Evening Star Newspaper, October 6, 1936, Page 10

A—10 THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1936. : THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition, WASHINGTON, D. C. -October 6, 1936 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11tn 8ePea Penmrivania Ave. 8 nnsylva ' New York 6!‘:‘“:: 110 East 42nd 8t. Chicago Office; Lake Michigan ?\lllfllfll. European Office: 14 Regent St.. London. ‘Engiand. Rate oy Carrier Within the City. Regular Edition. e Evening Star he Evening and Sunday Stal (when indays) -45¢ per month -60c per month -65¢ per month -5¢ per copy ight Pinal and Sunday Star. ight ‘Final Star. Collection made at_ths Orders may be tional 5000. sent by Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. aily and Sunday. §tll\‘ only. _ unday only. ANl Other B.uy and Sunday. aily oniy__ Sunday only_. tes and Canada. yr.. $12.00; 1 mo., $1.00 yr. $8.00; 1 mo., 75¢ Z1 yra $5.00; 1 mo. b0 Member of the Associated Press. s is exclusively entitled to the et e b iication of All news Gispatcnes credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news nuhnsnéd herein, All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. —_— Recovery and Employment. The coincidental publication in yes- terday’s Star of two news stories served to accentuate one angle of the relief problem that has already received con- siderable discussion in Washington and in other cities of the country. One of these news stories reported the results of a part of the national census of busi- ness now being conducted by the Census Bureau, showing that retail sales in Washington have gained about 36 per cent over 1933, the low point of the de- pression, and in total sales are approach- ing the boom year of 1929, The other news story presented a special report by Elwood Street, director of the Board of Public Welfare, showing that approxi- mately 62 per cent of all the needy “employables” dropped from the puhlic relief rolls last March have failed to obtain employment, while 90 per cent of those who have been re-employed are receiving less than $45 a month. The rapid gain in retail sales in ‘Washington over 1929 is not a complete index of business improvement. It is, however, one of the valuable indices. It reflects, for instance, a gain of more than 8,622 in retail employment and a 30 per cent gain in retail pay rolls. It reflects a normally healthy condition. Yet the plight of the “employables” for- merly receiving direct relief seems vir- tually unrelieved. These unemployed employables have not been able to re- ceive relief through W. P. A, have not been able to obtain work in private em- ployment at & time when business is im- proving and, according to Mr. Street, about 20 per cent .of the employables still out of work are physically or men- tally handicapped to the extent that they may never be employed. This condition comes as new demon- stration of the fact that no matter what may be the extent of the Nation's re- covery, a substantial portion of the pepu- lation will not be employed and may never hope to be employed. Is this condi- tion to be blamed on the past depression, or was it always true? Miss Alice Hill of the Public Assistance Division, Board of Public Welfare, has just reported that $6,252,104 was spent in the past fiscal year for public assistance. That expendi- ture took place during a period when retail business in Washington was climbing steadily toward the high levels of 1929. Yet, in 1929, there was no ex- penditure for public relief. There was no Public Assistance Division. There was no direct relief or W. P. A, And ‘there are no figures by which to compare the number of unemployed employables in 1929 and the number of unemployed employables in 1936. For all one knows, there may have been as many then as there are now. The difference is that they were not, in 1929, regarded as eligible for public relief—as they were until the end of last March. In the past three and & half years we have done all sorts of things about un- employment. But for one reason or an- other the work of counting the unem- ployed by official census has been neglected. In many respects we are as ignorant about unemployment and the unemployed as we ever were. —_— Some of the commentators on Prof, Tugwell seem to imply that as an over- secretary Prof. Wallace has been a lax disciplinarian, Relics of the Past. In Athens and in Rome antiquity is represented by truly ancient ruins. The Parthenon and the Coliseum testify for the venerable maturity of those cap- {tals, incontrovertibly old before London, Paris and Berlin began. It follows that modern Greeks and Italians constantly are reminded of the remote origins from which their respective clvilizations descend. But in Washington no such instructive relics of the past are to be found. One hundred and thirty-six years young, the city possesses little, if anything, of earlier date than its topographic design. In effect, its oldest monuments are only a few scattered souvenirs of the relatively recent “horse and buggy age.” For instance, there is a hitching post in the front yard of the Treasury. No- body knows when it was erected there, and yet men still are living who probably can remember back to the period when it was s useful ornament. Occasional equine patrons, it also may be men- tioned, continue