Evening Star Newspaper, April 25, 1940, Page 12

A—12 u‘@be Foening Star With Sunday Morning Edition. THEODORE W. NOYES, Editor. WASHINGTO D. C. THURSDAY. -April 25, 1940 ,The Evening Star Newspaper Company. ffice: 11th 8t &nd Pennsylvania Ave. M o Yerk Omee: 110 East dtnd St Chicago Office: 435 North Michigan Ave. Delivered by Carrier—City and Suburban. Reguiar Edition. ! V' d Sunday 75¢ per mo. or 18c per weel BN Eulng Star " 45¢ ber mo or 106 per week The Sunday Star 10c per copy Night Final Edition Night Fina) and Sunday Star Night Fina)l Star =5 Rural Tube Dalivery. 5 vening and Sunday Star.__ 85 per mon! The Evening Sar 53¢ per month The Sunday Star ~-.-112.10c ver copy tion made at the end of each month or each week " Ortes thay be sent by mal] or tele Paone National 5000. per month 85¢ 60¢ per month Rate by Mall—.Plyahle in Advance. Daily ard Sunday Dally only Bunday only. Entered as second-class matter post office, Washington. D. C. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press 13 exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise creaited in this paper and also the local news published herein All rights of publication of special dispatches herein also are reserved. — —— Pennsylvania Primary | The renomination of Senator | Joseph F. Guffey by Pennsylvania Democrats is not surprising. He was opposed, it is true, by Chairman David L. Lawrence of the Demo- cratic State Committee and by a majority of the leaders of the State organization. Their candidate, Wal- ter A. Jones, chairman of the Phila- delphia Turnpike Commission, was, however, virtually an unknown. Mr. Guffey, on the other hand, has been in Democratic politics in Pennsyl- vania for more than a generation. He was the first Democrat o repre- sent the Keystone State in the Senate for almost half a century. What will happen to Mr. Guffey in the November election—when he | must run against the Republican | nominee for the Senate, Jay Cooke, a great grandson of the Union finan- cier of the Civil War—is another question. The desperate fight in the Democratic primary may be a fore- runner of Democratic disaster in the fall. Just such a contest was waged in the Democratic primary of 1938— with Senator Guffey battling the | State organization headed by Mr. Lawrence. The results in that elec- tion speak for themselves. Not only did the Republicans win the guber- naterial election by a substantial | of the sectional clubbiness which margin, but they also re-elected Senator James J. Davis, who was | pitted against the then Governor | George Earle, who had been suc- | cessful in 1934—on the same ticket with Senator Guffey. | There was little in the Pennsyl- vania primary Tuesday to encourage the Democrats. The Republicans palled in their primary a larger vote | by approximately two hundred and seventy-five thousand. Primary votes are not by any means conclusive evi- dence of what will happen in the general election. But it is entirely clear that if the Democrats had polled more votes than the Repub- | licans they would now be claiming victory in November. The hope of Senator Guffey and | other Democratic leaders in Penn- sylvania is that President Roosevelt will say “yes” and run for re-elec- tion. They look upon the President | as the strongest candidate who | could be named to oppose a Repub- lican in Pennsylvania—and they devoutly hope they will be able to ride along on his coattails to triumph. Mr. Roosevelt was voted for in | the presidential preferential primary in Pennsylvania, the only entry on either the Republican or Democratic side. Running unopposed, the Presi- dent rolled up a bigger vote than any | of the Democratic candidates for the senatorial nomination. But his vote fell short of the combined total vote for Guffey, Jones and McNair, a former Mayor of Pittsburgh, the third candidate in the Senate pri- mary, by a couple of hundred thou- sand votes. It was of interest, how- ever, that the President received several hundred “write-in” votes in | the Republican primary. The Republicans placed no candi- dates In the presidential preferential primary. A space was left vacant, however, for any of the voters in the ; primary to write in names of their choices for the presidential nomina- tion. Thousands of Republicans took advantage of the opportunity and wrote in the name of Thomas E. Dewey, racket-busting New York dis- trict attorney. Indeed, the New Yorker received more than six to one of these votes over Governor James, Pennsylvania’s so-called favorite-son candidate. Mr. Dewey refrained from entering the primary because he has made it a rule not to go into those primary States having favorite- son candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. It seems clear, however, that Mr. Dewey makes the same appeal to voters in the Keystone State that he made in the Illinois, Wisconsin and Nebraska primaries. The “write-in” votes