Evening Star Newspaper, August 3, 1937, Page 10

'THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editien. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY August 3, 1937 The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th 8t and Pennsylvanias Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Onicago Office: 435 North Michigan Ave. Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban, Regular Editlon. Ve Sund St The Evening and gLy, S oath or 15¢ per week ‘The Evening Star 5¢ pei 0Oc per week The Sunday Sta: bc per €opy ‘ Night Final Editien, Night Pinal and Sunday Star. Night Final Star. 55¢ per month Collection made at the end ch month or each week. Orders may be sent by mail or tele- phone National 5000. 70¢ per month Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virginla, Dally and Sunday. Daily only . Sunday only_ 1 mo. 85c 1 mo., ble 1 mo.. 40c All Other Stat, Dally and Sunday_ 1 yr. Daily only__ 1yr Sunday anly__. and Canada, $12.00; 1 mo., $1.00 $800; 1 mo.~ 75e $5.00; 1 mo., b0c Member of the Associated Press. The Assoclated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in thia Paper and also the local news published herein, ALl rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Tax on Nuisance Industries. If the Gobel meat packing concern proceeds, in the face of unmistakably adverse public sentiment, to the erection and operation of its slaughter house and rendering plant at Benning, Con- gress must give ;rompt attention to the bill introduced yesterday by Representa- tive Collins of Mississippi, giving the Commissioners necessary authority to levy special sewer taxes on industrial activities tending to overload the sewage system. Like protective steps have been taken in other cities contending with the slaughter house industry. Here in Wash- ington the taxpayers are paying and will continue to pay for some years for an expensive sewage treatment plant, erected for the purpose of reduc= ing pollution of the Potomac River. Ex- perts of the Public Health Service have reported that the proposed slaughter house waste, dumped into the sewer system, will tend to overload facilities now available, possibly requiring exten- sive and expensive additions to the plant Just now being completed. It is unthinkable that the taxpayers of Washington, many of whose spokes- men have placed themselves on record against the introduction in Washington of more “nuisance industries,” should be taxed through the nose to provide ade- quate sewerage facilities for an un- wanted, undesirable industry. The tax should be high enough to pay for any additional facilities demanded by nuis- ance industries and, moreover, should be made high enough to discourage their location in a city that from the begin- ning was designed and has been de- veloped primarily as a residential dis- trict for the seat of Government of the United States. The Collins bill is merely one part of the legislative actlon which ulti- mately will follow proposed erection of the slaughter house and rendering plant. Politicians may come and politicians may go, but the fight to keep Washington free of nuisance industries in order properly to encourage its development along the lines laid out by the founders will go on until the King bill, or a like measure, is finally enacted. The failure for this session of the King bill, through the extraordinary maneu- vers of a few members of the House Dis- trict Committee, is disappointing. The responsible Federal Government might have saved itself money and embarrass- ment in the future by its prompt enact- ment. But the failure of this measure is merely a delay. The fight for pas- sage of the King bill, with strong, re- troactive provisions, will continue at the next session and the next until its aims have been realized. Back of that fight are not only the loyal, public spirited Washingtonians and Federal officials who testified so strongly in its favor. Back of it also are many national organ- {zations, with an abiding interest in the welfare of the National Capital, whose support has been and will be enlisted. The restricted area of the District of Columbia offers no fit site for a slaughter house or any other form of nuisance in- dustry. Those which choose to locate here now do so at their own risk. It may take another year or it may take several years, but the time will come eventually when Congress enacts the necessary legislation to protect and to preserve the orderly development of the Nation's Capital. And orderly de- velopment does not include within its scope slaughter houses and rendering plants and other nuisance industries which blight the proper development of the area they dominate. ———————___ Baltimore has a number of airplane factories but is no more able to guar- antee safety for their output than for the old boats that travel in the water. et Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. The Senate has done nothing to en- courage confidence in the proposed labor standards board, the authority which would administer the pending wage and hour legislation, by tacking on an amendment