Evening Star Newspaper, December 10, 1936, Page 10

‘A—10 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. December 10, 1936 ————————————— The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th 8t. and Pennsylvania Ave. Bast 42pd 8. fln’l’:l'kk %%eéa ul‘d‘lchl;m u‘uu«u. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Reguls e Evening Star__. -45¢ per month e Evening and Sun (when 4 Sunca YS | .-80¢ per month The Evenine and Sul ¢ per month Ni ight Final and Sunday Star.. ight Final Star __ . 55¢ per month Collection made at the end of each month. Orders may be sent by mail or telephone Na- tional 5000. -70c per month Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. junday only_. All Other fly and Sunday. aily only_. unday only- Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it ited in this paper and al ned hercin, Il rights spatches erein are also reserved. Crisis in Japan. Tokio reports disclose that Japan has been plunged into another politico- military crisis, consequent upon her anti- Communist alliance with Germany and Its repercussions at Moscow. Smarting under resultant agitation, Foreign Min- ister Arita is understood to have sub- mitted his resignation. In case it is ac- cepted, it is said that the rest of the gov- ernment threatens a mass resignation from Premier Hirota's cabinet by way of protest. Ever since the mysterious compact with the Nazis the government has been under heavy fire, with Arita bearing the brunt of the criticism. Ap- parently the deal, under Army pressure, was negotiated without the support either of the privy council, the Emperor’s supreme consultative body, or of public opinion. Resentment reached the boil- ing point after the Soviet Union an- nounced, as a reprisal step, that it would not ratify the new treaty whereby Japan acquired valuable fishing rights in Si- berian waters and a renewal of the Sakhalin oil concessions. The fishery pact is of vital importance because the Japanese depend upon the region in question as an indispensable source of food supply. While possible cancellation of the Russian treaty is the immediate cause of the cabinet turmoil, the incident in its broader aspect is an expression of rising opposition to the government's international program and fear of the results which can flow from militarist attempts to dictate it. The pact with Germany is assailed as embroiling Japan in European affairs and in complications of no. direct interest te the empire. Indignation is none the less bitter be- cause of well-founded suspicions that the army, traditionally pro-German, played the major role in a scheme looking io united German-Japanese military action egainst Russia. For all these reasons dissatisfaction is now rampant on a scale unwitnessed since the army precipitated the Manchurian adventure in 1931. Ata meeting of the privy council on Wed- nesday, attended by the Emperor, the cabinet was raked fore and aft for its inept conduct of foreign relations. China’s new resistance to Japan's pre- tensions is a factor in the situation. After last Winter's army revolt, with its orgy of assassination and resultant gov- ernmental reorganization, it was supposed that militaris*, influencg on foreign policy had been curbed, if not subdued. But the German alliance is a signal that the generals are intent upon preserving their dominance. The Kwantung army, the real ruler of Manchukuo, has systemati- cally flouted the government by agressive moves in China. The recent invasion of Suiyuan by Mongolian and Manchukuan forces under Japanese leadership is the latest example of the soldiers’ determina- tion to force the expansion issue. Last week's occupation of Tsingtao, in Shan- tung Province, suggests that the navy is &t one with the army in the program to bring China progressively under the Jap- enese yoke and to brook no civilian restraint. Events clearly indicate that military- naval interference with the political power at Tokio once again has produced @ critical situation. Absorption of the western powers, notably Great Britain, in domestic concerns doubtless whets the readiness of Japan's imperialists to pursue their provocative purposes on the mainland of Asia, regardless of inter- national consequences. ——— Assurance comes from Administrator Hopkins that no one seriously in need of relief will be dropped from the Fed- eral rolls. The extent to which relief is required is another of those propositions to which it is not easy to apply delicate systems of scientific measurement, Not Easy to Cut. Not long ago it was made known that necessary reductions in W, P, A. ex- penditures would result in dropping sbout 425,000 persons from the relief rolls. Last Thursday the mayors and representatives of eleven industrial cities ealled on Aubrey Williams, deputy ad- ministrator of W. P. A, and protested the contemplated reductions in allot- ments for December under those for November. The reductions, they esti- mated, would mean dropping about 154,000 persons from the rolls in thetr eitles. In the face of the mayors’ pro- test, Mr. Williams stood as solid as a rock. 