Evening Star Newspaper, January 5, 1937, Page 8

A-8 » THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, JANUARY 5 1937 THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. — WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY.... _--.January 5, 1937 THEODORE W. NOYES --Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11tn 8t. and Pennsylvania Ave. New YoE.k Office: 110 East 42nd 8t. Chicago Office: 435 North Michigan Ave. Rats by Carrier—City and Suburban. Regular Editien, ening and_Sunday Star :‘ : o m.;.'wc"é'u Imonth or 15¢ per week 1] ening ar 43¢ per month or 10¢ per week The Bu day Star ¢ per copy Night Final Edition. Jisht Final and Sunday Star- ight Final Star __ = __ __ ¢ per month Collection made at the end h month or each week. Orders may be sent by mall or teles phone National 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, ily and Sunday...1 yr., $10. 1 mo., 85c only 1 yr. $600i 1 mo., bl 1 yg. $4.00; 1 mo. 4uc c per month All Other States and Canada. ty and Sunday..1 yr. $1200: 1 mo. $1.00 ail 1 ¥ 1 mol.~ %bc us i1 mol bue Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper end also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of speclal disputches herein are also reserved. The Seventy-fifth Congress. The new Congress, seventy-fifth in line since the first Congress assembled March 4, 1789, in New York, meets at noon to- day. Before its term shall have been completed the United States will have seen virtually & century and & half of legislative control by this body. The country has seen many important acts by the Congress, acts that have changed the channel of American life, acts that have brought the nation into conflict with foreign nations., The incoming Congress, however, may be faced with action upon measures as far-reaching as any that have gone before. Take, for example, the proposed joint resolution by which an amendment to the Consti- tution may be submitted to the States giving the Congress, the State Legisla- tures or both the right to pass laws limiting hours of labor and fixing mini- mum wages. There is & step, if it is taken, that may have more effect upon American life—and liberty—than is pos- sible to predict with certainty today. The new Congress comes to Washing- ton, however, with many other big prob- lems before it. It is presumed to have & mandate from the people—just as the President who was re-elected at the same time. That mandate will be variously Interpreted, depending upon the group or the individual voter who happens to be doing the interpreting. The labor group interprets the election as & man- date to Congress to put through all kinds of legislation affecting the workers, in- cluding a thirty-hour work week, maxi- mum hours and minimum wages, laws leading to the closed shop. The Negro voters, who gave their allegiance to the Roosevelt New Deal in the election, see & mandate to enact laws that will in- sure them the right to vote in certain States of the Union where the privilege has been denied them, indirectly, for many years, and they see a mandate to enact a Federal anti-lynching law. The relief workers see a mandate to continue huge appropriations for relief, and the farmers are confident that the election meant they should be treated generously and laws dealing with crop control, crop insurance and the like enacted. In both the Senate and the House the New Deal majorities are tremendous. There are even some of the few Repub- licans left in Congress who will go along with the New Deal administration and its legislative program. The President should have comparatively plain sailing during the session. The very multiplicity of the problems, which include making permanent or further extending some of the laws enacted during the last four years, is almost staggering. The demand for haste in enacting legislation does not exist as it did in 1933, when the country was in the depths of a devastating depression. The Congress should give ample time to the consideration of the measures which come before it. The only cloud of large dimensions on the horizon is the threat to industrial peace of the country. With labor calling upon Congress for new laws, the National Legislature might either be stampeded into quick and favorable action or, if the temper of the country turns sour, the labor leaders taking the employes into strikes may find they have a different Congress with which to deal. No more important problem confronts the Congress than the fiscal affairs of the Nation. It is true that revenues are increasing. They are not, however, keep- ing pace with expenditures. The public debt is at a staggering height. Taxes and interest charges are very heavy, though many of them are indirect and almost concealed. The Congress must not let its generous impulses continue to outrun sound financing. e — Reprisals are reported but not to such an extent as to warrant revival of the theory that war may be regarded as & series of implacable reprisals, Congress Meets. At the moment when the Seventy- fifth Congress is convening it may be worthy of mention that the National Legislature of the