Evening Star Newspaper, December 17, 1936, Page 10

o THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, : ' THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. December 17, 1936 THEODORE W. NOYES oottt i e e e S The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th St. and Pennsylvania Av: New York Office: 110 East 42na 8t ©hicago Offic: Lake Michigan Building. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Regular Edition, The Evening Star_ The Evening and Sun (when 4 Suncays) —_--80c per month The Evenin-_and Sunday Star (when 5 Sundays) 65¢ per month The Bunday Star__ --b¢ per copy Night Nispt Final and Sunday Stai ight Final Star __ — __ 85¢ per montn Collection made at the e each month. Orders may be sent by mail or telephone Na- tional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, Baily aqd Sunday..1 yr. Slo.ou: 1 mo. Daily only _ 1 yr $6.00; 1 mo., 50¢ Sunday only_ $1.00; 1 mo.; 40¢ 5¢ per month 70c per month All Other fly and Sunda: Aily only__ mo., $1.00 = mo., " 7bc Bunday only 3 0., i1 mo., 50c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches eredited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and alo the local news published herein All richis of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Roosevelt “Elected.” President Roosevelt was “elected” on Monday. In fact, he was re-elected then. ‘When the people went to the polls on November 3 last they did not vote directly for the President; they voted for presi- dential electors in each State. These presidential electors make up the “elec- toral college”—although that appellation is not bestowed in the Constitution— which balloted on Monday for President, that being the date set by the law under the “lame duck” amendment to the Constitution. ‘The presidential electors, as directed in the Constitution, met in their respective States to cast their ballots; they did not all, nor do they ever, meet together at any time. The next step is to send their ballots to Washington to be canvassed at a joint session of the House and Senate, when a final determination is reached as to the election of a President and Vice President, The machinery has been declared cum- bersome. The electoral college has been dubbed a fifth, and unnecessary, wheel. The argument is made, and with some reason, that the presidential electors might well be discarded end the people permitted to vote in each State for the presidential candidates themselves, rather than for sets of electors who have been selected to represent the candidates. Under the original theory of the Consti- tution the presidential electors were supposed to be men of high standing to whom the final choice of a President could be left. Any attempt on the part of presidential electors today to exercise their discretion would be followed by an uproar that would shake the Nation. After the election by the people the electors have only a cut and dried duty to perform. They must cast their votes for the candidates to whom they were pledged when they were named for places on the ballots. In New York, for example, there are 47 presidential electors. The number ranges down to three for some of the smaller States. If some of the voters desired to cast “write-in” ballots for a presidential candidate whose electors were not on the ballot it would have been necessary in New York to write in the names of 47 presidential electors. In the brief time given each voter to mark his or her ballot it was obviously impossible to undertake such & feat. Proposals have been made to change the Constitution so as to permit a direct vote for President and Vice President. Benator Burke of Nebraska, chief ex- ponent of the six-year single term for a President of the United States, might, 4f he desired, include in his single-term emendment a provision eliminating the presidential electors. Doing away with the presidential elec- tors would not necessarily mean a change in counting the electoral votes according to States. Each State now has one elec- toral vote for each Representative in the House and one for each Senator. It is possible, under this plan, for a candidate to be elected President by a majority of electoral votes although he had only a iminority of the total popular vote cast the country over. This has actually happened on occasion. B — Texas was years ago regarded as re- mote and socially uninfluential. It has in recent years been asserting a political importance in proportion to its geo- graphical size, ———— e g Demands inevitably increase when gov- ernmental relief is made available. There may be even a request for reduced cover charges at New Year eve parties for the benefit of unprosperous patrons, o Bome of the art that has resulted from relief enterprise has not served to relieve the frelings of critics who resent most attempts at modernistic pictorial expres- sion. Cynics have said there is no man, how- ever gifted, who cannot be replaced. His- toric events have often failed to prove this. A Move Toward Equity. Senator King's sympathetic agreement with the Board of Trade’s proposal that the District henceforth be placed on an