to the law which makes patronage—Senate patronage—of all po- sitions paying $4,000 or more annually, Certainly an organization designed to have vast powers over the business life of this country should be divorced from politics. But that, obviously, is not the senatorial viewpoint. In its original draft, this bill provided such sweeping exemptions from civil service that it was hard to see how spoils advocates could improve—if that is the word—on it. The amendment, however, providing for confirmation by the Senate is drawing the line a little finer. This is not the first time the Senate has reserved to itself the higher-paid positions in a new agency. Resettlement, Publie Works, Works Progress, Archives and, more recently, Social Becurity, al- THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1937. ready have proved fertile flelds for this sort of cultivation. In these, the salary limit was $5,000, but that apparently did not produce as rich a harvest as desired. Logically, if the $4,000 top is disappoint- ing, a new figure will be set. More and more the civil service and classification acts are becoming dead letters. The wage and hour bill is now before the Hougse. If there is any sense of the fitness of things there the personnel pro-’ Vvisions of the bill will be changed. e When Is a Vacancy? From a logical reading of the Consti- tution it would seem perfectly clear that the Executive, in filling a vacancy on the bench of the Supreme Court, would be compelled to submit such an appoint- ment to the Senate for confirmation be- fore the appointee, if confirmed, could take his seat on that bench. Especially is that clear when the vacancy on.the bench has occurred during a session of Congress. From such a reading and interpretation of the Constitution there has never until now been any dissent. Yet it is now asserted by some of the Senate supporters of the President's poli- cies and measures that he may make such an appointment during a recess of Congress and that the man so named may take his seat on the bench pending confirmation. And the Attorney Gen- eral, it is stated, has given an opinion that such a course may be followed. The language of thé Constitution re- garding such appointments, which has never been heretofore seriously ques- tioned in the meaning of its provision, is as follows: “The President shall have the power to flll up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next ses- sion.” That is perfectly clear. When a vacancy “happens” while the Senate is not in session the President may make an appointment, subject to subsequent confirmation, the appointee meanwhile serving in the office to which he has been named. But it is now argued, with a strange perversity of reasoning, that the word “happen,” used in the Constitution, means something other than to “occur,” that it means to “happen to exist.” In other words, it is seriously argued that if it should so chance that a vacancy that has “happened” while the Senate is in session has not been filled while the Senate has been sitting, and continues to exist through such failure to appoint, with confirmation, it does in fact “hap- pen to exist.” Let the dictionary reveal the true meaning of “happen”: “To come or occur, to exist or be produced, by chance or without previous expectation; befall; chance; to take place, to come to pass.” When Justice Van Devanter resigned and retired, a few months ago, the va- cancy on the Supreme Court “hap- pened.” It then occurred, took place, came to pass. The Senate was then, as now, in session. There was there- fore opportunity to submit to the Senate & nomination to fill the vacancy. The President has chosen not to make such & nomination. His failure to send the name of his appointee to the Senate for confirmation does not cause the va- cancy, still existing, to “happen” during recess of the Senate, if meanwhile the Senate adjourns and the vacancy, not filled in due order, continues. Any reasoning to the contrary of the plain meaning of the constitutional pro- vision is perverse. It is obviously an attempt to justify the selection of a member of the Supreme Court who may take his seat upon the bench during recess of Congress and there serve with- out confirmation, perhaps only for a brief period, perhaps indefinitely, in case the court does not itself refuse to permit him to sit in judgment, through its own interpretation of the Constitution, of which it is the guardian. ‘Wherefore the delay? Why this chi- cane? Why is a selection not made now, while the Senate is in session, thereby permitting it to confirm—as it would presumably confirm—the President’s ap- pointment? Is there fear that it might not confirm? Has the President in mind a selection that would not meet with approval? Is it contemplated to name a new justice who, though inca- pable of confirmation if the Senate were in session, would take his place on the bench during recess of Congress at the Fall assemblage of the court, and, being tolerated by the court despite the irregu- larity of the appointment, proceed to pass judgment upon the constitutionality of