United States is a rep- resentative body. In fact, as well as in theory, that is both demonstrably true and impressively significant. Of course, there are critics who imagine that some other system, some other de- vice of government, might be preferred. But perhaps they are motivated by an adventurous doctrine of expediency. It may seem to them that the processes of democracy are slow, inefficient, too costly. The gesture of a royal scepter or the signal of a dictator'’s thumb may appeal to their instinct as being more direct and less expensive. A benign tyrant, they may suppose, could be relied upon to personify the best administration of an organized community of people not wise enough to comprehend their own best interest nor competent to serve that in- A terest when, tardily, it has been com- prehended. But Aristotle was correct in his judg- ment that “man is by nature a civic ani- mal” The human race is gregarious; it “flocks together” deliberately and pur- posefully. An impulse, normally inborn in every soul, prompts men and women to seek the society of their kind. The Psalmist was not ta'king nonsense when he exclaimed: “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Certainly, it is inevitable that there will be differences of opinion in a com- munity. The Almighty Father of the human race creates individuals—each different from his fellows in tempera- ment, intelligence and aspiration. It follows, then, that parties and groups will come into being from time to time to express the desires of minorities. Yet there always will be & prineiple of change —a law of mutation—operating for the correction of the social balance. No nation ever is permanently reactionary or permanently radical. In America, any- way, by grace of the Constitution and the basic traditions which are the in- heritance of successive generations, sta- bility is the central axiom of history. And it is in Congress particularly that the give and take, the flexibility, the rigidity of American civilization is most notably manifest. It may suit an occasional bystander to complain now and again about the faults of the repre- sentative formula, but few will ‘be the thoughtful observers who would reform “this Sorry Scheme of Things entire.” House and Senate, meeting today, may reflect unworthy passions, greeds, hates and ambitions. Much more important, however, is the incontrovertible circum- stance of their reflection of patriotism, altruism, mutuality and hope. Valuable Leadership. In its annual report the Civil Service Commission goes beyond the formal re- quirements of an administrative agency and takes a gratifying stand as champion not only of merit system extension and strengthening, but in behalf of estab- lishment of career service in the Gov- ernment. That position is in keeping with the spirit of the times. Public sentiment is rapidly being developed be- hind the manifest improvements in effi- ciency and the safeguards against po- litical abuse which lie in extension of merit system principles. The Civil Serv- ice Commission occupies an advan- tageous position in the battles that lie ahead for wider application of such prin- ciples, and its vigorous leadership is welcomed. The commission’s point that “present trends in Government,” as represented in social legislation, emphasizes the “basic importance of the extension of the merit system” is well taken. More than ever before the National and the State gov- ernments are undertaking experiments in new fields of vast and far-reaching im- portance. The social security legislation is merely one case in point. “The risks of failure in this new type of legisiation." the commission warns, “represent haz- ards of a new order in American life.” And the use of the merit system, as opposed to the political barter and sale of jobs so important to success of these legislative experiments, represents a great safeguard against such risks. Pointing to’the fact that many im- portant agencies of a “presumably per- manent character” are still outside the operation of the merit system, along with many positions in the older estab- lishments of government, the commission emphasizes that while “standards of per- sonnel administration” in such agencies may seem satisfactory, all of them lack the advantage of stability and protection from outside interference “which are secured through the civil service law.” The commission might have added “and only through the civil service law.” ‘The action of the new Congress on the various civil service bills now pending or proposed will be watched with a great deal of interest by the country. With both political parties having adopted strong civil service planks, the disap- pointment and even resentment over half-way measures will be the keener. “The public service,” said the commis- sion, “cannot thrive on a half-merit, half-patronage basis, whether in na- tional, State or municipal service.” The tendency of some proposed legislation, avowedly strengthening merit system application, is to go just half-way. That is the tendency that must be resisted. Preparedness is demanded on the theory that in order to