Evening Star Newspaper, April 20, 1937, Page 10

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editien. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY April 20, 1937 --Editor THEODORE W. NOYES The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t. Chicago Office: 435 North Michigan Ave, Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban. Regular Edition. The Evening and Sunday Star Sl Ter month or 15¢ per week vening Star 45¢ per month or 10¢ per week The Bunday Star 5¢c per copy Night Final Edition, Night Final and Sunday Sta; 0¢ per month Night Final Star.. _____. 5 per month Collection made at the end of each month or each week. Orders may be sent by mail or tele~ phone Natiozal 5000 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virgin| Dally and Sunday_. 1 yr. S1 Daily only 1y Sunday only- 1 mo., 88¢ mo., 50c mo., 40c All Other States and Ca: Dally and Sunda: Daily only_ Bunday only’ 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 and also the local news published herein, All righ s of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved, Government Expenditures. Qn the eve of President Roosevelt's message to Congress dealing with the appropriations for relief and the budget, Senator Harry F. Byrd of Virginia has called attention again to the vast in- crease in Government agencies, govern= ment personnel and Government expen= ditures. His statement was based on a report by the Brookings Institution, which undertook a survey of the Federal Government for the Select Committee of the upper house to investigate Gove ernment agencies of which the Virginia Senator is chairman. The huge expansion of the Govern- ment in recent years, Senator Byrd pointed out, has been followed by exces- sive deficits and an increase of great proportions in the public debt. The level of Federal expenditures before the World War was approximately one billion dollars. After the war, this was raised to three billion dollars, and during the three years after the depression to seven billion dollars, with expenditures during the last years approximately one hundred per cent greater than Government reve- nues. The question is raised, Senator Byrd pointed out, whether so-called emergency expenditures are to be frozen into per- manency. This will depend upon the future policy of Congress. In this con- nection, the forthcoming message of the President regarding the relief appropria- tions and the budget will be of the great- est interest. If the President seeks a curtailment of these expenditures and a cutting of other agency costs, there will be definite indication that the adminis- tration is intent at last on reductions which in the end may bring the Gov- ernment budget into balance. Senator Byrd has taken the stand that there must be a pruning of governmental expenditures and an elimination of gov- ermmental agencies, with a consequent great reduction in the personnel em- ployed. Only by such steps, in his opinion, will it be possible to go forward. He is one of those who do not believe that emergency agencies should be now frozen into the permanent Government gervice. Using the pruning knife is no easy Job. It the President undertakes this operation he should have the backing of Congress. It will require not only vision and fairness, but also great firmness. The pay roll costs of the civil Government, exclusive of relief, military and pension rolls, is the greatest item of expense to- day, totaling more than a billion and 8 half dollars annually. Between De- cember, 1934, and September, 1936, ac= cording to the figures of the Brookings Institution, the civil personnel increased more than a thousand a month. Sixty- six per cent of the executive personnel were under the civil service on June 30, 1934, but by June 30, 1936, this class had fallen to sixty per cent. There is a lesson in this single item of the report. With the increase in personnel has come not only great additions to salary needs, but also a tremendous increase in the housing requirements for the workers. Eight buildings of the dimensions of the Empire State Building would be required to house Government activities in Wash- ington, and fifty-two more for those out- side the National Capital. And these re- quirements do not include provisions for the military and naval establishments, veterans’ hospitals and public health facilities. The President and Congress necessarily must set the pace on curtailment of Government expenditures. The Chief Executive has sent to Congress a plan for executive reorganization and it is now under consideration by a joint com- mittee. When the reorganization bill eventually emerges from committee there will be another indication of what the trend is to be. [ Among the difficulties which often arise in economic adjustment are the private feuds which seek to disguise themselves as statemanship. oo New Cherry Trees. Announcement is made that work has been started in the planting of some 1,500 Japanese cherry trees in Potomac Park, both as replacements for trees damaged or