statutes? . These questions arise immediately and definitely upon the disclosure that the Attorney General has advised the Presi- dent that he may make a recess ap- pointment and, by logical presumption, that such appointee may take his place on the bench in the Fall and proceed to sit in judgment upon the validity of statutes. r—————— It will be easy for President Roosevelt to appoint another Supreme Court Justice. Whether he can provide for a minimum of Congressional conversa- tion regarding his appointee’s qualifica- tions is something to be considered as the month of August slips along. Dr. Eisen at Ninety. It must be great fun to celebrate a ninetieth birthday anniversary, still active, still enthusiastic about life. Dr. Gustavus Augustus Eisen, biologist and archeologist, author of more than a hun- dred books, is making the most of the pleasure of such an experience. But it is because he has been con- structively busy every moment of his career that the veteran philosopher is happy. His joy traces back to the genius for labor with which he was endowed at birth. And thatis a democratic heritage. Most men are equipped with it in major or minor degree. The problem is one of developing a skill for discrimination. Small benefit accrues to any individual unless he can put his span of years in harness. A plan, a pattern is wanted. Yet few persons are competent to choose wisely in youth. Time, it seems, invariably is wasted in experiments. A , youngster is apt to dabble in numbers of vocations, attempt multitudes of con-' quests. Ralph” Waldo Emerson says, | somewhere that human creatures gen- erally set out to build palaces and end building woodsheds. But the Concord sage is not cynical. He is familiar with the fact that “not failure, but low aim is crime.” And Dr. Eisen is among those who have shot at the loftiest targets. To him the Nation owes the Sequoia National Park, three magnificent volumes on the por- traits of George Washington, a distinc- tive monograph on the Chalice of Antioch, the classification of the antique glass in the Smithsonian Institution gal- leries, the discovery of a practical tech- nique for growing figs in California, useful aid to the raisin industry, valuable studies of earthworms, a scholarly re- view of the early legends of Christianity. A more diverse achievement could not be imagined. Yet each effort is related to & central aspiration, a purposeful dedication to the quest for the elemental truth. Nor is the story finished. Instead, Dr. Eisen keeps his hand on the plow, cut- ting a straight furrow forward. His friends, knowing his power of generous service, hope for him a centennial in 1947, o A polished speech by Frances Perkins helps to relieve a situation that the strong arm and specialized intelligence of the working man may render irk- some. One difficulty about the present situation lies in the fact that working men may know more about conditions than they are credited with and the more direct the speech that can be ad- dressed to them, the less difficulty they may find in simplifying their politics. —_— —————— The reports of Gaston B. Means’ ill- ness should be heeded. But if he is given a more comfortable location his mail and telegrams should be closely inspected. It is unfair to give Means the benefit of a generous assumption that after all he may not have been the worst of & gang that he contacted. — re———— As for Mr. Michelson, he has worked hard and no doubt deserves to be well paid. But he may as well accustom him- self to voices of envy from campaigners who feel that they are, by comparison, insufficiently rewarded. —————————— Every once in a while Mr. Farley may be tempted to go back and look the old Blarney Stone over to make sure that he kissed the right spot. ——————————— In a few weeks college days will be here again with no essayist competent to tell the Government what to do with its own problems. —— e A new deal can last & long time but there must be moments when cards fall very much after the fashion of deals that have been known before. Airplanes have grown at such a rate that the finding of flelds sufficiently large to accommodate them becomes itself & prodigious problem. Lindbergh may not have been a better aviator than Amelia Earhart, but in some respects he was a wiser one. Shooting Stars. % e T BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Idleness. “There is no idleness complete,” 8aid Hezekiah Bings— “Although we say repose is sweet,” There's none 'mongst earthly things. Although we close our eyes in sleep, Our hoping and our fear In dreams, amid the silence deep, Are ever hovering near. “What seems to be the Endless Rest, All free from mortal care, Is but another start in quest Of betterment Somewhere. Although in wasteful hours we greet ‘The smile that Folly flings, There is no idleness complete’— Said Hezekiah Bings. Testing Out Conditions. “My hat is in the ring!” exclaimed the aggressive politician. “That,” said Senator Sorghum, “is & prudent move. Wait and see what hap- pens to the hat and maybe you'll decide to postpone going in ‘after it.” Jud Tunkins says too