Evening Star Newspaper, August 17, 1937, Page 8

A—S8 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday ‘Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. August 17, 1937 THEODORE W. NOYES The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Oifice: 435 North Michigan Ave. Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban. Regular Edition. The Evening and Sunday Star ;i ® At per month or 150 per week The Evening Star 45c per month or 1Qc per week The Sunday Star ~--5c per copy Night Final Edition. Night B ¢ per month Night Final 22T 35¢ per month Collection made at the end of each month or each week. Orders may be sent by mall or tele- phone Na'ional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Marviand and Virginia. . $10.00: 1 mo $6.00¢ 1 mo. $4.00; 1 mo.. S50 c 40c ANl Other States and Canada. . Daily and Sunday. 1 yr., $12.00: 1 mo.. $1.00 Daily “only 1 $8.00; 1 mo., 73c Sunday only_ $5.00: 1 mo, 3 Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press fs exclusively entitled to or republication of all news dispatches 10 It or not otherwise credited in this paper and also tpe al news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserves The New Warfare. Shanghai as a battle ground in the as yet undeclared war between China and Japan presents a terrible warning of what may come about in the event of a conflict in Europe. between the forces of now friendly but possibly hostile na- tions. Here is a center of population nhumbering roughly three and a half millions, many thousands of them for- eigners. Despite guarantees of security for these residents from other nations, they are caught in the deadly melee. The fighting is chiefly in the air, scores of planes on each side firing upon one an- other and dropping bombs, with the object of destroying the opposing air forces. It is just such warfare as that which has been predicted in the European fleld. Here is a city of three and a half millions, densely concentrated. It be- comes, with shocking suddenness, an arena of battle. There are no areas of protection. The sky is the battle field. Whatever missiles are discharged must fall, whether after explosion or before, and the swarming population below be- comes the eventual target of this gigantic fusillade. = The known purpose of certain of the European powers, suspected of the design of attack is to concentrate their onset upon the enemy’s largest cities. Defense mechanisms have heen adopted to resist ruch attacks, if and when they occur. While great forces of land armies and naval combatants are in readiness for both attack and defense, the air services are chiefly relied upon for the heaviest and most demoralizing assaults and for defense against them. The swiftness with which this situation in Shanghai arose is also a feature of warfare that is to be particularly dreaded, in case confiict occurs in other parts of the world. Treaty guarantees are ignored gnd violated. The storm bursts without warning. The disaster is complete before appeal can be effectively made to the combatants to respect the rights of those Innocent of partisanship. It is idle now to talk of future compen- gations for these losses and sufferings. The combatants are too intent upon their assault and defense to heed protests and claims, present an occasion for such representa- tions of protest and demand as may later be made the basis of international action. And yet of what avail is international action? It was undertaken after the war of 1914-18 and it led to the organization of the League of Nations, which was supposedly to be an instrument for the regulation if not the prevention of war. Today that organization is ineffective as & force of international judgment, and the bombs are dropping in Shanghai upon thousands of non-combatants who have been caught by an undeclared war between two relentless forces. ————— One of the most distinguished per-, formances of Dr. Eliot was the com- pilation and publication of a series of volumes which, like so many publica- tians, may be read with benefit, if accom- panied with volumes of instruction as to which parts may be believed in terms of modern civilization. —————— Sympathy is extended when a lady quarrels with her husband. It may be doubted, however, whether her personal Indignation should be permitted to affect the pleasant simplicity of a radio pro- gram. ——ee—s “Lost” Concerto. What rights have the dead? Legally, 1t may be conceded that they have none. Even the disposition of their material wealth is a matter for courts to de= termine. If a will is deemed unreason- able, it is set aside. Only by the toler- ance of heirs and other relatives and by the charity of the general public can an individual give away his property as he pleases. Any wish he may entertain regarding the fate of an intangible pos- session is apt to be neglected