege? Aren't these our schools? Aren't these our children? If we want them to be dubs like us, isn't that our business? Let these outsiders mind theirs! Let the world howl! We're dubs —what I mean! PAUL B. JOHNSON. No Occasion for Elkton Officers to Lose Jobs To the Editor of The Star: I feel the public should express itself in regard to what has happened to the two officers at Elkton, Md. After apologies were made to that Iranian Minister, that should have been enough. He broke a regulation, and that should not be permitted by him any more than by a citizen of the United States. Why should those officers lose their jobs because they did their duty? The Star has been doing such splendid work in their “safety drive,” and when you read about such things as this it all seems useless. Regardless of his rank, he could have done damage or taken a life with his excessive speed just as easily as any one else. MRS. J. J. GUINN. ———te———— Sure Sign of Recovery. From the Battle Creek (Mich.) Enquirer-News. A Brooklyn judge has ruled that a wife has a perfect right to all the money in her husband’s trousers pockets. The fact that any controversy could arise is an unfailing sign of returning prosperity. Peace. From the Toledo Blade. In peace settlements ghe weaker nation provides the neck exposure, [ It is an enheartening thing, going through the world, to hear a highly edu- cated man ask over the phone, “Where are you at?” He shows by his accent that he knows he is in error, but likes now and then to fall into the ungrammatical. “It's me,” and “This is me,” are similar phrases, incorrect, but much used, and somewhat beloved. ® Why not? Correct speech has its place, its major place, but surely there is a niche for old phrases which, somehow, seem to fill a particular need. Just why this need exists we are not sure. ‘Perhaps it is a revulsion from too much good usage. It may be that every one, at times, becomes “fed up” on the correct thing. Men go on camping expeditions. They let their beards grow and their linen become wilted and soiled. 1t does their soul good. EE I It is the same way with speech. No matter how much one reveres the correct word and phrase, and does his best to live up to the highest reaches of good usage, he will find at times a yearning for the vernacular, even when it includes the ungrammatical. Fortunately, this is easy to satisfy. All one has to do is talk. Ordinary conversation, even among the well educated, is loaded with incorrect forms. Many who fancy themselves the acme of good usage would be amazed if a stenographic report of all they said dur- ing a typical day were placed before them, Probably they would not believe the report, but might insist it garbled, or colored in some way or other. The truth would be they had twisted usage to suit the moods and needs of conversation. It is a curious, but natural thing, that most persons have two ways of express- ing thought, one the formal, or written, and the other the informal, or spoken. How seldom these are alike may be seen easily when talking to one of these rare fellows who “talks like a book,” as the saying is. He is, indeed, rare, yet every one has heard him. His meticulous use of “do not,” in- stead of “don't,” and similar sticklers, sets his conversation apart. Younger people sometimes laugh at him, especially behind his back, but their elders will praise him for his bravery. N It does, indeed, take a certain type of hardihood to “speak like a book™ on the ordinary topics of the day. This does not mean that writing must be stilted. Nothing of the sort. It merely takes into account the difference between the average printed page and the average conversation. Oratory, of one sort or another, is the common ground. Many speeches, as de- livered, are nothing but formal essays. Others bridge the chasm between the formal and the informal, giving the hearer a little of both. Many speeches are as purely informal as average talks between one and one. They attempt to carry into eloquence the needs of the average human being for a STARS, MEN little less strict language than the min- ister gives us. * K ok % ‘This, too, is a need of the human soul, which we need not deplore unless it is carried too far, and indulged in too often. There is, indeed, a time for everything and ordinary cenversation is not the time for set speeches. ‘The English, perhaps, have mastered this better than we have. No doubt ulxley should. It is their language, after all. Not only do they feel free to use un- grammatical phrases and constructions without any inferiority complex, but they clip and blend their syllables in a way which to many an American at first seems highly outrageous. After hearing it for a time, however, he will begin to realize that perhaps they are not as queer as he at first thought. He will realize that the shortening of such a name as Taliaferro to “Tulliver,” in pronunciation, is English, which is, after all, what is being spoken. ‘We would not sgy that the genius of the tongue lies in such contractions, but surely part of the genius so lies. It shows, better than anything else, that one .is not afraid of the tongue one uses. If we stop to think of it, we readily see how many persons creep through life, not only afraid to call their souls their own, but especially in regard to the language they use in talking and writing. Having been introduced to rules and regulations in their youth, and having been able to apply them with some aptitude, they are forever after totally in thrall to them. They are sticklers for the conventional, and if they find other usages, they ask that they put in quo- tation marks, in order that their regard for the language be saved from slight. We would be the last to laugh at them, because they play a most important part in keeping a language at its best. They are the necessary watch dogs of words. Praise only shall be theirs. One may feel, however, that the real hope for any tongue lies with those users who are not afraid of wrong usages, who are not suspicious of the ungram- matical, who recognize freely, and be- cause they want to, the inestimable part slang and poor usage play in keeping a tongue virile. This is not said in praise of the in- correct. The incorrect will always be the incorrect. Bad usage remains bad usage. Poor usage remains poor usage. ‘The ungrammatical stays ungrammatical, One simply suggests that it is good to keep in mind the plain fact that out of the gutter and from the unlettered have come part of the backbone of the lan- guage. The adornments are study-made, but the strong, spicy accent is a product of the fields, the ocean, the mines and the farms. by The more one admires the conven- tional, in writing and talking, the more he can thrill to the student he catches saying to another, “If you had a-done what he told you to did, you would a-made a better mark.” Terrible, of course—but didn't he say what he wanted to say? It was the same with the man who asked over the phone, “Where are you at?” It does no good to say that the final word is superfluous. It is more. It is delicious. AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Production of a new kind of living thing in the dark underworld of the invisible, from whicH arise the germs of new plagues to devastate mankind, is announced from the laboratories of the | Institute of Health of the | National United States Public Health Service. By irradiating with radium colonies of the streptococcus bacterium respon- sible for scarlet fever, Dr. R. R. Spencer has obtained colonies of a hitherto non- existent one-celled bacterial organism quite different in appearance and be- havior from the form out of which it arose. It is larger, different in shape and color, and much more vigorous in growth than the dreaded scarlet fever bac- terium, it reproduces itself through many generations without reventing to the an- cestral form, and if it had occurred in nature instead of in the laboratory might constitute a notable addition to a family of miscroscopic life forms which is one: of the worst foes of the human race. This development may shed light on one of the age-old mysteries of medi- cine—the fact that some epidemic dis- eases vary so much in their malignancy from generation to generation. Radia- tion taking place in nature may give the germs of these pests extended periods of renewed vigor and even give rise to new and terrible human and animal maladies. Dr. Spencer, who has just reported the results of his experiments, worked from the now well-established fact that hereditary mutations can be brought about in higher forms of life—notably in the fruit fly, favorite experimental animal of the geneticists—by irradiation with both X-rays and radium. This may be one of the basic facts in the evolution of species. All living things continually are being irradiated due to the radio- activity of the earth’s surface. Physicists have shown, however, that there must be some other, still unknown, cause for mutations in plants and animals—al- though radiation doubtless plays an im- partant part. LR In order to be of any significance a change in the form or behavior of a plant or animal must be hereditary. In any of the higher animals, from fruit fly to man, the irradiation must effect the germ plasm through which the charac- teristics of a species are passed on from generation to generation. This germ plasm is an extremely small part of the total cellular compl® of any creature and gene-smashing radiation particles are not likely to reach it. With the bacterium it is different. This is a one-celled organism. It mul- tiplies by splitting in two, each half be- coming a complete organism and again splitting. ‘There is no special germ plasm. The whole cell body