equal footing with the States and Territories in the allocation of highway funds will be shared, it is-to be hoped, by other members of the new Congress who study the equities imvolved. The practice of eliminating the Dis- trict from distribution of bounties or grants probably resulted from the fact that at the time these grants, especially for highway building, were inaugurated the District and the National Govern- ment were following a systematic and satisfactory plan for dividing Capital City expenses between them, represented in the fixed ratio. It was doubtless held that part of the United States payment under fixed ratio represented the special sbligation of the UT States toward ] National Capital street financing which made other grants unnecessary. But when the Congress substituted the lump sum for the payment under a fixed ratio, enacted the gasoline tax which has become the chief source of street revenue, and the size of the lump sum began a steady decline while the ex- penses of National Capital streets and highways steadily rose, there no longer remained any logical reason for ex- cluding the District from highway grants. This was partially recognized by Con- gress during the depression years, when, as a part of its extraordinary efforts to create employment, Congress included the District with the States and Terri- tories in grants for highways and grade- crossing elimination. But the current year’s appropriation again ignored the District, except for grade-crossing elim= ination. Highway grants to the States are made according to a formula which assures equal treatment for every State. The funds concerned, of course, are paid through national taxes, to which the District contributes in an amount exceeding more than each of half of the States. There is every reason why the District should share equally in the dis- tribution, especially when the extraordi- nary obligation of the National Govern- ment toward the National Capital street system is otherwise unmet, B ] Debt Defaults. December 15 seems doomed to become a fixture in Uncle Sam’s calendar as Default day. Once again it has come and gone without payments from any of the European debtor nations in arrears, with the continued single and splendid exception of Finland, which, as usual, accounted fully and promptly for her semi-annual installment. Great Britain, France and Italy, the principal debtors, instead of cash, again pre- sented notes regretting inability to make the payments due this month. From the smaller debtor nations came similar representations. Although no payments are forthcom- ing from the more important debtors, there are indications, especially from the British and French, that they do not intend indefinitely to prolong their de- faulting status. Such signs are gratify- ing because the Western powers un- doubtedly will set the pace for other delinquents. Great Britain, whose cur- rent unpaid installment of $117,000,000 brings her total arrears to roundly $800,- 000,000, is ready to reopen discussions looking to a new settlement, “whenever circumstances warrant the hope that a satisfactory result might be reached.” This language, while holding out no assured prospect of payment resump- tion, “token” or otherwise, is more promising in tone than that of previous communications merely affirming British inability to pay. The French, who allowed another $22.- 000,000 installment to go by default, express hope that improved political and economic conditions throughout the world will permit revived negotiations looking to an acceptable arrangement. The Blum government is sending a new ambassador to the United States, M. Georges Bonnet, former minister of finance, supposedly with the special mis- sion of seeking readjustment of the $4,000,000,000 debt. There are unofficial suggestions that France hopes for a revision downward of the Mellon- Berenger agreement, whereby the total obligation would be reduced to $560,- 000,000, payable in twenty annual install- ments of $28,000,000 each. It is doubtful that Corigress, final arbiter in debt matters, would consent to a concession which would cancel more than three- quarters of the original debt. Our French friends, nevertheless, make several points deserving of thoughtful consideration. They emphasize their desire to “promise only what it will be possible to perform.” They register “pro- found regret that the distressing eco- nomic depression which France has just undergone and the state of world rela- tions do not permit as yet the presenta- tion of any proposals.” France hopes that “co-operative understanding, to- gether with improvement of world economics, as well as triumph of the democratic thesis which France is en- deavoring to sustain by the limitation of armaments,” will sooner or later enable Paris to initiate and carry out mutually satisfactory discussions. Americans do well to remember that progressive re- habilitation of world business is impera- tive if debt readjustments are ever to become practicable. It is to facilitate such developments that Secretary Hull is so earnestly promoting his reciprocal trade program. When