or alto- gether ignored. For example, Robert Schumann In 1853 wrote a violin concerto in D Minor. He desired his friend Joseph Joachim, the celebrated Hungarian virtuoso, to play the composition. But Joachim re- fused. The composer, then, for reasons of his own, stipulated that no artist should perform the work for fifty years after Joachim's demise. During thirty years following that melancholy event the prohibition was respected. It was due to cease to be binding in 1957. An American musician, however, does not propose to wait. Instead, he has an- nounced that he intends to include the concerto in a program scheduled for presentation in New York in November. Surviving members of Schumann’s fam- {ly, he says, have given their consent. To insure the maximum of publicity for his plan, he insists that the manuscript has been “lost” and now is found again. The unvarnished fact is that it has been in the custody of s Berlin Lbrary for three decades, readily available for the \ v " stances. But this Shanghai tragedy does | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, AUGUST 17. 1937. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. inspection of any inquirer interested enough to ask to see it. Perhaps the whole affair is a “promo- tion stunt.” But be that as it may, the problem of good manners is involved. Neither Schumann nor Joachim has power to protest against the indignity which is being practiced against them. They are circumstanced as William Shakespeare was when Thomas Bowdler covered himself with shame by “expur- gating” his plays. Music lovers, it seems, might speak for them in the circum- The “lost” concerto probably ought to be allowed to remain “lost” for the full span of the half century its author specified. To permit it so to be respected would constitute a gesture of homage to the past which should be in- stinctive on the part of an artist of the current period of human experience, B “Theme Center.” Work has been started on a seven hundred foot tower to be known as the “theme center” of the New York World's Fair of 1939. The structure is to rise from a forest of fourteen hundred timber piles sunk a hundred feet into Flushing Meadow. It is expected to cost one mil- lion seven hundred thousand dollars and will symbolize the aspiration of the sponsors of the enterprise whose focal attraction it is intended to be. Grover A. Whalen, president of the fair corporation, explains the project in these words: “The fair will exhibit the most promising developments of ideas, products, services, and social factors of the present day in such a fashion that the visitor may get & vision of what he might attain for himself, and for his community, by intelligent co-operative planning toward the better life of the future. It will emphasize the vital inter- dependence of communities, peoples, and nations. Thus in submitting to the world of today a new layout for life, we are engaged in building a world of tomor- row. The New York World's Fair will predict, may even dictate, the shape of things to come.” All of which, indubitably, has vast appeal to the imagination. Yet it may be wondered if anything more marvelous than New York itself can be created to advertise the metropolis of the western hemisphere. Manhattan already posses- ses a notably beautiful tower seven hun- dred feet high—the Metropolitan Life Building at Madison Square. Also, there 1s the “Gothic” miracle of the Woolworth Building in lower Broadway, nearly five score feet taller. The home of the Bank of Manhattan at Forty Wall Street reaches eight hundred and thirty-eight feet toward the sun, while the headquar- ters of the Radio Corporation of America in Rockefeller Center is eight hundred and fifty feet from curb line to topmost pinnacle. These, however, are but average sky- scrapers in comparison with Sixty Wall Tower in Pine Street, nine hundred and fifty feet, the Chrysler Building at Lex- ington Avenue and Forty-Second Street, one thousand and forty-six feet, and the Empire State Building at Fifth Avenue and Thirty-Fourth Street, one thousand two hundred and forty-eight feet high. But even among world's fair towers the “theme center” will not be unique. The steel finger erected by Gustave Eiffel for the Paris Exhibition of 1889 points one thousand feet in the direction of the stars. Mr. Whalen's “tomorrow,” it would seem, falls something short of “yester- day.’ e The facial expression in John Nance Garner’s recent photographs convey an assurance that while the career of a Vice President may have its enduring seasons of depression, it also possesses its hours of genuine mirth. —_— r——— Thoughts of naming Felix Frankfurter as a Supreme Court justice received a set back by the nomination of Mr. Black, representative of a new deal in all that the term implies by way of novelty of opinion. e The news reports from