to make use of & drink- ing trough thoughtfully maintained at Chevy Chase Circle, for their conven- fence. Only a few decades ago similar ‘watering accommodations were provided within sight of the White House. They were just as necessary then as gas sta- tions are now. And a like observation may be made “with regard to the once ubiquitous but Imperatively requisite public pump, of which municipal Emunon several examples are reported to survive—one at Twelfth and M streets northwest, drilled in 1897; another at Fifteenth street and Maryland avenue northeast, drilled in 1899, Public fountains, nat- urally enough, also were popular in an era when drug stores had not invaded the beverage business. The soft drink habit, practically a contemporary phe- nomenon of the present moment, has abolished the majority of the oases of the type currently memorialized in Tenth street near D street. Some relics, however, should be pre- served—if merely to prove that the accelerated pace of progress is a novelty and that the tempo of life formerly was less feverish. There is a lesson in things of that kind for folk who are dominated by a fixation for speed without consid- eration for consequences. Omens in France. It would be rash to conclude from the ease and completeness with which Fascist riots were suppressed in Paris on Sunday that Premier Blum is definitely rid of the pitfalls that beset him. Nor is it any more certain that his recent “vic- tory” in securing parliamentary sanction of the stabilization program has given the government a durable lease of life. It is generally agreed, on the contrary, that the Popular Front emerges from the recent storm in Chamber and Senate and on the boulevards perilously shat- tered in prestige and staying power. The week end melee staged by Colonel de la Rocque and his Fascist Croix de Feu cohorts—now known as the French Social party—must therefore be regarded as & symbol, and an ominous one, rather than a sporadic demonstration. All ele- ments in France have come fairly well to agree that devaluation of the franc was inevitable. Opposition to that re- course was directed mainly at the so- cialistic character of the measures which the government attached to the currency bill and which it was finally compelled to abandon. It was the conservative forces in both houses, increasingly hostile to semi-Communistic trends in the Blum government, which stood the premier back on his heels and required him to compromise as a life-saving maneuver. Despite its adroitness in steering a safe passage among the parliamentary rocks thus far, the Popular Front craft is clearly headed for stormy weather. Even M. Blum's Communist supporters are in resentful and rebellious mood. They backed his devaluation program but purely as & political manifestation against fascism. The Communists still smart over the premier’s refusal to ald the Leftist government in Spain. On the opposite side of the political fence, French Rightists are subjecting the cabinet to heavy pressure to declare the extent of France's military commitments to Russia, a question on which Great Britain, too, is querulous. M. Blum is a shrewd and resourceful politician. If for any reason he finds it useful to throw off Communist ballast in the Chamber, he might be more than compensated by gaining Center and Rightist support. Government leaders are keenly con- scious not only that they are living atop & powder barrel as far as their official existence is concerned, but that all France is saturated with explosive dis- sensions, rivalries and suspicions, along with disquieting dislocation in finance, industry and agriculture. Fascism is rampant both openly and covertly. The government’s late action in reducing tariffs and abolishing import quotas is a move to protect French consumers from drastic increases in living costs, and thus mobilize the proletarian masses be- hind the government's shaky cause. In addition to its poignant domestic tribula- tions, the Blum regime must contemplate events across the Pyrenees with dread. The triumph of fascism at Madrid will inevitably fire anti-government forces in PFrance with renewed zest to overthrow the Parisian counterpart of the Spanish Popular Front, France is approaching an undesirable social situation which might, perhaps, have been averted if America had again developed some brilliant men to send over to give counsel in & crisis as did Ben Franklin and Tom Paine. It must again be admitted that base ball proves nothing except that America has deVeloped a sport essentially its own toward which there is a loyal sentiment that foreign fashions cannot modify in any respect. —————————— It is but natural at this time to draw upon base ball for figures of speech ap- plying to politics. And for once the mention of base ball does not suffice to overwhelm interest in all other current topics. ‘The valuation of money has always been a complicated problem which re- duces a savings account to a question of sheer credit, like a stack of poker chips which may possibly be non-redeemablevin case the game is broken up by.violence. The Telephone Age. The other day a group of men sat in Washington, another in London and another in Paris—readjusting the eco- nomic system of the world. To serve them, a battery of telephones had been provided. By grace of unseen