be neutral it is not necessary to be oblivious. The Mahatma’s Veto. Great Britain’s program of pacification and unity in India, the fruit of eight years of painstaking effort, has suffered a sudden, but not necessarily fatal, set- back. The still potent Mahatma Gandhi raises his hand against it. Thus, the new government of India act, adopted in 1935 and planned to take effect in April, faces a season of storm which may not destroy the scheme, but makes certain that it will not be inaugurated with that degree of popular support confidently hoped for. There was some expectation that because of a division within the Nationalist movement, which found Gandhi, grim apostle of passive resistance, arrayed against Pandit Nehru, Socialist-minded advocate of direct ac- tion, there might ensue a fairly general acceptance of the project to give India at once full provincial autonomy and eventually complete federation within the empire on the dominion basis. Last week these prospects were shat- tered. Approximately 100,000 members of the National Congress party con- vened amid crude rural surroundings—a’ sop to the peasants whom Gandhi seeks to rally—and adopted belligerent reso- lutions sponsored jointly by the mahatma and Nehru. The new cohstitution was denounced and rejected as imperialistic. In its place fhe congress demanded the summoning of & constituent assembly for establishment of home rule. As further evidence of their longing for liberation from the imperial yoks, the Nationalists 3 voted to boycott the durbar scheduled to be held to honor the coronation of King George VI. Then, to cap the anti- British climax, the delegates passed & resolution pledging party members to re- fuse to fight for the empire in case of ‘War. . One single ray of encouragement shone through deliberations otherwise uncom- promisingly rebellious. The supporters of Gandhi and Nehru are not immune from the passion for office which ani- mates politicians in other climes. They will therefore wait until after the Spring ‘elections to the provincial Legislatures set up by the new constitution before deciding whether Nationalists should ac- cept ministerial posts. As abstention from the polls on any considerable scale might give dominating power to parties hostile to the National Congress, hunger for the official fleshpots is likely to in- duce extensive voting by the Gandhi- Nehru cohorts in such regions as Bom- bay, Madras and the central provinces, in which they have chances of gaining & clear majority. The forthcoming federal government at New Delhi awaits with mixed emo- tions the prospect of dealing with pro- vincial governments containing Nation- alist ministers. They are certain to pursue intransigent tactics at every op- portunity, following the early examples of the Sinn Feiners in the Irish Free State and the Dutch Separatists in South Africa. Meantime, the British govern- ment faces the situation unperturbed. It can at any time invoke the ample emergency powers of the constitution to suppress wrecking crews which become obstreperous. India now has its chance, with a franchise available to 35,000,000 persons, or about 14 per cent of the eligible population, to show what it can do with and under a system of far- reaching self-determination. —_—e—————— The employment of caricature would hardly be permissible in the Congres- sional Record, but a staff of photog- raphers might brighten many a narrative by showing exactly how an orator looked when orating. r————————— Support rallies to Hitler in his attack on bolshevism. It may be possible for Berlin to concentrate its purposes so as not to appear to be fighting everything at once, —_—————— Inauguration day will be a time of general rejoicing when every citizen will feel like addressing his fellow citizens as “my friends,” excepting, of course, over the radio. —————— Berlin political programs somewhat resemble concert programs with an effort to make a Wagnerian war chorus harmonize with a Christmas carol. —_————————— Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Valued Treasures. Only part of the new year left, With the hope fulfilled or the heart bereft. Only a part of the toiling year That will bring its grief or bestow its cheer. For time, as the poet loves to sing, Is a fickle bird with a facile wing. So let’s endeavor to be most wise. ‘Where time’s concerned, let's economize. ‘Who cares for the jewel that flashes bright On earth, as compared with the stars at night That circle to mark the passing year With so much that our thinking must make more clear! The copper coin and the golden disk Are sought with no need of toil or risk— But the hours are what we should truly prize, And where time's concerned let's econ- omize. Training. “Do you do whatever your wife tells you to?” asked the severe woman. “Do you mean in politics or other matters?” asked Senator Sorghum. “I mean in matters of all kinds.” “I'm afraid I don’t show the train- ing I've had. This very morning I paid no attention to my wife and forgot my overshoes.” Differences of Speech. In fitting phrase I strove to turn The words which I to her addressed. Such