Evening Star Newspaper, July 18, 1936, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY -July 18, 1936 THEODORE W. NOYES..........Editor ‘The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Bustness Ofce: 11th St and Pennsylvania Ave Nt Ooe PRk Mickigan Buidin Burcpess Omee i+ Aevent 8- London Ensiand. Rate by Carrier Within the City. < Regular Edit T Evenine Star e Evening and Su (when 4 Sundays). The Everiing and Su (when 5 Sundays The Sunday Star_ -40c per month -60c per montb -65¢_per month 54 copy ight Final and Sunday St ight Final Star.____ = Collection made af d of ench month Orders may be sent by mail or telephone Na- tional 5600 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Marsland and Virsinis. Daily and S aily only_ unday oni Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Assoclated Press 1s exeiusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches eredited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein All rights of publication of special dispatchies herein are also reserved. —_— — _—— Cheers, Just Cheers? The Townsend convention in Cleve- land may or may not indorse the new Union party’s ticket.-— Lemke and O'Brien. But whether it does or not, it has proved a sounding board for anti- Roosevelt speeches. Despite the efforts of some of the Townsend leaders, among them Frank Arbuckle, the permanent chairman of the convention, to keep the ‘Townsend convention “non-partisan” in its political activities, the convention hall has resounded with attacks upon the Roosevelt administration. And Dr. ‘Townsend, head and forefront of the old-age pension party, has, for the time _being at least, committed himself to the cause of the Union party, promising to campaign for Lemke for President. ‘What does all this mean in votes? It {s impossible to figure closely, for the Union party ticket has still to be formally launched; it has still to file formally in most of the States of the Union, and there is grave doubt that it can file effec- tively in a large number of the States. But if the Union party gets a foothold and Lemke a place on the ballots in an appreciable number of the States, it will give the Roosevelt New Dealers some- thing more to worry about. For the present estimate is that the new third party will draw many more votes from the men and women who fol- lowed President Roosevelt in 1932 and in 1934, when the congressional elec- tions were under way, than it will from Republican ranks. The Townsend convention is to listen to Lemke himself before it concludes its session. It has already heard Lemke’s chief backer, Father Coughlin, leader of the National Union for Social Justice. It has heard the ranting Rev. Gerald Smith, self-styled head of the old Huey Long share-the-wealth clubs, who also has lined up for Lemke's presidential can- didacy. Probably Lemke himself will not thrill the convention as did these, his advocates. He is not built that way. Both Coughlin and Smith are adepts when it comes to demagogic oratory. The effort to drive the Townsendites into national politics, by Coughlin and Smith, aided by Dr. Townsend himself, 1s causing real dissensions in their ranks. It may result in splitting the organiza- tion from stem to stern. After all, the Townsendites primarly are interested in just one thing—the adoption of the $200- a-month pension plan for the aged. Many of them see no good reason why they should cast their votes for Lemke. And many of the delegates may see less reason for such a course after they have heard Lemke. The convention of the National Union for Social Justice, called by Father Coughlin, a month hence in Cleveland, 1s expected to follow Father Coughlin with a strong indorsement of Lemke. It is expected, indeed, to be a Lemke and Union party convention. How many of the Townsend brethren will be on hand remains to be seen. If the new-made triple alliance, Cough- lin, Townsend and Smith, carries on for the duration of the present campaign, it may prove a factor in the outcome of the presidential race. The claims by Coughlin, Townsend and Smith that they can each severally deliver millions of votes—Coughlin claims 10,000,000 him- self—are fantastic in the extreme. But they may control enough votes in a number of States to swing victory away from the New Deal ticket. Should Lemke, in his address be- fore the Townsend convention, promise to put the Townsend old-age pension plan into effect in the event of his elec- tion, there is no telling just what the ‘convention might do. Up to date it has been a great cheering section. It has cheered when Coughlin and Smith have ranted against the President and his New Deal. It has cheered when Gomer Bmith, a Townsend leader from Okla- homa with Democratic leanings, attacked the Rev. Gerald Smith. And it has ‘cheered those speakers who have de- clared against entry into partisan poli- tics. It will probably cheer to the end. After a certain point, an effort to assert vituperative energy in politics be- comes little more than so much extra wear and tear on a dictionary of synonyms. : The Second Division. In the A. E. F. the question, “Who won the war, soldier?” could be used as an insult to start a fight, as & pleas- antry to adorn a joke, as & vainglorious boast or as a sardonic reflection on the vicissitudes of life. It all depended on how it was asked. The Star hastens to explain that it has no intention of rais- ing that matter now. But everybody knows, regardless of who won the war, that it would not have been the same war without the glorious exploits of the Becond Division, whose proud veterans are the distinguished guests of their Capital today. 