wires and unseen electrical currents they talked with each other over the Atlantic. Engineers would have called the ar- rangement an “international hook-up,” and the phrase likewise might have been used to describe the relation which the device was employed to establish, Hu- manity, in more respects than one, was being correlated. The significance of any such develop- ment is largely that of time. Science is stimulating the pace of life, quicken- ing the pulse of every living human creature. A brief sixty years ago—on March 10, 1876—the first complete sen- tence was spoken for telephonic trans- mission. But Alexander Graham Bell had created more than a new methed n(.mmnhfi. His genius had - brought an age into existence. By 1897 Guglielmo Marconi had expanded it by wireless, and the radio aspect of the epoch had begun. The hour, it seemed, had struck for the contraction of uni- versal society which such inventions in- evitably connotated. Earth grew smaller under the wizards’ touch. But other influences also were at work. In 1914 they culminated in the most cruel and costly war mankind had ever known, followed a quarter century later by s depression unparalleled in human ex- perience since the Napoleonic era. The effects of the cataclysm still affict both sides of the planet. Yet there is hope. The explanation lies in a curious bal- ance, a strange relation between plus and minus. Philosophers speak of it as compensation. It is a law which millions gradually grow to understand. Translated into terms of ethics it repre- sents the principle of justification. The race will deserve a better fortune when it has learned how to deserve it. And, in sober and glorious truth, it is, indeed, constantly and consistently learning, President Roosevelt’s announcement that he desires no support that tends to radicalism will discourage any efforts o _promote organizations for scattering small-time candidates in the hope that some of their personnel will go New Deal on election day. —_———— W. S. Gilbert never advertised himself as a philosopher in the manner of G. B. Shaw. Yet in view of crime waves the lyrical line, “a policeman’s lot is not a happy one,” may be regarded as positive- ly prophetic. ) Descriptions of Ethiopia mention so many modern improvements that if riots increase in European capitals Selassie may be tempted to go back to the old home at Addis Ababa and spend & vaca- tion dreaming of happy days gone by. All dictators profess intentions of mak- ing common people happier and are usually disappointed by the discovery of so many who prefer their happiness homemade, —— e The indifference of Chairman Farley does not destroy a certain impression that the way Maine goes is scarcely less significant that the way Al Smith walks out. ————— Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. An Old Bit of Money. Money is a mystery, our greatest minds declare, It has been made of beads and shells, as all are now aware. There was a bill that traders used, of primitive design, Which might be copied and employed in your affairs and mine. It shows a smiling sun on high, a dial Just below. A word was printed there, “I fly,” in Latin, “Fugio!” And then, in characters more large, a warning to express, The motto printed sharp and clear was “Mind Your Bus-i-ness.” This ancient scrip was left for years to the collectors’ care; And yet its simple sentiment is honored everywhere, The pictures of the patriots old are shown on many a bill, Each tells us how a loyal heart keeps beating with a will. In sunshine and in shadow, as the hours g0 fleeting by, You've got to meet your promises; at least you've got to try. And the basic rule of living needs no wizardry to guess. Today, as in the years gone by, it's “Mind Your Bus-i-ness.” One-Man Job. “Do you approve of heckling?” “In its place,” answered Senator Bor- ghum. “If & man is sincere in his senti- ments and knows his subject he can't get up before a group of recalcitrants and heckle the whole crowd all by him- selt.” Dealing On. A New Deal can't be always new; The discard is awaiting; The dreams that have been false or true 8how charms that are abating. As history’s events grow cold _Each™player says, “Good brother, Since that New Deal is growing old Let’s vote to have another!” Can Be Done. “You can't get something for nothing,” remarked the ready-made knowledge sharp, “I know a feller that did,” answered Farmer Corntossel. “I once paid good money for a gold brick,” “We should not yleld too far to the authority of youth,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. “If I join my young nephew, Yoo Hoo, in the fascinating sport of kite flying, how can I command him to follow my example and study the precepts of Confucius?” Mechanistic. A mechanistic era brings A most delightful state of things; A simple gadget you will try— It lets you ride or float or fly. Yet this inventive human brain “Envy,” said Uncle Eben, *“is what makes & man steal a banjo, whether he knows how to play it or not.” How the Age of Machines Has Affected Prosperity ‘To the Bditor of The Star: Let us look at the United States for an example as to what the machine age is doing for all nations. Let us first look at the plight of the farmers since the passing of the horse and buggy days. ‘With the advent of the machine age, the farmers