nations can sell more goods, their capacity to pay, as well as to buy, is proportionately augmented. ot There has even been a suggestion that the world must return to puritanical standards in order to improve its morals. It cannot be imagined that moral ideals would be improved by the revelation of & neighbor tied to a ducking stool or sitting in the stocks. Why Not Invite Him? Overton Harris of New York City should be invited to Washington as a guest of the city and be permitted to exercise in full the authority that he possesses in his own bailiwick. But who is Overton Harris and why should he be invited to come to Washington? Overton Harris is a magistrate and he holds forth in the Washington Heights Police Court on 151st street. On Sunday he was listening to the or- derly testimony in & disorderly conduct case when the quiet and dignity of his court were shattered by a series of flend- ish explosions from the street. Looking out of the window the magistrate saw Po- liceman Michael Darienzo trying to start his balky motor cycle. The magistrate ordered the policeman forthwith into court and charged him with violation of the anti-noise ordinance. The policeman protested the charge and may take his case all the way to La . But regardless of the merits of his case, it is plain that a man of Magistrate Overton Harris’ spirit and determination could be of great help here in Washington. The number of unnecessary noise makers in Washington is practically unlimited. The number of officials, on the other hand, who are willing to make any protest or to enforce any of the anti-noise regulations—such as the regulation against unnecessary automobile horn blowing—is practically zero. What Washington needs is a group of officials who are determined to cut down some of the unnecessary street noises by enforcing available regulations. ‘Why not make Magistrate Harris the guest of Washington for a few days, give him the keys to the city and tell him to go the limit? ——e— G-Men and Their Crities. The public generally, more concerned with results in law enforcement than with who should get the credit, will join with Attorney General Cummings in deploring “petty criticism” of J. Edgar Hoover and his G-men in connection with their capture in New York of a notorious, gun-flourishing desperado. ‘The important thing is not whether the Federal agents or the New York police or the New Jersey police con- ducted the raid individually or in unison, but whether the objective of that raid was achieved. That the foray was highly successful is best attested by the recapitulation: A bandit and his woman safely in jail, a confession solving numerous bank rob- beries and a kidnaping obtained+and not an innocent person harmed in per- forming the exploit. Those are results that tend to build up public confidence in law enforce- ment—and none can deny that the special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation have played a major part in promoting a healthy respect in gang- land for the law. As a matter of fact, the Attorney Gen- eral says, there is no foundation for anonymously-voiced charges that F. B. I. agents “double-crossed” the police in New York either as to time or manner of the capture of Harry Brunette, The agents saw their man go into an apartment and they went in and got him. If they had let him get away, it may be wondered if police would be as willing to share the blame as some of them now are to grab the glory. e It is always hard for a genuinely pop- ular man to keep entirely out of politics. David Windsor may still have difficulty in maintaining the privacy to which as a private citizen he is entitied. vt ‘The microphone has asserted itself as a democratizing influence. All members of Parliament sound strangely alike by radio. S A plane crash killed the inventor of the autogyro. Machinery shows no senti- mental respect for the author of its being. o Radio news comment is valuable even when the article vended may be the one subject of possible dispute among radio editors. .- Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Mutual Forbearance. ‘The man who doesn’t think my way— I scarce restrained a sneer, When various things he had to say Impressed me as so queer. I sometimes thought his state of mind Revealed a sorry plight; I also felt surprised to find Sometimes that he was right. The man who didn’t think my way— ‘What patience I have shown! How oft have I concealed dismay 'Neath a persuasive tone! Imagine my surprise to see, At last, the truth so grim. That fellow thinks the same of me As I have thought of him! For Remembrance. “A man in your position has to under- stand human nature pretty well to make so many unfulfilled promises without losing every friend!” “There is only one great principle of human nature,” answered Senator Sorg- hum, “that you have to understand. A citizen likes a souvenir of esteem and even if you can't give him a job, a promise is at least something to re- member you by.” Jud Tunkins says bein’ & good loser keeps a man cheerful, but as a habit it gets tiresome. A Suspicion. Sometimes you'll find a modest man In this strange vale of