killed by last year’s floods and as additions. This restocking will, it is stated, be completed within a week. In ordinary circumstances this would be hailed with gratification, as indicative of a purpose to retain the park in its present condition. But unfortunately it does not accord with the projected plan to remodel the park to conform to a design for the emplacement of the me- morial to Thomas Jefferson at the lower portion of the Tidal Basin, which has been all but determined upon by the several authorities having jurisdiction over this matter. It would seem to be a waste of funds to plant these trees if they are to be eventually, perhaps very soon, re- ‘: moved to make room for the memorial and its approaches. As long as there is & chance that the memorial plans may be amended, or perhaps the site itself shifted to another location, the restocking of the trees may well enough be sus- pended, pending a final determination. To replace these trees, only to have them uprooted in the squaring of the Basin, would be an aggravation, as well as a waste of funds. It is true that many of the new trees will be placed in the lower section of the park, along the channel roads. These will not be affected by the memorial plans, whatever may be the decision as to its site and style. It would therefore be wiser to concentrate the new trees, to the full number now available for plant- ing, in that section of the reservation, leaving the other'area to be treated when the memorial plans are definitely de- termined. A rectangular setting for the cherry trees in the upper park cannot possibly be as beautiful and effective as the pres- ent arrangement, with the growths grouped nrqund the curving boundaries of the Basin. The winding drive affords a constantly shifting viewpoint, present- ing a series of pictures of beauty that cannot be equaled anywhere in the world. The present setting is infinitely more attractive than any squared area can possibly be. The hope remains that, whether the memorial is placed in the site now urged or elsewhere, the Tidal Basin may remain as it is, with curving lines, bordered by groups and rows and masses of trees that are annually one of the chief fea- tures of beauty in Washington. British Shipping Profits. Chairman Kennedy and his fellow members of the new United States Mari- time Commission will doubtless have more than passing interest in the an- nual report of the Cunard-White Star Line, just made public in London. Brit- ain’s two merged great navigation com- panies announce a net profit for 1936 of £564,659, in marked contrast to the loss of £61,792 in 1935 and a deficit of £408,090 in slightly more than half of 1934, It is acknowledged that this sub- stantial graduation from red into black figures is due primarily to American economic recovery and to the return of Uncle Sam’s children to their tradi- tional role as the world’s champion globe trotters. British commentators look upon the Cunard-White Star balance sheet as the most convincing possible reflection of better times on this side of the ocean. The company’s policies and cglculations for the future are evidently to be based largely on that development and on a belief in its permanence. The manage- ment attributes the gratifying nature of 1936 operating results partially to the popularity of the Queen Mary, which is said fully to have justified all busi- ness expectations. Building operations on the de luxe liner were held up at one time, when it was doubted whether de- pression-stricken Americans would ever again indulge in trans-Atlantic travel of old-time dimensions. Operating economies also played a part in restoring John Bull's premier shipping organization to money-making levels. Obsolete vessels, including the once-famous Majestic, Olympic and Mauretania, were taken out of commis- sion. Notwithstanding, the Cunard- White Star fleet has increased in value to more than £18,000,000, represented in part by advance payments on the Queen Mary’s sister ship, now under construction. While there is not yet any prospect of dividends for shareholders, the me nagement appears convinced that “happy days” in ine United States have come to stay and confident that the current profits trend foreshadows sta- bilized prosperity for the line. Our newly created Maritime Commis- sion confronts a baffling problem in building up the neglected American merchant marine to a point where it can compete successfully with old- established European lines. The contro- versial question of public versus private ownership, or (o exactly what extent Treasury funds should be made avail~ able to shipbuilders and shipowners, re- mains to be thrashed out from the standpoint of fundamental national policy. Maintenance expense, due chiefly to the higher cost of labor and personnel for operation of ships under the Amer- ican flag, will always make it difficult for domestic shipping capital to meet the rivalry of foreign lines which ply the seven seas under more favorable economic conditions, including govern- ment subsidies. But