practically lost their market for the raising of horses and mules, also the market for forage. These animals were in common use some 40 or 50 years ago by the populace of the Nation. The coming of the automobile, trucks and tractors practically cleaned out the market for the use of horses, mules and forage. With the loss of this market the farmer also lost his.free fertilizer, for he used to come into the city and get the manure from the livery stables and homes that were glad to have him take it away. But all that is a thing of the past. Now his fertilizer bill is a big item and the populace must pay the difference. The farmer has always been considered the backbone of the Nation, but today he is about as helpless as a social outcast by age limits, I have seen thousands of harvest hands at work at harvest time, which lasted from two to four weeks, These men were shipped from the East and all over the country to the Middle West, but that market for crops and men has been lost to the railroads of the country. These men were well paid, from $3 to $5 per day, transportation, board and lodging. That was good pay in those days, for living conditions were ,800d and things were reasonable, Go out into the great “Blue Earth Val- ley” at harvest time today and you will see & few mowing and reaping machines that mow, bind and stack in one opera- tion and the harvest is practically at an end in a week or 10 days. You see only a few men where thousands used to work. But this is only a small part of the loss to the farmer. It is typical of the farmer’s plight at present. The machine age has brought a social paradox that is almost unbelievable, The new factories created by our inven- tive geniuses have failed to take up the surplus men that were thrown out of work, Our stupidity outweighs our genius when it comes to developing ways to perpetuate the welfare of our race. Until we create means by which men can earn an honest living and lift the purchasing power back to where it was years ago, and improve living conditions that will keep us out of depressions, we are going to continue to suffer. Let the country adopt sane, common- sense business methods and we will avoid strife that is disrupting other countries. W. H. JEFFERY, History Shows Great Men Do Not Quit High Places To the Editor of The Btar: Adolf Hitler, according to rumor and noted in The Star, may resign in the near future., If he does then he would be the first important ruler who retires at the height of his power. Napoleon and William II abdicated under pressure and borne down by de- feat. Others were assassinated, driven out by their subjects or even sent to the scaffold. But looking down the whole stretch of Western history I can only recall two monarchs of the first order who—already aged—turned the govern- ment over to their successors. Diocletian (245-313 A.D.), one of the ablest of the Roman emperors, ruled with vigor for 21 years. Like Hitler, he was & most cantankerous enemy of the Christian religion. He considered the Christians disloyal to the state. During his reign one of the “three great persecu- tions” took place. But he did not get excited over the Jews. He retired at the age of 60 to his native Dalmatia. There, 30 it is said, he farmed and took great pride in the large cabbages that he raised for the wholesale market. He de- rived more contentment from these cab- bages than from any victory that he had ever won. “The simple life.” Then there was the great Charles V (1500-1558 AD.) of Germany and Spain. The whole of Central Europe obeyed him (and sometimes disobeyed him). He was King of Spain, lord of the Netherlands and parts of Italy. The Spanish de- pendencies in the West Indies and all through South America recognized his authority. & was he who halted Luther before the Diet of Worms (1521). Ruling mightily for 37 years he spent himself in statecraft and wars. And so, sated with life’s successes and life’s failures and sick in® body, he abdicated at the age of 57. The “chiefest of men” retired to the monastery at St. Yuste in Spain. He lived but one more year, mending clocks and preparing his soul for the next world. “The paths of glory lead but to the grave.” And by the way, no Pope as far as I can remember, has ever resigned. Nor has any American President. Lesser men often resign. They are asked to. This is called “getting separated from the pay roll.” FRED VETTER. One-Man Operation of Large Street Cars Unsafe To the Bditor of The Mar: It does not seem right to permit the operation of the new streamlined street cars with only one man. These cars are too big and powerful for such kind of sconomy. ' One-man cars should be re- stricted to the smaller, lighter type and of limited capacity. What with taking fares, making change, giving out transfers, answering questions, having a care for the aged and infirm and getting the blame when things go wrong, the tor has to make his schedule time (or—?), watch the signals, ‘all switches and curves, look out for speeding and reckless traffic and hurtying pedestrians. Many, especially the elderly, will miss the helping hand of the conductor, and there will be more liability of accident. To sum up the whole matter: On one hand, a much overworked operator, more delay and service for the public; on the er some (what?) increased profit for the