woe ‘Who makes no show of worth because He has no worth to show. “It is possible,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “to argue in defense of any course of conduct since no man can see evil in that which he expects to bring him prosperity.” Point of View. “The point of view makes a great deal of difference,” sald the readymade philosopher. “Yes,” replied Mr. Chuggins. “When you are walking you think every automobile is trying to hit you. When you are driving & car you get an idea that every pedes- trian is insahely ambitious to get run over.” Quaintness. It's all a wondrous masquerade In which we mortais mingle. Discoveries are often made Which cause the pulse to tingle. Disguises lead to much complaint, Tllusions must diminish, And people whom we once called “quaint” Are Business, to the finish. “De man dat wants to live without workin',” said Uncle Eben, “is-purty sho’ to declar’ de foolishness ob his ambition by pl?’ golf or drivin’ a auto.” THE POLITICAL MILL BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. Out in Chicago the members of the Republican National Committee today will decide whether they wish red- headed John Hamilton to continue as the committee’s chairman. Unless there is an unforeseen and unexpected silent vote against Hamilton, it is belleved he will be retained and the committee will turn down his proposal to resign. It is true that he was the generalissimo of the party in its heaviest defeat. It is equally true that any other chairman, in all probability, would have suffered the same kind of defeat this year. Ham- ilton is youthful—as national chairmen go. He is vigorous and a good speaker, He put a lot of ginger into the organiza- tion during his tenure of office. If he holds on as chairman, he may be ex- pected to do much more, * X X x Representative Hamilton Fish of New York, outspoken critic of Hamilton and early in his demand for removal of the Kansan and the election of a new chair- man, is in Chicago and ready to bring his fight into the meeting of the com- mittee, which it is understood he will attend as a proxy for one or more members. Mr. Fish had not publicly specified whom he wished named for chairman in place of Hamilton before he left Washington for Chicago. It is exceedingly difficult in politics, or out of it, to beat somebody with mnobody. ‘There has been a rumor that Fish would be glad to see former Representative Royal Johnson of South Dakota placed in the chairmanship. Johnson is a Westerner. Like Fish, he is a veteran of the World War. A year ago, when Fish himself was expressing a willingness to be a candidate for the Republican presi- dential nomination, Johnson was stirring up the veterans on behalf of Fish's candidacy. * x % * It is possible that Fish is looking forward to the presidential race in 1940. If he desired to be a candidate in 1936, there is good reason to suppose that he would like a try at it four vears hence. There are many like Fish and Johnson who believe that it is high time the vet- erans of the World War had their place in the sun, with one of their number in the White House. President Roosevelt falls more nearly within this category than any other President or presiden- tial nominee since the close of the war, except Gov. Alf M. Landon, the defeated Republican candidate. The President was Assistant Secretary of the Navy all during the World War and visited the front in France. Gov. Landon served in the Chemical Warfare Service, U. S. A. Fish's main objection to Hamilton as national chairman seems to be that Hamilton, in earlier days, was a lieu- tenant of the late David J. Mulvane, na- tional committeeman from Kansas. Mr. Mulvane was one of the old guard, so- called, although he hailed from a State of the Middle West. Hamilton, Fish maintains, played along with the Hilleses, the Pomeroys and the Rorabacks dur- ing the recent campaign, and with the big interests of the East, and permitted heavy donations to campaign funds by the representatives of big business. Fish seems to have centered his attack en- tirely upon Hamilton and to have a good word to say for Gov. Landon. There have been some attempts since the elec- tion to cause trouble between Gov. Landon and his national campaign man- ager, Hamilton, on the ground that Hamilton himself now has presidential aspirations and was inclined to push Mr., Landon out of the picture. But if ther is any such feeling in Kansas, it has not been broadcast. Hamilton certainly worked like a beaver for Gov. Landon during the campaign. *x x % Speaking of aspiring veterans of the World War, one of them, Gov. Paul McNutt of Indiana, was among the very first of President Roosevelt's callers when the President returned to Washington yesterday from Buenos Aires. There has been a good deal of gossip about McNutt as a possible appointee to the office of Secretary of War, now filled by former Gov. Harry Woodring of Kansas. Wood- ring was appointed by the President after the death of the late Secretary Dern. Another rumor is to the effect that if the President will appoint Sen- ator Minton of Indiana a Federal judge the incoming Governor of