enters into the re- production of the species and the trans- mission of hereditary characters, Hence, Dr. Spencer reasoned, it should be easier to produce species mutations by radium irradiation. This didn't prove the case. Perhaps, thanks to a wise provision of nature for the protection of the higher, visible or- ganisms upon which it preys, the bac~ terium appears to be more resistant to the mutation-producing effect of irradia- tion than fruit flies or probably any other multi-celled forms of life. The result obtained, however, was startling enough. Dr. Spencer placed radium needles in 23 tubes containing cultures of the scar- let fever streptococcus. Actually, to pro- tect against contamination, the organ- isms were introduced into the tubes ol the radium needles themselves. The experiment was carried on for almost a | month. In the first 15 tubes no changes of any kind were noted. In the other eight, however, he noted suspicious and inexplicable changes of color in the liquid. At the end of the irradiation period tests were made of all the irradiated colonies. In the first 15 only the normal scarlet fever streptococcus was recov- ered. In the other 8 two kinds of organisms were found. One constituted a colony of the normal streptococcus— each individual globular in shape and bound to others in chainlike formations. The other form was much larger, more opaque, and grew more vigorously. It did not occur in chains, although in- dividuals retained something of the same general shape as their ancestors. Dr. Spencer experimented with one of these colonies by various systems of lab- oratory technique. The organisms, he says, “appeared to be in no way related to the streptococcus and would easily be considered an entirely different species.” However when the colonies were allowed to multiply there was shown a tendency of some of the organisms to revert to the chainlike formation of their ancestors. Others did not show this ten- dency. After a few transfers, constantly eliminating the groups with the ances- tral tendency, the new form attained deminance until the chain habit dis- appeared entirely. The new form of life now is thriving in Dr. Spencer’s laboratory. Generation after generation remains true to the new hereditary form. The only change is that the individuals have become larger and tend to assume unusual shapes. There can be no question, Dr. Spencer reports, that this new form of life was due to the effects of irradiation. Tubes | of the same streptococcus organism which were not irradiated yielded noth- ing but the old ancestral forms which have been present on earth at least since the beginning of history. Extreme care was used to prevent any contamination of the irradiated tubes. Unfortunately, he stresses, this is an experiment which cannot be repeated with any likelihood of similar results. There was absolutely no difference be- tween the 8 culture tubes which yield- ed the new type of organism and the 15 which did not. Why it should have arisen in some and not in others is inexplicable. A repetition of the ex- periment might yield nothing, it might yield a similar new form, or it might result in something altogether different. Experimenting with other types of bacteria, Dr. Spencer found that radium irradiation has a dual effect—on the one hand deadly to a certain percentage of a colony and on the other hand pos- sibly stimulating to the survivors. Con- tinuous irradiation of a colony tends to produce in the survivors larger forms. This may, he points out, be due to some inhibiting effect of the radiation on cell division with the result that the in- dividual continues its growth longer. Sanctions May Benefit. From the Seattle Star, , Sanctions may prove a boon to Italy by removing the need for expansion. A lit- tle fasting and the population may fit very comfortably. —r———————— Superior Claimants. From the Jackson (Miss.) Daily News. Possibly their fighting is no better, but the Ethiopians are showing improvement 1n claiming victories. \ ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS By Frederic J. Haskin. A reader can get the answer to an: question of fact by writing The WaJMM'- ton Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washing- ton,D.C. Please inclose stamnp for reply. Q. How many American Vi general did the Philippines hls:;ir;og A. During the 36 years of American rule, the Philippines have had 11 gov- ernors general under the Department of War. Q. So far, how many people have at- tended the San Diego Exposition?—E. M, A. The official estimate of attendance is 4,784,811. The exposition will reopen January 15, 1936. Q. How many people in the United States die from suffocation caused by drowning, gas, etc.?—F. D. A. It has been estimated by a medical official of she New York police depart- ment that approximately 12,000 persons die annually from suffocation due to rowning, gas poisoning, electric shock and so on. From 40,000 to 50,000 yearly are rescued from such a fate by prompt remedial measures. 