classic lore as I could learn I offered with a fervent zest. I studied very hard indeed To speak in English that was good; In silence she would often heed As if with care she understood. She laid aside her magazine, ‘Whose style of speech was very smart; She turned on me her eyes serene— They gleamed with futuristic art. To speech she paused to condescend. She murmured, “Us two don’t connect. ‘You seem a good scout and & friend, But I don’t get your dialect!” Jud Tunkins says if you want fo know whether & man or woman is boss in the home, persuade the man to put his feet on the furniture and see what happens. “It is the old building that falls in the storm,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “and yet we go on boasting of antiquity.” Congress. O Congress, how you make us all com- plain! ‘When you are here we wish you gone When youre away our troubles will sSeem sore And make us wish that you were back once more! “T believe in moral suasion,” said Uncle Eben. “When my boy don’ show me rightful respect I jes’ waits to see whatll happen when he talks to some o’ de big beys in de neighborhood same as he does » # Va e Futility of Legislating a Neutrality Policy Shown To the Editor of The Star: By requesting and securing from the Department of State a license to export to the Loyalist government in Spain & consignment of airplanes, engines and parts valued at $2,777.000, one Robert Cuse of Jersey City, said to be a natural- ized American citizen of Russian birth, has raised an issue which promises very shortly to bring to a head the whole question of our neutrality policy. The President and Congress are placed in a position of extreme difficulty. The present neutrality act cannot, without additional legislation, be construed to apply to countries in which civil war prevails (unless the belligerent status of the rebels should be recognized by the United States) and no legal means exist to prevent such shipments. If the Cuse shipment were sent to Spain, as appeared likely, the United States might be placed in & position of helping to prolong a struggle which its citizens would like to see ended and in which they desire to take no part. If, on the other hand, the United States should forbid the exporta- tion of similar shipments to the Loyalist government of Spain, it would thereby indirectly strengthen the forces seeking to overthrow a government with which the United States maintains friendly re- lations and would give the Spanish gov- ernment cause to regard the embargo as an “unfriendly act.” Meanwhile the situation in Europe has become even more tense by the belief that American planes were about to be shipped to the Loyalist government of Spain in entire accordance with the laws of this country. Great Britain and France, whose factories are said to be working overtime to supply arms and munitions for their own protection, are attempting to establish a policy of strict non-intervention in the Spanish situa- tion. The American shipment doubtless “embarrasses” them. Whatever the Cuse shipment of planes to the Loyalist government demonstrates, it shows clearly the futility of “legislat- ing” a neutrality policy. It is apparent also that half-way measures in drafting a new neutrality act would be likely to place the United States in other and equally difficult situations. To add “civil wars” to the present act suggests at once the need for criteria to tell us when a domestic disturbance has reached the stage when it can be called a civil war. Shall the new act attempt to fix such criteria or leave it entirely to the Execu- tive to do so? A strictly worded act which would apply to cases such as the Cuse shipment might result in the com- mission of an unneutral act by the United States and thereby play directly into the hands of the rebels. You can- not “legislate” a foreign policy because it is always the unforeseen circumstance that occurs. Rather than do this It would seem better to give the President, in his discretion, the power to embargo any and all exports to countries engaged in hostilities. In such a case, we could only hope that his discretion would be used in the way best calculated to keep the United States out of the disturbance. ‘Whatever legislation may be passed, it will probably be a compromise. Is it not best to-attack the problem by placing the manufacture and sale of all arms and munitions of war under the supervision of the Federal Government and by en- acting legislation forbidding the exporta- tion of such arms and munitions except with the express approval of Congress? Perhaps it would appear to be going somewhat far to prohibit the exportation to any belligerent country of any com- modity or thing, whatsoever, without the consent of Congress, but how else can a “cordon sanitaire” be placed around the belligerents? And, after all, isn't this the only effective way of keeping the United States out of war? The question of whether to recognize bellig- erency’ of the parties in a given case would be delegated to the Executive, In cases of civil disturbances where the Executive has not recognized the bel- ligerency of its