for his two principal opponents for presidential nomination, Senator Taft of Ohio and Senator Vanden- berg of Michigan, were almost infini- tesimal when compared to the Dewey vote. The Pennsylvania delegation, under the direction of the State leaders, is to go to the Republican National Convention uninstructed. It | has been expected that on the first ballot, at least, the State will cast its delegate votes for Governor James. Whether the leaders will be able to keep the delegates in line, remains to be seen, particularly if there con- tinues a swelling Dewey tide. Usually the Pennsylvania Republican dele- gations to national conventions have proved amenable to reason—ad- vanced by the leaders. While it is dlm?)dt to say with cer- | sharp increase in the rate of war | £1,500,000,000 for the first seven | taxation, which surpasses anything | of “The Economic Consequences of | the Peace,” put forward early in the | chasing power of wage earners. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, ‘D. ., 'THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 1940. tainty just what would have hap- pened had there been a free-for-all presidential preferential primary, with the principal candidates for the Republican nomination entered, there are plenty of those who believe that New York’s Dewey would have run away with the show. Curious Statesmanship The Senate deserves congratula- tions ‘for its rejection of two polit- ically attractive but economically indefensible amendments that would have loaded nearly $90,000,000 more onto an already heavily burdened rivers and harbors bill. These amend- ments would have authorized- a $66,000,000 waterway connecting the Tombigbee and Tennessee Rivers and a $23,700,000 dam project at Umatilla, Oregon, designed to make the Colum- bia River navigable into Idaho. The adverse action, taken after Repub- lican Senator Vandenberg of Mich- igan had lambasted the Tombigbee proposal and Democratic Senator Bennett Clark of Missouri had led a determined fight against the Oregon project, reduced the rivers and harbors bill’s potential cost from $231,090950 to $114,390,950. Word also had reached the Capitol that President Roosevelt had indicated that he would veto the measure if the Oregon and Tombigbee amend- ments were left in the bill. Senator Vandenberg properly re- minded his colleagues that the Na- tion already is over its head in debt. There is drastic need right now for economies wherever possible. The two waterway proéosals in question appealed, of course, to a considerable number of voters in the particular areas to be affected. The performance of Senator Mc- Nary of Oregon, who is the minority leader in the Senate, was indicative develops from time to time over such measures as the rivers and harbors bill. The lone Republican vote inl favor of the Tombigbee amendment was cast by Senator McNary. It was Senator McNary who sponsored the Oregon amendment. This smacks strangely of the old “I'll vote for your measure if you'll vote for mine” sort of pork- legislating. It was a performance of which neither the minority leader nor his party have reason to be proud in a time when unselfish, forthright statesmanship is required as never before. Financing the War The British budget for the first full fiscal year of the war, submitted to the House of Commons Tuesday by | Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir | John Simon, represents still another spending, and indicates somewhat | the extent to which the allies’ war | effort will be intensified. Sir John's war budget provides for total expenditures in 1940-1941 of | £2,667,000,000, of which two billions | is for conduct of the war alone, 247 millions for debt service and 420 millions for ordinary expenses of government. The war expenditure projected for the ensuing twelve months compares with the rate of months of the conflict. And an even higher rate is in prospect when the war gets into its really destructive | stage. The Chancellor of the Exchequer proposes to raise the entire sum— equivalent to $9,334,500,000—by two means: A little less than half by the British have ever had to endure, and the balance by voluntary loans. Most sensational of the new taxes imposed is that on whilesalers’ sales to retailers, but, happily for the wage earner, the income tax rate remains at 3715 per cent on taxable income. Apropos the British budget an- nouncement is publication today of the Keynes plan for compulsory savings, from which Sir John has shied as resolutely as he has from excessive borrowing. The father of the plan, John Maynard Keynes, famous British economist and author war his formula for compulsory saving, which he has now elaborated in a little volume entitled “How to Pay for the War.” Mr. Keynes proposes an entire system of democratic war economy, including strict rationing of com- modities, a lid on prices, compulsory