Shanghai call for a formal declaration of war under which at least the statements of who is responsible for cruel slaughter may be accepted without question. The Lonely Man. Everybody pities the Lonely Man, His neighbors wonder about him, talk about the cause and the effect of his isolation. They noticed long ago that he preferred to be neglected. It was his practice to avoid mixing with people. When, in the street, they spoke to him, he merely nodded. Gradually they found them- selves respecting his desire for solitude. It became a community custom to “leave the old fellow in peace.” He remained a theme for discussion, still is a subject of debate; yet he is tolerated, not will- fully annoyed or persecuted. Meanwhile, he entertains guests in his house. Certain sages from the Orient abide with him—Confucius, Mencius and Lao-tse among others whose world is dust and ashes, but whose names have not completely lost their ancient magic meanings. Also three Greeks sit at table with him—Socrates, Plato and the Stagirite, to whom occasional scholars refer with reverence and honor. The Carpenter Prophet of Galilee, likewise, visits with him not infrequently. He has something in common with the Lonely Man. But most of the callers belong to a later period. The list is lengthy, includ- ing as it does Chaucer and Shakespeare, Petrarch and Dante, Erasmus and Francis of Assissi, Voltaire and Goethe, FEmerson and Carlyle, Mark Twain and Walt Whitman. It is, of course, a mis- cellaneous company that comes and goes from day to day. One single quality re- lates them and their host—their mutual humanity, their instinct for a fellowship without divisions. Moreover, the Lonely Man is acquainted with & number of friends in the infinity which les outside his door. When he indulges in a stroll, he encounters the oak tree, which is on intimate terms with history, and the elm, which is well-versed in besuty. The wild rose, the violet and the daisy are giad to welcome him. A J l Robins and chipmunks greet him with pleasure. He knows where forgotten rivers ran and where the glacier halted, In the night be bows to Aldebaran and Arcturus. A baby mole once lay in his hand unafraid. > The corner grocer is his confidant. Years back the Lonely Man gave him a “standing order” for necessary supplies for his larder. It was understood between them that the requisition was to be filled periodically until further notice. The grocer’s son, seven years valiant, was a member of a little group of conspirators who once stuffed a valentine into the hermit’s letterbox. e After a careful study of the pictures of the watermelon party given by Secre- tary Roper, the conclusion becomes in- evitable that Vice President Garner demonstrates a certain utilitarian fa- cility which Dr. Chengting T. Wang is far from ' duplicating. Chopsticks as opposed to the western knife and fork may be regarded as a significant test of custom without implying serious signifi- cance. All these experiences make for better acquaintance witheut assuming to decide any serious differences of custom. —_— e Street accidents involving automobiles are recorded daily without prejudice or resentment beyond what local author- ities must feel. Yet motor traffic is important as it affects the life and happiness of the individual. One of the hardships of a new era are the prob- lems it presents which are not intelli- gently covered by references to a “new deal ” ——————————_ There arises an incidental question which asserts itself in motoring and in airship travel—the question of how far the use of intoxicants affects the ability to control machinery. Even the manu- facturers of intoxicating liquors may be expected to join the protest against its reckless employment. Japan is said to be resentful of the delicate satires introduced in the text of “The Mikado.” If the nation had produced something equally melodious this country would quickly have taken it into affection without applying criti- cal standards to the words. e ] Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Present. Men dwell on the volcano's brink The vine to cultivate, Nor pause to tremble as they think Of terrors that await. Men sail upon the Summer sea, Nor give a passing thought Unto the wreckage that may be For them with sorrow fraught. And so we shun, existence through, The fear and the regret; The future bids us hope anew, The past bids us forget. Accommodation. “Do you expect that bill you have just introduced to become a law?” “No,” answered Senator Sorghum. “If I thought it had a chance I wouldn't | have introduced it. It was one of those occasions on which it seems perfectly safe to oblige a friend.” Jud Tunkins says a woman can sing a baby asleep, but & man is merely lable to sing it awake. Unanimous Consent. I wondered what grandma would say Of the clothes girls are wearing today. I met her. I'm