'The best he could promise was that reductions would be made, as far 88 possible, from administrative per- sonnel and those who could be dropped with least hurt. The mayors sent a wireless to the President, asking that orders for reduc- ing W. P. A. expenditures be counter- manded. In the meantime W. P. A. workers in New York and New Jersey made demonstrations against proposed * yeductions and some of them engaged in that modern form of protest, the “sit THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTO Brehon Somervell, W. P. A. administrator for New York City, announced that his funds would be cut $4,000,000 and that by January 1 New York City would be expected to assume 20 per cent of the relief burden. His statement provoked Mayor La Guardia to denounce it as “premature, gratuitous, unauthorized and unwarranted.” The next day, Sat- urday, Mr. Williams told some “whitg collar” workers who called on him here that about 175,000 persons were to be dropped from W. P. A. because of economy demands. On Tuesday Harry Hopkins, W. P. A, administrator, returned to the city from a trip South and at a press conference assured the reporters that “no person who needs relief will be dropped.” Asked about Mr. Willlams’ statement of Saturday that 175,000 people might be dropped, he sald: “That might turn out to be only 25,000, don't you think?" One of at least two things must be true: Either the W. P. A. administrators are so completely bewildered that they change their minds from day to day, or else the President has been prevailed upon to change their minds for them. —_——————————— The gravest statesmanship has taken rigid charge of the microphone in one of the most interesting episodes of world drama. They give accurate plot analysis, but do not allow the real principals to carry on the essential dialogue. These Pennies Go Far. There are many appealing bargains now to tempt the wary Christmas shop- per. But one of the best of them all is the Christmas seal of the Tuberculosis Association, with its double-barred cross of red, that sells for a penny. It is hard to believe that a penny spent on anything will go as far or do so much good. Since 1920 all the funds raised by the sale of these cheerful little seals has gone to support the work of the local tuberculosis associations. Before then, and largely through the help of the seals—formerly issued jointly by the American Red Cross and the National Tuberculosis Association—the organiza- tion of forces in every State, to carry forward the fight against tuberculosis, was perfected. Last year the sale of the seals in the District enabled the District of Columbia Tuberculosis Association to provide free X-ray tests for thousands of adults and children; sent nurses into the homes of the afflicted; helped restore health to the ailing; sent sixty children, suffering from tuberculosis, to a health-giving Summer camp; did its part to expedite legislation for proper hospitalization; provided spe- clal training for special nurses. This year, with the sale of the Christ- mas seals in its second week, less than half the distance to the desirable goal in funds has been achieved. We can be penny-wise, and not pound foolish, by sending our pennies out to do more good work in this prosperous holiday period by investing them in the Christmas seals, carrying a message of cheer and good will wherever they go. ———— A great deal of the eventful side of British history has been due to an unre- mitting contention between lawyers and poets. A state decree is always respected, but so, for instance, is Grey's “Elegy” or Goldsmith's “Deserted Village.” e Smithsonian Broadcasts. Radio resembles the famous little girl who had a little curl “right in the middle of her forehead.” When programs are good at all, they are apt to be very good indeed. A case in point is that of the Sunday broadcasts designed to call na- tional attention to the attractions of the Smithsonian Institution. Started nearly six months ago, they now have assumed the aspect of an authentic educational force in themselves. No one could listen to them without being inspired with a new respect for science, a new apprecia- tion of art. The presentations are skillfully written and convincingly produced. Each script represents the fruit of a co-operative effort in which the Smithsonian family, the Office of Education and one of the most truly useful branches of the W.P. A. collaborate. The material is carefully gathered and checked, and the actors are rehearsed in their roles until they are competent to play them “to the life.” Laboratories and studios for the moment appear to the mind's eye—through the