saving, or, as he calls it, withdrawal of a portion of the purchasing power of the various income classes until the end of the war, and a capital levy after the war to equalize the burden of releasing the accumulated pur- Sir John, however, continues to follow rigidly the policy of voluntary loans rather than any compulsory system which would smack of totali- tarianism. Compulsion may come later, when the costs of war have risen still further or if any weaken- ing appears in the wiljingness of the rich to put their funds at the dis- posal of the war effort. But for the present the financial policy is ex- ploitation of more and more chan- nels of tax revenue to reduce reliance upon voluntary loans, which increase | problems. the national debt and create the peril of inflation. School Replacements Senator Overton—always a firm friend of the District public school system—is to be commended for his desire to expedite the replacement of old buildings with more modern and efficient plants. The merits of the replacement program have been brought home so forcibly on District officials that with Superintendent Frank W. Ballou they have recommended a graduated program to be begun in the budge' for 1942. It is the firm belief of the school officers that the replacements of large twenty-four room bulldings for some of the ancient eight-room structures will improve the District’s educational setup to a point where it will be more economical both financially and educationally. Increasing land values which raise the ultimate cost to the taxpayers add justification to the Senator’s sug- gestion that $300,000 be added to the 1941 budget to begin purchase of sites and drawing up of plans for three of the most urgent replacements. Yet despite the need and possible expediency of the move it is imprac- ticable to overlook the impossibility of paying for these additions unless some other items are cut from a budget already slashed to the bone. Members of the House have made it clear that there probably will be no new revenue legislation this season and already an expected deficit may widen due to uncertainty of returns from the new income tax. An increase in the lump sum Federal payment to the District would appear to be the only other method of paying for these schools. When Senator Overton reached his informal understanding with Chair- man Caldwe!l of the House Appro- priations Subcommittee on a lump sum payment of $6,000,000 this year, the House was expected to revise existing revenue legislation in a manner that would avoid a deficit. The House hds refused to do this. The only fair method of avoiding the deficit now threatened is to increase the Federal payment. Further contribution to traffic safety is made by the Police Depart- ment in preparing comparative charts summarizing street accidents each month for the thirteen pre- cincts. This plan is part of the gen- eral program for enforcement and safety planning which has been advocated for the Capital. have the effect of providing a com- petitive impetus, but, most important, it will furnish a constant check on the dangerous localities and hazard- ous types of violations or driving practices which change from time to time, due to various causes. Much progress has been made in the past year by the police in im- proving their share of the city’s safety campaign. That the efforts exerted are bearing fruit is evidenced by the fact that in only two precincts have peodestrian accidents increased,- while for the city at large there has been a decrease this year as com- pared with last. Up to this time last year twenty-nine persons had lost | their lives in traffic- So far the 1540 toll has been seventeen. By use of the new precinct report system police expect to cut fatal accidents more than half, in all safety measures, public co- operation is imperative. Furthermore, | Washington still does not have suffi- cient safety engineering facilities, it does not have an accident prevention bureau, .in most cases its police officers investigating traffic accidents must depend upon their own judg- ment because trained men with | modern facilities for the collection of evidence ar® too few. To a large extent these defects are now beyond the scope of the Police Department because their correction depends upon Congress. As far as it can, the depratment has been making every effort to bring the Capital’s standard of safety up to the level of other cities with comparable The results have been encouraging. Paul P. Cret The appointment of Paul P. Cret to be a member of the Commission of Fine Arts was indicated because of the distinction of his work in Wash- ington. But it also happens that he enjoys a national reputation as an architect of the very highest genius. His contemporaries in his chosen field of labor have acknowledged his leadership again and again, most notably, perhaps, in the award of