Evening Star Newspaper, May 2, 1940, Page 10

A—10" » “The Foening Fiar With Sunday Morning Edition. THEODORE W. NOYES, Editor, WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY. The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Main Office: 11th 8t. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office 110 East 42nd Bt. Chicsgo Office: 436 North Michigan Ave. Delivered by Carrier—City and Suburban. Recular Edition. g&nlnl and Sunday.75¢ per mo. or 18¢ per week e Evening Star __ 45¢ per mo. or 10¢ per week ‘The Sunday Star = --.10¢ per copy Night Final Edition. {ient Final and Sundey Btar ight Final Star __ 3 Rural Tube Delivery. The Evening and Sunday Star The Evening Star _ ‘The Sunday Star.__ Collection made at the end of each month or @ach week. Orders may be sent by mail or tele- phone National 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. qu and Su - $1200: 1 mo. 31,00 nly . $8.00: .. inday only_ 880 1 mex 808 Entered as second-class matter post office, et 88 K mhington. B ¢, 85¢ per month 80c per month 85c per month Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press i exclusively entitled to the use for republication’of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this Daper and also the local news published herein, All Tights of publication of special dispatches herein also are reserved. = By Secret Ballot Fourteen men, taking shelter be- hind the uncourageous device of a - secret ballot, have succeeded—for the time being at least—in blocking congressional action on the Hatch clean politics bill. The spectacle is not a pretty one. Here is a measure which has as its sole objective the removal of one source of corruption in American politics. It passed the Senate by a two-to-one vote. There is good reason to believe that it could com- mand a majority vote in the House, and the country as a whole is strong- ly behind it. Without a doubt, all of these facts were thoroughly under- stood by the fourteen anonymous members of the House Judiciary Committee who voted yesterday to table the measure, for had it been otherwise they would hardly have insisted upon cloaking their identi- ties by resorting to the undemocratic practice of the secret ballot. This measure, designed to extend to State employes paid in whole or in part from Federal funds the prohibi- tions against certain types of political activity already applicable to Federal workers, has been sponsored in the House by Representative Dempsey of New Mexico. Shocked by the inde- fensible action of the Judiciary Com- mittee, he has asked the Rules Com- mittee to permit the House to consider the bill, and, failing in that, he plans to circulate a discharge petition which will force action if signed by a majority of the House members. It is to be hoped that Mr. Dempsey, will take this step if the necessity arises. The House often is reluctant to resort to the discharge petition method of calling up legislation, but the objectives sought in this case are 80 desirable, and the course followed by the Judiciary Committee was so alien to good legislative practice, that no effort should be spared to give House members interested in clean government®an opportunity to vote on the Hatch proposals. ———— A Poor Solution President Roosevelt has stated that one of the purposes of his reorgani- zation plan shifting the Civil Aero- nautics Authority to the Commerce Departifient was to cut down the burden of work laid upon his shoulders. The proposed transfer would result in the C. A. A. submitting its reports through the Secretary of Commerce rather than directly to the Presi- dent, he pointed out. Mr. Roosevelt said that he already receives reports from about forty-five Federal agen- cles and that a reduction of this burden was one of the motivating Teasons behind the C. A. A. transfer. An inspection of the Aeronautics Act of 1938, creating the authority, however, reveals that the agency is - required by law to make an annual report “to the Congress” and, in addition, that it also may transmit recommendations as to legislation to the Congress—not to the President. In accordance with the law, the authority does submit its reports directly to Congress and they con- stitute no burden on the President. There are certain types of reports, however, which the C. A. A. does make to the President. These reports deal with such matters as interna- tional airline service, national defense or the need for co-ordina- tion of work of two or more Govern- ment departments—matters which inevitably would go to the President or his cabinet, regardless of whether the C. A. A. is an independent agency or a dependency of the Com- merce Department. It does not appear, therefore, that the proposed transfer of the C. A. A. to the Commerce Department would in any way lessen the amount of work required of the President. In fact, it would increase his work, since under the new setup the annual and special legislative reports of the authority no longer would go directly to Congress but would go to the Sec- retary of Commerce and from him to the White House for transmittal by the President to Congress. In this connection, there is a further consideration. If the President is overburdened and it should become necessary to lighten his load, it would not seem sensible or necessary to sacrifice the independence of so essential an agency as the Civil Aeronautics Authority merely to