ear, as it happens—in the guise of atmos- phere they may be presumed to have worn when Francis Bacon or Samuel F. B. Morse and Rembrandt or Winslow Homer were creating wonders in them., The drama of their struggle for the eter- nal truth is resurrected; they bave an active immortality which the printed page, perhaps, never could afford them. But the public may ask: Why not more programs of this variety? The an- swer of the radio systems is that there are millions of people who prefer “red hot” jazz and “low-brow” comedy and the kind of theatrical fare which is called “thrilling.” Cultivated audiences, they explain, are inarticulate. They do not contribute to the “fan mail” upon which popularity, for lack of a better criterion, is estimated and appraised. When the demand for classic material is keen enough, it seems, the necessary~ reformation will take place. Meanwhile, those who enjoy the Smithsonian pro- Jections could do worse than say so. A gesture of applause might be encouraging to all concerned. ‘When parliamentary complications are puzzling scattered dominions s neat, well-ordered Monroe doctrine is some- thing very handy to have around a hemisphere. pict witnesses who refuse to testify against fellow members of an under- world of gangdom as true to the “gang- sters' code.” Mistaken merit k;m- times attached to their adherence to the code. For the code is bssed, not on any concept of honor—even A honor that is said to prevail among thieves—but upon pure cowardice. The witness, and not without cause in the past, merely fears that he will be “bumped off” if he tells what he knows. Justice Peyton Gordon in District Court has, it is believed, accomplished something notably worth while in send- ing to jail two witnesses who suddenly forgot, or refused to tell, what they knew -about & recent outbreak of gang warfare in Washington. The grand jury ‘has been equally prompt in charging three such witnesses witli perjury. Perhaps if more recalcitrant witnesses of the sort were allowed to think over their “code” in jail or at hard labor, one would hear less of codes and more of convictions of ruffians posing as gangsters who think they are above the law. —————— In studying bureaucratic salaries hope and surprise are often mingled when it is realized how far a few items of expense could be made to go if properly trans- ferred toward boosting the pay of police- men, firemen and letter carriers, —————— Mussolini and Hitler and Stalin can hardly expect to form a gentlemen's agreement when each is made the subject from time to time of comment to the effect that he is “no gentleman.” ————— What has been referred to as an English crisis has persisted so long that psychologists may have to be called in to indicate how long a crisis is supposed to endure before it is classified as chronic. -t ——— ? ‘The 5-and-10 stores have injured regal tradition by making it impossible for ordinary observation to distinguish be- tween crown diamonds and “costume Jewelry.” ———e— English people have frequently said they cannot understand American poli- tics. Comprehension of English politics is often no less difficult for the American mind. —_———— Much smiling has been tossed into the cameras. Serious cares and conscien- tious purposes have prevented Secretary Cordell Hull from showing at all times a facial expression implying his fair share in the merrymaking. — mt—— Civilization has been doing and saying so much that is obviously erratic that there is inevitably a growing doubt as to whether it ought to be trusted with bombing planes. Friends of the distinguished Far Northwestern Senator are pleased again to note that, as a personal proposition, as Borah goes so goes Idaho. Radio expression has revealed that in case of need of advisory talent the Gov- ernment will find a “brain trust” is easy to organize at an hour’s notice. Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Silenced Eloquence. My Uncle Jim, he used to be As eloquent as any one. But now he doesn't speak so free. He says his talkin’ days are done. He hasn't time to stamp an’ shout. He's got too much to think about. It ain't so easy to arise “And agitate the atmosphere ‘With language more ornate than wise. Just now folks want the meanin’ clear, Fur silence Uncle Jim stands out While there’s so much to think about. He tells us he would like to show The eloquence that was our pride, But words do not freely flow From minds that are preoccupied. He's handicapped, beyond a doubt, He's got too much to think about. Inevitable. “Do you think it will ever be possible to settle all international differences without war?” “No,” replied Senator Sorghum. “At best there’s bound to be a war of words.” “We like to listen,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “but not to think. Therefore a musician is always heard with more pleasure than a teacher.” Lazy