the gold medal of the American Institute. Mr. Crét, however, has not sought celebrity, and such recognition as he has had cannot be regarded as an acknowledgment of his own achieve- ment exclusively. He was born at Lyons, in France, October 23, 1876, an heir to a great classic tradition, and he has been faithful to it throughout his career. His training was formal as well as profound. The “glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome” are principles with him. He obeys them, not slavishly, but with a joyful comprehension of their essential worth. The Folger Shakespeare Library probably is Mr. Cret’s most mem- orable triumph. Neither antique nor a denial of ancient standards, it fits gracefully into the scene to which it is assigned. Its power is manifest in the influence it already has exerted upon the Library of Congress Annex, even upon the Supreme Court Building. The Fed- eral Reserve Board Building, as might be expected, is almost a com- panion piece. But both designs are original. Their creator is an inter- preter, not a copyist. Of course, there are critics who sincerely would like to experiment with the development of the Nation’s Capital. The sketch for the proposed Smithsonian Gallery of Art is frankly radical, conspicuously defiant of the existing patterns of Washing- ton. If executed, it doubtless would set a fashion for further adventures in a futuristic direction. But Mr. Cret is too philosophic to approve wholeheartedly of contradictions, His presence in the Fine Arts Com- mission is a guarantee of logic and rationalism for which the public will be lglul. }) It will | But, as | Of Stars, Men And Atoms Notebook of Science Progress In Field, Laboratory And Study By Thomas R. Henry. The biggest seller of those seven or eight vital and elusive diet ingredients, the vitamins, which has swept into phe- nomenal popularity in the past few months, 1s a chemical known as thiamin chloride, prepared in the form of tablets. It is keing used for everything from growing sweet peas to staving off hun;- overs. Wherever one goes to lunch men are pulling bottles of the stuff from their pockets, or women spilling stray pills from their handhags. It is probably responsible for a third or more of the soaring vitamin business, although the United States Food and Drug Ad- ministration is unable to break this down into specific products. . Unlike most drug fads which sweep the country this, so far as anybody knows, is harmless. Thiamin chloride is otherwise known as vitamin B one. It is the spark of the body engine. This vitamin, says the current year book of the Department of Agriculture, “is essential for the well keing of every living cell. This is neces- sarily true, since it is concerned with the metabolism or breakdown of foods that furnish energy. Biclogical research in recent years has shown the complex steps by which carbohydrate foods are broken down during the processes of digestion and metabolism in- order to release in an available form the energy from the sun originally bound up in these compounds by the plant, “The vitamin acts in combination with phosphoric acid as a coenzyme called cocarboxilase, which functions to prevent the accumulation of pyruvic acid, an intermediate compound formed in the breakdown of carbohydrates. Thus, the | amount of thiamin chloride required each day by a man or animal depends directly on the amount of energy that man or animal expends. It has been demonstrated, however, that there is & smaller demand for the vitamin when | diets containing a large proportion of | fat are consumed. This is to be ex- pected, since the energy derived from fat is made available by a chain of | chemical reactions, in which the vitamin is not directly necessary. Therefore, the vitamin requirement bears a direct Trelation to the number of non-fat calories used by the body.” Until a few years ago this vitamin was supposedly of little consequence in the United States. It was known as the elusive substance in the polishings of rice which was responsible for the dreaded oriental disease, beriberi. known in the New World. Its place seemed to be filled by the widespread pellagra of the South, due to another vitamin deficiency in the diet. Now, it has developed, there is a very | widespread condition in the United States of which beriberi is the extreme mani- festation. It would be very hard for an Amferican getting a minimum diet of al- most any sort available in this country not to get enough of the thiamin to stave Off the disease at its worst. The amounts necessary in the diet are extremely small. The maximum estimate of Department of Agriculture dieticians is two milli- grams. There are nearly 30,000 milli- | grams in an ounce. The Department of Agriculture has Just completed 90 common foods for their are lean pork, chicken, kidney, liver, green peas, lima beans, whole grain wheat, rye | and