3 At one time during the war Geperal THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, JULY 18, 1936. Pershing was approached with the proposition of taking the Fourth (Ma- rine) Brigade as the nucleus of a new division, to be composed entirely of Ma= rines. He turned down the suggestion. He could never consent, he sald, to see the Second Division broken up. As a unit it went to France, along with the gallant First, as the vanguard of the hosts to follow. As a unit it would leave France. And as a unit it will live proudly in the memory of American arms. It left France as a unit, and as a unit it survives today through the men who fought under its colors and stand- ards in France. And part of the busi- ness which brings its members to Wash- ington now is to assure that those who were left behind—on the battleflelds of Belleau Wood, at Chateau Thierry, at St. Mihiel, in the hills of Champagne and in the Argonne—will always live in the memory of Americans. The names of its battles are engraved on its simple memorial, to be unveiled today. Noth- ing else. The fact that it suffered more casualties than any other American division, that it took more prisoners, captured more artillery, received more replacements, was second in the number of kilometers advanced—these are merely the details, relatively unimpor- tant, in the record of a division that always did its duty and did it well. Washington is proud of the Second Division's monument, taking its place with the other memorials of valor and great deeds in Washington. None de- serves a better place. Sniping the G-Men. Not only explanation but searching in- vestigation into the activities of the Secret Service agents of the Treasury Department with regard to the work of the Department of Justice Bureau of Criminal Investigation should result from the protest of Attorney General Cummings which followed the disclosure of an effort to discredit the Department of Justice operatives who have made such encouraging headway against organized crime in this country in recent months. The activities of the Treasury service should be traced to the source of author- ity without regard for the repute or posi= tion of the official directing this espion- age. The purpose of the inquiry into the circumstances of the killing of two of the “public enemies” who were cornered and slain, with entire provocation, by the Department of Justice operatives is evident. It is to besmirch them and their chief and the department which controls their activities. In both instances the “G-men” took life only when their prison- ers resisted with deadly menace. There has never been any concealment of the facts. Both of these men were des- peradoes, known to be killers. In both cases the operatives acted in accordance with instructions. Back of all this activity on the part of the Secret Service of the Treasury Department is believed to be a desire to bring the Federal Bureau of Investi- gation into the range of political patron- age. Mere jealousy between the investi- gating branches of two different depart- ments cannot possibly account for this extraordinary effort to discredit the F. B. L. and its chief. It is known that the retention of that chief was resisted by one high up in the political organiza- tion of the administration. With the Attorney General denounc- ing the unwarranted activities of the Secret Service and with the Secretary of the Treasury “horrified” at the revelation of the use of a branch of his department for spying upon the G-men, and with the administrative assistant of the Secretary expressing the same feeling of indigna- tion at this unwarranted activity, there is reason to look for a definite revelation of the source of authority for the maneu- vers. The administration simply cannot afford, as a mere matter of politics, if for nothing else, to let this exhibition of interdepartmental partisanship go un- punished. .. e The hint that Joe Louis was doped in order to enable “friends” to profit heavily by betting against him may arouse ques- tion as to whether Government agents interested in narcotics should not be called in to assist in preserving the purity of pugilism. Russia Looks to the West. It was inevitable that the German- Austrian accord, with implied inclusion of