parties, he should have the authority, in his discretion, to de- clare that such a state of facts existed as warranted the application of the neu- trality legislation, because the disturb- ance endangered the peace of the world and. consequently, created the possibility of the United States being drawn into war, SYDNEY G. GEST. Red Undershirts Not Yet Obsolete Prom the Milwaukee Sentinel. Some months ago the elder generation of Americans was stirred to nostalgic memories by the announcement that the red flannel undershirt and its companion piece had become obsolete in our fair land. Nowhere, it was announced, were these comforting garments to be found. Even in the great North woods, it was re- ported, the sturdy hewers of wood had abandoned their grateful warmth for the modern type of underapparel. Now, we are informed, the alarm has been found to be groundless. The tired modern, looking back wistfully to his boyhood days, can, if he wishes, purchase the flaming vesture as of yore and re- joice in the sensation of warmth and itchiness that marked the advent of Winter in his schoolboy days. The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce in Washington, that benef- icent creation of a great government, is authority for the statement that many people are still addicted to red flannels and find no difficulty in supplying their wants in that regard. 1t is good news. The onward march of time takes from us many cherished things. The horse and buggy, the parlor melodeon, the wax flowers in the parlor— all these have passed into the limbo of forgotten things. But the red flannel undershirt waves proudly from the clothesline of sturdy America. And a nation in which it is even mildly prev- alent still possesses the sterner virtues that we need so sadly today. Iron Ore Shipments Are Nearing Records Prom the Duluth News-Tribune. The Lake Superior region shipped this year to December 1, the official close of navigation, 44,822023 long tons of fron ore. This is a big gain above the shipments for the years 1931 to 1935, both included. Of this great 1936 total, 33,439,070 tons were shipped from this port and Two Harbors, Most of this was St. Louis County ore. The remainder, about eleven and one-third million tons, was from Wisconsin and Michigan Lake Superior harbors. These 1936 shipments begin to ap- proach the colossal shipments for the years 1926 to 1930, both inclusive. It is highly probable that the figures for those years will be equaled or even exceeded very soon. The 1936 shipments were big enough to make a big hill of ore, each of nearly & half million tons, on each mile between Duluth and Ely. The item of traffic transcends imagina- tion, and it does not include ore con- sumed in Lake Superior furnaces. Iron ore is really the first settler here. It is the veteran of veterans. It was here long ago. Its coming was apparently coeval almost With the earliest known formations. It antedated the glaciers, the big 13 as now, th:ufar:thu. the Mlfi voyageurs since. MNow, ab last, # eomes into its own. [ After the calendars and almanacs come the seed catalogues. Many a person who received large and expensive books for Christmas neverthe- less looks furward with greater interest to the arrival of the free flower books. Even persons who, for one reason or other, are not particularly interested in vegetable and flower growing, ought to get their names on such lists, just to keep in touch with the soil. Often the city man is so far removed from this touch that he forgets the good earth and all its horticultural children, the plants which cannot live away from it. Even if one has no more than a window box, & seed calalogue is a source of won- derful interest., Even with no window box at all, or not even a flower pot, & good catalogue is something to stir the imagination. x X X ¥ ‘Those colored illustrations, for one thing. The printing art has improved these over the years. Color work today is superb. Even in the old days, the tomatoes in color were always surpassing. Today they fsirly melt in the mouth of imagination! It is interesting to realize that two very fine art books, selling at a good price, have been made from these illus- trations. One of these volumes deals with general ornamental flowers and shrubs. The other with roses. The interesting fact is that practically all the colored illustrations in thece two volumes first appeared in catalogues which were sent gratis to hundreds of thousands of persons. * k% X Wherever a colored print of a really fine vegetable creation appears, it makes a mighty appeal to an American. We often have wondered if the peoples of other nations get a similar “kick” cut of these great red tomatoes, as played up in the annual seed books. America was brought up on these pictures. In every small town, of which there are so many thousands throughcut cur land, and on every farm, these books and booklets played an important part. Sometimes they were the cnly “books,” with the exception of school books. They were vital, too, in that they represented sometimes the livelihood, and almost always a most impcrtant part of the food supply. Customs