much advice sounds like wisdom that a man can’t use himself. He hates to see it going to waste, so he tries to give it away. +An Early Departure. Sald Eve: “My fig leaf is the sort Of dress the world calls cute. Let's move and find a beach resort ‘To fit this bathing suit!" Three Shy. “What do you consider the ten best books?” “Wait a few more years,” replied the author. “I'm only at work on my seventh.” “A monument,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “may serve only to recall some sad mistakes.” Plain Mortality. If all the fairy tales came true We'd find new sad beginnings. The witches and the ogres, too, ‘Would clamor for their innings. Let us be grateful still to know Amid strange variations We're all but mortals here below ‘With human limitations. “Y'ou can’t put much dependence,” said Uncle Eben, “on reformin’ de kind of sinner dat never gits repentent ceptin’ when he's been arrested.” o Provoking. Prom the Grand Island Independent. Nothing else 50 annoys a doctor as a patient who persists in having rheu- matism after his teeth and tonsils are out. . THE POLITICAL MILL BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. The movement to check President Roosevelt and the more ardent New Dealers in their course toward more cen- tralized and paternalistic Government, which succeeded in the court bill fight, fell down in the Senate struggle over the wages and hours bill. It fell down iIn part because of the sectional desire of New England Representatives in the Sen- ate to obtain, as they hope, some advan- tage over the South in the matter of labor standards. Some advantage which will restore to the mills of Massachusetts and othér New England States the orders which they have lost to the South over a long period of years. Both the Massachusetts Senators, one a Republic- an and the other a Democrat, voted against the motion to recommit the wages and hours bill to the Senate Labor Committee. This was the motion most feared by the administration leaders. An editorial today in the Boston Herald, a strongly Republican and con- servative newspaper, 15 not without in- terest in the consideration of this sec- tional war over the wages and hours bill. It has a kind word to say for the S8enate bill, which it declares is not nearly so bad as the measure which the House Labor Committee has been working on. It moreover indicates very clearly what is in the minds of New Englanders. The editorial says, in part: “Although both Senators from Massa- chusetts voted for the forty-forty wages and hours bill, they must have had mental reservations. They must have realized that it contains some positive defects and some features which are of highly dubious worth. “New England as a whole desires enactment of the Senate bill, if the vote of the six States in the upper branch may be taken as a criterion. Seven Senators favored it, Mr. Lodge and a half-dozen Democrats. Four Republic- ans voted in the negative. Senator Gibson, who comes from the Calvin Coolidge part of Vermont, did not choose to announce his position. A New Eng- land referendum would probably result in an overwhelming majority for the bill, as the feeling is widespread here- abouts that the present -wage differ- entials between the North and the South are to the advantage of the latter.” It looks very much as though it was just another case of economics dom- inating the political side of the picture. The Herald says that probably both the Massachusetts Senators had mental reservations with regard to this wages and hours bill. If they did, they re- strained themselves. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, jr., has moved a long way from the conservative attitude of his grandfather, the late Henry Cabot Lodge, also & Senator from Massachusetts. It is reasonable, in this day and genera- tion, that he should, particularly if he expects to remain in politics. In justice to the Senator, however, it should be said that during his service in the Massa- chusetts House of Representatives he became strongly interested in the prob- lems of labor and that he made a record which has given him the support of labor. The part that Willlam Green, presi- dent of the American Federation of Labor, played in the recent Senate fight over the wages and hours bill may be variously construed. He might, if he had stuck fast to the opposition, which was reported by some Senators, have caused the bill to be recommitted. That would have killed the legislation at least for the present session of Congress. He withdrew this opposition—which was never publicly announced by Mr. Green. Had he announced that he was favorable to recommital, he would have been in a position where the White House might have had to come to him. On the other hand, he may now take credit for hav- ing given the “Go” signal which pre- vented the sidetracking of a bill. The President, in his effort to have the wages and hours bill passed by the Senate, was aided by the fact that some of the Democratic Senators who opposed him on the court bill, although they do not believe in the wages and hours bill, hesitated to