Evening Star Newspaper, December 31, 1936, Page 8

THE Eviusinu S1AKR, WASHINGTO D. C, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1936 * 3 ) 2 y 3 b4 THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. December 31, 1936 e——————————————— The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th 8t. and Pennlylvlnln LAve. New York Office. ast 42nd 8t. Chicago Office: S5 Narl.h Michigan Ave. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Berula: Edition, The Evening Star The Evening and aundly Star (when 4 Sunaays) 45¢ per month 60c per month er copy ight Plnn lnd Sun ight Pinal Sta Collection made at t cl Ordors may he"sent by ‘mai) of teiephone Na- tional 5000 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. E:‘m 254 Sund: 00; a5 "onis All Ot ?Hg and Sunowy ay only Ilglnber of t.ha Associated Press. mo.. b0c mo. 40c paper and also I rights of publication of special erein are also reserved e Pulling Together. ‘The hearings at the District Building on the Sunday sale of liquor bill devel- oped an encouraging and significant unanimity of opinion among leaders of the community dry forces which not only removed any doubts the Commis- sioners may have had regarding local sentiment, but suggested a wise course of future action on the part of these forces. Some of the elements opposed to repeal of the eighteenth amendment have been inclined to assume a hands-off attitude toward the new liquor regulations, re- fusing to be content with any objective short of the prohibition written into the now dead eighteenth amendment. The faulty strategy in the assumption of such & position lay in the fact that, whether or not the country is ever willing to return to Nation-wide prohibition, protection now against evils commonly associated with the liquor traffic depends upon the nature and the degree of enforcement of existing regulations. The best way to assure that protection is through united efforts of the community toward sound regulations, toward new regulations to cover newly revealed weaknesses and through insistence on strict and non- political enforcement of such regulations, together with continued education in the benefits of temperance. Much more 1s to be gained now by such efforts than by arbitrary insistence, as the only worthy objective, even for the present and immediate future, on efforts to re- gain at once the national prohibition that was lost with the repeal of the eighteenth amendment. In centering their efforts on sound regulation and strict enforcement and in opposing any move which tends to weaken existing regulations the extreme drys find themselves joined by those who, favoring repeal of the eighteenth amendment, are nevertheless rigidly op- posed to the return of the saloon or to the other evils of the liquor traffic which finally produced the solution represented in the eighteenth amendment. This is the strong combination of the best interests of the community, which can be relied upon to resist the under- mining maneuvers of those who stand to profit through increased sale of liquor at the cost of temperance and sobriety. This was the excellent combination, pulling together, which produced such convincing evidence at the hearings this week of community opposition to a weakening of the liquor regulations and served notice on the advocates of Sunday sales and any other menacing pro-alco- hol measures of the strength of their oopposition. ——e———— The salutation “Happy New Year” is due in all good faith, although news- paper readers might, for the sake of | holiday cheer, make it a rule to skip the tems relating to air crashes and auto- mobile accidents. —_— ca—————— Goering is said to regard himself as a poet and a humorist. Nero is reported to have entertained a similar idea of himself. e Communism resolves itself into a taxa- tion problem, with an assessor provided with unlimited information and a col- lector with arbitrary authority. Good-by, 1936. No year is perfect. Mankind never can be quite satisfied with even the briefest tick of the clock.” Just as “into each life some rain must fall,” so.into each division of the calendar there comes a quota of disappointment. The law of averages, perhaps, explains the circum- stance. But 1936, it seems, has been a rea- sonably good year. Within its span, certainly, a number of dreadful things have happened—Italy’s conquest of Ethiopia, the civil war in Spain and con- tinued anarchy in the Far East may be cited as examples. Yet the human family has had much to be grateful for. To illustrate the point, let it be remembered that the United States has survived the bitterest political battle in generations and the British Empire has preserved the in- tegrity of its institutions through a con- stitutional crisis unparalleled in modern history. Also it may be mentioned for the at- tention of thoughtful men and women that the race is benefited by the lesson of