feeling quite biue, For grandma is wearing them, too! Love of Nature. “What is your favorite flower?” “Well,” replied Farmer Corntossel, “I guess an orchid is about as satisfactory as any.” “Orchids are beautiful, but rare.” “That's why I favor 'em. There's no chance of theyre gettin’ a start like daisies or dandelions an’' havin’ to be weeded out.” “When a man attains wealth,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “he forfeits friends of more value than money if he seeks admiration for what he has rather than for what he is.” The Minute. The clock ticked out a minute light Upon a Summer day. I said, “The moment is so bright, ‘Why won't you stop and play?” It answered, “ "Twould disgrace me quite. I must be on my way— “For I must turn, as I take flight, New buds to blossoms gay, And help the cool and restful night To supersede the day. Although my work seems only slight, I must be on my way. “I lead youth on toward ambitions bright, I touch man’s hair with gray— An atom to make up the might By which Time holds his sway— ‘We small things keep the great aright— I must be on my way.” “A man dat’s allus thinkin’ ‘bout his- self,” said Uncle Eben, “is sure to imagine he has a heap mo’ on his mind dan dar actually is.” ot The Coming Season. From the Kansas City Star. If you can't realize the fact that it's only six weeks until foot ball, it is a little easier to reflect also that it's eight or nine weeks until any very good foot ball. The Really Careful Driver. Prom the Worcester Gazette. It’s a careful motorist who slows down for “School Ahead” signs even during Summer vacation. Summer Fiction. Prom the Omaha World-Herald. Some of the purest fiction being read | by women on vacation is contained in the letters from their husbands back 'y THE POLITICAL MILL BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. FALMOUTH, Mass., August 17.—Presi- dent Roosevelt’s appointment of Senator Hugo Black of Alabama to be an asso- ciate justice of the Supreme Court was a surprise—merely because of the secretive way in which the appointment was made. Ever since the President sent to the Con- gress his court bill, for the addition of a maximum of six new justices to the highest court, it has been entirely clear what kind of men he intended to place on the bench. He intended to appoint liberals—like Black—who would support his idea that the only need was a new interpretation of the Constitution. He intended to appoint men who would up- hold New Deal legislation in their opinions, ok ok % The President did not explain to the public or to the Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill that he had Senator Black in mind for the vacancy in the Supreme Court, caused by the retirement of As- sociate Justice Van Devanter. There had been no intimation that the Ala- bama Senator was under consideration for the post. The President enjoys sur- prises. The appointment of Black was all of a pattern with his message to Congress last February urging the pas- sage of his Supreme Court program. He did not tell his party leaders then that he intended to move for an increase in the membership of the court. He kept it a secret up to the last minute. It was the same way with the Black appoint- ment. This surprise technique is good for the headlines. How good it will prove for harmony in the Democratic party is another thing. The Alabama Senator, now to be ele- vated to the supreme bench unless the opposition to his confirmation develops an unexpected strength, has plenty of ability. In his conduct of certain sena- torial investigations he has given the im- pression that he believes that the end Jjustifies the means. This is not exactly the theory which is expected of Supreme Court justices. A judge is expected to be able to see all sides of a question. A strong partisan rarely does. The fact that Black had the support of the Ku Klux Klan in his fight for the Senate seat he now occupies has been widely declared. It has been intimated in some quarters that he may have been a mem- ber of that organization himself. But no one has pinned the label on him. * % x * The fact that Black is a member of the Senate may shield him from a searching inquiry into his qualifications and his past political history. The President has been credited with being particularly “smart” in selecting a Sena- tor at this juncture, a Senator who ap- parently holds the President’s owf views on what the Supreme Court should decide when a New Deal law is presented for consideration. Other Presidents in the past have selected men for places on the Supreme Court whose minds ap- parently ran along with their own on political and economic questions. It should not be surprising, therefore, that President Roosevelt has done the same | thing. Presumably, the President will have other places on the Supreme Court to fill, either because some