save the han- dling of reports. Certainly some other means can be found to lessen the President’s paper work. Reor- ganization Plan No. IV is not a good solution for this problem. And it economy was the primary reason for proposing the change, the $32,500 which it is said would be saved by the plan, as Senatar McCarran stated in the Senate yesterday, is a “paltry sum” to weigh against the possible risks to air safety and progress in- volved in the shift. Mediterranean Mystery Great Britain’s decision temporar- ily to shift all her merchant ship- ping from the Mediterranean because of the danger of Italian participa- tion in the war on Germany’s side is a portent of the first magnitude. It is mitigated by Premier Musso- lini’s assurance to American Ambas- sador Phillips yesterday that the Italians contemplate no warlike move “at present,” but Britain evi- dently does not mean to be caught napping. While “authoritative cir- cles” in London emphasize that such measures as a detour from the em- pire’s life line “will not be continued any longer than necessary, and it is hoped circumstances will permit their cancellation in the near future,” no bones are made about the reasons which actuate them. His majesty’s government feels bound to take cognizance of provoca- tive pronouncements “by Italians in responsible positions and in the Ital- ian press.” These have been unmis- takably hostile to the allies. As they would not be possible under the dic- tatorship without Mussolini’s assent, i not by his orders, Downing Street could not ignore the possibility that 11 Duce is preparing Italy for warlike developments, nor could it afford to underestimate the significance of such moves as the sudden dispatch of Dino Alfieri, fanatic promoter of the Rome-Berlin pact, as Ambassa- dor to Germany, to replace the cau- tious Bernardo Attalico or the violent anti-allied speech just delivered to the Italian Army by Giovanni An- saldo, editor of the Telegrafo of Leghorn, who is in closp touch with the Palazzo Chigi. On Tuesday the anti-Anglo-French press campaign flamed forth in two editorials in Regime Fascista, which berated the Holy See and the Osservatore Ro- mano for supporting the allies’ cause and suggested that the famous Vati- can newspaper might have to “be put out of circulation.” The reverses the allies have under- gone in Norway are clearly linked with this new outburst of pro-Ger- man saber rattling on the Tiber. It confirms the suspicion that when Hitler and Mussolini recently met at the Brenner Pass they discussed matters far more important than the Alpine weather. Nazi plans for the invading of Denmark and Norway were, of course, far advanced at that time. They can hardly have failed to bulk conspicuously in Hitler’s confi- dences to his Italian partner. That Mussolini conveyed some assurance of readiness to take his place in shining armor alongside his axis ally, if all went well in Scandinavia, be- gins to seem fairly clear. Nevertheless, it is still premature to conclude that Italy is ready to go to war. Fascist hotheads may read weakness or fear into the British withdrawal of its mercantile traffic from the Mediterranean, but neither Mussolini nor any of his henchmen are in any slightest doubt of what Italy would risk in challenging allied sea supremacy. It is not too much to say that Italy’s very existence, sit- uated as she is, depends upon her freedom of movement in the Med- iterranean. There are suggestions that Franco's Spain might join in an Italian move against the allles. That would be an embarrassing development, but the French and the British between them should be capable of dealing very harshly with Franco by land, sea and air. Coldly calculated self-interest after all will be the determinant of Italian policy. The time has not yet come for Mussolini to be sure that, in risk- ing military and naval support of Hitler, he is hitching the Fascist wagon to a star. Only this week Il Duce's journalistic mouthplece, Virginio Gayda, reaffirmed in Gior- nale d'Italia that “no great power bases its foreign policy and relations on romantic feeling expressed in volatile spiritual phrases. Great nations defend their interests above all. They pursue a policy ‘based on realism and on immediate or future usefulness. Their rapprochements with other nations are determined only by carefully gauged usefulness.” This language can only mean that Il Duce is still walting to see on which side Fascist bread is most thickly buttered—German, allied or “non-belligerent.” — Jacob Perkins Philatelists who are now celebrat- ing the centennial of the first postage stamp of course are paylng homage to the memory of Sir Rowland Hill, the British postal reformer who was its sponsor. But they are not for- getting Jacob Perkins of Massachu- setts, the Yankee genius to whom the artistic character of the premier label is due. < A curious accident brought the two men together. The American, a jeweler’s apprentice as a boy, had noticed how readily copperplate en- graving could be forged and, to pre- vent such falsification, had developed a method of engraving on steel which was at once more secure and less expensive. A patent granted to him on March 18, 1799, had prompted in his heart the hope that his process might be adopted by the Govern- ment of the United States for the manufacture of currency. When his application was rejected, the British Minister suggested