company. Now, “honest Injun,” is this right and fair—or just tare? R. 8. WHITE, Garbo and Garner. Prom the Ashiand (Ky.) Independent. They say Garbo is loosening up in the presence of interviewers, but Garner still seems & Vice President to the manor grows tense, Japan carves herself an- other slice of China. e Y e— Wisecracks. Lowell Leader. rst College declares that its aim shrubs. m;.r:y ice cream girl, in resplendent uni- form, dashed forward. “Pour ice cream cones,” came the order. Shortly she returned, her fingers grasp- ing papers placed around ‘the narrow end of the cones. An ice cream cone, widely called just cone, is no easy thing to consume. The cream has a habit of melting and dripping down over one’s fingers. To watch some persons attempt to get that last portion of cream is more fun than seeing them attempt to handle corn on the cob. Crunching of the cake part of the affair is highly objectionable to some natures, resembling the feel of fuzz on a peach, or the sound of a squeaky slate pencil on an old-fashioned slate, R RN Some one in the car threw the end of & cone away. It fell on the driveway, just in front of & wheel. The car went over it, flattening it to small pleces. And down flew the band of sparrows, out of the shrubs, to the driveway, where they fell to work on their new supply. It was crushed cone they were eating, then? Of course? Nothing else, as the saying is. These clever birds may be called Eng- lish, but they are real Americans now. They are “go-getters” of the very first order. Nothing in the way of provender escapes their notice. Ice cream cones, crushed beyond rec- ognition, lying hid in gravel and bits of slate, are still big enough for these birds to spot them. No doubt 50 to = hundred birds find s living at each such ice cream stand, of which there are many in the suburban sections. Automobiles are turning in, wheeling out, all day long. Most persons, interested only in feed- ing the inner man, think little of the outer sparrows, birds so widely known that, like 50 many common things, they tend to be disregarded, even despised. * % % % Every friend of birds knows how these feathered street gamins got their living years ago. 5 It is interesting to see now how they make the automobile contribute to their larder now. There is little question that they are among the real scavengers of the city. Those who insist on rapping, panning and otherwise “knocking” the English sparrow upon all occasions, ought to stop and keep this fact in mind. This sparrow is a true scavenger. We ordinarily think disrespectfully of scav- engers, but after all they perform a very necessary function. The English sparrow does not let a scrap of edible material get away from him. Old banana skins, bits of buns, toast, even straw, serve him well. He is not particular, as some birds are. He needs, as they all do, plenty of food in his little insides to keep him warm in the snow and cold. His feathers, while contributing to his state of inner comfort, by keeping off rains and some of the cold, can only operate when the bird has a full stomach. It is food which keeps his blood stream in good shape and thus keeps him warm. . * ¥ x ¥ It is always a pleasure to write in favor of this scrappy little fellow, be- cause others are so persistently ham- mering away at him. After all, the city is large. There are not so many hundreds of sparrows, after all, in comparison with the territory of the United States. Since he is an ‘eager, bright-eyed bird, he misses few insects in his way. Science is coming more and more to believe that the English sparrow is not as bad as he has been painted, that he may do a great deal more good than he is cred- ited with, and that there are other birds which really deserve universal condem- nation more. It is said against him that he drives away other birds, but the same charge may be leveled against the mockingbird with even more justice, The truth is that many birds, just as many humans, are quarrelsome and scrappy, and often seem to be jealous and envious of others just out of sheer mean- ness. *x % % This bird now has an around-the- world range. Our own Department of Agriculture once estimated that the progeny of a single pair might amount to more than 275,000,000,000 in 10 years. This estimate, of course, is entirely theoretical, and would no more come true under actual conditions than the similar estimate that a single pair of guppies might produce more than 2,000,- 000 gupples in a year. The many enemies of both sparrows and guppies would see to that. Such estimations are gross exaggerations in the interest of making a point. There is little likelinood that English sparrows, under any actual conditions, will popu- late the world to overflowing. The same pow-wow against them has been trans- ferred to the starling, also an importa- tion, but in the long run it is coming to be seen that while these birds have their drawback, taking them all in all they probably do a great deal more good than harm. Certainly the English sparrow is the one and only type of true city bird. He delights in the ways and presence of man, and likes nothing better than crowded streets. Men may grumble about traffic, but not this sparrow. He accepts conditions and makes the best of them. He is ready at all times to find shelter under a ledge. His food