such evidence as the Cunard-White Star report, particu- larly the revelation that it is American traffic dollars which make British ship- ping profits possible, should spur all concerned to bend every energy in the direction of restoring the Yankee mer- cantile marine to its old-time prestige. Puerto Ricans are advised to learn English. In fact, a knowledge of Eng- lish is conceded to be of value to any- body seeking to transact orderly business in any part of the world. More Beautiful Stamps. A postage stamp, like a coin, ought to be beautiful. But in recent years the number of postal issues of the United States deserving of commendation has been small. The Wisconsin, Connecticut and Arkansas commemoratives, so-called, are the principal exceptions to the gen- eral rule of mediocrity—by the accident of selection, they reproduce artistic achievements of “the horse and buggy age” and therefore enjoy a distinction denied to contemporary endeavors. But the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is not to blame for the atroci- ties it manufactures. Designs for stamps are chosen by officials of the Post Office Department. The contractor simply pro- duces what he is told to produce. His staff of artists tear their hair in protest against the policy which inhibits their genius; but there is nothing they can do to correct it. And the same ob- servation may be made with regard to ) THE EVEN the attitude of the philatelic public which pays the bill. No representative of the collecting fraternity ever is con- sulted. Appeals for the appointment of an advisory board have been denied. Edward Bruce, director of the painting and sculpture branch of the Procure- ment Division of the Treasury Depart= ment, however, has intervened in the problem, and there is hope at the mo- ment that his suggestion may lead to the necessary reforms. He has pro- posed a national competition for stamp designs, the artists of the Nation to be invited to submit sketches and a jury of their peers to be named to pass on their compositions. President Roosevelt has the matter under consideration. In foreign countries. such procedure is no novelty. It has been adopted with success in Great Britain and in many other parts of the British Empire. The one danger involved is that which ac- crues from the prevailing fad of modern- ism. With the majority of artists mo- mentarily devoted to esthetic anarchy, it might happen that the stamps result- ing from Mr. Bruce's plan would be less attractive than those already sponsored by the Post Office Department officers. The basic idea, nonetheless, is sound. If more notably beautiful postal issues are to be made available, it will be through an aroused and stimulated pub- lic interest in the subject. And Mr. Bruce merits appreciation for promoting that character of concern. —————————— Open spaces south of the White House attract Nation-wide interest. Easter Monday egg rolling is always a success and it might be possible to repeat the ceremonial apart from its reverential as- sociation several times a year, with Hon. Clark Griffith designating a high official to toss in the first egg. In securing neighborly contacts, much may be ac- complished by means of more and better egg rollings. —— e A forthright declaration by Right Rev- erend James E. Freeman, advising cau- tion in disturbing forms of civil govern- ment which the people have learned to hold in deep respect, accentuates a viewpoint entitled to the most earnest consideration. The many who hold him in regard must welcome his discreet, yet clear, counsel in so grave an economic crisis. ot In American politics the designation “uncle” has been used as a term. When Senator Robinson extricates himself from present perplexities, he may per- suade his public to resume calling him “Uncle Joe,” just as Uncle Joe Cannon did after one or two interruptions of entente cordiale. —————— Wish fulfillments are never complete. Frank Munsey wrote a book entitled “The Boy Broker” but became instead an editor who preserved many of youth's picturesque enthusiasms. College jour- nalism may be expected to show many boy editors who develop into comfort- able and substantial brokers, ——ee—s. Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Another Investigation, Golden sunshine flowing Freely from the sky; Blossoms gayly glowing Where the breezes sigh; Robins lightly singing Songs of glad content— All that Nature's bringing Doesn't cost a cent! ‘Wonder how she works it. It's a curious way, And she never shirks it As time slips away, Laboring so cheaply For a happier state! ‘We should ponder deeply— Let's investigate. ‘Wisdom of Plain People. “Do you share the opinion of those old statesmen who put their faith in the wisdom of the plain people?” “For the sake of appearance,” said Senator Sorghum, “I'm obliged to do so. Wisdom of the plain people is what is assumed to be keeping me in office.” “What I have learned of war,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “makes it seem a gigantic practical joke in which Joyous