Indiana will appoint McNutt to the Senate in Min- ton's place. McNutt, who is politically ambitious, goes out of office the first of the year. He is reported to have his eye on the Democratic presidential nomina- tion in 1940. * X % X A new Government department, the Department of Public Welfare, is being discussed. Such a department might take over several of the new Government agencies set up to meet the emergency growing out of the depression, as well as & number of the old agencies now placed in a haphazard manner in the existing major departments. The name of Harry L. Hopkins, Federal relief ad- ministrator and head of the W. P. A, has been mentioned as a possible head of the new department if it is created. Such a new department would have to be au- thorized by an act of Congress. The Secretary of Labor, Miss Perkins, also has been mentioned as & possible head of the proposed Department of Public Welfare. Organized labor has been rather restive because of the fact that a woman heads the Department of Labor, and Miss Perkins’ transfer to a new de- partment would relieve this situation. However, there has been no indication that Miss Perkins contemplates such a change, but rather, it is believed, she re- sents the idea that she is to leave her present department. * X x X There are 10 major departments of the Government: State, Treasury, War, Jus- tice, Post Office, Navy, Interior, Agricul- ture, Commerce and Labor, named in the order in which they were created. Commerce and Labor were set up during the administration of Woodrow Wilson. Prior to that they had been combined in one department. The Federal Govern- ment has grown enormously in recent years, It may be decided that it is ad- visable to have an eleventh department, with its head a member of the cabinet. For years there has been a demand in some quarters for a Department of Edu- cation. But the proposal has always met strong resistance, on the ground that the Government should not put a controlling hand on the education of youth in this country. * X % ¥ The clans are gathering in Washing- ton, with the approach of the opening of the first session of the Seventy-fifth Congress. Speaker Bankhead, a candi- date to succeed himself, is one of the latest arrivals. Representative Snell, the Republican leader of the House, is al- ready here, and so is the Republican leader of the Senate, Senator McNary of Oregon. The Democratic leader of the Senate, Senator Robinson of Arkansas, is not expected in Washington until after Christmas and probably not until the first .of the year. But gradually the Senators and Representatives are drift- ing back, although the great bulk of them will not be here until January. ) BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. What's in the medicine closet? ‘Templetcn Jones read a piece in the paper about how most family medicine chests hold far too :nany things. The Jones’ medicine cabinet was & tremendous one, with room in it for all the family towels, as well as the following list: Wash clothes, cleansing tissues, ab- sorbent cotton, two empty boxes, can of talcum powder, can of dusting powder, lotion, cream to chase mosquitoes away, small cardboard box which eye drops came in, bottle of nose drops. Box of throat pastiles, jar of cold cream, small bottle of oil of pennyroyal (to chase fleas away), jar of ointment (six years old), jar of burn ointment, three jars of assorted ointments, bottle of lotion. . Small bottle of soda mints, jar of salve, bottle of witch-hazel, two bottles of eye drops, two tubes of toothpaste, one gold- plated razor, one chromium razor, one box for third razor, the third razor, fourth, fifth and sixth razors. * * X ¥ Two toothbrushes, two shaving brushes (one used for 24 years, the sec- ond never used at all), two rolls of ad- hesive tape, bottle of well-known head- ache remedy, three tubes assorted shaving creams of various types, bottles of various remedies for small skin troubles. Thirty cakes of soap, assorted, rang- ing from one cake of “bubble” soap from Hungary (8 years old) to many of the popular favorites of America today; two bottles of shampoo, two bottles of popular antiseptic. Two bottles milk of magnesia, two razor blade sharpeners, four small boxes of razor blades, one jar containing dis- carded blades for 5 years (won't cut whiskers but will cut anything else), bottle of lotion, two bottles shaving lotion, small box of throat pastiles, bottle of sun tan lotion (5 years old). Bottle popular cold ointment, tube of liniment ointment, three old razors, not used in 10 years; box of boric acid, one empty bottle, jar of nasal jell, bottle soda pepsin tablets (old, do not smell good.) Two small tubes of eye ointment, one bottle citronella oil, one roll gauze bandage, one bottle dental lotion, tube of camphorated ice, small tube of styptic pencil (this really lasts forever), two boxes laxatives, two bottles popular antiseptics to be “painted on,” one red, one dark; medicine droppers, powders, two hot-water bottles. * x % % Templeton Jones, surveying this mass of articles, wondered how it all got there. When he stopped to look at the