barley, whole rice, S0y beans, cow peas and navy beans. Egg yolk, brains, lean beef, codfish, sardines, potatoes, sweet corn cabbage, mushrooms, spin- ach, turnip greens, onions and a wide list of other vegetables contain some of it. Unfortunately, it is largely absent in milled grains. As a result, the present generation would receive naturally much less of it than their ancestors, were it not for the fact that millers now are replacing it.in flour. Basically it keeps the fires of life burning with a steady flame and the grates of the furnace from being clogged with a lot of clinkers. Presumably it plays much the same role in plant life where some of its effects on growth are | phenomenal. Almost any imaginable condition might result from a dampening of the fires. The nervous system seems to be particularly affected. Its value now is recognized in the treatment of alcoholism. Drunkards are subject to severe upsets of the peripheral nervous system known as peripheral neuritis. Sometimes this progresses to the point where movements of the arms and legs cannot be controlled. A major cause, it is ascertained, is lack of ade- quate thiamin chloride in the diet. This, in turn, is due to the fact that alcohol decreases appetite and the drunkard does not eat the foods rich in the vitamin, Extra supplies of the vitamin are es- sential for nursing mothers. 1t is es- sential for growth of children. Those deprived of it are stunted. In some way Nature has devised that an extreme slow- ing up of growth take the place of the fatal beriberi, which seldom occurs ex- cept in adults. A long list of diseases allegedly are benefited by doses of thiamin. One of the latest reports, published in the Journal of the American Medical Associ- ation, is of the extremely painful facial neuralgia known as tic douloureux being cured. Hitherto it could be treated, and not very successfully, only by a delicate surgical operation. It is the most funda- mental of all the vitamins. There is hardly a malady of man which might not indirectly be due to failure of car- bohydrates to be burned properly in the body. Doubts Freedom Of W. P. A. Voters. To the Editor of The Star: The destruction of democratic institu- tions is inevitable when the balance of power is lodged in beholden voters. That fact is the reason for every cor- rupt practice act. Col. Harrington is quoted this morning as saying that 2,100,000 (the figure itseif is appalling) persons on relief can vote as they please. But can they? Not if “as they please” means “as free citizens should,” for they are bound by necessity to support the very system of which they have be- come a beholden part. With minor ex- ceptions it is therefore inevitable that they will support it by their votes—re- gardless of ultimate consequences—for as long as they.can, This | highly fatal malady, affecting primarily | the nervous system, was practically un- | | Glad he’s gone. content of this vitamin. Excellent sources | | kitchen writing you this letter, By Charles E. Tracewell, “ALEXANDRIA, Va. “Dear Sir: “Ever since our letter about the albino cardinal appeared in your column, we have watched eagerly to see if some one else would report seeing it, so we were delighted to read the letter of W. H. L. of Arlington, who has seen it frequently. “The beautiful bird did not revisit us, but we are glad to know it is not far away. “This afternoon, while cutting down an old decayed sassafras tree on the bank of our brook, my husband dis- turbed the nest of a flying squirrel. The little creature rushed about to re- trieve his stere 6f nuts. “Carrying one in his mouth he climbed quickly to the top of the tree, thence sailed diagonally down to the trunk of & tulip about 25 feet away, ran up to a crotch of the tulip tree, where he de- posited the nut, then sailed across to the foot of the sassafras tree, found another nut, and repeated his trip in the same way. * ok ok ok “We all stood nearby in the yard | watching him, but he appeared not to | notice us. After about four trips he | seemed unable to find another nut, and hid himself somewhere in the sassafras. “We were much interested to see how he landed flat against the trunk of the tree each time, with his paws out- stretched and his sails spread. “Those flat web-like folds of skin ex- tending between his front and rear leg on each side give him an almost square appearance. “We saw him, or one like him, in the same place about a year ago. “We wonder if the flying squirrel is a common inhabitant of this part of the country. “We learn many interesting things | from your column. Sincerely yours, F. P.” * Xk ¥ ¥ The flying squirrel is the original | glider. It is not common nowadays, since the forests have been cut down in many places, but still may be seen occasionally. It is a nccturnal rodent allied to the real squirrels. Specimens are found not only in North America, but