December. Summer days brought dreamin’ wa; We've got a plan that’s new To give to dreams their proper praise And loaf the whole year through. Though foliage sere must disappear, A soft and balmy clime . Sends invitations far and near To loafing all the time, From care all free, at last we'll see New economic pow's, Since loafing is at last to be The order of the hour. Jud Tunkins says he “has quit readin’ the paper while he eats. The tears he sheds over the bad news iy liable to make the coffee taste as if it had salt in it. A Censoridus Observer. “Of course,” said -the sentimentalist, “knowledge is power. But the heart is more important than the head.” “Very true,” answered Miss Cayenne. “If as many people died of head failure as die of heart failure, the country would lose an enormous element of its popula- tion.” Inevitable Smash. Although I humbly trudge my way And keep on walking a la Jay, Quite happy to be safe and sane Because I shun the aeroplane, All unexpectedly I find I am obliged to change my mind. A motor car gets in the game And I must crack up just the same. “You's liable to find,” said Uncle Eben, “dat de man who talks de biggest thinks de smaliest.” 2 ¥ A ; S THE POLITICAL MILL BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. “Present-day thought and progress” backed up by a flood of ballots at the last election, are making a considerable im- pression on Republican leaders in Con- gress, judging from statements recently made to the press, Three Republican members of the House, Representatives Snell and Fish ef New York and Tread- way of Massachusetts, have all declared allegiance to progress—though in varying terms. Snell, who is the Republican leader of the House and is expected to be re-elected to that post, said that it would not be the policy of the minority to oppose legislation merely because it was put forward by a Democratic ad- ministration. Treadway, the ranking Republican member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said much the same thing, although in different lan- guage. *xx : Mr. Treadway went even further, for he called attention to the fact that Presi- dent Roosevelt had carried his district by a large majority. This, he said, would impel him to give consideration to the policies sponsored by the President, since apparently his constituents desired it. However, the veteran Republican put in & proviso that he would exercise a cer- tain amount ef discretion. Nevertheless, the weight of the election returns is apparently having its effect on the Republicans still left in both the House and Senate. It is not unnatural that it should. Now the New Deal Demo- crats are numerous enough in both Houses to put through the bills demanded by the President, without regarding the Republican minority any more than a rhinoceros would regard s buzzing fly. The Republicans, with only 17 members of the Senate, for example, could put up only a small fight. Even the deadly fili- buster, dear to the hearts of opposition Senators—whether Democratic or Re- publican—would be rather ineffective in the Upper House. * %k * X It looks as though an “era of good feel- ing” would exist in Congress, at least at the outset of the session, since the Re- publicans are talking of supporting ad- ministration bills. For if Republicans can bring themselves to such a point, how much more easy the Democrats, re- garding the Roosevelt popularity, will find it to go along. When the President first came into office, on March 4, 1933, a crisis confronted the country, due to the depression and the closing banks. In those days, emergency measures, recovery measures, had the support of many Re- publicans as well as Democrats and went through Congress on greased wheels. Some of them went through so fast that the constitutional questions involved were not given careful consideration. The re- sult was a long row of adverse decisions by the Supreme Court. * % x ¥ No emergency exists today. The coun- try is on the way back to prosperity in a large way. Congress should have the time to give adequate consideration to the bills that come before it. Whether it will have also the inclination for such study is another matter. Whip and spur may be the order of the day, particularly with the “mandate” which the election is sald to have given the administration, The Republicans, if they have sufficient back= bone, can render at least one service. They can demand, and perhaps obtain, time for real study and debate of legisla- tion before it is put through. The fact that better times are at hand may bring a certain degree of conservatism to Con- gress as well as to the rest of the coun- try. * % % Representative Hamilton Pish would cast conservatism into the discard. He wants the Republican party to go liberal in a big way. He is out to do a job on the “privileged classes,” which is something for a Pish of New