emergencies like those of the wide- spread economic: distress which covered the United States twelve months ago. ‘The problem of unemployment probably has not been solved for millions of citi- gens; it may never be amenable to the correction® of artificial relief, but the fact that the Nation is conscious of the issue is important. People have been obliged to consider the relation of each individual to society. The gain is too obvious to require argument. But the progress of a dozen months cannot be measured by any contemporary o1 3 yardstick. At best, a mere approximation’ is feasible. Who now living shall say what fruit the year will show three or four decades hence? Another Pasteur or another Edison unheralded may have appeared in the world since last a chronicler attempted to summarize the advances of a similar period in the annals of the race. The suggestion has & sobering effect on a sensitive mind. It connotes the bridge which joins the past to the future—the fleeting minute in which a miracle may be worked. Lincoln, unnoticed, was born in such a fraction of infinity; so, too, the great souls of ages ungounted. For its unknown benefactions, then, as well as for those immedisately compre- hended, 1936 deserves a vote of thanks. Like Bret Harte's miner, “it could have been worse.” And it doubtless was better than anybody realizes. Fencing in the Nazis. In recent times, while Europe specu- lated anxiously about the direction in which Nazi Germany might essay some aggressive move, there has been inces- sant discussion of the probability that Czechoslovakia is the danger spot. The section of that country which is adjacent to the Reich contains many inhabitants of German origin, sometimes said to number 3,000,000. The area in conse- quence ranks as one of those “bleeding borders” mertioned in the Nazi bible, Hitler's “My Struggle,” and which the Fuehrer describes as regions which must one day be incorported in a Greater Germany. Ever since the Germans in- stituted their rearmament and remili- tarized the Rhineland, Czechoslovakians have felt that the day was coming ever nearer when their militant and powerful western neighbor might attempt to carry out the destiny so bluntly foreshadowed by Hitler. Their fears were aggravated when, a few weeks ago, as one more deathblow at the Treaty of Versailles, Berlin abolished international control of German rivers, as therein provided, and thus curtailed vital rights of access to the sea which the Czechoslovakians were guaranteed by the peace pact. It is because of all these threatening factors that high importance attaches to the Paris announcement that Poland has given France a formal guarantee to come to Czechoslovakia’s aid in case the latter is attacked by Germany, thus constitut- ing in effect a new triple alliance. The condition is a French loan to the Warsaw government. Thus is tightened the ring of steel which is being drawn around Germany to defend Central Europe against a Nazi aavance. Czecho- slovakia a year ago sealed an entente with Russia as a protective measure against Germany. That accord caused Poland to fear that Soviet forces might some time march across Polish soil to help Czechosiovakia. It is understood that France has obtained guarantees from Moscow that such misgivings are groundless. Formerly France felt her- self able to defend Czechoslovakia, one of her Little Entente partners, because the demilitarized Rhineland could have been promptly entered by a French re- lieving force. Since Germany reoccupied the Rhineland, fortifications have been erected there which would prevent French assistance to Czechoslovakia. These various developments naturally combined to fill the Prague government with a sense of isolation, which was deepened when neighboring Rumania this year temporarily abandoned her pro-French policy and seemed to be veering toward Germany. Later Poland and Rumania renewed their military alliance. Now Germany is confronted by a Franco - Russian - Polish - Rumanian- Czecheslovakian military combination which builds a fence around the Reich on nearly all sides. It is well designed to discourage Nazi dreams of territorial aggrandizement in Eastern Europe. With Italy drifting into the Anglo- French orbit, Germany seems to be pretty well headed toward a situation which leaves her anti-Communist pact with Japan as almost her only interna- tional bulwark. —_—e———— Wishes for a Merry Christmas were freely exchanged as usual. As jobs are taken over by new people care must be taken to prevent the merriment from including a willingness to rejoice over another’s downfall. The money required for relief purposes would be easily provided if war debts could be collected without delay. The 1. O. U. continues to be one of the most influential documents in world states- manship. A certain element of mystery is essen- tial to impress the human imagination. One of the advantages of the