of the sitting Justices retire, as Van Devanter did, or because of death. When he has such appointments to make, doubtless he will pick other liberals for the places. There is Senator Minton of Indiana, for ex- ample. Minton and Black are alike as two peas when it comes to their attitude toward the President and his policies. * % x If any one had any idea that the President was going to swing to the “right” during his second term of office, that idea has been dispelled by this time. There were conservative Demo- crats who supported the President in the last election who had no such idea. They believe they could be of more service, however. if they remained in the Democratic party. Their purpose was to be in position to put the brakes on the President and his legislative policies when the time came. That is just what a lot of the Democratic Senators are seeking to do today. They have been particularly effective, especially since thev have been joined by some of the more liberal Democrats, like Wheeler of Montana, who still cling to the idea that the Federal judiciary should be independent of executive and political control. The fight in the Democratic party itself todav might have been fore- seen—and probably was by some of these Democrats. It is nonetheless spectacular and amazing. *® k¥ k Congress, according to reports. is about to adjourn. It is about to adjourn with- out putting through several of the major legislative enactments urged by the Presi- dent. The Chief Executive met actual defeat in his effort to remake the Su- preme Court by legislative action. In addition, he has been unable to prevail upon the Congress at this late date to take up and pass a new crop control bill, his wages and hours bill or his bill giving the President absolute authority to re- organize the executive departments of the Government as he sees fit. All three of these measures are to go over until a Fall session, or until next January, unless there is a quick change-in the situation. Perhaps the President and his ad- visers have reached the conclusion that a recess of Congre with the members all at home for a while, will bring greater harmony when the Senate and House meet again. Perhaps they believe that the administration will have an easier time lining up the votes in Congress a few months hence—which will be a few months nearer the congressional elec- tions. Will Democratic Senators and Representatives be quite so willing to “buck” the President when they know that within a few months or weeks they will have to run for renomination? The President and his followers be- lieved a few months ago that the nearer the vote on his court bill was to the congressional elections, the easier it would be for the administration to win a victory. They banked on it. But in that particular instance they fooled themselves. Instead of diminishing, the opposition to the court bill grew with the passing weeks. The cleavage which that contest has assisted—if it did not cause—in the Democratic party is con- siderably deeper than many think even today. Unless the administration can work wonders during the coming recess of Congress, the conflict between the President and Congress may set in again with considerable bitterness next Winter, The Republicans have been content all this year to let nature take its course and divide the Democratic ranks. They have been about as quiescent as a cow chewing its cud. With the approach of the congressional elections, however, they may be expected to start something, be- come more active in their attacks on the administration. These attacks may help to solidify the Democrats and cause them to close ranks again. The one exception to the attitude of aloofness of the Re- publicans during the session of Congress now drawing to a close is the effort of Representative Snell of New York, R publican House leader, to pin on thi President and the Democratic National + Not every one is a herbalist. Perhaps not one out of ten persons has the ability to appreciate the scents of dried herbs. Without this appreciation the odors and fragrances of woods and flelds be- come merely so many smells. Nasal appreciation is the first essential. Just as the old French connoisseur of foods demanded that they be smelled rather than eaten, so the roots, barks, dried leaves and flowers of the hundred and one plants used in modern herbalism must be appreciated with the nose first and foremost. It is easy to tell whether a person has capacity along these lines. If there is not instant appreciation of the fragrances contained in jars, one has to do with a person who might be all things fine but assuredly has little chance o{ becoming a herbalist. * ok ok x Take off the lid and sniff—if you do not like you might as well give it up. If this sniffing is applied to the many substances used in herbalism and all are found