he gets from the nearest gutter or tree box. He is the city bird par excellence, the one living thing which never wastes time growling over the things of the city he does not like. He enjoys it all, even the ice cream cones. STARS, MEN AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Some centuries since & man in his middle 40s died on one of the fog-cov- ered, desolate Aleutian Islands, was in- terred with the rituals of his tribe and quickly was forgotten. Perhaps there was nothing notable about his brief episode of life on earth. His lot was cast in one of the obscurest spots on the globe amid a primitive and backward people. He was an Aleut Indian. Presumably he never rose far out of the pattern of his time and place. But he was a remarkable man—per- haps the nearest approach to the “su- permén” of futuristic fiction that has yet appeared in the Western Hemi- sphere. He had the largest brain of record for any race in North or South America. His skull, found this Summer by Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, curator of physical anthropology of the National Museum, had a capacity of approximately 2,005 cubic centimeters. The average for the human male is about 1,450. This man had a brain capacity nearly 25 per cent greater than the average of his fellows the world over, ‘The skull is entirely normal. It shows none of the deformations which are associated with the condition known as hydrocephaly, or water on the brain, which causes great cranial enlargement and usually proves fatal in early child- hood. It is not a thick skull, such as would be associated with a glandular giganticism. The bones where the jaw muscles were attached are small. Alto- gether, the owner of this skull may be reconstructed as & man of normal stature and no greater than normal musculature. Now there is a rough correlation be- tween brain size relative to stature and intelligence. In the white race the big- gest brains of record, except where there are pathological conditions, have been those of men of genius. The biggest of all was that of the Russian poet Tur- geniev. It had a capacity of 2,030 cubic centimeters. The brain of Bismark had & capacity of about 2,000 cubic centi- meters. This unknown Aleut, it may be presumed, was at least potentially one of the most intelligent human beings who ever lived. It may well be, of course, that under the circumstances his brain served him no good purpose. He was doomed to & hard life in uninspiring surroundings. There was little oppor- tunity for flights of imagination or The great skull is the choicest item of the large collection of human bones and artifacts gathered by Dr. Hrdlicka on his Aleutian expedition this Summer, during which he opened up an almost virgin fleld of American archeology. He found several other skulls of large size, but none approaching 2,005 cubic centi- meters. It is the largest in the Na- tional Museum skull collection. The nearest approach is the skull of a Buriat of Siberia, & tribe closely related to the Aleuts, with a capacity of 1,910 cubic centimeters. The ll'n.ll.l“'u lest normal skull in the ‘museum lection is that of & prehistoric Peruvian whose capacity of 910 cubic itimeters, considerably less than knowing how the big-brained Aleut stood in these respects, but he probably did not differ from other men. In fact, the frontal part of his skull was exception- ally well developed. The enormous normal variation in the human brain presumably affords the avenue for the evolution of man in the future. A big-brained human strain may become fixed, just as in the distant past a big-brained ape strain became fixed and developed into man. In a sense the old Aleut might be considered a long sortie of nature in this direction. The fact that his contemporaries had only a primitive culture by no means indicates that they were unintelligent. Dr. Hrdlicka found evidences quite to the contrary. But they were intelligent within the frame of their traditional cul- ture. They held, for example, the world- wide primitjve concept of contagious magic. They were impressed with the seal’s acuity of hearing. Hence, they believed, the possession of the ear bones of a seal would confer some of this audi- tory sensitiveness on their owner. When- ever a seal was killed the bone casing of its inner ear was removed and pre- served as a magical object. Dr. Hrdlicka found scores of them. But the Aleuts went a step further, driven by a curiosity associated with their fine intelligence. They wanted to find out just what it was that enabled the seal to hear so well. So they broke open the ear casings and examined the mechanisms in their interiors. This was the method of science. Perhaps the owner of this big skull was a notable post mortem dissector in his day. He may have been an eminent sha- man. He may have been a famous hunter. He may have been—as has hap- pened 30 often to his kind the world over in all sorts of societies—persecuted to his grave by a proletariat jealous of genius. In fact, one argument advanced against the possible emergence of the superman is that the great mass of hu- manity never would allow the strain to get started: It would kill off the big- brain genetic strains so that exceptional cranial development would operate lethal factor. > - William B. Wilson Was First Secretary of Labor To the Editor of The Star: ' In the last h of an by Will P. xen:.endy":: . cm“tpu'emlo D-2, editorial page, of last Sunday's Star and captioned “Washington Sidelights,” Ifind an error that does injustice to the memory of a great statesman who was als0 & great humanitarian, Mr. Kennedy writes in his article: “The first Secretary of Labor was Charles Nagel of Missourl.” I am sure if Mr, Kennedy had taken the pains and the time to look up his facts and Capital his- tory hie would not have fallen into this error, for the fact is that William B, 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, Prederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. Is archery & popular sport?