tinc- ture of iodine, he realized that the same bottle had been there for at least five years. During that time no doubt so much of the alcohol had evaporated that if ap- plied to & cut it would burn the skin like fire, due to the concentration. This old standby antiseptic, however, had given way to a popular article which stained the skin red. Jones had heard many strictures on this one, over the years, but had secured uniform good results with it, nevertheless. He sup- posed that he had been fortunate. He had looked this one up in a big medical work, and had read that, while it was undoubtedly a good antiseptic, it had its limitations, in regard to which germs it would kill (more or less true of all of them). The book said that this antiseptic had a strange habit of losing its strength suddenly, and for no discoverable reason. Well. thought Jones, | he guess he had been fortunate, that was all. Still, it might not be a bad idea at all | to overhaul the small bottles of these germicides, now and then, and buy new STARS, MEN AND ATOMS bottles, instead of permitting them to remain on the shelves year after year. * x x % There can be littie doubt that no one ought to keep an old bottle of any medi- cine very long after the use for it is over, There simply is no telling what chem- ical changes may go on. Also there is no recalling the exact symptoms of any f{llness, so that the self-prescription of an old bottle of medicine, although the disease may seem the same, is fraught with danger, since the new symptoms may vary slightly. One of the reasons why such bottles are kept, no doubt, is that the average household does not know exactly what to do with them. Just as the average man rather shrinks from disposing of old razor blades, so the careful housewife will not know what to do with old bottles of medicine. The man of the house pictures those sharp bits of steel being swallowed by pigs in garbage or trash, and he does not altogether like the picture, Though those blades will not cut his whiskers, they still are sharp enough to slice through linoleum—and fingers—and the like. Many an old bottle of medicine would be thrown away long before it is if the lady of the house could think up some good way of getting rid of it without running the risk of harming anybody. * x % ¥ Templeton Jones, looking over his medicine cabinet, realized that what the man had said in the article was true, that many of the articles were far too old. ‘There were no poisons in the list, he was glad to note, except such as would Le formed from overdoses of otherwise | harmless things. There can be little doubt that most | old medicines or lotions, antiseptics, even toothpastes and the like, undergo uncertain changes over the year. Often one purchases a new brand, for some reason goes back to the old, and permits the bottle or other container to lie in the cabinet for many months, then at last goes back to it. Often enough there | seems to be little if any change, but in some cases the change is very evident, | if the bottle has been standing long enough untouched. There may be a sediment at the bottom of the container, or the color has changed from light to very dark, and so on. Here one is dealing with subtle chem- ical changes which may or may not mar the contents, and the point is that the average person has no way in the world of knowing which is the case. Perhaps the easiest solution, Jones was beginning to see, was to keep the medicine cabinet fairly well cleaned out, except of such standard articles as absorbent cotton, bandages and so on, which might be kept indefinitely with- | out change. Soaps, of course, are good for years, even if the color does change, as it often does. The soap experimenter, if there is one in the house, seems to be a hopeless creature. His motto, evi- dently, is that of the old gambler, who said, “I hope for the best and expect the worst.” This is one article which may | be purchased in quantity and stored for future use. Even if color, and often fragrance, fades away, the basic soap is just about the same after many years. One popular article used to paint throats | will not retain its strength and benefits beyond a few weeks. Yet this particular | article is one most often found months, even years, old in the average medicine | cabinet. Templeton Jones started something when he decided to get rid of the old and retain only the new, and even then to keep the cabinet cut down to a fourth, or better, of its former contents. Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. The intelligence quotient of an indi- vidual, long supposed to constitute a measure of inborn mental ability very little affected by any outside influence, is profoundly altered by education. Such is the finding reported to the National Academy of Sciences here by Dr. H. H. Newman, professor of zoology at the University of Chicago, on the basis of studies of identical twins whose innate qualities should be precisely the same. During the past seven years Dr. New- man, with his associates, Dr. Frank N. Freeman and Dr. K. J. Holzinger, have been studying several pairs of identical twins reared apart. As identical twins their heredity is the same, but, because they have been separated in infancy, their environment has been different. Recently Dr. Newman undertook to establish correlations between the differ- ences fouhd in the twins of each set with the known differences in their en- vironment, using three factors—educa- tional environment, social environment and physical environment. The most significant correlation was between differences in education of the two twins of a set and their intelligence quotient. Fifty per cent of the total difference between the I. Q. ratings of two such twins was found to be due to differences in their education; 10 per cent to differences in social environment; 12 per cent to joint social and educational differences; 9 per cent to physical health differences, and 19 per cent to unknown causes, which are probably pre-natal. A positive correlation between social en- vironment and rating of the twins on intelligence tests was found. This cor- relation, Dr. Newman believes, indicates that the cultural elements in the social environment have a bearing on the train- ing of the intellect. ‘The correlation between temperament and social environment, the University of Chicago professors found, was negli- gible. In attempting this correlation, they believe, they were trying to obtain & quality not directly related to any ratable influence in the environment. Also there was no significant correlation between educational differences and tem- peramental differences. The ‘only cor- relation found between differences in physical environment of the two twins of a set and their physical qualities was in body weight, in which respect en- vironment showed & large and positive influence. Some of the negative findings, Dr. New- man stresses, are as significant as the positive. Other investigations, for ex- ample, have found differences in the head size and stature of children of immigrants, assumed to be an effect of environmental change. They found no such differences in twins reared together or apart. * ok k% 80 strong do the electrical sensory cen- ters of the brain pulse electrically that when the brain of a frog is removed from the skull and kept on wet cotton its olfactory center will keep on pulsin according to findings reported to the N: tional Academy of Sciences by Dr. Ralph 'W. Gerard, physiologist‘of the University of Chicago. With delicate electrical in- struments he has beep able to follow -tial which Dr. Gerard measures are from nerve impulses from the point of stimulus up to the brain. He has traced such an impulse from the point where the leg of a frog is touched to its touch centers, and from the eve to the optical center when a light is flashed against the retina. These experiments, it is explained in the report, tend to upset the old reflex theory that nerve activity resulted only when a stimulus activated a nerve fiber, which sent an impulse to excite the nerve center in the brain, from which another impulse was sent back to com- plete the circuit. Instead, it is found that the nerve cells in the brain are pulsing electrically all the time, at a regular cadence. When a stimulus affects a nerve fiber it disrupts the rhythm of the pulsing cells. It is not known, Dr. Gerard explains, whether the nerve cells discharge an impulse to the nerve fiber whenever they are beating, but the partial evidence accumulated to date indicates that they do not. Nerve impulses resulting from stimuli can control the beat, as can also blood chemistry changes. An increase of potassium in the blood will increase the beat and an increase of calcium slow it down. The change in voltage produced by the pulsing of the nerve centers, or by stimulation of a nerve fiber, is measured by means of an electrode placed in the brain. The electrode is connected with an amplifier which steps up the tiny amount of electricity generated by the nerve action, and with an ascillograph which records the measurement. A new instrument, a crystal ink-writer, consisting of a fine pen connected with a crystal which vibrates in unison with changes in the electric potential, has been developed in the University of Chi- cago laboratory. The changes in poten- a five-millionth to an eighty-millionth of a volt. So rapidly does the crystal ink- writer record that it has shown there is only a lapse of one fifty-thousandth of a second between the stimulus received and the change it produces in the nerve cell rhythm. — Old Stuff. From the Willlamsport Sun. A young Italian says that he can in- crease his blood pressure by mental effort. There's nothing new in that. Mental effort on the part of most men would increase blood pressure to the | extent of inducing apoplexy. Keeping Europe Worried. From the Omaha World-Herald. 