inspiration is to be found in a neighbor’s discomfiture.” Paying the Fiddler. Posterity! Posterity! ‘We’d fain prepare for you Conditions of prosperity And morals fine and true. And yet occasions may be met Which leave the world in doubt, By leaving you a lot of debt You did not know about. Says youth: “The fiddler I must pay. You danced, I've understood. And sometimes, I make bold to say, The tune was not so good.” New Rules. “What is the favorite game in Crim- son Gulch?” asked the traveling sales- man, “Base ball,” answered Cactus Joe, “only we're going to change the rules 80 as to provide the boys with boxin§ gloves and keep a referee at each base.” Passing of the Ground Floor. “Did you get in on the ground floor on that get-rich-quick scheme?” “1 got lower than that when the bottom dropped out.” A Base Ball Mystery. Effect and cause are studies strange; There’s no one who can tell ‘Why, when one person hits a ball The rest all want to yell. “Springtime,” said Uncle Eben, “gits many a family so busy admirin’ de pretty little birds dat dey forgets all about de moths dats under eover.” b ) TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 193 THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. THE POLITICAL MILL BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. The country was deluged last night with addresses delivered in practically every big city and industrial center supporting the enactment of President Roosevelt's bill to increase the member- ship of the Supreme Court. Meetings had been arranged by labor's Non- Partisan League in many places and in others nationally known speakers were put on the radio. The whole constituted a great broadside in support of the court bill, intended to convince the country that labor is solidly back of the Presi- dent in this fight. It was an organized assault upon the opposition, and as such will be understood. The intention, of course, was to sway public opinion on a large scale in favor of giving the President the power to appoint a maxi- mum of six new justices to the Supreme Court. Members of the cabinet, Demo- cratic Senators and Representatives and other high officials of the Government were among the many speakers who took part. * X ¥ X One of the speakers was Senator Joseph F. Guffey of Pennsylvania, au- thor of the Guffey coal act which was declared unconstitutional by the Su- preme Court last year. The Pennsyl- vania Senator pictured the President as “daring to do right—and even when some of his followers draw back in weakness and trembling, he still presses forward to attack the enemy at their strongest point.” Senator Guffey maintained also that “President Roosevelt is still the un- disputed leader of his party. We have lost a few of the faint-hearted and the timid, but we have the votes in the Senate and House to write his judicial reform program into law and we pro- pose to do it. There is no doubt in the world about the outcome.” This desig- nation of the “faint-hearted and the timid” is apparently intended to apply to those Democrats in the Senate and House who have come out against the court bill—for example, the Senators from Virginia, Carter Glass and Harry Flood Byrd; the Senator from Montana, Burton K. Wheeler; the Senator from Indiana, Frederick Van Nuys; the Sen- ator from Nebraska, Edward R. Burke; the chairman of the Democratic Con- gressional Committee, Representative Patrick Henry Drewry, and many other Democrats in both houses. * K ok x The burden of Senator Guffey's re- marks was to the effect that the recent decisions of the Supreme Court validat- ing the Wagner labor relations act and State minimum wage laws had not changed the situation at all with regard to the need of pressing to passage the bill to increase the Supreme Court mem- bership. He said that “even the Su- preme Court is beginning to see the light.” But he added that it was no time to leave the interpretation of the Con- stitution and the New Deal laws to a court in which one single justice might swing the decisions against the New Dealers. He referred to Associate Jus- tice Roberts as “our fellow Pennsyl- vanian” and said “we are grateful that he has at last seen the light.” “If the Jjustice remains upon our side, we win,” he continued. “If he shifts again, we lose. * * * The thing to do is to put a few more judges on the bench who can look at the Constitution without preju- dice.” Here is a clear statement that the purpose of the court bill is to enable the President to put men on the bench who will look at the Constitution as he does and who will write opinions that the New Dealers desire. It is just this proceeding which the opponents of the bill have called “packing the court,” and if once done, it can be done again. * ok ok ok The show of force last night by labor's Non-Partisan League and the admin- istration has not put an end, by any means, to the fight over the court btll, the opposition maintains. Indeed, the bitterness with which this contest has been imbued with the passing days is by no means lessened. What the