have changed. The vegetable garden no longer occupies the sure place it held for many vears. Even in the smell towns there is an ever growing reliance in the tin can, and the truck farmer. But still the old pictures, especially those in color, have power to move something in heart and mind. ERE Aside from that. even the poorest little catalogue is something of an education. It is a type of knowledge we all need, if for no other reason than to keep us in_touch with vital things. Year by year man realizes better the interdependence of one part of Nature with another. We are told that insects will devour the world, unless we kill them all. Then a scientist pops up and assures us, after many years, that we will have neither songbirds nor vegetative life un- less we stop killing all insects indis- criminately. All these are vital things, and the annual seed catalogues remind us of them, force us to keep them in mind. ‘We cannot grow %o be ~cncrete people, street people, brick people, entircly, as long as we read about soft green leaves, and trees, and shrubs, and flowers, about beets and radishes and tomatoes and sweet corn. Circumstagces may prevent us, indi- vidually, from raising any of these. Even when we are able to do so, life in con- crete for many years may have so oper- ated as to have removed frcm us all real liking for the tasks. Nevertheless, if we are willing to thumb through these books, and 'ook at these pictures, and be vaguely stirred at the number of varieties, and to wonder why there are so many of them, we are not wholly lost. * X X % So far we have considered merely the inspection of these booklets, as if we were all eyes, and could do nothing but look. (The world is wagging in that direction, as witness the astourding suc- cess of the latest picture magazine.) Fortunately, however, we can vead, and there is no better reading for a long evening. This is a Winter’s tale that bears end- less unfolding. Here before our eves are stories to equal any we could find, if we have the imagination to put them in order. Here is exaggeration, if you will, the good building up which makes so much of our fiction interesting. We take the descriptions with the proverbial grain of sait. Happily there is not so much reason for this now as a few years ago. The people who grow and deal in these precious commodities themselves have come to the realization that there is no use beinz too enthusi- astic. Let the readers do that for themselves! * X X %X Fireside gardening. some one has called it, but Winter gardening would be as good & name for a happy indoor spori. The play may take many evenings. There is no hurry here. Even the most bustling individual will get nothing from scurrying through a plant catalogue. Spring planting is a long way off, by any man’s calendar. The bluebirds are down South, and the starlings with us, and no doubt many a snowy day is to clothe the landscape in soft white before the first warm days when ambitious gardeners feel that stir within them, calling for rolled up chirt sleeves and the rake. Let us take our time with these beauti- ful books. Surely they are precious, despite the fact they cost nothing. Maybe you can’t get something for notning, but these books seem to be “it.” 5 The best part about 7oing thiough them now, and making lists of desired material, is that by *hes iime Spring arrives, the reader already will have done a little weeding. He will prune his list down, so that by planting time it will be reduced to more seemly pro- portions. We sometimes think the seed people would do better to send their books out very late. so that common sense would be usurped by enthusiasm. But we guess they know their business, after all. STARS, MEN AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY, Rainbows 150,000 miles long and great jets of flaming gas which shoot to heights of 100,000 miles at speeds of from 60 to 110 miles a second are some of the solar fireworks revealed by the first mo- tion pictures ever taken of the surface of the sun, as reported to the National Academy of Sciences here by Drs. Robert R. McMath and Edison Pettit of the University of Michigan. These pictures were made at the new solar tower of the Michigan University Observatory. The astronomers described the tower as “a telescope for solar work where the telescopic parts remain fixed in a vertical position, with an arrange- ment of moving mirrors at the top of the tower which follow the sun in its course across the sky.” The tower is 50 feet high and rises above a concrete well 35 feet deep. At the bottom of the well, where the depth in the earth gives protection against changes of position.or temperature, is 8 spectroheliograph — & device which spreads the light of the sun into a spec- trum, from which any suitable element or wave-length of an element may be selected for photographing. By this device all the rest of the bril- liant light of the sun, which otherwise would blot out the picture, is eliminated. Until the invention of the spectrohelio- graph, observation of the sun’s promi- nences was possible only when a solar eclipse gave a screening