Italy, would sooner or later produce counter moves by other powers which do not contemplate with equanimity the domination of Central Europe by a re- vived triple alliance. The Soviet Union has promptly replied to the Berlin- Vienna-Rome deal. It has arranged with Rumania to build a great strategical railway which would give the Soviet army direct commuynication with Czecho- slovakia. The purpose would be to facili- tate the movement of Red troops and guns in defense of Czechoslovakid against German-Austrian attack. The proposed line would be built across the Carpathian Mountains and link the Russian railway system with that of Czechoslovakia. For its construction Rumania would receive financial ,assistance from Prague. The primary object would be to avoid de- pendence upon the railroad passing across Polish territory, because in war- time this line might not be available for military transport. These projected arrangements proclaim that the U, 8. 8. R. has determined to interest itself actively in Central Europe and not be a passive observer of German- Italian plans to dominate from the Adri- atic to the Baltis. Russia and Rumania have ended their long-pending estrange- ment over Bessarabia and have now en- tered into something approximating a de- fensive alliance. Similar relations have been brought about between Moscow and Prague. Announcement of the Russo- Rumanian railway scheme follows the recent triumph of Foreign Minister ‘Titulescy, over the pro-Germans in the Bucharest government. R} thus evinces her readiness to support the Rus- sian move westward into the Danube Valley to T the menace of German penetration. A corollary feature 1s Rus- sian willingness to bulwark Rumania against Hungarian attempts to her of Transylvania. : With Austria brought firmly within the Nazl orbit, acquisition of Czechoslovakia, or at least that portion of it adjacent to the Reich border which is preponderantly inhabited by Germans, has long rated as Hitler's next objective in Central Europe. Hitherto it was supposed that Russian help to the Czechoslovakians would be limited to aircraft. Current developméhts indicate that the great Red army now plans to be in position to ap- pear in formidable strength on the west- ern slope of the Carpathians and con- front German-Austrian forces threaten- ing Czechoslovakia from two sides. So Germany's traditional “drive to the east” is to be met by a Russian drive to the west. Hitler and Mussolini are plainly not to be permitted autocratically to order the destinies of Central Europe, including revision of its frontiers, with- out opposition from a Franco-Russian- Rumanian-Czechoslovaklan combination capable of offering the dictators resist- ance worthy of their steel. ——rat———— Theories that radio is affecting the weather would be hard to prove. Yet a radio holiday, under scientific super- vision, might be worth trying. Weather with and without radio might be com- pared with a view to new data relating to extraordinary conditions. —_— e — A tactful manner of breaking the news gently enables General Farley to sever ties without sentimental expressions. He assures old friends that he will be back at work so soon that it is scarcely worth while to take up campaign time for speeches and bouquets. ———r—————— 1t is the right of J. Edgar Hoover to protest against political considerations in connection with his office. Nobody doubts that he would be equally happy to arrest either a Democratic or a Republican gangster. European diplomats are described as entertaining extravagantly. Taxpayers are admonished not to place implicit be- lief in everything that appears in the society news. ————————— After inspection of drought-stricken areas, Professor Tugwell will be heard with interest when he takes the lecture platform to expiain how they got that | way. -— = Educational possibilities of the films are unquestioned. Despite an impression that prizefights are brutal, no producer | | National Republican (morning papers) | and the Evening Critic, which probably | moved there from 511 Ninth street north- | has created a picture to prove that pugilism does not pay. ————— Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Song Survives. The shriek of mad machinery resounds Upon the sun-baked scene, An airplane grumbles on rounds— And in between I heard A mocking bird! its sullen A shot rings out and terror fills each heart And hatred’s shaft is keen. A simple song defies our angry art, For in between ~ I heard A mocking bird. Conversational Expedient. “There’s a queer-looking man waiting | to see you,” said the secretgry. “Does he look like a Communist?” asked Senator Sorghum. “Very much.” “Shake hands with him and tell him I'm busy trying to get him a Govern- ment jeb. That line of talk always soothes a Communist at least tempo- rarily.” Reason of Being. ‘The sea was made for ships to sail Above or down below it; The sky was made for deadly hail, As warriors may bestow it. The earth was made for tanks to ride, All human feeling slighting. This world was made—must we decide?