outcome will be remains to be seen. Administra- tion supporters, like Senator Guffey and others, maintain that the votes to put the bill through the Senate are in the bag. The other side expresses equal confidence that the measure giving power to the President to add six new members to the court cannot pass. It will not be long now before the Senate Judiciary Committee gets down to work on the hill in executive sessions, Amendments of many kinds, as the measure relates to the Supreme Court, will be pressed. At one time the sug- gestion was advanced that the bill be divided into separate measures, with one relating only to the Supreme Court and the other taking up the remainder of the judiciary reform bill as presented, As the fight has developed, however, centering about the Supreme Court pro- posal, there has been less interest in such a division. * %k ok Xk On the last day of this month the existing neutrality law expires. Senator Nye of North Dakota and others in- terested in the subject of neutrality are exercised over the fact that the new neutrality bill is still tied up in confer- ence between the Senate and the House, The House bill gives greater discretionary powers to the President when it comes to imposing the “cash and carry” provisions of the law, while the Senate measure comes as close to making that provision mandatory as Nye and others were able to get it. If there is much further delay in conference, and the conference report should cause lengthy debate in the Senate, the present law might expire before the new measure could finally be enacted. * k %k Xk Senator O'Mahoney of Wyoming, father of a bill for the Federal incor- poration of industries that are now in- corporated under State laws, believes that a mistake is made when the Fed- eral Government seeks to regulate in- dustries and businesses owned and op- erated by individuals. His contention is that individuals should have a free hand —that it makes for initiative and prog- ress to leave the individual free—and that the control of the Government should go to those great aggregations of capital found in corporations—which are impersonal. To compel every individual engaged in business to look to Wash- ington for instructions and control, he maintains, is to provide for regimenta- tion of the entire people. That Gov- ernment should step in and exert a measure of control over corporations, he says, is entirely proper, and if Govern- ment had not done so, the result would have been a regimentation of the people by industry—which he insists would be worse than regimentation by the Government. . * %k ok %k In a temperate address, non-partisan in character, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, jr., of Mass.,, announced his conviction that President Roosevelt’s plan to in- crease the Supreme Court was “inef- fective for our immediate needs and dangerous for the more distant future.” The Senator from Massachusetts is an earnest advocate of better labor legis- lation, such as will assure the work- ers fair conditions in all States, He hes seen industries move out of his own The know-it-all is a bore anywhere, but especially in a place of business, and particularly when he wants to tell all the customers about everything. He does not tell the “other customers,” of course, because he seldom seems to buy anything, himself. He just stands around talking. This fellow must make the proprietor have chills up his back, since he may feel pretty sure he is not going to make a purchase. Yet, such is chance, he may, and therefore must not be offended need- lessly. Much precious time is spent being kind to him, showing him the stock, listening to his monologues. * Kk *x Whenever a buying customer asks about something, the know-it-all imme- diately takes charge of the sale. Without waiting for an invitation, he steps into the ring and gives the good and bad points of the article under con- sideration. This is extremely annoying, of course, both to bona fide customer and to store people, but what can any one do about it? Sometimes, at long last, as is the re- vived phrase, he finally is told to get out of the shop and stay out. So the store makes an enemy. It may be realized that this step is only one of desperation. There was a very kindly man in this town who had a shop which in reality was only a side line with him, being devoted to a hobby. One of these know-it-all persons made it his loafing place. Had he ever bought anything at all would have made no difference in this case, because he was a colossal bore of the first water. Invariably he “butted in” when a genuine customer asked a question. Without waiting for the proprietor to say a word, he began a lecture on the subject at issue. The customer invariably was non- plussed because he did not know whether he was listening to experience or not. If the proprietor permitted the conversa- tion to be taken away from him the customer had a right to think that he believed the know-it-all really knew more about the subject than he did. If the customer were a