hand him an- other blow so quickly. They realized that to do so would cause further strife within the party. They realized also that the President still has a wide pop- ularity in their own States. They have their own political careers to think of in the future. The part that Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin is playing in the upper House right now is of considerabie significance. He is not only an ally of the New Deal administration, but he has also attained a position of leader- ship. He is not a member of the Dem- ocratic party, but he comes close to being a member of the New Deal party. He does not like conservative Demo- crats any more than he likes conserva- tive Republicans. He and his brother, Gov. Phil La Follette of Wisconsin, hav- ing established an Independent and Progressive party in their own State, are intent upon having this party be- come national in scope. A dispatch from Des Moines, Jowa, quotes Gov. La Follette as saying that the Republican leadership “has its feet in 1937, but its thinking in 1837.” In other words, the G. O. P. is a century behind the times, according *to the Wisconsin Governor. What Governor La Follette has to say about the conservative Democrats is just as severe, while he gives great praise to President Roosevelt and the New Deal party. He said: “The leader- ship of President Roosevelt has seen the need of and presented & program for common action on these problems. But too often this progressive leadership has been hamstrung by the swarm of reac- tionaries that infest the Democratic party.” If the La Folleites can persuade the New Dealers to cut away from the Democratic label in 1940, they believe they will have a real chance for a new national and liberal party in this coun- try. Whether they can persuade Presi- dent Roosevelt that this is the proper course remains to be seen. They would like to see the President break away entirely from the Democratic conserva- tives, like Glass and Byrd of Virginia, Harrison of Mississippi, Bailey of North Carolina, 8mith of South Carolina and others. They might even be content to see the new liberal party called “the Roosevelt party”—which would certainly be a lasting compliment to the New Deal President. If the House puts through the wages and hours bill and it becomes & law, the probabilities are that in another year there will be new steps, going be- yond the establishment of minimum ‘wages. Efforts will be made to establish standards of wages all along the line. When and if that comes, where will the labor unions find themselves? What employe will feel it necessary to pay dues to a union when he can get what he wants from & Government bureau, or thinks he can? Raising an Alarm. Prom the Ashtabula (Ohio) Star-Beacon. Reports from the agricultural districts bring news that mere mention of the probable revival of the A, A. A. has started the pigs to squealing. (€ THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, A letter from the bluejs: “Dear Sir: This evening’s Star car- ries a letter from H. L. W. against the bluejay. “I am perhaps unfortunate in being a lover of cats and birds, and have never noticed any diminution of bird life due to the presence of the family cat, or cats. “Master Bluejay is great fun, and it would be silly to start a campaign sgainst him, “We have always Jooked upon him as & sort of policeman, as invariably when he finds the highest spot in the tree, and starts an uproar, there is good rea- son to do so. “Many times I have watched this per- formance, when the yard and those of our neighbors will be full of birds, bathing, eating or just sunning them- selves, and when Master Bluejay starts his noise they would all get dut of sight and we would find that a cat was walk- ing around below or a squirrel or two had come to jump from tree to tree. “He does not eat more than his share of the food we put out; the starling is very shy about taking food. Whether this is because it is not suitable for his beak or not, I do not know. “While I have not lived in Washington for a long time, I am told by persons who have lived here all their lives that the birds are more plentiful now than they ever have been in their knowledge. This must be due to the interest in feed- i:g them and the protection afforded them. “It is interesting to follow the bird dislikes in various parts of the country. While the robin is not disliked in Nova Scotia, he is a voracious cherry eater and people with cherry trees might harbor resentment against him. “In California the brown bird likes nothing better than a fresh sprouted kernel of corn or sweet pea, and will pull up a whole row of a morning. Later, when the fruit is ripening, the linet makes inroads which are not appreciated. The papers have carried articles about grasshoppers, and bemoan the slaughter of crows as they seem to have been a factor in keeping the grasshoppers at bay in the affiicted States. It would seem that we should beware and look always for the best in bird life. Yours very truly, M. 0. 