to be acrid or unpleasant or with- out any particular interest, know for a certainty that this pleasant hobby is for others. While women seem to appreciate these things instinctively, the nose is universal, and it is the nose which rules among the herbs That fine smell, tangy and redolent, comes from the very heart of Nature, but if it impresses you as merely the odor of dried leaves, it is not for you. If you are unable to tell one odor from another, and especially do not find the sharper scents as pleasing as the sweet, rest assured that some other department of natural interest is better for you. % ¥ Kk The theory that the nose has an even more important part to play in eating than the palate is an old one. It means that the prior appreciation of the olifactory organs stirs up the digestion and provides for the complete mixture and absorption of the food eaten. Every one understands this in some degree, no matter how much of a hurry one may be in. The restaurant entered in a hurry and left in a hurry still pro- vides the aroma of coffee and the tang of fried ham. One does not have to be hungry to understand the language of a beefsteak cooking. The fragrance wafted to the nostrils makes one sniff and say, at least mentally, “Yum, yum.” Various herbs for centuries have been used in cookery. This is one of their main uses today, but one little understood. There is no possibility of any one understanding them without prior liking for the sharp, tangy fragrances used in the various powdered herbs now used in cookery. The commonest instance of herbs so used is that of sage in meat dressings. There are many other substances, how- ever, used singly and in combinatior Imost all of these, when first smelled in a jar, strike the nostrils as somewhat bitter. * ok x % The common mistake to make, in re- STARS, MEN gard to herbs, is to expect them all to be sweet. Since these are natural substances, right from the heart of the earth, with- out change, except drying, they contain the bitter with the sweet, the harsh with the soft, as life itself. The wonderful roll of the hundreds of these natural substances contains odors and fragrances in an amazing variety. Whatever may be their wuses, in medicine, cosmetics, cookery, there is one thing they share in common, and that is a certain “dried weed” odor. This is not very surprising, since that is what they are, basically, no matter the amount of tradition, extending back hundreds and even thousands of years, which attaches to so many of them. * ok ¥ % There are literally thousand in these amazing creations of Nature, aided in dehydration by the hand of mankind. The enthusiast plays upon tt these fragrances, as an art: keys of an organ Opening the little jars and boxes and giving an appreciative whiff may be the be-all and end of one’s interest in herbal- ism, but it is enough For here are endless chemical secrets of the great world in which we live put into a form which the nose may appreciate. We play upon the instrum of fra- grance with our nose. We draw forth melodies as true as any, provided we know enough to understand this music. * ok % ok Men are not the nitwits, when it comes to fragrances, they are popularly sup- posed to be. They have noses, too, and can tell the difference between caraw: and garlic as well as any. Men are deprived, however, of any honest use of perfumes. They cannot ese odors, even put them on their handkerchiefs | any more, A whole world of delicious scents is | not supposed to be for them The only legitimate way they can enjoy the natural fragrances of the earth is to appreciate flower odors—and dried herb; To the nose properly tuned, there is no | more pleasing spot than a cottage in which herbs are kept hanging, and a teakettle of them boiling on the stove. There is a mingling of odors in s place which defies the keenest se. separate. The thing is impossibl best one can do is to try. The tr means that a few may be dete: and named if one r knows them but there will be above a blend w is a thing in itself. It may be believed that a great many people have verv poor noses. Just as some people cannot hear musical notes plainly audible to others. so some cannot detect a fragrance w s g to | another. Yet because there uring smelling ab a poor nose is able the best of them AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. A century and a half ago visitors at a plantation in nearby Virginia might | have seen an old colored man counting the hairs in a cow’s tail This was Thomas Fuller's favorite pastime. He was an illiterate slave, brought from Africa when he was 14. In some way he had learned to count | and was immensely proud of it He developed his accomplishment until he | held the undisputed long-distance count- ing championship of the world. He soon came to look with scorn on such amateurish feats as counting the