York. Speaking over a national radio hook-up last night, Mr. Fish took another full swing at the Re- publican old guard. He discarded “weasel words,” warning that the G. O. P. must “liberalize or die.” He wants to get the party back to the principles of Lincoln. That sounds reasonable, al- though the Democratic party has traveled a long way since the days of slavery and the Whigs are no more. In fact, the Democrats, under the leadership of Franklin D. Roosevelt, have gone farther along the course of liberalism than any major party in the history of American politics. So far have they gone that Mr. Fish dubs them the “radical” party. That was the designation of the newly-born Republican party in 1856 and 1860. Fish wants the Republicans to be merely liberals. By “acts of commission and omis- sion” according to Mr. Fish, and tkrough the propaganda of the New Deal admin- istration, the farmers and labor generally have been led to believe that the Repub- lican party is their enemy and that it stands for nothing but wealth and spe- cial interests. This is largely true. It was quite apparent during the last cam- paign. It remains to be seen what the Republican leaders in Congress and out of it can do about changing the belief of the farmers and labor. * k k¥ Mr. Fish brings up the fact that the Republican party, in the last campaign, spent great sums of money and wound up with a deficit of more than a million dollars—at the very time its speakers were demanding s balanced budget for the Federal Government. It is true that the G. Q. P. was making & great effort to win—and went hog wild in the matter of expenditures. It had, apparently, to make a play to offset the huge expendi- tures of Government money by the New Deal Democrats. This expenditure of Government money ran into the billions of dollars. These expenditures were not made, ostensibly, for political purposes but to give employment to the jobless and to pay the farmers for not growing as great crops as they might otherwise have done. They had their political effect, and if the Democrats had expended very little, instead of several million dollars, for their eampaign, the result would prob- ably have been the same. LR EE After the campaign of 1928 the Demo- crats had a deficit of more than a million dollars. It was a greater deficit than that of the Republicars today. they have wiped out this deficit today, but it took them about eight years to do it. It did not prevent their victory in 1932 or in 1936. And it may be remem- bered that while the Democrats were still very much in the red, as a political party, they were able to defeat the Republicans in 1933. Perhaps the Republicans will be able to do the same and defeat the Demo- crats in 1940. * K Kk ‘The New York Representative ventures > C. TfiURSDAY’ DECEMBER 10, 1936 - THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. The nearest Winter approach to the choral of the birds at dawn in Spring is the songfest held by English sparrows at intervals while visiting feeding stations in the garden. It seems that these birds, as greedy as they are, still cannot eat continuously. They must and do retire to the shrub- bery, where, seated in the branches, they sing pleasantly to each other until hunger returns. ‘While this music is not that of canaries or thrushes, it is not harsh, as some writers have described it. To insist that this sparrow utters only a “harsh chip” is to slander it. As a matter of truth, the cries uttered by this bird, in the songfests instanced, are completely musical. Their range, it must be admitted, is extremely limited, but when two to four dozen of them are perched in the shrubs by the sun porch, all going it as hard as their little bills can open, there is plenty of diversity of sound. * ok ok x The curious thing about this symphony is that it occurs mostly in the afternoon and suddenly begins, and as suddenly ends, as if the entire company obeyed the command of some leader. There is no slow winding up of the birds, but all begin at once, and all end at exactly the same time. This is re- peated time after time. It is impossible to see what makes them begin and as suddenly end, all to- gether, boys. Often it is easy enough to understand why, while eating, they will all fly up, with one accord, and perch in the shrubs. Sometimes the slamming of a car door in the street will cause this sudden flight. ‘The appearance of a human in a near- by yard often occasions it. But their sudden bursting into song, and their even more sudden ending, is a matter which offers of no outside ex- planation. They must do what they do fully of their own accord, through sheer happi- ness, * % &k % Birds' songs are pure reactions, but, that being admitted, it is scarcely fair to deprive the creatures of emotions. If we say they sing at dawn in the Spring because of the light, we yet may believe, and probably