stranger he often had the idea that the bore was an adjunct of the shop, kept on hand for just such purposes. * ok % % This situation finally became so bad that the owner had to tell the fellow, flatly, that his presence was desired no longer. The know-it-all was indignant. What had he done except be a customer? The proprietor pointed out that in hours of loafing he had made but one tiny purchase, and had complained about that. It is probable that the know-it-all, wherever he functions, really has no idea of what a real nuisance he is, not only in shops, but everywhere, and to all who must listen to him. Usually his knowledge, if picked to pieces, is only odds and ends. Even when he poses as an expert on some one thing his knowledge often is very STARS, MEN brittle and almost never is based on real personal experience. His reading, in particular, is shallow. He has, in other words, almost no back- ground. * x ¥ x The first cousin of this man without a doubt is the fellow who knows every one. Him, however, we may laugh at, be- cause he harms no one, not even himself. All who listen to him shortly perceive that he is a hopeless romancer. He is so In love with success, as the world knows it, that he craves the acquaintance of all successful persons. From this it is just a tiny step—for him—to knowing them all! Secretly select & list of half a dozen famous men. Pull out one name after another, espe- cially in company, and he will profess to know them personally. Nor is that all. He calls each one by his first name. No honorable titles for him. “Jim” is his friend. He knows ’em all. L The know-it-all is especially in his element when it comes to books. If there is a sale anywhere he is first to come and last to leave. He examines each book minutely, as if placing his critical opinion on it. ‘What he really is doing is waiting for the genuine customer to come along. Him he will spot at once. He sidles up to him and assumes an air of ultra wisdom. The wise purchaser knows him at once by this attitude. “You are interested in books?” asks the great man. “Now, I have at home—" The books he lists would do credit to the shelves of some multi-millionaire who also happened to be at the same time a true book lover. These things on the tables here, the man indicates, are mere pifie compared with what he has at home. That last old rare set cost $5,000. It is not until hours later that the victim realizes that the fellow never ence claimed to have paid the price himself. The set, he had said, cost $5000. Maybe it did! * ok ok % The honest purchaser, who wants to buy and perhaps would like a word in private with the proprietor or his clerk, is driven to desperation by such tactics. Not only is he bored by the man's palaver, but even more by his persistency at sticking around. Will he never go? The honest customer tries to get away from him by walking to another place and examining things he does not wish at_all. Maybe the man will go. He will not. There he stands, hat cocked slightly over one eye, casting bright glances around at incoming customers. Maybe there are other people needing real advice. He will wait for them to state their wants, then will greet them gracefully, before the management can do it. Management and customer helplessly at the know-it-all. The only thing the nuisance does not know {s that he is not wanted. And he never will learn that, evidently. AND ATOMS glower Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Old age and death may be delayed ten years or more by drinking “heavy water.” Such is the conviction of Dr. James E. Kendall, professor of chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, who will be the speaker at the meeting of the Washing- ton section of the American Chemical Society tomorrow evening. Heavy water is water .in which the hydrogen atom is replaced by the double- weight hydrogen isotope, deuterium. Chemically it is indistinguishable from ordinary water, except that a given amount weighs more. It is mixed with ordinary water in the proportion of about one part in 6,000. It was first prepared by the electrolysis process at the Bureau of Standards shortly after the discovery of the heavy hydrogen atom. Now the human body, like any other machine, “wears out,” with the resulting decrepacy and death even in the absence of any specific organic disease. Usually the weakest part breaks down under the stress of living. The faster the rate of living the faster the wearing out process. This speed is in large part a function of the body temperature. Cold-blooded ani- mals live more slowly than birds or mammals, and as a result some of them, such as the giant tortoises, may live 500 years or more. The human temperature is fairly con- stant. There is no known way of raising or lowering it at will, except quite tem- porarily. Man’s ultimate life span, it seems likely, was fixed with the constant heat of his body. But the chief donstituent of the body is water. The speed of water reactions are a function of the temperature, but they are also a function of