— For nothing more than fighting. Class Costume. “There is an advantage in politics when being photographed,” said Miss Cayenne. “Your picture is on display along with those of screen stars and professional athletes. “But in politics you can maintain a certain class distinction. You are not supposed invariably to wear your bath- ing suit.” “In time of public excitement,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “a loud voice will often command more attention than an earnest thought.” Mother Hubbard. ©Old Mother Hubbard who went to the cupboard Found never & bone for poor Towser. To a brain trust, in sorrow, she wrote on the morrow, So much did her trouble arouse ’er, As she tearfully shivered a check was delivered In payment for non-cultivation. It came with a flourish, but naught would it nourish, . 8o poor Towser just died of starvation! “On -h;t day,” said Uncle Eben, “it’s Jjust as well to stop arguin’ about trouble an’ jes' take de thermometer’s word for it A Novel Work. Prom the Kalamazoo Gasette. A noted author has just had published a new book—and there isn't a.single bad word in it! It ought to be a great hit; the public goes for distinct novelties. Freedom, From the Winston-Salem Journal. Free speech is still safe in this country, Tennessee judge has-just Wisconsin and T, V. A. Rates for Electric Power To the Editor of The Star: * According to Mr. Paul Mallon, in' his- “Behind the News” column July 15, the Porter Electric Co., a farmers’ co-opera- tive in Wisconsin, buys electric energy for 6.02 cents per kilowatt hour and sells it to members, of the co-operative at 5 cents for the first 50 kilowatt hours and 3 cents per additional k. w. h., plus $1.50 line charge. And, says Mr. Mallon, this business nets a regular 8 per cent divi- dend on the $100 par stock. From another source I learn that the average annual consumption of electricity by the 68 members of this co-operative was 808 kilowatt hours. Computation on the basis of the above rates indicates that this quantity of energy would bring in $26.74 to the company, whereas it would have paid for the same amount of power, at 6.02 cents, $48.64. Getting an 8 per cent dividend from that would baffle even New Deal experts. Tracing the discrepancy back to its source, it appears that Mr. Mallon read his data too hastily. This is what he read: “In 1935 the company distributed current from the Stoughton hydro plant at an average cost to its consumers of about 6.02 cents per kilowatt hour.” In other words, the consumers, not the company, paid that rate. The fact is that the wholesale price was 2.22 cents. This electricity, by the way, comes from a municipally owned hyd.ro-eleclr_tc plant and is distributed by a quasi-public agen- cy. Yet note the rates, both whplesale and retail, as compared with the much- publicized T. V. A. “yardstick” rates. We are told that the T. V. A. profitably sells power at wholesale for 7 mills per kilowatt hour, and that publicly owned distribution systems can profitably retail it at 3 cents for the first 50 kwh., 2 cents for the next 150 kwh. and less for greater use, all with no line charge. Thus it seems that the Stoughton mu- nicipal plant finds it expedient to charge over three times the T. V. A. rate for wholesale power and the co-operative collects $5.50 for 100 k.w.h, against the | $2.50 said to be profitable under T. V. A. retail rates. What's wrong with this picture? Are the Wisconsin public agencies making ex- cessive profits? They are under regula- tion by the State commission. Or is it possible that T. V. A. power is being sold at a loss, with taxpayers throughout the country making up the difference.? GEORGE E. DOYING. ———— Benj. Franklin, Printer, Not Postmaster General | To the Editor of The Star: No enthusiastic support should be given to the suggestion of Robert S. Anderson that the statue at Tenth street and Pennsylvania avenue northwest be removed to Franklin Park. That statue represents Franklin, Printer” much more Benjamin Franklin, First Postmaster General of the United Statcs It was presented to the city by a news- paper publisher. “Benjamin During the 80s in that building were | published the Washington Post and the west (not Tenth. as erroneously located recently by Dick Mansfield). The Eve- ning Star was at Eleventh street and Pennsylvania avenue. the daily newspapers of the District at that period. In the old Post Building also were published the Craftsman, official organ of International Typographical Union printers and pressmen of the United States and Canada, and various other | publications. Later the Washington Times ner of Tenth street and Pennsylvania avenue. The first linotype machines used in | Washington were set up and operated in the old Post Building. They were used on the Post daily and also for a Republican campaign book. The main | defect then was that the