in various parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. | never hurts itself. | mon is Sciuropterus volans. The flying squirrel does not hibernate. It likes to nest in holes in trees. De- cayed trees, of course, make easy the finding of a hole, which can be enlarged by the creature with its sharp teeth. He can plane down to the ground from a height, as well as to another tree, as our correspondent reports, * %X X X Fifty or sixty feet is said to be the ordinary length of its flight. Many ordinary squirrels can do almost this well, we believe. At least they almost seem to possess wings, so far do | Civil War this tea was used for many they fiing themselves from one branch to another. The flight of the real flying squirrel, of course, is different, owing to those webs, or sails, and that broad flat tail. This is not a large squirrel, but the webs and the broad or distichous tail make it look considerably bigger than it is. In the old days, when great forests came to the very doors of small towns, flying squirrels had a habit of getting into homes at night. . Few if any persons bad window screens, in those days, so the rodents found ingress easy. If the house had two stories, a fav- orite sport of the four-legged intruder was to fly down the stairway. This apparition, in the dead of the night, was guaranteed to scare anybody. People were more “scary,” too, in those days, since the Ihdian raids were not long over. Householders found it difficult to dis- lodge such an uninvited guest. Since it was nocturnal, it retired to the underside of a sofa or the like when daylight came on. If it was not dislodged before light, it was exceedingly hard to find at all, with the prospect that when dark came on again and the folks had gone to bed, Mr. Flying Squirrel would come out to play. * oK Kk These squirrels feed on nuts and young shoots of trees. They have a bad reputation as rob- bers of birds’ nests and are said to con- sume small birds, too. The descent of one of these beasties is interesting to watch. Spreading its legs wide, with their sails between, and tail flung out as another sort of sail, the animal comes down at great speed, but when it gets near the tree trunk it wants to hit, it throws itself backwards or upwards, nringing itself to rest with a smack, but Our common species, now not so com- The “volans” part of the name be- speaks the flying activities. Our correspondent’s specimen had rare good sense in nesting in a sassafras tree. This is a tree which is too little planted nowadays. The bark of the root makes the fa- mous sassafras tea, once reputed te be the best spring “medicine.” During the purposes. Today those who brew it mostly do | 80 as a gesture toward the old amenities | of life, now going so hopelessly over- board all over the world. The time has come again for a cup of | sassafras tea. With a little sugar and | a little cream, although some prefer it | straight. An odd taste, an irresistible | aroma. It should be used more. | Letters to Decides, After All, To Keep Dog. To the Editoro? The Star: My dog Fritzie disappeared yesterday. He is a faded gray mongrel with a black spot on his left shoulder. But don't misunderstand me—this is not an appeal to have you find him. I should say not! Fritzie was an awful nuisance. Of course, I hope he wasn't run over by an auto, or stolen | by some onc who abuses dumb beasts, but his absence is a mighty relief to me. The things I've had to put up with! Tracking mud all over the house, shed- ding hairs likewise, gnawing my shoes— boy, how that last provokes me! even if there be no burglar within 7 miles, Why have I kept him? I don't know. Sometimes his dark brown eyes do kind of get you, though. Seem to look into the soul of a man. Guess I'm sort of a god to Fritzie. But nothing like that can be worth all the bother, no sir. My neighbor next door, a very emi- nently fine lady, is arranging for a legal action against Fritzie; he keeps her awake by night and investigates her garden by day. Who can blame her? Well, thank goodness, my troubles are over now because Fritzie is gone and I am sitting peacefully alone here in the What for? I give up. Came in here Just by habit, I suppose, as I always feed Fritzie in the kitchen about this time, He generally gets his food on the floor 50 that I have to clean up, often under the stove. Nothing but a big WOrry— excuse me, please. Just as I thought. It was Fritzie scratching at the door. He's come back. Jumping up on me. “Down, Fritzie!” Now he’s resting his head on my knee and looking at me. Confound it, there's something you can't understand about this business! Those dark brown eyes do look into the soul of a man. Yep, I am sort of a god to Fritzie. Wonder if the darn rascal isn’t worth the little bit of bother I've been whining about, after all? “Good old Fritzie, glad you can’t read, fellow.” . Got to stop now