swastika is that nobody pretends to know pre- cisely what it is all about. Analyzing N. R. A.’s Loss. Among the purposes for which the President, in his final campaign address, declared that “we have only just begun to fight” were shorter hours and higher wages for industry; abolition of child labor and of sweatshops and the promo- tion of collective bargaining. There is nothing new, then, in the President’s re- iteration of these objectives to the news- paper men who attended his final press conference of 1936. And he left the report- ers guessing, just as he left the country guessing at the end of the past cam- paign, as to what method he might favor or Congress might adopt in reaching these objectives within the limits of the Constitution now or as amended. But in discussing anew these objec- tives, the President, fresh from a.talk with Sidney Hillman, president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, emphasized- the breakdown of standards governing child labor, ‘mini- mum wages and maximum hours since invalidation of the N. R. A. While cau- tioning reporters against speculative stories that he might recommend a re- vival of N. R. A, the President said there were undoubtedly some N. R. A principles which should be revived. His statement recalls that this is the date on which the Division of Industrial Analysis, created by the President out of the skeleton of N. R. A. retained after the Supreme Court's decision, was to deliver its final, factual report of the history and accomplishments of N. R. A, The report has long been delayed and, it is understood, has been again delayed until some time in January, when it will be submitted to the President. Previous references to its contents suggested that the report would discuss in some detail those activities of N. R. A. which were found acceptable and beneficial and which might be retained without run- ning counter to the Supreme Court’s in- terpretation of constitutional limitations. Whether the report will discuss such matters or concern -itself only with a factual history of N. R. A. remains to be seen. Outside of the so-called Roberts com- mittee report on lowering of N. R. A. standards after invalidation of the act, which was made about a year ago and which was not very conclusive, there has been little to show for the retention ot the skeletonized N. R. A. and its later transformation as the Division of In- dustrial Analysis. A great opportunity will be lost 1f the forthcoming report does not present the facts, first as to the actual benefits achieved under N. R. A. and second the actual benefits to labor and industry that were lost through N. R. A’s invalidation. There are many and conflicting theories regarding both. A factual report now would serve a use- ful purpose. [ Ever practical Hollywood naturally wonders why so extraordinary an event as an English abdication should not be utilized on the screen. Francis Bacon referred to idols of the theater as rep- resenting the efforts of old philosophies to create worlds of their own after an unreal and scenic fashion. The great dramas of history have been too numer- ous to mention, played with the intensity of fact, yet utilizing elements of senti- ment and romance. Picturesqueness plays an important part in publicity. Nobody can say how much more comfortable Mahatma Gandhi and his followers might have been if they could have been persuaded to wear the neckties and trousers of Western civilization. —_——e—————— War will never be made so terrible that courage cannot be found to face it. Human enlightenment may progress far enough to decide that war is a crime and that crime does not pay. ———te ‘When dictators assume full powers an alert public does not fail to remind them that they, too, may have certain jobs of budget balancing to be attended to. P —— In affairs great and small it is hard to do a precise job of budget balancing without the intervention of luck with some sort of a bonus. —_—e—————— Shooting Stars. !Y. PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Art in “Happy New Year!” One man says “Happy New Yeal!” in a phrase that's crisp and clear. It sounds like the refrain of some old song that we hold dear. Another makes the salutation sound 0 cold and flat That you wish he hadn't troubled to say anything like that. And, after all, a greeting ought to be a work of art, A form of true expression that is prof- fered from the heart, And you master the attainment in a very simple way; ‘When you're saying “Happy New Year!” try to mean just what you say. Sense of Duty. “Did your father encourage you to go into politics?” “In a way,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “T used to listen to father talk a great deal, and he was 50 dead wrong about most of it that it seemed to me like it was my duty to get out and work as hard as I could for the other side.” “To claim knowledge of supernatural