the weight of the molecule. That is, heavy water acts like ordinary water a few degrees lower in temperature. The water content of the body constantly is being replenished. By drinking only heavy water, Dr. Kendall believes, it would gradually replace a good deal of the ordinary water in the, system. Consequently the rate of living would be slowed down. Consequently the wear and tear would be less and man would live longer. Heavy water is no elixer of longer life for the present. Minute amounts for use in chemical and biological experiments are very expensive. The wealthiest man on earth couldn't use it for drinking water, even part of the time. The cheap- est it ever has been produced is $2 a gram. Dr. Kendall is confident, however, that in a few years methods of producing it more cheaply will be devised. “The important factor in the price of heavy water,” he says, “is the high cost of electric power. It takes a lot of electricity to jolt apart the molecules of water. Since the precess of securing heavy hydrogen is a fractional one, the electrolysis must be repeated several times, and unfortunately the heavy hy- drogen is the last product to come off. ‘When you consider that ordinary water contains only one part in 6,000 of heavy water, you can see that production of even a small amount of this substance is a big job. “Cheap heavy water will not be d State, where labor laws have been enacted, into States where no such laws exist. His contention is that what is needed is a grant of additional power to Congress through amendment of the Constitution, and not merely a change in the number of Supreme Court mem- bers—who might decide any way they please. Senator Lodge is one of the forward-looking younger members of the Senate. He fears a “political royalist” a8 much as he fears an “economic roysl- ot veloped until a chemical reaction fis found in which the ordinary hydrogen atom will react and the heavy atom will not. Such a reaction will probably be discovered within the next few years, because heavy hydrogen finds its chief use at present in studies of reactions which were not understood in their en- tirety before. In reactions where there are shifts in the hydrogen atoms of the molecules, the exact nature of the shift can be determined by substituting a heavy hydrogen atom for each one in turn. It is like painting one of the hydrogen atoms red, or putting a tag on it, to find out where it goes and how. So far the heavy hydrogen atom has reacted like the ordinary hydrogen atom, only a little more slowly. When a reaction is encountered in which the ordinary hydrogen atom changes posi- tion. but the heavy one does not, a way to obtain heavy hydrogen cheaply will have been discovered.” The heavy water method of prolonging life, Dr. Kendall stresses, probably will exact its price. Not enly physical, but mental reactions will be slowed down. The person will be drowsier, duller and more phlegmatic. Probably this would be too high a price to pay throughout the whole of life. But take the man or woman of 60. The workday of life is over. Mental and physical alertness no longer are es- sential. One might be willing to saeri- fice them for another ten years of living. “Who wants to be fast at 602" Dr. Kendall asks. “Fantastic as this may sound, I believe that within the next ten or fifteen years drinking of heavy water by those who have passed 60 as a means of prolonging life will be com- monplace.” Basin Once Rejected as Roosevelt Memorial Site To the Editor of The Star: In reference to the proposed memorial to Thomas Jefferson in the Tidal Basin it may be recalled that a somewhat similar but less extensive memorial to Theodore Roosevelt in the same situa- tion was proposed some ten years ago and was rejected as undesirable in that position. Just why an even more con- spicuous structure is now accepted does not appear. One of the noble traits of Jefferson’s character is shown in the modest monument he requested at Mon- ticello with its inscription recording among his many honors only that he was the author of the Declaration of In- dependence and founder of the Uni- versity of Virginia. Would not a monu- ment to serve human needs be more appropriate to the character of this great man? ROSE BRAINARD. Domestic Bootlegging. Prom the Humboldt Times. San Francisco has an ordinance set- ting & minimum price for pressing a pair of pants, and Fresno has an ordi- nance setting a minimum price for cutting a man’s hair. Bootlegging in the home is likely to be a serious obstacle to these manifestations of the more abund- ant life. Pass the Job Along. From the Yakima Republic. The able editor of the Salem States- man wants some one to tell him a prac- tical way of changing typewriter ribbons, The best way we know is to let the office @il do is 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. Where did sit-down strikes orig- inate?