3, What has become of Zeppo Marx? —W. 8. A. Zeppo, the youngest of the Marx brothers, is reported to be in business as an actors’ agent in Hollywood. Q. Just what control does Mr. McCarl, the controller of the Treasury, have over Government expenditures?—B. N. H. A. Government money is expended on Treasury warrants, and each warrant must be countersigned by Mr. McCarl as controller. He countersigns these warrants on his own responsibility. That is, he countersigns them because he is satisfied the expenditure has been aue thorized by Congress and that each ware rant provides for a specific use of pube lic money appropriated by Congress. Much of the delay in getting the ime mense Works Progress Administration fund at work has been due to the law that cloaks Mr. McCarl with so much authority and so much responsibility. Many of the projects for which allot« ments were approved by the President were not described in the warrants with sufficient explicitness to gain the con= troller's approval, and it was necessary to send them back for resubmission. Q. What is a Cossack post in the United States Army?—R. M. J. A. A Cossack post consists of four men. It is an observation group similar to a sentry squad stationed far from its base but it employs only one sentinel. The idea of this system was taken from the Russian army. The Cossacks were the pick of the Russian cavalry. Q. Was the flock of wild geese drowned which was caught at the brink of Niae gara Falls?—J. F. D. A. The Bureau of Biological Survey says that they were a flock of Canada geese, Branta canadensis, which was ap- parently caught in the water at the brink of the Horseshoe Fall, in Niagara Falls, which is known to ornithologists as the swan trap. A number of swans are killed here every year because they are apparently too heavy or too clumsy to rise from the water and escape, being swept over the fall. Howeyer, this flock of geese is believed to have been playing a game and very few of them were killed. They would light on the water just above the brink, sweep down with the current, and then take off just as they reached the edge, circle around and come back to the stream above the fall, and repeat the process. It was apparently only some of the young ones, about 25 of them, that actually got swept over and of these all but a half dozen were revived by means of alcohol spirits. Q. Please tell who produced and who wrote the comic opera, “The Tattooed Man."—T. R. E. A. Charles Dillingham produced “The Tattooed Man” in 1907; the music was by Victor Herbert and the book was written by Harry B. Smith and A. N. C. Fowler. Q. How many people will the amphie theater at Arlington Cemetery seat?— C.D. s. A. About 5,000. Q. Of what does nux vomica con= sist?—T. M. A. The poisonous seeds of the tree strychnos nux vomica, found in India and North Australia, contain two power= | ful alkaloids, strychnine about 0.4 per cent and brucine, 0.2 per cent. There are also present strychnic acid gluco- sides, loganin, sugar and a fat. The drug owes its action to the strychnine alkaloids and is usually used as a tinc- ture. It has a powerful peristaltic action on the intestines. Q. What progress is being made in Berlin preparatory to the 1936 Olympic games?—M. C. A. The Olympic games will take place in the 300-acre Reichssportfield situated in the west end of Berlin. The huge stadium, which is 80 per cent completed, has seats for 100,000 spectators. The stadium arena contains a running track 400 meters long. The swimming stadium contains a 65-165-foot pool, a large res- taurant overlooking the pool. The Dietrich-Eckert open-air theater in the form of a Greek bowl will be used for dramatic productions and assemblies. The Olympic bell which will peal to open the games is of steel and weighs 16 tons. It was removed from its cast- ing in August. The altar on the stadium tower will be lighted on August 1, 1936, by the Olympic firg, the flame of which will be brought from the site of the original Olympic games by 3,000 runners who will travel in relays. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton Folly Auction. He made it his custom in holiday season To give a blithe function for very good reason— friends were invited to chase melancholy By bidding in odds and ends purchased in folly. His A cake-stand with prisms he'd bought from a fay, Collegiate sprint-shoes when foot ball held sway, A miniature tramear in London one day, A stuffed alligator he'd seen on displa; Ship lantern of brass in a mood far away, A Mandarin lounge robe of colors too gay. The masculine bidding ran high and was Jolly— Each guest had been guilty of similar 14 olly. And the checks were made out at the host’s decree To & worthy and popular town charity, ¢ [}