with much reason, that they are immensely happy, in their strange way, over the plain fact that another day of life and light is beginning for them. As these little creatures perch in the evergreens in the cool Spring nights they represent creatures following Nature's commands. Nature, with darkness, com- mands rest and sleep. Man, alone (with the exception of nocturnal prowlers), is the only creature which wants to “turn night into day.” ‘The birds, fortunately for them (with the exception of the owls and a few others), are perfectly willing to go to bed with the chickens and to get up with them. Darkness and light mean something to them. * k% x ‘The strain of pure happiness in the morning song of the wild birds in Spring- time has struck every listener, whether he is able to hear the higher note of praise of the Creator or not. Something of the same happiness is in STARS, MEN the Winter songs of the lish spar- rows, as, with full , they perch for a time, walting for the rsturn of hun- ger—which, by the way, is not very long. ‘Then they pour forth their praise of creature comfort. Even a .great human musician once said that he could not play well on an empty stomach. Surely nothing eise could be expected from these feathered musi; then! And there they perch, suddenly burst- ing into song, each bird putting in his say, each with its own not>, or notes, of very limited range, but the entire as- semblage affording many variations. *x % Suddenly this music cesses, not with the dying wail of the famous 17-year locusts, but as good musicians would, if they chose, completely and: at once. Solemnly the little fellows will sway on their perches, in the wind and rain (for it must be rémembered that cold and rain and snow are not tndesirable to them if they have plenty of food). They must take life as they find it, and if it brings a rainy Sunday, well, it is a rainy Sunday and that is that. Their feathers are so processed with oll that water runs off them. Their tempera- ture is high (over 100 degrees) and this melts snow and ice on them, so long as they have plenty to eat to keep up the heat and keep the oil lines running. It would almost seem, to the watcher, that they are happiest in Winter on the most inclement days, provided they have plenty to eat. * % %% The great twittering which goes on among & group of sparrows resting up from eating is never known except by those who feed them. This exhibition is reserved for their friends. And even their friends, hearing it for the first time, may not appreciate it. Like all true music, however, it grows on the listener. Repeated hearings reveal increased musical content. The sudden beginnings and endings have a charm all their own. If the listener is so situated that he can see as well as hear the feathered mu- sicians, he will find his appreciation dou- bled, for it is impossible to watch those fat fellows, bills open, pouring out their satisfaction, and not realize that this is real music with some kind of purpose. * % % % Looked at fairly, without prejudice, the English sparrow is a pretty bird. There are many variations among them, ranging from the half-white tail and wings of Whitey, member of one flock, to subtle browns, grays and blacks, in the barrings and other markings. Perched on the top spray of a rose vine, these birds look like nothing so much as animated clothespins, and one stops to wonder why some ambitious manufac- turer does not seize the opportunity to put out a series of bird clothespins. A flight of cardinals, blue birds or plain English sparrows, holding the fluttering family wash, would make a gay sight in any yard. A correspondent sends a clipping of an article about three English sparrows which followed a family across the United States, and then flew to China to greet their human friends when they arrived. “Can this be verified? Probably not— but if any birds could co it the English | sparrows could! It would be just like 'em. AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. ‘This year promises to be Uncle Sam’s healthiest. . A highly encouraging picture is pre- sented by the chart of disease trends in the office of Assistant Surgeon General Robert Olesen by which the Public Health Service keeps track of the lurking epi- demics. in history, and there is reason to believe that it may represent a permanent gain. Smallpox also has the lowest incidence since health statistics have been re- corded. Public Health Service doctors, however, are very skeptical that this is a real advance. There still are many thousands of unvaccinated persons in the country who constitute a fine oppor- tunity for the dreaded malady to spread like wildfire if it once gets a start. The diphtheria line is very low. Eventually, there is every reason to believe, one of the most feared scourges of childhood will be eliminated. Although there have been some