effect. The motion pictures taken by the two Michi- gan astronomers show the flames, which contain large proportions of incan- descent calcium and hydrogen, spurting to hejghts of 50,000 to 100,000 miles. Along these jets occasionally move masses much like the discharge from a giant Roman candle, with each a thou- sand miles long and 300 miles in diam- eter. Also shown by the motion pictures are faint clouds which form high in the solar atmosphere, descending in jets or curtains, at temperatures estimated to be near 10,000 degrees F. One of the pictures obtained shows & gigantic rainbow arc, the bases of which may be 150,000 miles apart. Enlarge- ments of the arc, like beads on & string, run down from its summit in both di- rections. The surface of the sun has been shown by the low, sharp-pointed prominence flames darting up for per- haps a thousand miles and as quickly subsiding. Occasionally a large area of such low flames over an extent of per- haps 100,000 miles seems to be blown to one side, much like a fire in & fleld of wheat. Another significant astronomical de- velopment reported to the Ngtional Acad- emy is the production of a ruling ma- chine to produce diffraction grating with as many as 270,000 parallel lines to the square inch, as described by Dr. Henry Gordon Gale of the University of Chi- cago. The production of such gratings is considered one of the “fine arts” of science. The parallel lines on the diffraction gratings act in the same manner as & prism in breaking light into its spec- trum. A glass prism which would pro- duce the same result as a six-inch grating would be impracticable, because it would have to be 30 feet on a side, a thickness which would cause it to be opaque. The gratings are made of speculum metal, a combination of copper and tin. ‘The form of ruling machine which Dr. sonality—requiring humoring, coaxing, cajoling and even threatening.” By eliminating friction to a large degree, Dr. Gale has produced a ma- chine which gives rulings of uniform spacing, or of any desired variability of spacing. He has produced gratings which demonstrate that the false spec- trum lines, known as “Rowland’s ghosts” after the professor at Johns. Hopkins University who made the first diffraction gratlings nearly 40 years ago, are the re- sults of uneven spacing. Rowland him- self thought this on theoretical grounds, but this is the first experimental proof. When the lines are rules parallel to each other, each spectrum line has one sharp and clearly defined image. When the lines are not parallel there is a fuzziness in the image, thickening the spectrum line. These addition faint lines are the “ghosts.” Although the machine is capable of ruling up to 270,000 lines an inch, such close spacing is unnecessary for any uses to which the grating can be put, and the plates actually are ruled 15,000 to 30,000 lines to an inch. The machine rules 15,000 lines in 24 hours. Another astronomical device reported to the National Academy by Drs. A. E. Whitford and G. E. Kron of the Uni- versity of Wisconsin is a photoelectric cell attachment by which a distant star itself guides the telescope with which it is being observed. This automatic guider divides the light of a guiding star into two beams by use of a reflecting knife edge. The divided beam of light is made to shine alter- nately on the light sensitive surface of a photoelectric cell. If the star is not per- fectly centered on the knife edge, one beam will be brighter than the other and produce a flickering intensity. Ampli- fied by tubes which operate on much the same principle as radio tubes, this flicker controls & motor which makes the proper correction to center the star’s light on the knife edge and reduce the flicker to zero. U. S. Making Gains In Safety on the Sea From the Rockford (IIL) Star. Lloyd’'s Register of Shipping, which takes a quite impartial view of such mat- ters, reports that in the 15 years from 1820 to 1935, the United States advanced from sixth place to second place in sea safety. Only Holland outranked this country in 1935 in' low percentage of ships lost in maritime accident, and the United States stands first among the major shipping countries. We have 17.16 per cent of world ship tonnage, against Holland’s 4.59 per cent. Figures on losses for 1935 show that this country lost .17 of 1 per cent of its total shipping in disaster, against Holland’s .11 of 1 per cent. Japan's losses were heaviest in that year. It is expected that 1936 will show an even better figure for the United States, with the possibility of this country going into first place. The record of increasing safety is one the whole Nation may be proud of. We may not sweep the North Atlantic with express liners capairing blue ribbons for speed, but to a greater extent than any other major maritime nation our ships— liners, tankers, freighters, tramps—ride out storm and catastrophe to make port. Bad Combination. Prom the Indianapolis News. It 1sn't safe to have sleds and autos sliding about the streets at the same P 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. Please tell what per cent of