letters were | not of uniform height in the cast line. | As pressmen found it impossible to print properly from the defective slugs, the machines were taken out until further improvements made their effective use | possible. ‘This neighborhood is old newspaper row of Washington. The Benjamin Franklin statue thete identifies it as such. It is a historical landmark that should not be removed because of a mis- conception of the true purpose it serves. Of all his remarkable achievements during long years of wonderfully versatile usefulness to mankind, this great genius, who dignified” manual labor, considers honest toil his greatest accomplishment when in his epitaph, writter by himself, he wrote, “Benjamin Franklin, Printer.” And who shall say that this prolific producer of letter-press wisdom and enduring knowledge, as his contributions to the supremacy of the “art preserva- tive of 2ll arts,” did not choose infinitely wiser than another could have chosen for him? JOSEPH W. CHEYNEY. B A “Typical Prairie State” Bounded by W. P. A. Funds To the Editor of The Star: In these distressful times of drought it should not be difficult to believe that the Lord would give ear to the cries of his people. It is not that the citizens of one State are more virtuous than those of another, for we know that He sends the rain on the just and on the unjust— equally, as generally is inferred. But that is not to say that He may not give more abundantly to a certain group who, for some special reason, have found fa- vor in His sight. ‘The great, big-hearted New Deal, givers of the more abundant life, being thoroughly in tune with the Almighty, would, of course, sense the differences in need with entire subconsciousness and thoroughly apart from all worldly con- siderations. This is evidenced by a cer- tain Associated Press dispatch which The Star carried the other day to the effect that Mr. Harry L, Hopkins had revealed that President Roosevelt had made avail- able an additional $3,000,000 for soil erosion work, flood control, forestation and recreational development. There were listed amounts which had been earmarked for certain States desig- nated by the Department of Agriculture as drought areas. This list included Mis- souri and Oklahoma. Then there were listed further allocations under the head- ing “Other States Get Funds.” Select~ ing a number of States from these two lists, we see this result, which seems odd geographically and, indeed, is compre- hensible only after the spiritual expla- nation suggested above. Colorado, to the west of a certain “typical prairie State,” was allocated $15,000; Nebraska, to the north, $62,040; Missouri, to the east, $85,~ 763, and-Oklahoma, to the south, $101,685. Kansas, home of Gov. Landon, was al- located $5,071. E. G. SMITH. Ultimate Advice. Prom the Kansas City Star. In mixing poison mash for grasshop- pers you have a wide range in color selection. The instructions say you may use white arsenic, paris green or London | purple. If you are in doubt, ask the than | These four were was started by printers at the southwest cor- ' THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. City men have two annual dreams, one to own a farm, and the other to live at the seashore forever. Some make the first come true, then spend the rest of their life wishing they hadn't. Others hold cn to their second dream, thereby incurring no disillusionments. It is a pleasant day variety dream, of the Florida coast, or the Maryland shore or California. It must be a sandy beach, nothing else will do. It must be sea and clouds and rain and tumbling breakers. It must contain sandcrabs and dogs racing along the beach. It must show steamers far out, just 50 their smoke leaves a soft plume scarcely visible. It must be punctuated with white sails of boats, and seagulls, and even porpoises wheeling their way south. * XX All these things it must be, in sun- shine, in rain, in dull days without either, but so very typical of such places. There will be old men in white trou- sers, looking out to sea, and plump young ladies riding bicycles along the hard wet sand left at low tide. There will be white dimity curtains at the cottage window, curtains soggy with the moisture in the air. There will be water in your hair at night, and mosquitoes on your arms and back of the neck. Mind you, these not for just the mi- serly little two weeks—what are two weeks in eternity?