local flare-ups of scarlet fever, the line for the country as a whole has not deviated from its normal course. The measles incidence is at nearly a record low, but that doesn't mean much, because this isn't a measles year. In 1934 and 1935 the malady at- tacked about all the available material and must wait for another year or so before there is a new supply of victims old enough to be exposed to it. There have been many predictions of an influenza epidemic. If one does come it probably will break suddenly and without warning, for the reports from all over the United States show no increase in the flu incidence during the Autumn. Such an increase usually has preceded & Winter epidemic, but this does not mean that the same behavior will be repeated. A somewhat disquieting trend has been shown by infantile paralysis, or polio- myelitis. Ordinarily this malady reaches its height during the Summer months and declines sharply all over the country with the cooler weather of Autumn. This year it remaired on a high plateau during the three Fall months and is just be- ginning to decline. Instead of declining after the Alabama epidemic of the Sum- mer it spread westward. Thus far there has been only a normal amount of whooping cough, but, Dr. Olesen explains, year in and year out the incidence of this childhood malady does not fluctuate very much. Paradoxically enough, although the Nation's health is better, the death rate isn’t quite so low as last year. A good deal of this is due to the enormous mortality of a single week—July 15 to 22, inclusive—when the normal death rate was doubled. In the city of Detroit alone that week there was an excess of from 30 to 50 deaths a day above the normal rate. The extremely hot weather killed the aged and the sick. The rate dropped approximately to normal again the next week, but the year's good record was smirched. * % k% Production of seedless tomatoes, pep- pers, egg plants and mature fruits of petunias and other garden flowers by the application of certain growth-promoting chemicals to the unopened buds, has just 1 | seeds. The typhoid fever line is the lowest | been reported to the Mational Academy of Sciences here by Dr. Felix G. Gus- tafson of the University of Michigan. The fruit is the sepd-bearer of the | plant. That is its only jurpose in nature. | Hence normally it is priduced only when a blossom has been polfnated and forms Certain rare exgeptions, however, led Dr. Gustafson to fuspect that the formation of fruit dic, not depend en- | tirely upon the preserce of seeds, but that the pollen tubes Yhemselves might secrete minute amounty of some growth- promoting substance, This idea was test . under carefully controlled conditions, Y smearing in- ternal parts of the fid with various chemical preplntions}mown to possess growth-promoting properties and prob- ably to be related to the auxins, or plant hormones, which seem $o have a notable effect on vegetable grogth. The chief of these were indole-apetic acid and phenylacetic acid. Thy§ former of these has been extracted dirg:tly from plants, On the majority of §he varieties with which the tests were Jaade the experi- ment failed. It provli impossible, for example, to obtain semdless squash or cucumbers. In the caies where fi suc- ceeded the fruits were. by no means of as good quality as wchild have resulted from the normal polignization process. The remarkable fact wzs that any fruits at all were produced—-a result roughly akin to parthogenesis animals. Dr. Gustafson calls such ' fruits partheno- carpic. It amounts & hitherto un- known principle in nafure, of no {mme- diate practical applicafion, but of great theoretical significanc In several tests which failed, notably with Hubbard squashes and snapdrgons, there Was considerable increase size of what would normally be $he seed-carrying organs—but these droyped off in a few days without produci mature fruit, Tobacco Prom the Richmond N The opening of the ypbacco markets is the most dramatic ever, in Virginia agri- culture, not alone becélse it thrusts into rapid circulation mill of dollars in cash but because of ti,2 picturesque cir- cumstances under wi the leaf is sold. A producer of tobacgp brings his goods directly from the the buyer arrives with money in his and they meet face to face in public find trade. ‘While planters stand by on warehouse floor with their hearts in ir throats think- ing of the cost and and labor that went into every yellow pile, and while the auctioneer calls his sing-song invi- tation, hopeful supply yomes into sudden and direct contact 1 eager demand. Most produce is sold¥in these complex times by mall at established by thousands of transac®ons at scattered points. The seller bid:it farewell at the shipping point and it to a purchaser whom he never sees. Later he receives & piece of paper which he deposits in the bank, and that ig the end of the business. The same dic forces play upon such sales as the sales of tobacco, but in the towns of Southern Virginia, mcst of the process is plainly, excitingly vigible, Let’s Not T;}l Them. Prom the New York Sun. 