things,” said Hi Ho, the sage of China- town, “enables us to give more care to the invention of wonderful tales than to the proofs of them.” Life Has Become a Serious Matter. I much deplore the hours that I misplace In studying ads that might improve my face. I know I'd nearly perish with regret = If the wrong tooth paste I should chance to get, And break into an agonizing scream It 1. went wrong ln buying shaving cream! Worldly Wisdom. “Have you read that scientist's latest estimate of the age of the world?” “No,” answered the pessimistic person. “The exact age of this erratic world does not interest me. Whatever the exact figures may be, there’s no doubt that it is old enough to know better.” Endurance. Some inconsistencies we see That often bring us smiles. She couldn’t walk a block, but she Can dance for twenty miles. Mere Pretext. “Bliggins can't argue without losing his temper.” % “I don’t blame the argument. He feels like losirig his temper anyhow and makes the argument an excuse.” A Seasonable Confession. ‘We sing about the Wintry snrow And vow its joys are many, But just the same—oh, whisper low— We're glad there isn’t any. “When you wighes & po’ man ‘Happy New Year,” said Uncle Eben, “is you serious enough to perduce two bits to help make yoh wish come true?” & ‘THE POLITICAL MILL BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. The hour for party caucuses in the House is almost at hand. The Repub- licans are to meet in the House cham- ber on Monday at 11 am. The Demo- crats will stage their fight over the selection of a majority leader at 3 p.m. on Monday in the same place. Despite certain rumblings, it is expected that the Republicans will put forward Rep- resentative Snell of New York as their candidate for Speaker. Since the Re- publicans have only 88 members of the House and the Democrats have 333, the nomination of a Republican for Speaker may seem a futile gesture. However, they will go through the motfons. The selec- tion of Mr. Snell for this honor will carry with it more or less automatically his election as Republican floor leader. PR The Republicans have the job of pick- ing & new chairman of the Republican jonal Committee. 'Representa- tive Chester C. Bolton of Ohjo, who has been chairman, was defeated in the re- cent elections. The vice: chairman is Representative Bacon of New York. He seems to be the logical choice to succeed Bolton. However, the choice of a chair- man will not be made at the coming caucus. The members of the committee will be picked, and they will select a chairman later. The Democratic land- slide also removed from the House the chairman of the Republican conference of the House, Representative Lehlbach of New Jersey. This office will be filled, it is expected, at the caucus. The vice chairman has been Representative ‘Woodruff of Michigan. * K K K The Democratic caucus promises to be more spirited than the Republican. The caucus will elect its candidate for Speaker, Mr. Bankhead of Alabama, the present Speaker. He is without opposi- tion. But when it comes to the floor leadership, the situation is very different. Representative Rayburn of Texas, Rep- resentative O'Connor of New York and Representative Rankin of Mississippi are avowed candidates for the office. The race seems to lie between the Texan and the New Yorker, with both camps claim- ing victory. A deadlock might force the selection of a compromise candidate, but that is not expected. The old question of all the important jobs going to repre- sentatives from the South has been brought up in connection with the lead- ership contest. With the Speaker from the South and many important commit- tee chairmanships held by members from that section of the country, the sup- porters of O'Connor are demanding recognition for the North. O'Connor has been chairman of the important Commit- tee on Rules. Rayburn’s friends insist that he is as much of a Westerner as a South- erner, since Texas lies far to the West. * Xk % ¥ Vice President Garner, long a warm personal friend of Mr. Rayburn, came to Washington several weeks ago and took off his coat to work for Rayburn's elec- tion as floor leader. The big Pennsyl- vania delegation in the House at a caucus determined to support Rayburn. The fine Italian hand of Senator Guffey was discernible in the decision of the Keystone State delegation, it is said. Senator Guffey, although serving his first term in the Senate, has come stead- ily to the fore. Now that his State has swung strongly into the Democratic col- umn, his influence is likely to increase still further. Opponents of O’'Connor have tried to make it appear that the New Yorker was unfriendly to the Roosevelt administration and the New Deal on occasion during the last Con- gress. But this has been indignantly denied by Mr. O'Connor and his friends. * X ¥ % It is expected that the usual crop of resolutions asking for- congressional in- vestigations