num- ber of grains in a bushel of wheat. It required a real champion to enumerate the hairs in the cow's tail without ever losing count, however rambunctious the | cow. Learned men came from far and wide to see the old man. him, without warning, such questions as this: How many seconds in a year and a half? It took Fuller all of two minutes to calculate in his head that the correct answer was 47,304,000. Once a college professor thought he had him stuck. He asked him how many seconds & man would live who lived 70 years, 7 months and 12 hours. In a minute and a half Fuller replied confi- dently that the answer was 2.210.500.800. The professor figured for half an hour on paper and got a different answer. “Massa,” said the old slave, “yer don’ fergit to figger leap-years.” He was right. The Virginia slave—his owner said that he was exceptionally stupid and lazy at anything except counting and calculating—heads the list of some of the queerest figures in history, the arithmetical prodigies. Others performed more remarkable feats—although so far as known nobody has ever quite duplicated his feat of counting the hairs in a cow's tail or even checked up on his results. Almost equally astounding, however, was a feeble-minded Englishman who lived in the first quarter of the nine- teenth century. Jedediah Buxton was the son of an English village school master and the grandson of a vicar, but he never learned to read or write and to the end of his life earned his living as a farm laborer. He solved all his problems in his head. It took him five hours, working in the nfidst of 100 other laborers, to solve the following: How many cubic eighths of an inch are there in a body whose three sides contain, respectively, 23,145,789 square vards, 5,642,732 square yards and 54,965 square yards. It required a month, however, for ——ee Committee evasion, if not actual viola- tion, of the law which says that corpora- tions shall not contribute to funds of political committees. Thousands of dollars were taken from various corporations in payment for books of the last Democratic National Convention, autographed by President Roosevelt. This money was taken for the Democratic National Committee. No adequate defense has ever been made of this maneuver. The House Democrats have refused a congressional inquiry into* the sale of the books. However, there has been a great lJot of publicity given the affaiy. Whether the public will pay any attention to what seems to have been a flagrant evasion of the law and will react politically, it is impossible to say at this time. It may fall off the public back with no more.effect than had the Tea Pot Dome scandal in the campaign of 1924, when the Republicans were in power. ] [4 They would put to | nes, peas oat grains, rye grains, bear human hairs an inch lor he was s prob- to determine by e periment how ny articles named woulc le faculty He had perh: strangest one-track mind in histor n to hear a sermon he came away without the slightest idea of what it was all about. he knew exactly the number of words the min- ister had used. He wa to the theater to watch David The play meant nothing to he re- membered precisely ho steps each of the actors had ta Buxton did not looked like on pape many figures s more com- ted his own thousand million million was a * A thousand mil- | lion million tribes was a “c could calculate in terms as “a million t The man never as d to be anything higher than a farm laborer. Zerah Colburn, born in Cabot. Vt, in 1804, was a “very backward boy.' When he was 6 years old it took him five minutes to figure out in his head that there are 6. .000.000 seconds in 2.000 vears, At the same tender age he calculated, without pencil or paper, that there would be 9.139.200 kernels of corn in a field of seven acres with seventeen rows to the acre, sixty-nine hills to the row, eight ears to the hill and 150 kernels to the ear. Unlike the feeble-minded Buxton, Coburn was an ambitious youngster, Taken to England he astounded the most eminent mathematicians of the day by such feats as calculating in his the tenth power of eight, which he de- termined was 281,474.976.710. As he grew older his strange faculty declined. When he died at 35 he was an itinerant Methodist ministe: The faculty is not necessarily asso- ciated with lack of intelligence or of capacity in other directions. For ex- ample, George Bidder, born in England in 1826, became one of the most emi- nent engineers of his generation and for several terms hld a seat in Parlia- ment. His most marvelous stunt was to give an immediate answer to the problem of how many rays of light would strike the eye in a second, taking the velocity of light as 190,000 miles a second and a wave length of 36918 to an inch. He replied instantly: 444.