—which the world of workers seems to regard as sufficient, but for the year around, until one would get so tired of rolling sea and wind in the face and wet in the hair and the sight of black Old Bill coming through the sand with his oxen and | yp.n ¢4 go what one has done, or may do. the ice that one would willingly forget the bliss of it and try the city again, just as if one didn't know all the time that the city is a thing of hard streets and hard faces and imitation tans se- cured in the semi-privacy of a lousy little back yard. * ¥ % X Yes, the whole year 'round, and not | just for the three months which the | man who can spare $500 or more throws into the anticipating hand of the shore real estate man. A cottage built on piles, with space underneath for the sand crabs, called fiddler crabs by the meticulous, to run and hide when Spot, the fox terrier, gets after them. What sport for Spot, to dig down until ! he is wholly under ground, and gets sand in his eyes, and in his pants, if he had | any. . What sport for old Spot. to bark and dig, and finelly reach a ciaw and haul | Mr. Fiddler out by it, rending and tear- ing and depriving Mr. F. of both claws and one eve within a few cruel minutes. ‘What sport to rescue the crab, and know that Nature is wonderful, and will | | in a few short weeks grow back again | both legs entire and a fine new eye, which will sit up on the stalk on the head and regard the world crabwise as | | and severally on a bus with a “capacity if nothing at all had happened. Yes, what sport these things are, and how fine it would be to chuck the hot city for good and all, and go to Florida, or California, or even the nearby Mary- land coast line, or maybe New England, only they have rocky beaches up there, and they are not exactly the same. * X ¥ X Nothing will take the place of the widespread far-flung coast, low and nar- | row, with the whole earth and sea for " skeeters, perspective, with all the water in the world tumbling in there, and all the air and all the salt and all the ozone combining to give all the real thing there is. That sense of realness is the gift of the sea, whether in it or on it or by it. The sailor has his rewards, and the swimmer and the seashore resident as well as any. The latter neither goes nor comes. He stays, and the world is his. In California, Florida or Maryland, it is the same world, the same atmos- phere, the same lure and the same reward. It doesn't make amy difference where it is, just so long as there is a low beach line, the surf, the white, the boom of it, the sullen roar in the night, the never- ending sound jof waters, the bite of smell of citronella in the dark— And that air! And we don’t mean for a day, or a week, or a month, as the song said, but for a year, two years, 10 years, the rest of one’s natural life— * k% X “Well, for Heaven's sake,” some one pipes up, “then why don’t you go?” Well, honestly, why don’t we all do things we long to do? Isn't it because the pull of the usual is too strong for us? The average human is a creature of his circumstances. What is, is; and what will be, will be; but what was, was, too. That’s it. The “is” is more mighty than the “was,” and far ahead of the “will The fell clutch of circumstance is as nothing compared with the pull and hold of the usual, the what-is, as dis- tinguished from the has-been and the will-be. It is easier to do what one is doing There are a thousand pulls of the usual, only a few of the unusual, and there is much timidity of purpose to | overcome the bold blusterings of the new. fine dream of living a whole lifetime by the sea seldom flowers into sea grass on salt dunes, where the steps come up to the top and there end. It is nothing strange that so many people never do what lurks in the back of their mind to do. It is only natural that they shouldn't. The strange thing is that they ever do. That is why these wild books of impossible adventure are so _sought after, so read, so cherished. To think that some people do what they want to do! And all the rest of us do what we have to do. The duty of the every day, as life works it out for us, and little choice we have, is a grand thing, aiter all, with its demands for geiting up in the morning, and washing the* face, and eating breakfast, and getting down town | in busses jammed up as cattle would not be permitted to be carried, but as hu- man beings may, with the blessings of | the company and sthe approval of the public utilities, God bless their assorted souls, and it would serve ‘em all right if they were forced to ride down each 61" written on its face and you couldn't crowd in another with a shoe horn, any | way. It's duty, mates, which makes us do these things, which causes us all to ay put, and keeps us from saying cer- in things and running away to the cool | shore and staying there forever, or such forever as Nature grants to poor humans in a worlld where everything changes | and nothing stays put very long. STARS, MEN AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. A chemical research which may prove of far-reaching significance to millions the world over has just been started by the Department of Agriculture. It is an effort to delve into the basic mechanisms of allergy, to lay the groundwork upon which the medical pro- fession may be able to construct a ra- tional, rather than an empirical, treat- ment of a condition which afflicts ap- proximately one person out of every ten in the United States. The great congregation of