will develop early in the coming session. Senator McKellar of Tennessee some time ago threatened a senatorial investigation into the manner in which the Literary Digest conducted its poll on the presxdenunl contest. It would seem that the money of the Fed- eral Government could be used in some other way with more advantage to the taxpayers. The Literary Digest poll was so far incorrect in indicating the senti- ment of the country in the national election that Senator McKellar and others may nave believed it was “col- ored.” Nothing has been produced to show that it was, however, and certainly it had no effect on the election itself. * ¥ ¥ ¥ Representative Martin Dies of Texas has a new one. He wants a congressional committee to investigate the acceptance of private employment by officials of the Government who resign to take such employment. He seems to think that it is wrong for Government officials to step out to take fat jobs—jobs with fat salaries—at the hands of private em- ployers. If there is to be no leaving the Government to accept private employ- ment, officials may think a long time before agreeing to Federal appoint- ment. Such a move might even keep valuable men out of the service. On the other hand, if the Government civil service could be removed from politics as far as possible by the adoption of Mr. Dies’ ideas, it might not be & bad thing. It would scarcely be fair, however, to deny an official of the Government the right to seek and obtain private em- ployment without also assuring him that his tenure of Government office would not be cut off when a new political party takes command in W on, . PR There is one senatorial investigation that has been long denied. During the campaign—and even before it began— there were many charges that W. P. A. money and influence was being used for political purposes, The Senate Campaign Investigating Committee had full au- thority to make the investigation. But nothing was done about it, except send- ing committee investigators here =nd there. No public hearings were author- ized. The whole thing may be allowed to subside for good. Threats of senatorial lnvungnuom into the election campaigns of Repub- lican candidates for the Senate were made in the heat of the campaign. Among them was a demand for an in- quiry—leading to a contest—in the elec- tion of Senator Wallace White of Maine, Republican. He was elected with @ 5,000 lead over Gov. Brann, Democrat, in the September election in the Pine ‘Tree State. Apparently the Governor and the Democratic leaders thought better of tnu For Senator White’s certificate of election, signed by Gov. Brann himself, has been deposited with the secretary of the Senate, Col. Edwin A. Halsey. A in- Sometimes when you turn on the radio and get a dance orchestra and the an- nouncer says that th® next thing you will hear will be your old favorite, "mn]mlh." you settle back with a sigh of rel “None of this new stuff,” you tell your- self, lighting the old pipe. ‘Then the band starts. They are playing “Dinah,” all right, you dimly grasp, but not the way dance orchestras used to do it. The tune only comes out now and then. There is a great powwow among the instruments. First one does some- thing or other to the melody, then an- other. The trumpet hits high C. Away go the boys, so far away there in the studio, playing what has come to be known as “hot music.” “Dinah,” the old favorite, has all but disappeared in the process. * ¥ % % ‘Well, folks, this is “swing music.” And if you haven't kept up with the times, you are just as apt to be at sea as many a listener. Few persons, even those who dance several times a week, seem to know what the term “swing” means, in this con- nection. They guess it has something to do with tempo, or loud or soft, or something or other. They are wrong. ‘When they listen to a swing band grow “hot,” as the slang has it, they often do not know just what it is the music boys are doing. These boys have a fine scorn of the “paper player,” as they call the musician who can't do anything but play the music “straight,” as written. * ok k¥ ‘To “swing,” as we gather it, simply means to be able to swing away from the written score. These boys (who form a new musical cult the world over) believe in improvi- sation to the extent that it must be an actual part of every performance. They “swing” away from the music—at least one or more members of the or- chestra do—every time they play a piece. To know when to leave the score, and when to turn back to it, safely and soundly—and how—is the mark of the “swing” player. The performance is “swing” music. These musicians feel that music which is too “sweet” is all right for those who like their dance music that way, but not for them, nor for the “alligators,” the countless “swing fans” the world around, their listeners, in other words. Yes, if you simply listen to “swing” music, but do not play