to give Fritzie his dinner, and then call up a good lawyer, April 22. ROGER GISH McDARE. Senator Schwartz Elaborates On Civil Service Statement. To the Editor ot The Star: I believe your recent editorial in reference to my testimony before the Senate Civil Service Committee gave your readers an erroneous impression of the Tennessee Valley civil service merit system, and also of the facetious remarks I made about Republican ob- jection to “covering” Democrats into the classified lists. Certainly I have always been an advocate of the civil service, a more secure tenure.and better pay than civil service employes now receive. I will appreciate publication of the fol- lowing copy of what I said before the committee. : “Senator Schwartz: Mr. Chairman, I might say a word, probably facetiously on the situation—the record may have it, however—I understand that there is some criticism on the theory thal most of the employes who may be covered into the civil service happen to be Demo- crats or it is presumed they happen to be Democrats. “The chairman: That may be a violent assumption, | covered into the civil service and I don't And | he barks anytime in the dead of night, | “Senator Schwartz: Well, now so far 85 I am concerned, of course, I come from s small State and I have only had opportunity to make a few appoint- the Editor Letters to the Editor must bear the name and address of the writer, although the use of a pseudonym for publication is permissible. Please be brief! ments, but I assure you all I have made are Democrats, so we can start on that basis, so far as I am concerned. But in other administrations and other times we have covered people into civil serv- ice. When I was a young fellow I was think it materially hurt me, but it did one thing to me. Prior to that I had been an active Democrat working for the party and after they put me in the civil service I just sort of lost interest. “Senator Byrd: They didn't have the Hatch bill then? “Senator Schwartz: No. “I think if there should be criticism because the majority of these people to be covered in the civil service are Democrats I will join in that, but maybe from a different angle. I believe every person until he gets into the civil serv- ice ought to work for those political, principles in which he believes, and I assume, for the sake of argument, that most of them are Democrats, therefore, I believe they would work for that principle in which they believe until they get into the civil service. And it is my conviction if most of these 250,000 people are Democrats and you put them in the civil service, they won't thereafter be worth a single dime to the Democrats, and so, I will join with the Republicans so far as that general gituation is con- cerned. (Laughter) However, I be- lieve in the civil service and I think the Democrats can afford that degree of loss and still get by.” SENATOR H. H. SCHWARTZ. April 20. EDITOR’S NOTE: The editorial in question was based on Senator Schwartz’s testimony in reference to the Ramspeck bill which would permit the inclusion under the competitive civil service of thou- sands of positions now exempt. Sen- ator Schwartz favors the continued exclusion of Tennessee Valley Au- thority positions, contending that the independent personnel system main- tained by the T. V. A. is better suited to its needs than regular civil serv- ice. The editorial was addresed prin- cipally to Senator Schwartz's argu- THIS AND THAT Ewers To Questions By Frederic J. Haskin. A reader can get the answer to uny question of fact by writing The Eve ning Star Information Bureau, Fred eric J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. Do the movie stars actually partici~ pate in the fights depicted on the screen?—G. N, P. A. The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Inc. says: “These almost invariably are actual fights with very little pulling of punches. In order to obtain the best possible shots, it is sometimes necessary for two actors to go through these rough and tumble bouts several times on the same day. There are, of course, instances in which doubles are used, but many of the players prefer to go through the routine them- selves. The fact that there are occasions when the actors do not seem to be suf- fering any painful effects might be ex- plained by the fact that there is pre- sumably & lapse of time on the set be- fore the next shot is taken, although this is not always indicated in the conti- nuity of the picture.” Q. In what section of Texas was Vice President Garner born?—H. K. A. The Vice President was born in Red River County. The town was known as Blossom Prairie, near Detroit and Paris. Q. Who won the Town Hall music award?—C. K. R, A. Dorothy Maynor, Negro soprano, was selected as the winner for 1940 of the Town Hall Endowment Series Award. The award is made each season to the artist under 30 years of age whom the New York music critics and the music committee consider to have given the out- standing performance of the year at Town Hall. Q. How many Masons are there in Russia?