0" * ok * K There is a good idea there. It is true enough, in bird watching or any other sport, if you let the bad sides get a grip on you something is lost entirely from the thing. Most often it will be found that the features which irk are only so in regard to perfection. In bird watching the ob- server wants many wholesome beautiful birds, “doing their stuff,” without ad- mixture of hawks, squirrels, pigeons, or other factor inimical. Well, maybe in the garden of Eden it was 30, but we doubt if it was, even there; life has worked itself out in a certain way, and that—well, that is the way it is! There will always be cruelty and sor- row, in this world of ours. It is one of man's noblest traits, that he—and par- ticularly she—envisions a world free from pain and sorrow. It would be nice, could it be so; let us all try to make it so, indeed, but not repine too much—if we can—when sadness and sorrow and pain and evil crop up, as they se often do. *x % % In bird observation, on a perfectly amateur scale, we need not concentrate wo specifically and too persistently on the things which happen which we, as watchers, do not like, STARS, MEN Inimical factors will come up, but often tend to diminish, even when we do nothing about them. The pigeon hawk will fly away, the squirrels will decide some other block is better, the pigeons get run over or something. It is & queer world in which we live, one in which the features we do not care for ought to be, and often are, over- balanced by those we like. It is because the bulk of life often works out this way, and not the other, that it is bearable, indeed. % % x For there is enough sadness in it, and enough sorrow, enough pain and enough iliness, to say nothing of the ultimate thing, enough of what we do not like, and from which we must shrink, being human, to overbalance the fragile mind the other way. It is often so; the asylums are filled with people who have been overbalanced. More normal per- sons, so they are called, and so like to think of themselves, push these sad “cases” away from them, and refuse to see or think about them, unless they have to, and in this no doubt they are wise, the balance being so easily upset, one way or another. * % % Until the beginning of last week we would have agreed thoroughly with our correspondent in saying that no diminu- tion of bird life is due to the presence of the family cat, or cats. After the affectionate gray cat had speared three baby catbirds from the nest by the porch with one thrust of the paw, we have been forced to change our mind about that. This is a disagreeable admission for one who has defended cats in season and out for fifteen years. Never had we seen a cat take young birds from the nest, but after this fellow climbed into the shrub, like a flash, and made off with the entire brood, we had learned something. And now we knew what had become of the nest full of cardinals, and the nest full of robins. Only the wrens had managed to escape. The Baltimore orfoles evidently had taken alarm in time, before she had finished the nest com- pletely. Old Tom got them all. He was so pleased with himself, it was difficult to censure him. The speed with which he climbed into that bush, and made off with the trio of catbirds, was a revelation. He took them home and laid them on the porch. When we arrived, the birds were just breathing. Placed back in the nest, as a forlorn geésture, they remained silent. ‘Within ten minutes the cat came back, and started up the bush again. The parents screamed in the shrubbery, fly- ing and giving a shrill note of alarm. ‘The cat was driven off, but that night the birds all disappeared again. The next morning the parents were seen for a few hours, but soon disappeared. No doubt it was best that way. The labor and love of & month and s half had been lost for them in a matter of a few seconds. 8o we are beginning to see that cats and birds, after all, do not mix. While our belief still remains that only s few cats are such ardent catchers of birds in the nest, we must concede that as long as there is one such feline as this in a neighborhood, it will be diffi- cult, if not impossible, for any birds to raise their broods. All house cats should be kept in the house from June 1 through September 1, at least. AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Preparation of & new and more effec- tive scarlet fever toxin has just been announced by the National Institute of Health. It long has been known that children can be protected against scarlet fever by injecting under the skin a series of doses of the streptococcus toxin responsible for the disease. The difficulty has been to accomplish this without a disagreeable reaction in the child or the need for an excessivé number of injections, accord- ing to Dr. M. V. Veldee, Public Health Bervice surgeon, who conducted the present research. “Through a process of purification,’ says Dr. Veldee, “it has been possible to remove some of the objectionable and unnecessary fractions from the scarlet fever toxin. By the addition of tannic acid this purified toxin is rendered in- soluble. In this form it is absorbed more slowly following hypodermic injection. 