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. How did President Roosevelt’s vote this Fall compare with that of 1932?— M. F. A.In 1932 President Roosevelt re- ceived 22,821,857 votes. Although com- plete returns are not yet in for the 1936 election, President Roosevelt received at least 27,109,428, Q. How long is a camel supposed to travel on the desert without a drink?— HTP A. When crossing the desert, camels are expected to carry their loads 25 miles a day for 3 days without drink. The fleeter breeds carry a rider and a bag of water 50 miles a day for § days without drinking. Q. How many gold certificates were in circulation when they were called into the Treasury?—B. B. A. In 1932, there were $715,683,000 in gold certificates in circulation. Q. Which modern nation was the first to have social security laws?—M. R. T. A. Germany was first. National in- surance came into force under a law passed in 1883. Q. Have the foreign countries been forgiven their war debts to the United States?—M. B. J. A. The war debts are still owing to America and the nations are still con- sidered to be in default of an obligation. Q. Does Alaska have airplane service? A. Planes are rapidly supplanting dog teams in Alaska. Six commercial and 11 private companies are operating scheduled passenger flights covering every important city in the Territory. Q. What proportion of the average freshman class in American colleges finishes the course?—J. N. A. Out of seven freshmen in the aver- age college only two graduate, Q. What is the name of the cartoonist who drew the Romeo and Juliet cartoon of Ethel du Pont and Franklin Roosevelt, jr2—C. H. A. Jerry Doyle of the Philadelphia Record drew the cartoon. Q. How many people die of kidney disease?—E. L. A. Kidney disease is responsible for 81,000 deaths in this country annually. Q. Who was Father Divine before he took that name?—A. S. A. He is in his late 50s now. His early life is obscure, but in 1899 he was a serious-minded young man named George Baker, who earned a living in Baltimore, mostly by cutting lawns and doing odd jobs on the docks. He taught Sunday school at the Rev. Mr. Hender- son’s Baptist Church. He met a travel- ing mulatto evangelist, Samuel Morris, and the two worked together. In 1912 Baker decided to go out on his own and preach from town to town. In 1919 he became “Father Divine.” Q. How many pupils are transported to and from school daily? How many busses are used?>—J. R. M. A. Three million boys and girls are carried to and from school daily in 80,000 school busses. Q. How much salt is there in the Dead Sea?—R. S. A. The Dead Sea contains approxi- mately 11,600,000,000 tons of salt. Q. What is the origin of Kentucky burgoo?—J. K. L. A. The originator of Kentucky burgoo was Gus Jaubert, one of Morgan's men, who first made it for an encampment of Bluecoat prisoners at Lexington in the Fall of 1863. The secret of the concoc= tion was handed down to James Looney, who still retains the title of Burgoo King. Q. For whom was Rudyard Kipling named?—E. W. A. The writer was named after Rud- yard Lake in Staffordshire, where his parents first met. Q. What is the highest peak in the Philippines?—C. W. A. Mount Apo, in Southern Mine danao, with an elevation of 9,610 feet, is the highest. Q. Is it true that King Edward VITI has displaced all of the older officials at Buckingham Palace with younger men? —E. M. A. With the exception of several offi- eials, the King’s appointments to the household posts are all younger men. In the lord steward's department, the 66-year-old Earl of Shaftesbury has been succeeded by the Duke of Sutherland, aged 47. The Duke of Beaufort, 36, is now master of the horse, in place of the Earl of Granard, 62. Maj. Alexander Hardinge, 42, now heads the private sec- retary’s department, and Maj. Ulick Alexander, 47, is the keeper of the privy purse. Q. What is the danger of warming frostbitten fingers too rapidly?—T. A. R A. Too rapid heating might result in gangrene or death of the frostbitten parts. Snow or cold water is first used, then warmer water gradually. Hot coffee, tea or spirits of.ammonia should be given to the patient. Modern Covered Wagons. Prom the Milwaukes Sentinel. After all, & trailer isn't much more than a horseless covered wagon that is in no danger of being attacked by Indians. Eternal Terms. From the Grand Island Independent. A writer says women are becoming geometrical, Those eternal triangles again! Growth Is Likely. From the Indianapelis News. The trouble about a little N. R. A. 43 that it may grow up to be a big one. A Rhyme at Twilight Gertrude Brzke Hamilton An Icequake, love Earth’s wintry mood