to him that he seek a contract for the printing of the banknotes of the Bank of Eng- land. He crossed the Atlantic to participate in a competition for this ~ THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1940, . THIS AND THAT business and appears to have won it only to be told that, because he was & foreigner, he could not be trusted with so great a responsibility. But Perkins thrived on disappoint- ments. In partnership with Charles Heath, whose family supplied the necessary capital, and Joshua Bacon, who had become his son-in-law, he established the firm of Perkins, Bacon and Company, with head- quarters at 69 Fleet Street, where St. Paul's dominates the City of London. From his workrooms came the stamps which now are the much- sought classics of advanced collectors —the Penny Black, the earliest issues for Ceylon, Queensland, Victoria, South and Western Australia, Nova Scotia and many others, all beautiful in design and execution. Within a few years Switzerland, Brazil, the Italian States, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and, at last in 1847, the United States adopted Hill's phil- osophy of cheap postage and put it into effect with adhesives which in one way or another were imita- tions of Perkins’ products. It is worthy of notice that stamps for postal use cost nobody a job. On the contrary, Hill and Perkins, col- laborating, created a new industry which a century later, gives steady employment to hundreds of thou- sands of people. New Espionage Unit Creation by Attorney General Jackson of a Neutrality Laws Unit of the Department of Justice, to which the Federal Bureau of Inves- tigation and United States attorneys will be responsible in connection with arrests and prosecutions under the neutrality, espionage, sabotage and similar laws, has been inter- preted by some of the Washington correspondents as an administration slap at the F. B. I. and its director, J. Edgar Hoover. This reaction is not surprising, for there have been in- sistent demands of late—mostly of left wing origin—for a “curb” on Mr. Hoover’s G-men. Following the re- cent arrests in Detroit of seventeen persons who had been indicted for enlisting volunteers for the Spanish Loyalist Army, there was launched what appeared to be a carefully or- ganized. campaign of innuendo and falsehood, obviously designed to shake public confidence in the F. B. I. and to “smear” its chief. There have been numerous indications that Communists were extremely active in some of the attacks. It is difficult to see how the exist- ence of such a unit as Mr. Jackson has set up would have altered the course of events in the much-publi- cized Detroit cases. Mr. Jackson and other departmental officlals have made it plain that the disputed arrests were not initiated by Mr. Hoover, but were the result of direct orders issued by the then Attorney General, Frank Murphy, now a mem- ber of the Supreme Court. No facts yet have been produced to sustain charges that civil rights of those arrested were violated in any respect. At the request of Senator Norris, Attorney General Jackson conducted a reinvestigation of the allegations against Mr. Hoover’s men, but the findings have not been made public. It is to be hoped, in justice to the F.B. L as well as to the public, that the report on this inquiry will be an- nounced soon. Unless Mr. Jackson's investigation has substantiated the charges of dis- regard of constitutional rights voiced by critics of the Detroit raid or has uncovered other evidence of illegal or improper activity by the F. B. I, the necessity for establishment of a new agency to supervise the work of the G-men in so-called spy cases is not apparent. That the Neutrality Laws Unit not only will co-ordinate the prosecutive activities of district attorneys in such cases but will give the stop and go signs to the F. B. I. in the arrest of spies, saboteurs and similar criminals is obvious from the press release announcing the new unit. The statement was made that “prosecutions or arrests under such statutes (sedition, neutrality, espio- nage, etc.) will be authorized only by this unit.” It may well be that co- ordination of the widely scattered prosecutive branches of the depart- ment is desirable, but surely the smoothly operating F. B. I. requires no additional co-ordination. Nor has any evidence come to light to date to show that the F. B. I. needs the advice of some new and inexperienced super- agency in the Department of Justice. Surely, Mr. Hoover is better qualified to judge when a spy or a seditious conspirator should be arrested than a new co-ordinator, brought from another department. And if the set- ting up of the supervisory organiza- tion is just a gesture to appease radical elements which have been clamoring for Mr. Hoover’s scalp, the move is ill-advised, to say the least; for the inevitable effect would . be to undermine public confidence in an agency which has come to stand as a symbol of forthright, non- political law enforcement. That would be playing directly into the hands of the Communists, the bunds- men and the other foes of relentless counter-espionage. Years ago a New Yorker could spot a Jersey commuter by the garden tools and packages of seeds he bore with him in the evening. Now one can be identified by the cartons of cigarettes with which he is laden in the morning. One war claim that has not yet been made is that the Germans