8Blower absorption causes a reduction in the symptoms following injection and at the same time causes greater im- munity production because the im- munizing substances remain in the body for a longer time. “Having determined by tests on labora- tory animals and on small groups of human volunteers that this purified and precipitated toxin was entirely safe and that injections into the skin seemed the most suitable, active immunization was offered to the parents of 9,379 chil- dren attending the first six grades of the grammar school in one county. Tests showed that 44 per cent of these children were susceptible to scarlet fever and these were given immunizing in- Jections. One month after the last dose each child was given a second test and it was found that from 80 to 90 per cent of those treated were now immune.” Since the start of the immunizations, Dr. Veldee says, no treated child has developed scarlet fever, whereas the usual prevalence of this disease was found among the untreated children of the county. It still is too early, Dr. Veldee stresses, to fully evaluate the new product, since the work involves only part of one school year. * ok ok X Why 12 months? Because that's twice the number of stripes on a chipmunk’s back. Dr. Truman Michelson, Smithsonian Institution ethnologist, thus explains the queer “chipmunk calendar” of the Fox Indians—the remnants of ,which once powerful Algonquinian tribe live on & reservation near Tama, Iowa. Like other primitive peoples, the Foxes sought to explain the phenomens of Nature by animistic comparisons. The story, as obtained by Dr. Michelson from elderly members of the tribe still familiar with its fast-disappearing legendry, is that in the beginning there was & quarrel among the manitous—demigods personi- fying various forms of life—as to the number of months. It was proposed that there be as many 83 there are feathers in a turkey’s tail. Wisakas, a friend of man, who was not yet created among the manitous, objected. That, he said, would make the Winter scores of months long. Human beings would be unable to store up enough food and would starve to death. During the ensuing quarrel & chipmunk came ml.emq proposed that the A number of stripes on its back be ac- cepted as a compromise. There were six of them, so it was agreed that there be six months of Winter and six of Summer. This would make the cold season just about long enough so that man could live through it on stored food and game until the bounty of Spring came again. * ok x Old age is a rare cause of death among wild animals, it is shown by United States Biological Survey studies. Even aside from the law of tooth and claw which obtains in the forest, acci- dents and hunger take a big toll. One of the most common causes of death is pneumonia, usually superinduced by the weakness which comes with hunger. Rabies, anthrax, bubonic plague, gland- ers, tuleremia and undulant fever also take their toll in wild life and can easily be passed on to man. Building Motor Roads All Over the World Prom the Ban Antonio News. Contrary to the prevailing impression, perhaps, intensive highway building has not been confined to the United States under the New Deal. As the Automobile Manufacturers’ Association’s latest prog- ress report indicates, during the past eight years the principal countries have been constructing new, extending and modernizing old automobile routes at an unprecedented rate. As a result, more than three million additional miles of highway have been opened to the traveler by motor car, making 9,900,000 miles altogether. Since 1929 the road mileage has been extended by 51 per cent. The tourist may drive a car from Montreal to the City of Mexico, from Tangier to Jerusalem, from Cape Town to Kenya—and soon gaps will be filled in between Cairo and Cape Town. With only one link to be closed he will be abble to drive from Damascus, via Bag- dad and Teheran, to Calcutta or,Madras. Roads out of Nanking and Peiping have about evicted the age-old famine spec- ter from China. Meanwhile Germany is completing its autobahn system— 5,000 miles of “express” highways with traffic lanes completely serarated for speed and safety—a model for road build- ers everywhere. Argentina is spending 100 million pesos on its 22,000 miles of primary roads. Extension of the Inter-American Highway from the City of Mexico to the Canal Zone is being pushed systematically; Buenos Aires is the builders’ goal. A.complementary enterprise would span the Americas between Vancouver and Santiago de Chile. For the next ten years the re- port foresees “an advance in motor transportation surpassing anything acheived before.” The highway builders are doing their part toward making the world one big neighborhood. N Age of Eggs. From the Ashtabula (Ohio) Star-Beacon. ‘There is a new British invention that determines the age of an egg. This seems unnecessary. It has never been eagy for an egg to keep its age secret. ’ 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. What type of automobile is most popular in the United States?