the allergics includes everybody who suffers from such well-known conditions as hay fever, pollen fever, rose fever, rose colds, asthma, hives, etc. It includes also those whose symptoms are less frequent and obvious—the army of persons who | can’'t eat wheat bread or eggs, drink milk, etc, without some such manifes- tations as headaches, or the appearance of red blotches on the skin. In many cases the syndrome is very light. Thou- sands probably have an allergy without suspecting it. In other cases the results are so severe that they may end fatally. These afflictions affect persons of all ages. Some individuals suffer from abnormal sensitiveness to certain normal constituents of the pollens produced by many varieties of trees, grasses and weeds. Similar substances present in common foods, textile fibers, furs and other protein-containing substances are capable of causing distressing circum- stances when absorbed through the skin or the membranes of the respiratory or digestive systems of supersensitive per- sons. The Department of Agriculture chem- ists will try to find the actual proteins, or nitrogen-containing organic sub- stances, responsible for the allergic phe- nomenon. Why does one protein cause a violent disturbance while another, pre- sumably very similar in composition, does not? Why are some persons ex- tremely sensitive to one thing, some to another and some to none? The basic mechanism of the allergic disturbance remains unknown. There is considerable reason to believe, however, that it is a complex chemical reaction between the protein molecule and liv- ing tissue in especially sensitized states.. It is closely related to another phe- nomenon—the so-called anaphalaxis— which can be demonstrated in animals. A guinea pig is inoculated with the blood serum of a horse. There is very little effect. In a few days the inocula- autopsies is that of expanded lungs. The inoculation apparently causes a spasm of the muscles of the lung air cells, which are unable to expel automatically the inhaled air. Presumably with the first inoculation blood stream. Apparently it is a com- bination of the defensive substances which acts poison. either, acting" physio-chemical complication, its un- doing. In‘allergy also, it appears, there is a combination of a protein, or some con- stituent of a protein, to produce a poison. The Agriculture Department chemists, under the direction of Dr. Henry Steve! will try to find the basic “allergens,” or | | substances, which enter into the physio- | chemical reactions, to produce the allergic effects, The problem is especially diffi- | cult, because, so far as is known, only ! human beings suffer from allergies, so | | that it will be impossible to use experi- mental animals. Associated with Dr. Stevens in the re- search is Dr. Harry S. Bernton, professor of hygiene at Georgetown University Medical School. Funds for this investiga- tion are provided by the Bankhead-Jones act, which enables to Department of Agriculture and State experiment sta- | tions to proceed with long-deferred re- searches of fundamental significance to agricultural science. They are not concerned, the Depart- ment of Agriculture chemists emphasize, with finding a “cure” for allergies. But they hope to provide some basic chem- ical data for use in medical research. s Proposed Width of New Chain Bridge Inadequate To the Editor of The Star: The proposed width of 24 feet for the New Chain Bridge, with five-foot side- walks, or 34 feet over all, would provide two lanes of traffic only, no opportunity for vehicles to pass on the bridge. Con- gestion is bound to result, and the time to protest is now. The Commissioners of the District have until recently held out the hope that the new bridge would have a 36-foot roadway surface, with 6-foot sidewalks, or 48 feet over all. The Senate was willing to increase the limit of cost to $460,000 to cover new bridge and adequate approaches. The Com- missioners opposed the increase, and the increase of $100,000 was dropped in con- ference becuuse of that opposition. The writer has voiced his individual protest against the narrow width. A similar t has been addressed to Col. Sultan by the Conduit Road Citi- zens’ Association, also by Mr. J. W. Somerville, private secretary of Senator Carter Glass. Others will probably voice their protests. The Commissioners have already begun the study and preparation of the plans for the new bridge. LLEWELLYN JORDAN. Approves Editorial On Drunken Driving To the Bditor of The Star: Thank you for the editorial on “Drunken Driving” in Thursday’s issue. It effectually neutralized Mr. Offutt’s felicitation upon improved “social con- ditions.” Until the blood test is ap- plied as it is in Sweden, the number of drunken drivers will never be known. Your reference to the gravity of the “drinking driver” is timely. He is prob- ably the greatest menace on the public highway. Unfortunately, with the low- emdmndn:‘d}mmmm"he"u too frequently “she.” & A. H THOMPSON, ' It is not to be wondered at that this | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. A reader can get the answer to any Question of fact by writing The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. What is the difference between a surf board and an aquaplane?