it yourself, you are, according to the jargon, an alli- gator, and you needn’t be insulted. It is high compliment. probably a reference to the great creatures of the South which lazly lie on the bank and seem to be listenin', * ok % Modern “swing” bands, then, are seen to be different from the more crthodox dance orchestras, not only in regard to the freedom which the players are given, as they play, but particularly in their theory. They attempt to take music, as such, away from paper, and keep it a vital thing, in a sense an actual composing as they play. This is something new, and has been STARS, MEN recognized as such, Europe. Over there the “hot jaz,” as it has come to be known, is a thing in itself. Many of its ardent devotees believe it heralds, or even is, in itself, America’s true contribution to music, after all these years. ‘Whether this is so remains to be seen, but even if one doubts it, as many will, it shows that the thing is not something to.be dismissed with a shrug of the shoulders and a word of disdain. It may be that such a person would do better to keep in mind just what these musicians are trying to do, and to listen more keenly for such improvising, or edxtanporizmg, as they do, while they o it. particularly in * * % * Well-played modern dance music, we have always insisted, fills a particular need of the human mind and spirit, as well as body. Utterly aside from being music to which to dance, it is music to which one may listen with pleasure, owing to its many musical elaborations. The scoring of dance music, as essen- tially simple as much of it is, and as essentlally silly as some of it, and as vulgar as some of it, alas, nevertheless often is done on a really high scale of musicianship. Most of these tunes are on exceedingly simple song patterns, but this is nothing against them; some of the world's great- est music is, at heart, no more than folk song. One of the failures of great music, great as well as mediocre, is that it tends to become “set.” That is, we have a written score, which the composer gives us. He, we say, ought to know how it ought to go, how it should be played, for the musical idea was his in the beginning. ‘Well, this is true. But undoubtedly all melodies, no matter how much we love them, tend in time’to grow stale to mind and ear, too oft repeated, and in the same way. Often we refuse to admit this, because of associations, but down in our minds and hearts we know it to be so. * % ¥ ¥ “Swing” musicians are trying to get away from this “paper music,” as they say. Their aitempt, we believe, is worth while, although we regret that all too often they seem to be satisfied with lesser music, They do not reach high enough, per- haps, being too easily satisfied with “You Rascal, You” and others of the type. But their aim is in the right direction. They want to make the listener really listen, each time he hears a composition. That is why, when you hear them “butchering,” as it seems to you, a fine old tune, via radio, you should try to listen better. and especially make an effort to understand just what the boys are trying to do. They have a theory, there, and are trying to express it. If the tune seems lost, in the process. it will come again, and probably in a most unexpected way. This movement may die out, as so many movements have died over the years, but if it lasts it will affect the great musicians, too, who, in time, will be “swinging,” although, no doubt, they will never call #t that, or even admit it. It is the ald question, of vital music versus static music, of a living literature against a dead one. AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. ATLANTIC CITY, December 29.— | lilies, garden gen.mns. several kinds of Federal insect preserves established every few miles through rural areas of the | United States by presidential proclama- | tion and Federal troops of caterpillar police to protect bugs now regarded as | nuisances were forecast as possibilities of 60 years hence in an address before the Entomological Society of America here tonight by Dr. Edith M. Patch of the University of Maine. Such measures- may be necessary, Dr. Patch warned, as the alternative to a land deprived of many of its flowering plants, fruit trees and song birds. For years, she said, insects have been regarded as man’s chief enemies since they cause enormous crop losses. As a result their extermination is being con- ducted on a large scale with spraying of vast areas with virulent poisons from airplanes and the experimental use of electro-magnetic waves to kill them by the billions. However efficient in destroying pests, she said, these measures do not discrim- inate between good and bad insects, with the result that the balance of nature is already seriously upset. Bees perish from the airplane sprays until there are few left to fertilize fruit orchards in some sections. Song birds already are