—C. M. B. A. Freemasonry is prohibited in Russia. Q. What is the origin of the term December and May with reference to marriage?—R. W. J. A. The allusion is to the “Merchant's Tale” in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” in which May, a lovely girl married Janu- ary, a Lombard baron 60 years of age. Q. Please give some information about Sugar Loaf Mountain in Maryland. —F. W.R. A. Sugar Loaf Mountain is 1250 feet high and is located in' Frederick County. It covers approximately 2,200 acres and is owned by Gordon Strong of Chicago. During the Civil War the mountain served as a watch tower. Q. Why is the United States Govern- | ment sometimes described as one of limited powers?—T. S. K. A. Because it possesses only such powers as are specifically granted to it by the Constitution. Q. Was Hetty Green frugal in her diet?>—R. B. A. On the day before her 78th birth- day, Hetty Green told a reporter “I had a big tencerloin steak for breakfast with fried potatoes, a pot of tea and the top of a bottle of milk. I don't buy cream because it is 12 hours older than the milk * * * I always chew a baked onion after breakfast. * ¢ ¢ Q. When were the first anti-slavery laws passed in the United States?—W. H. A. The first act of Congress prohibiting the importation of slaves into the United States was passed in 1807. The Eman- ! cipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in seceding States was issued in 1863, and i the adoption of the 13th amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting slavery throughout the United States and fits territories was ratified December 18, 1865. Q. Is Charlie McCarthy insurec?— L.C. A. Edgar Bergen's famous dummy is | insured for $10,000 against kidnaping, | loss or demolition. | E Q. What was the “Curse of Cromwell?” —S. M. A. The “Curse of Cromwell” refers to Cromwell's campaign in Ireland which was noted for its bloodshed and crueity, including, as it did, the massacres of Drogheda and Clonmel. Howitt in his “History of England” says: “This bloody campaign has always been remembered as the ‘Curse of Cromwell.’” Q. Please give some information about the character of Whistler's mother.— A. “The charm of her personality,” says Mrs. Charles Taylor, “was felt by every one who came near her, but by none so deeply as her son James whose devotion to her was beautiful. Mrs. Whistler was a devout Christian, and ruled the household with the strictness and impartiality of her austere creed. She was a rabid Sabbatarian, and on Sundays all books were forbidden with the exception of the Bible. All toys were put away. The household was a nursery of the Old Testament virtues, strength- ened rather than impaired by the family's military tradition.” Q. Is there any estimate of the num- ber of patents a day granted by the Patent Office?—G. L. W. A. In the 150 years of its history, the Patent Office has granted an average of 41 patents a day, including Sundays and holidays. Q. Who said “Love your neighbor, but ment that T. V. A, authorities should have wide latitude in choosing em- ployes “who profess a belief in the feasibility and wisdom of the act,” and to his statement that those em- ployes brought under civil service will not afterwards “be worth a dime” to the Democratic party. Thinks Hatch Law Unconstitutional. To the Editor of The Star. ‘Maryland has received over $200,000,000 for schools, post offices, bridges, court- houses, roads and other projects, through the good graces of President Roosevelt and Senator Radcliffe, yet the profession= al politiclans in Prince Georges County whose salaries have used up, all the road money are opposing the re-election of Senator Radcliffe. Article I of the first amendment to the Constitution tells us that Congress shall make no law abridging the free- dom of speech. The Hatch law forbids the majorify of our voters who are Gov- ernment employees their disapproval of this serjous state of affairs in our county, which certainly seems unconstitutional. April 23. JOHN RIGGLES. i don't pull down your hedge?’—K. K, A. Benjamin Franklin. From the Cup of Spring His was a hesitating knock. He stood There in the chilling wind and held toward me A bunch of clean-washed roots. The fra- grant wood Was tangled in his clothing. Timidly He raised beseeching eyes and then began, “I have fresh sassafras today. Would you...?" “Ah, yes,” I laughed, “it is a goodly plan To drink the spring held ina spicy brew!” “To drink the spring!” , . . Somehow this cup of tea Has turned these rooms into a wooded hill, The heaviness of years has suddenly Gone from my shoulders. In their place a still Sweet something garments me. Again I know A quiet that was mine long, long age. ROSE MYRA PHILLIPS, A 4