- 433,651,200,000. His friends found the answer was right after figuring on it for an hour or so. ‘Then there was Truman H. Stafford, professor of astronomy at Williams Col- lege during the Civil War. He once multiplied in his head the number 365,- 365,365,365 by itself and in two minutes got the answer: 133,491.850,208,568,925,~ 016.658,291,941,583,225. While at work on the problem, accord- ing to an observer, he “flew around the room like a top, pulled his pants over the tops of his boots, bit his hand, rolled his eyes in their sockets, sometimes smiled and talked, and sometimes seemed in intense agony. e Kansan Taxables. From the Banta Pe New Mexican. Tax returns in one Kansas county showed only one rug and two shotguns owned by inhabitants. [ | United States?>—C. 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, L. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. How many people were killed ar injured to an extent that there would hé a record last year by automobiles AT P, A. The total number of motor vehir! fatalities in 1936 in the United States wa 38,500; permanent disabilities, 110,000 temporary disabilities, 1,230,000, is spent on conditioning?—E. B A. By the end of this year it is est mated that $85,000,000 worth of air-co. ditioning apparatus will have been sold Q. How many employes are enrolled | group hospitalization?—L. T. B. A. On January 1, 1937, there we: 700,000. By May 1, the number was ove 1,000,000, Q. Who was the most valuable playe in the American Association last yea —E. 3 A. Rudy York recently was awarde the Sporting News trophy for havir been the most valuable player in th American Association last season. Q. Does Mussolini's newspaper, Popo d'Ttalia, have the largest circulation i Milan?—H. G A. Popolo d'Ttalia has a circulation o 325.000 v e its principal rival, Corrier Delia Sera, has a circulation of 450,000, Q. What is the intelligence quot of a moron, an imbecile, and an idint —J. W A. Morons are usually considered t have I. Q's from 50 to 70. Imbecile| rate at between 20 and 50, while id. range {rom 0 to 20. many hoboes are there in th G A. Relief Administrator Harry Hopkin| has estimated that there are 6,800. Q. How Q. Is it true that the barber shop i the Palmer House in Chicago once ha er dollars embedded in its floor H, A. As a publicity stunt hundred silver dollars were placec le squares of v was made. The shop did When they wore o ced with Mexican dollar too, are a thing of the past. Q. Which of our Presidents have ha iistinctive literary style?—E. W, Jefferson, Abraham Lin Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roose Woodrow Wilson and Franklin T e Presidents who ha to express themse omas irst buildings of the Greenwich Observatory?—D. 8 sen and the fir buildings designed by Sir Christophe Wren. The hill on which the observator stands is 130 feet high Q Who owns the Gwinnett letter?>—H. I A. The document signed by Buttn Gwinnett is owned by Dr. A. 8. W. Roser. bach who purchased it for $51,000. valuable Buttn Q. How in the Boy € nasters are the organization?—W. M Has the Lib! st ed D A . It has not rare, especially perfect copies in the Briti the John R ry of Congress a co Copies are in good condition are known to exist, Libra ary, Ma private c , one in the Hen: San M 1 Calif. recorded copy in United States), and the fifth copy is i the hands of an English lector of rare books. This at auction in England for apy $34,000 in 1926. extreme! Fiy or one este George Holfor growth of the midbrain, called also ep physis, conarium and pineal gl 1 is a small, ovoid, reddish g about one-fourth of an inch exact function in the human i not known. Some researches indicat that it is a gland or has an secretion which is believed to influen physical and mental growth. intern Q. What caused the death of Joh Fitch?—H. M A. Disheartened by financial reverse the inventor poisoned himself in 1793. Q. What is the other name for th hackmatack tree?—C. S. A. Hackmatack is a popular name fo the American larch. Q. How much radium is there in tt world?—E. J. A. The total amount of mined radi in the world, while not accurately cata logued, is estimated at not quite 60f grams, or less than one and one-th pounds. Its value at current prices i $15,000,000. A Guide to Correct Speech, There is hardly anything to be learne in school that is more important to u: all our lives, than how to talk and writd correctly and skillfully. Anything tha will help us attain efficiency in thesd two accomplishments merits our carefu attention. Our Washington Informa tion Bureau has for distribution a authoritative booklet on words. It deal with 3.000 words we mispronounce, mi spell or misuse. It is a valuable aid anybody. Send for your copy todar Inclose ten cents to cover cost an handling. USE THIS ORDER BLANK. The Washington Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. T inclose herewith TEN CENTS in coin (carefully wrapped) far a copy of the WORD BOOK.