—D. 8. A. This strike method was started in Silesia, a part of Austria, about three years ago. It was employed in Poland about the same time. Some people think that the Gandhi passive resistance movement in India may have stimulated the idea, but the method was known for years in coal mines. It is not definitely known where this method originated. Q. Do solid rubber tires blow out? —P. L. A. They blow out, but not in the same sense as do pneumatic tires. Solid rub- ber tires blow loose from the rims, and & noise is heard when this happens. Q. Where is the Land of Ark-La- Tex?—H. 8. A.It is the trading area around Shreveport, La., which lies in the three States of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. The Rodessa oll fleld, in this territory, is said to be the only one which extends into three States. Q. How long has the tourniquet been used?—H. J. A. It was invented by Morel in France in 1674. Q. What is the new bird called a siskin?—J. W. A. The Mexican red, or hooded, siskin is similar to a canary and is being crossed with the canary in order to obtain a brilliantly colored bird. These cross-bred birds do not reproduce. Sis- kins should be cared for in the same way as canaries. They eat seeds similar to those in the ordinary canary mixture, They are fond of the seed heads of composite flowers, as thistles and dande= lions. They also like ant eggs. Q. Why are cartoons so called?—M. H. A. The paper used for this purpose was called in Italian cartone and thus arose the application of the term car= toon to all preparatory sketches of pice tures. Q. Who is the richest man in Can= ada?—R. J. A. Sir Herbert Samuel Holt, chairman of the Royal Bank of Canada, is be- lieved to be. He is now 81 years old. Q. What is meant by the term chiaros= curo?—E. G. A. It is the distribution of light and shade so effected in a picture that these elements are of mutual aid. The term is applied especially to the devices by which a figure or an object is made to appear as if enveloped in atmosphere. Among the masters of chiaroscuro are Correggio, regarded as its inventor, and Rembrandt, who developed it to its farthest limits. Q. Why is the Right Hon. Aga Sultan Sir Mahomet Shah, Aga Khan, wi shiped as Pope of the Ismaili Moslems? —~M. M. M. A. His highness Aga Khan III is held in such esteem by Moslems because he is believed to be a direct descendant of the prophet Mahomet, in direct line from Ali, by Fatima, the prgphet's daughter. The present Aga is the grandson of the first Aga, who died in 1881. In 1855 Aga Khan became the spiritual father of the Ismailias and co= operated closely with the British gov- ernment in India and elsewhere. About 10 million members of the Asmailias Moslem sect recently reaffirmed their adherence and presented the Aga with about $150,000 in gold. Q. Where do prairie dogs get water in a siege of drought?—B. R. E. A. They can live without drinking. Q. What is the name of the fastest train in the United States?—L. M. D. A. It i3 the Super-Chief of the Atchi= son, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, which makes the trip from La Junta to Dodge City, a distance of 2024 miles, in 145 minutes, or 83.7 miles per hour, from start to stop. Q. How big are the largest bell buoys used in this country?—L. F. A. The Bureau of Lighthouses says that lighted buoys are the largest bell buoys in the United States. They weigh 15,880 pounds and are 20 feet 6 inches over all. They draw an average of 8 feet 6 inches of water. Q. Where did kite-flying originate? —I. B. A. According to tradition, kites were invented by Archytas of Tarentum four centuries before Christ, but they have been used by savage tribes of Asia from time immemorial, and kite flying has been a national pastime of the Chinese, Japanese and other East Indians. The origin of Kite flying is obscure, but it is generally ascribed to religion. The Koreans attribute its origin to a general who many hundred years ago inspirited his troops by sending up a kite with a lantern attached. The soldiers believed it to be a new star and the sign of divine help. Q. When is the rainy season in Mex- ico?—G. M. A. It begins in May and lasts until November. Q. What proportion of the food and fuel used on the farm is usually pro- duced there?—S. M. H. A. The Bureau of Agricultural Eco- nomics says that in general over 60 per cenit of the value of the food and over 50 per cent of the value of the fuel consumed by farm families is produced on the farm. Q. Who is poet laureate of West Vire ginia?—W. M. A. Roy Lee Harmon, newspaper man and author of a column called “Hill- billy Ballads,” is poet laureate of the State. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton. Two Birds A canary sang in a gilded cage And a mocking bird in a tree. And T wondered if I could rightly gage In which liquid melody The happier note might be. Song poured from the caged canary's throat Till it quivered and swelled in glee; On his branch the mocking bird seemed to gloat In a trill of ecstasy That he roved the forest free. The canary hopped to a gilded swing, ‘Where he swayed right merrily: The mocking bird flew with a careless wing To another, greener tree— And both seemed happy to me!