—M. H. A. An aquaplane is attached to a motor boat. A surf board is not at tached to anything. If used behind a motor boat, the rider holds a rope in his hand and can cast loose at any time, Q. Was there a painting or photograph made of the race horse Apollo, which won the Kentucky Derby in 1882?—L. 8. S A. It is believed that there was, but all trace of it Mas been lost. Q. Did a Negro address thre Repub- lican Convention at Clevelan. >—H. R. A. It was addressed by a N gro, when Perry Howard, national cor.mittee of Jackson, Miss., seconded the nom tion of Gov. Alfred Landon for Pre dent. Q. Do many people visit Boulder Dam? —M. L. A. In 1935 more than 365,000 persong visited Boulder Dam and Lake Mead. Q. When did the new signal code for ships go into effect?—L. M. A. The new code of ship signals by means of flags or radio went into effect in 1934, as a result of international co; ferences initiated in 1927 in Washing' It has been translated into seven guages and was adopted simultaneo throughout the world. Q. Who described the Virgin as an effective poor house?—E. H A. President Hoover in 1931 char terized them as such. Q. How much money is | the grape industry in Calif A. In 1929 the capital invest grape growing industry was estimated | at $336,000,000. Q. Where was Darwin living when he wrote “The Origin of Species"?—H. C. A. He was living at Downe House, Downe, Kent, En Q. What is the name given to the mahogany tree in Florida?—J. J. A. It is known as the madeira t and is the only mahogany native to United States. Q. How tall is Hailie Selassie?—S. L. A. A. Robinson Maclean is book, “John Hoy of Ethiopia ys that the Emperor is 5 feet 4 inc! Q. Is much beer being sold in cans? —F. H. A. A recent estimate is that 60.000,000 cans monthly are sold. Q. Please give some information about the Baltic-White Sea Canal.—E.®. H A. The canal was completed in 1933 by Soviet Russian officials and its con= struction entirely by convict iabor pied 19 months. It provides a cheap route for lumber exports from the northe ern region of Russia. Its leng variously estimated as betw 166 miles. en 142 and Q. How many nurses grad | nually?—A. F. A. There are about 1399 a schools of nursing in the Unite graduating about 18,000 nurses annually. Q. What is the origin of the wild | ponies on Chincoteague Isiland?—T. W. A. It has been variously explained t one legend is to the effect that a Span- ish ship sank off the Virginia coast and | that its cargo of ponies swam from the wreck to Chintoteague, where they found | sustenance and survived. Q. How much does it cost to stay at a dude ranch?—E. C. A. With a few exceptions, the price, range is from $25 to $75 a week a person. There is usually some reduc- tion when two persons occupy a double room; for a protracted stay, or for off- season visits. Q. Who was called the painter of kings?>—M. F. A. Baron Francois Pascal Gerard French artist, was so called because most of the leading men and women of the French Empire sat for him. He was * appointed court painter to Louis XVIII, from whom he received the rank of baron. Q. Who invented Esperanto?—F. R {. Esperanto was adopted by a Russ physician, Zamenhof, whose first p lication on the language appeared in 18 over the signature of Dr. Esperanto, Hopeful. Q. How many A. & P. stores are there? -—F. C. A. There are approximately 16,000. Q. Where is the new memorial to. Joyce Kilmer, the poet?—F. C. R. A. The United States Department of Agriculture has established a memorial forest in honor of Joyce Kilmer in Southwest North Carolina, within the boundaries of the Nantahala National Forest. Q. What is the largest university in the British Empire?>—C. G. S. A. The University of London, with its 67 colleges, is the largest. Nearly 19.000 students passed its examinations this year and 4,000 received degrees and diplomas. - Q. How many cities will have W. P. A, symphony concerts this Summer?—C. R. A. There will be a schedule of concerts in more than 25 cities. A Long List. Prom the S8an Antonio Evening News. Is phe Geneva secretariat keeping a card index on “defies” of the League? A Present Need. Prom the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader. Into each life, the poet writes, some rain must fall. We'll take ours now. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton Summer Meon. Filling egery wood and glade ‘With her silver light, Shedding a soft radiance Where the roads stretch white; Queen of all the nighttime sky, Sailing thru each cloud, Paling every saucy star That her robes enshroud; Shining with a tolerant smile ‘Where young lovers park— Giving light to those who walk ely, thru the dark.