1t isn't so bad so long as Hitler con- fines himself to scrapping the Versailles treaty. It is the chance he will begin scrapping something else that worries Europe. Big Opportunity Ahead. Prom the Chicago Daily News. Baylor University has made Vice President Garner a doctor of laws. He should doctor them to good purpose when he gopp back to Washington. | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing Tha Ivening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D, C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. What specifications are nicessary fOI'EI é‘\lxrkey to be graded as U. 8 prime? A. The specifications require tat the birds be young, soft-meated, wit well- fleshed breast, and with entire carcass well covered with fat; well bld, well dressed, with breast practically free of pinfeathers and only a few sattered pinfeathers over the remainder of the carcass. The crop must be empty Only very slight flesh or skin bruises, atrasions or discolorations permitted, with breast practically free of such defects. Q. What does the New York World's Fair of 1939 commemorate?—P. C. A. The 150th anniversary of 3eorge Washington's first inauguration. The fair will open on April 30, the anni- versary date, Q. Are playing cards made 5o the blind people can use them?—M. C. A. Braille playing cards are avalable. Q. Was Pranklin's Pennsylvani; Ga- zette the first newspaper publishd Philadelphia?—E. H. Ly o A. The American Weekly Mercury 1719, was the first newspaper in Philadephia. The Pennsylvania Gazette was etabe lished in 1729, Q. What is meant by ore dressim?— PER A. Ore as taken from the ming is usually contaminated with various im- purities of no value. Mechanical m¢h- ods of concentrating the valuable nin- erals and of separating one ore frg another, as zinc sulphide from lead - phide, are known as ore dressing. Or: i3 usually discharged upon bar screms called grizzlies, where large lumps of impurities can be rejected by hand. Tie remainder passes through various m- chanical processes. Q. Were strawberries ever used asa dentifrice?>—C. W. A. The following information is take: from a book of prescriptions publishe; more than 100 years ago: “The common strawberry is a natural dentifrice ani its juice without any previous prepara. tion whatever dissolves the tartareows encrustation on the teeth and makes th: breath sweet and agreeable.” Q. How long have the Beaux Arts bhall been given in New York?—F. E M A. The custom of having the balls was initiated in 1914, Q. What rity in the South has the most telephones’—E. R. M A. Atlanta, Ga., with 72,000 telephones Q. What is the largest selling articl of a mail order house?—W. H A. The largest single item sold by the oldest mail order house in the coun try is shoes. Automobile tires and bi les run a close second, Q. When did Theda Bara play in th motion picture production of “Camille How many times was it given in th: silent films?—J. G. A. “Camille” was produced five time. in silent pictures, Theda Bara playec the role in 1917, Q. How wide is the River Marne a Chateau-Thierry, where the Second Bat tle of the Marne was fought?—T. M. G. A. It varies from about 30 to 60 yarcs Q. How did Boston derive its name?— F. A. The city is named after Boston England, whose name is a corruption o* Botolph's Town, St. Botolph's havin; founded an abbey there, Q. How many deer are there in the United States?—H. F. G. A. Game commissioners estimate tha: there are approximately 2,000,000, Q. What is the highest price eve' asked for a contemporary novel?— W.H.G. A. Probably the highest financia value ever placed on a contemporar: publication is $500,000 a copy for 1% copies of “The Mint."” by T. E. Lawrence. These were issued by the publishers te protect the copyright as. by the terms o his will. the book was not to be given tc the public until 1950. Q. How old is David Warfield?—G. W A. The famous actor recently cele- brated his 70th birthday, Q. Did Florence Nightingale have an immediate influence on the mortality rate when she went to Scutari during the Crimean War?—M. L. A. When she arrived, the death rate in the hospital was 42 for every 109 persons. In six months she had reduced the mortality rate to 22 deaths for every 1,000 persons. Q. When were needles first made?— P. R B A. Stone needles have been found among the relics of the Stone Age. It is believed that the Chinese were the first to use steel needles and that knowledge of this practice was carried into Europe by the Moors. By 1370 a needle-making industry had become established at Nur- emberg. The manufacture of needles in England began much later. It de- veloped during the reign of Queen Eliza- beth and became an important industr; R American “Honesty.” Prom the Pontlac Press. The Wheeling, W. Va., hotel manager who must spend $30,000 a year to replace the “souvenirs” the guests take probably had his own idea of the traditional “inherent honesty” of the American people. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton e ———— . Footsteps, I watched a baby toddle on unsteady feet, And turned to watch an old man totter by. Life lies between—youth pirouettes with laughter sweet, Manhood, strong vital, moves along with footsteps fleet; The tempo changes as the motives die. For aeons babes have toddled, age has tottered by; Aeons ahead it will be just the same; First steps in life achieved with an exultant cry, Life stepping out with a prolonged and weary sigh— Yet in his vigor man may not walk s lame! \