being starved out of some areas because there :re no caterpillars left on which they can eed. 5 If man persists in destroying insects indiscriminately instead of striking up some sort of partnership with them, she warned, the result will be ane of the greatest economic disasters of all time. She said: “Man may give thanks to the insects for all his fruits, almost all his vegetables, and for part of his meat, since much of this comes from land animals not feeding exclusively on wind-pollinated plants such as the cereals. Most of his clothing is bestowed by insects. Flax and cotton owe their seeds to insect pollen-bearers and sheep feed on clover, alfalfa and other legumes pollinated by insects. He is in debt to the insects for such happi- ness as he derives from the beauty of flowers and from all those birds that de- pend on insect food for their nestlings. If we proceed to destroy too many insects we shall have almost no crops at all, ex- cept such as are pollinated by wind. Perhaps no other agricultural situation has ever presented a more serious dilemma.” The blessings of tobacco, she pointed out, might easily be lost almost com- pletely through the elimination of a single little-known insect, the hawk moth, which already has become almost extinct in Great Britain. If the hawk is eliminated there are likely to go with it not only tobacco, but the sweet-scented honeysuckle, the Madonna and Bermuda gardenia and several species of orchid. She pictured a time when there may be only a few zealously guarded specimens of all these plants in botanical gardens, laboriously pollinated by hand by scien- tists. while the Government tries to establish hawk moth and bumblebee pre- serves, ‘The possible insect preserves pictured by Dr. Patch would be “gardens” in charge of Government entomologists where such weeds as milkweed, wood- bine, etc., would actually be cultivated for the benefit of caterpillars and where creatures now often regarded as pests would be rigidly protected. Surplus material, she said, could be transplanted from place to place by squads ef “reserves” on emergency call. Another possibility, she said, will be the planting on all farms of hedges of haw- thorne, wild plum, wild cherry and other trees. Then, instead of killing cater- pillars on orchard trees, the farmer could remove them by hand and transport them to these hedges. It may become neces- sary, she intimated, for farmers to plant a few extra rows of potatoes or tomatoes as food for the insects which normally live on these plants and are considered as pests. Also it may be necessary for to- bacco growers to set aside about 1 per cent of their crop for the rearing of sphinx caterpillars. Insect destruction today, she stressed, may be in about the stage of soil de- struction a generation ago. It now is costing many millions to restore the erosion-wasted soil and insect destruc- tion may iead to a similar result if it is not taken in hand. * x % x ATLANTIC CITY, December 30.— ‘There are self-generated electrical cur- rents in plants which may have the same function as the animal nervous system. « Experimental evidence to this effect was presented before botanists of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science here today by Dr. E. J. Lund of the University of Texas. A plant cell, Dr. Lund said, produces through its chemical structure a continuous electric current which always flows in one di- rection. Work with onion roots has demonstrated that such cells may be arranged in the form of batteries of cells in series and parallel, thus sending a constant current in one direction through the structure of the plant. Where such currents are found in growing regions, such as root tips and buds, the growth is always in the same direction, he said. Complex internal ar- rangements of plant growth also are gov- erned by the direction of the currents. The University of Texas experiments, Dr. Lund said, lead to the hypothesis that the primary function of such currents is for the transportation of such things as growth hormones and water in the di- rections in which it is the inherent nature of a plant to grow. ‘The plant electricity seems to be created in some complex way, he said, by the alternate processes in breathing in and out of carbon dioxide, the elemental process by which the vemble kingdom its and provides Of fundamental importance, lunld.ll the discovery that the direction of growth in roots and the tips of plants by sending through the cells electric currents from without. Thus they may be mads se 2< 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 long did it take Amelia Eare hart to fly from Mexlco to the Newark, N. J, Airport?