—D. B. A. It seems 4o be increasing rapidly in popularity. There are about 150,000 dev- otees in this country. Q. How large is the tobacco crop in the United States?—M. G. A. The average crop from 1928 to 1932 was 1,433,000,000 pounds. In 1934 it was 1,046,000,000 pounds and in 1935 it was 1,120,000,000 pounds. Q. Was there ever a time when there were 10 justices on the United States Bupreme Court bench?—G. J. K. A. The act of March 3, 1863, fixed the number at 10. It was actually fixed at that number for a couple of years, but 10 were never approved. Q. Who conceived the idea of continu- ous stage performances?—L. H. A. Benjamin Pranklin Keith, the- atrical manager, instituted the continu- ous performance program. Q. Are twins usually of the same sex? —J. 8. A. About two-thirds of them are either boys or girls, and one-third are born one male and one female. * Q. Can green tomatoes be kept in cold storage?—E. G. A. They should never be placed in cold storage, but should be stored at temperatures that range from 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Q. Is Pearl Buck still a missionary? X Tie wiiters tnodtBe v oa Christian missions aroused a controversy, as a result of which she resigned her mission post in 1933. g Q. Should the words father and mother be capitalized?—E. H. A. Woolley says that words denoting family relationship should be capitalized only when they are used with the name of a person or as a substitute for it. Q. How long ago was the flag code adopted?—C. R. W. A. On Flag day, June 14, 1923, repre- sentatives of over 68 patriotic organiza« tions met in Washington, D. C,, for a conference under the auspices of the National Americanism Commission of the American Legion, to draft an au- thentic code of flag etiquette. The rules adopted by this conference represent the opinion of numerous patriotic organiza- tions. The flag circular published by the War Department on February 15, 1923, has been incorporated in this code. Q. When did Froebel live?—D. T. A. The German educator Froebel, who introduced the kindergarten system which bears his name, was born in 1783 and died in 1852. Q. Is the architect of Grant's Tomb living?—E. J. A. The architect was John H. Duncan, who died in October, 1929. Q. What is the oldest camp for boys in the United States?>—F. C. R. A. In 1885 at Westport, N. Y., on Lake Champlain, Francis Dudley established Camp Dudley, a Young Men's Christian Association camp and the oldest boys’ camp in existence. The first camp for bovs was Camp Gunnery, founded in 1872 at Washington, Conn,, but ho longer in existence. Q. How tall is the Devil's Tower in ‘Wyoming?—M. L. A. It is 865 feet high and about 1.000 feet in diameter. The top has an area of about 1% acres. Q. What is knife money?—M. R. A. This was a bronze currency in the form of knives long in use in China. These money knives were often highly ornamented and each bore on the blade hieroglyphical markings which indicated its value. The handle was usually in the form of a disk in the center of which there was a circular hole by means of which it was strung on a string with other money. Q. Were any of Lyman Beecher'’s sons ministers?—R. T. D A. All of the sons of the famous theologian, of whom there were seven, - became clergymen. Q. How tall is the City Hall in Los Angeles, Calif.?2—W. J. A. The building is 438 feet in height and has 28 stories. Q. What is the origin of the word laconic?—E. M. ® A. The name came from the Spartan manner of curt speech. A Spartan was called a Lacon from the name of his country, Laconia. 3'; “ého wrote “The Song of the Shirt"? A. This was written by Thomas Hood, who also wrote “The Bridge of Sighs” and “The Song of the Laborer,” all pic- turing in moving verse the appalling condition of the industrial worker of his day. Q. Who referred to England as enter- lni tl‘l’; war because of a scrap of paper? A. This phrase was used by the Ger- man Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg, with reference to England’s entry into the World War in 1914. He is quoteti as saying that England was going to war for Belgian neutrality just for s scrap of paper. e Q. What are altrices?—E. G. - A. They are birds that are hatched frem the egg before they have acquired ::thert or the ability to care for them. ves, —_——— Economy. Prom the Richmond Times Dispatch. An aged Missourian estimates he has saved $800 by not having had a shave in 52 years, but hasn't the $800. 8o much economy is like that. ' A Rhyme at Twilight B : § Gertrude Brooke Hamilton To Any Jill Trudging upward on life’s hill, Though grim rocks obstruct the way, And you want to run and play,