—R. E. R. A. According to 1936 sales, the four- door sedan came first, two-door sedan second and coupe third, Q. Who furnished the money for the Mount Rushmore Memorial?—S. E. F. A. The money was furnished in part by the Mount Rushmore Bociety in the Black Hills, South Dakota, in part by an appropriation by Congress, and in part by popular subscription. The fig- ures of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theo- dore Roosevelt are being cut into the mountain 230 feet deep and are to be 420 feet high, Q. Is affect ever a noun?—W. H. A. In psychology, affect is used as & houn meaning feeling, emotion and dee sire with an implication of their im- portance in determining thought and conduct, Q. In real life did Mrs. O'Shea marry Parnell?’—J. McG. A. O'Shea flled a petition for divorce in December, 1889, and after the decres was granted, Parnell and Mrs. O'Shea were married. The marriage took place in June, 1891. Parnell was deserted afterward by his party and his political career was ended. He became ill from worry and physical ailments and left Ireland. He died at Brighton, England, October 6, 1891. Q. What percentage of the family in= come is spent for housing, clothing, food, etc.?- . W. M. A. The current index of the National Industrial Conference Board shows that 33 per cent of the family budget is spent for food, 20 per cent for housing, 12 per cent for clothing, 5 per cent for light and fuel and as much as 30 per cent for miscellaneous expenditures. Q. How many decks of playing cards are sold yearly in the United States? ~—D. D. D. A. Between 40,000,000 and 45,000,000. Q. Please give some information about the Filipino Siamese twins—C. H. A. Lucio and Simplicimo Godino (1908~ 1936) were the Filipino Siamese twins. An operation to separate his brother from Lucio, who died of pneumonia, failed because he contracted spinal meningitis after eleven days. Q. Please give the date on which the Rhodes Scholarships are awarded.—P. G. A. The preliminary selection of Rhodes scholars by State committees will be made on December 16 and 18 this year, and the final election by district com- mittees will be made on December 20, Q. What kind of organization is the Women's American Ort?—E. J. A. This society was organized in 1925 to support trade and agricultural activi- ties among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. Its activities include the support of technical and vocational schools; the purchase of agricultural implements, seeds and live stock for Ort colonies, and the supplying of tools and machinery to artisans. Q. Please describe a wine-table of the eighteenth century —W. R. A. The wine-table was called by cab- inet makers a gentlemen's social table. It was always narrow and of semi-cir- cular or horseshoe form, the guests sit- ting around the outer circumference. Metal wells for bottles and ice were sunk in the surface of the table and were equipped with brass lids. In later ex- amples the tables were fitted with a re- volving wine-carriage. bottle-holder or tray working on a balanced arm which enabled the bottles to be passed without shaking. These tables are now exceed- Ingly scarce. Q. What is the date of “Midsummer night"?—G. F. A. It is celebrated on June 23 and is also called St. John's eve. Q. What were the peculiar ecircum- stances connected with the burial of Voltaize?—E. W. A. Voltaire was buried at the abbey of Scellieres in Champagne. On July 10, 1791, the body was transferred to the Pantheon, but during the Hundred Days it was once more disentombed and stowed away in a piece of waste ground. His heart, taken from the body when it was embalmed and given to Madame Denis and by her to Madame de Villette, was preserved in a silver case. When in 1864 it was proposed to restore it to the other remains, the sarcophagus at the Pan- theon was opened and found to be empty, Q. How does the number of white chil- dren compare with the number of Negro children in the South Carolina schools? —W. M. A. In the academic year, 1935-6, there were 258,623 white and 219292 Negro pupils enrolled in the South Carolina schools. Q. What are no plays?—R. T. B. A. They are Japanese symbolic and traditional dramas, written in prose and verse, and utilizing & chorus, music and dancing. There are about 250 no plays extant, most of them written in the fifteenth century. A Fine Booklet About Coins EVERYBODY'S COIN BOOK tells all about rarities and oddities in coins, famous collections, high-priced ecoins and instruction on how to start and build up a coin collection. It contains notes on the development of metallic how to read collectors’ cata- how to distinguish the rare fs- sues; covers gold, silver and paper money from Colonial times—information that will interest all collectors, amateur and professional. This is a fascinating book- let on a fascinating subject. Order your copy today. Inclose TEN CENTS to cover cost and handling. Use This Order Blank ‘The Washington Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, ‘Washington, D. C. I inclose herewith TEN CENTS in coin (carefully wrapped) for a copy of EVERYBODY'S COIN BOOK. Name _ Street or Rural Route BUAe e T ——