—L. W. A. On May 8, 1935. Miss Earhart made the non-stpp flight (2,100 miles) in 14 hours 18 minutes 30 seconds. Q. Please give some information about the new movie star, Deanna Durbin— H.O.K. A. Edna May Durbin was born 14 years ago in Winnipeg, Canada. Reared in Los Angeles, where her father was a broker, she started studying voice at the age of 11. She was given a motion picture test by one company and later selected by an official of Universal to appear for that company. The name Deanna was selected for her. Q. When was the bill passed that divided New York into five boroughs?— F.R. H. A. The Greater New York bill was signed on May 11, 1896. The City of Five Boroughs came into corporate exist- ence on January 1, 1898, Q. Why did the French caricaturist, Cham, use this pseudonym?—B. C. A. His name was De Noe; in our lan- guage, Noah. Cham is Ham in English, the allusion being to Ham, son of Noah. Q. Is the man who established the Gideons—the International Christian Commercial Men's Association—living? —H. W. A. Mr. Samuel E. Hill, one of the two traveling salesmen who founded the organization, died at Beloit, Wis., No- vember 11, 1936. The other co-founder, Mr. John H. Nicholson, is still living. Q. Where is the fastest lift bridge in this country?—W. H. J. A. The fastest lift bridge in the worla is-at Newark, N. J.. and carries all main- line traffic on the Pennsylvania Railroad between New <York and Philadelphia across the Passaic River. It is also the heaviest. Electricity raises this struc- ture at the rate of two feet a second. Q. Did Hetty Green inherit the foun- dation of her fortune from her hus- band?—W. D. A. She was a rich woman when she married him in 1867. Her father died 1 1865, leaving her a fortune for those days. She managed her investments her- self, and became the richest woman in this country, and the leading woman financier of the world. Q What was the size of the Charter Oak?—W. B A. 1t had a diameter of about 7 feet. Q. What is the longest wave on rec=- ord?—W. R. A. The longest wave supposed to have been measure anywhere with reasonable accuracy was one observed on the At~ lantic a little north of the Equator by Admiral Mottez of the French Navy. Its length was about 2,700 feet. Q. Who gave the name “Cheops” to the Egyptian ruler?>—C. W. A. The name was bestowed by Herod- otus. The Egyptians called him Khufu. Q. How much lighter is it in Summer than in Winter?—F. D. 8. A. The light of Midsummer afternoons is about 10 times as bright as that of Midwinter afternoons, the afternoon being the lighter period of the day. Q. When was the plate for photog- raphy invented?—N. B. A. The first form of the photographic plate was invented by Daguerre in 1839, Q. What is the underwerld name for a pickpocket?—P. G. A. A pickpocket in the argot of his calling is variously known as a cannon, dip or gun. ,’ Q. How many phonograph records are sold in a year?—Is the business increas- ing or decreasing?—T. R. A. A. It has been estimated that from 28,000,000 to 30,000,000 records will be sold in 1936, about seven times the 1932 total. ¢ Q. Who was it who said “That the English have only two vegetables and both of them are cabbage’?—L. P. A. The witticism is attributed to the late Walter Hines Page. Q. What is the largest stadium of all time?—H. J. A. The Circus Maximus at Rome, built 605 B.C., was 312 feet high, 1,875 feet long and 625 feet wide. At one time it held 150,000 spectators, but the capacity was increased to 385,000 in the fourth century AD. (5 Q. Please give a biography of Sam Davis, the Confederate hero.—J. H. A. Sam Davis was born October G. 1842, near Murfreesboro, Tenn., and was educated at Western Military Institute in Nashville, Early in the Civil War he joined the Confederate Army and n November, 1863, was sent by Gen. Brax- ton Bragg on a dangerous mission to penetrate the Federal lines and obtain knowledge of the movements of the Fed- eral troops. He obtained the informa- tion but was captured, the incriminating papers found tucked under his saddle. Gen. Dodge told him that unless he re- vealed ‘the name of the traitor who gave him the information he would be™ hanged. Davis replied: “You are doing your duty, Gen. Dodge, and I am doing mine and I will die before I will tell.” Even while he was on the gallows Gen. Dodge offered him freedom 1f he would confess. Davis' reply was: “If I had a thousand lives to live I would lose them all before I would betray my « friends or the confidence of my in- former.” He was hanged at Pulaskl, Tenn., November 27, 1863. A Rhyme at Twilight ¥ Gertrude Brooke Hamilton An Idyl From sunset, in magenta hue, A long ray tints a somber cloud, And up above the rose-capped shroud A sickle moon, gold against blue. Far view of dark trees in a wood, Nearer a meadow, barely light— Magical in the coming night The scene of pastoral quietude. grow sideways instead of lengthwise, short and thick instead of long and thin. Evidence that these currents are set up by chemical processes in the cell proto- plasm, he said, is afforded by the fact they sometimes appear in irregular‘s Jml.mmmmmwmmuk- /mlase inside the cells.