appro- priation is spent for administration by Federal Emergency Relief and by Works Progress Administration—O. E. H. A. The proportion of funds of the Federal Emergency Relief Administra- tion used for expenses is about 8 per cent of the total amount of money spent. About 4 per cent of the cost of the Works Progress Administration is for adminis- trative expenses. Q. Is the word, Nazi, formed from the first syllables of two words in the actual name of the party, or from the first two syllables of the first word, national? —R. K. A. Dr. Scholz of the German Embassy says that it is composed of the two first syllables of national, pronounced nazi- onal in German. The term, Nazi, was very easily introduced into the German vocabulary since it resembles literally the familiar expression used in the Ba- varian vernacular (slang) for a peasant boy. The latter Nazi naturally derives from the given name Ignatius or Ignaz in German. Q. How many public school children participate in instrumental music?—S. E. A. Between two and three million children, this being 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the enrollment. Q. How do you arrive at any one'’s PQ or personality quotient?—E. D. G. A. The PQ is determined by the subject’'s answers to some 200 questions about what he does, instead of what he knows, about things and people. Q. What is the Kola nut?—A. B. A. It is the brown bitter nut of an African tree cultivated in the West Indies and Brazil. It contains a large proportion of caffeine and some theo- bromine. The nut is about the size of & chestnut and is chewed as a condiment and stimulant, and the extract is used as a tonic drink. Q. When did St. Simeon Stylites live? —S. D.C. A. St. Simeon was born in Northern Syria toward the close of the fourth century AD. and became a monk in a monastery near Antioch. Q. What are the names of the Vir- ginia Military Institute boys who wrote a play about the school which is now on Broadway?—H. J. A. John Monks, jr, and Fred P. Finklehoffe, both 1932 graduates of V. M. I, are the authors of “Brother Rat.” Q. Of what wood was the table made upon which Lee signed the treaty at Appomattox Court House?—W. C. B. A. The table is made of pine. Q. How many people in Washington are in the Federal Government employ? —W.E. A. A. On December 1, 1936, the number was 114,611. Some of these employes live outside the District of Columbia and come in to their work each day. Q. What are Anatole France's greate est novels?—H. K. G. A. They are as follows: “The Red “Thais,” “The Revolt of the Angels,” and “The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard.” Q. When did Greece return to a monarchial form of government-—G. N. A. Greece became a monarchy once more following a coup d'etat on October 10, 1935. The former King, His Majesty King George II, was recalled. Q. In what part of the Unifed States is the most newsprint and wrapping paper made?—O. B. A. The largest newsprint manufacture ing companies in the United States are located in the Northeast, the wrapping paper mills are located chiefly in the South. Q. Where is the Rainbow Arch to be? —M. D. A. This peace memorial will be erected in New York City. The sculptor is George Grey Barnard. The probable site of the arch is the property adjoining the home of Mr. Barnard at 700 Fort Washington avenue, New York, N. Y. Q. What is a parasite?—B. P. A. The word is from Greek words meaning eating at the table of some one else. A plant or animal living in, on or with some other living organism as host, at whose expense it obtains food, shelter, or some other advantage, is a parasite. Q. Where in Europe is the famous ski school?—W. H. A. The Arleberg School at St. Anton, Austria, is said to be the most famous ski school in the world. Q. What has been the increase in high school music organizations in the last decade?—W. T. A. An estimate is between 200 per cent and 300 per cent. Q. Are there more newspapers in Ruse sia now than there were before the World War?—F. T. A. In 1934 there were nearly 10,000 newspapers in U. 8. S. R.. with a total circulation of 36,500.000. In 1913 there were 860 newspapers; circulation, 2,- 500,000. Q. What is the name of the woman's college in New York that has no exami- nations and uses no textbooks?—H. W. A. Sarah Lawrence College at Bronx- ville, N. Y., has no examinations, no re- quiréd courses, no marks and uses no textbooks. The college is said to be the first to pledge allegiance to experimenta= tion. Acceptance for admission is based on a general intelligence test. The stu= dent’s progress in her course is re= corded by three reports, one by the in- structor, one kept by the student's don and one made by herself. A Rhyme at Twilight B Gertrude BroZka Hanmilton ‘Wood Creatures. I sought the forest aisles in January; Tracks on the snow as weightless wers and wary As if made by some passing woodland fairy. Here, a swift-footed rabbit skimmed the SNOW; There, pheasant scratched & bed in leaves below; And farther on the claw-prints of & crow. mo:‘nplbooz-mummd-dlym ace; As on snow surfaces I stooped to trace The forest foot-marks, delicate ss lacy. t