sent those termites to the British Em- bassy to “protect” it from an invasion of inimical buffalo, moths. ——— The phrase, “It can’t happen here,” is being rapidly shoved into the limbo of utter discard. ~y Of Stars, Men And Atoms Notebook of Science Progress In Field, Laboratory And Study By Thomas R. Henry. In every living cell, plant or animal, there is a “yellow enzyme”—a substance which speeds chemical reactions without taking part in them. The part played by this enzyme in the mechanics of life is unknown. It is most abundant in those parts®of the animal or plant where the most active chemica! processes are taking place. In the whey of milk there is a yellow pigment, riboflavin. The enzyme is made up of this pigment, together with phos- phoric acid and a substance similar to egg albumin. It is apparently essential to living, but it is so widely distributed in nature that almost anything anybody could eat contains some of it. Thus there is no way of determining what would be- come of a human being entirely deprived of it. - ‘The phosphoric acid and albumin sub- stance supposedly are always available in the body. There is always the possi- bility, however, of a deficiency of the milk pigment. Most experiments with it have been carried out with rats. Young animals receiving all the other vitamins necessary for growth except riboflavin begin to lose hair around the eyelids, so that they soon look as if they were wearing spectacles. The loss of hair continues until sometimes the rat is en- tirely denuded. Meanwhile, the skin, particularly on the paws, ears, nose and around the mouth, becomes inflamed and swollen. Sooner wr later the tips of the toes darken, become very dry, and drop off at successive joints. Addition to the diet of very small amounts of ribo- flavin promptly restores growth, pro- duces a thick coat of hair, and cures the skin ailment. Only within the past year has the first evidence of a riboflavin deficiency in human beings come to light. Hitherto it has been masked by the more pro- nounced symptoms of pellagra. It fol- lows in many ways the initial symptoms of the rat syndrome and might have the same end results if all riboflavin were taken out of the diet. The skin around the corners of the mouth, the base of the nose and on the ears becomes inflamed and scaly and hair shows a tendency to fall out. The disease, discovered by Dr. W. H. Serbrell of the United States Pub- lic Health Service, appeared when pel- lagra victims were cured by nicotinic acid. It was promptly cured when ribo- flavin was given. The actual riboflavin deficiency disease presumably is very rare. What now con- cerns Public Health Service doctors and Department of Agriculture nutritionists is that an increase of the pigment in the diet may promote better health and there is no way of measuring the opti- mum amount for human beings. Experi- ments with rats at Columbia University have shown that when liberal amounts are included in the diet—up to four times as much as is required to prevent the deficiency disease—there is much less liability to sickness in general. Riboflavin is widely distributed in nature. It has been isolated from milk, egg white, egg yolk, liver, kidney, barley malt, dandelion blossoms and grasses. Almost all fruits and vegetables contain some of it. Milk and cheese are impor- tant sources. Butter contains practically none of it. In highly refined cereals it has been almost entirely eliminated. Ten per cent of the persons admitted to insane asylums in the Southern United States are suffering from a definite mind-body disease—pellagra. As many as 400,000 cases annually have been reported in this country. In Egypt 30 per cent of the population have been known to be affected. The disease is widespread in the Balkans, Russia, Italy and Spain. This malady is due to the lack in the et of one specific vitamin, nicotinic acid. The search for it, successful only in the past three years, has constituted one of the most dramatic chapters in medical history. Its discovery has been one of the outstanding achievements of modern science. Pellagra now may be defined in general as that mental and physical syndrone which is due chiefly to lack of nicotinic acid in the diet. It affects the skin, the digestive Sys= tem and the nervous system. It is char- acterized by seasonal recurrences and re- lapses and may occur in persons of any age or any race.. It was observed in the past that the disease was found principally among persons whose diet consisted chiefly of corn. For a time it was thought to be caused by mouldy corn. The onset is so gradual that the earliest symptoms may pass unnoticed, There is a loss of strength in the legs, 2 loss in body weight, and a change in personality. There is also a breaking out on the skin—first a redness similar to sunburn, followed by a thickening, scali- ness and horniness. The tongue and lin- ings of the mouth and throat become in- flamed. The tongue becomes swollen and red. There is nervousness, dizziness, headache and numbness in the arms and legs. In advanced cases there is de- generation of the spinal cord. There are also periods of mental depression, de- lirlum and hallucinations. The cure is dramatic. With the addi- tion of nicotinic acid to the diet both physical and mental symptoms are cleared up in a few days. The function of this substance in the body still is not clearly understood, but it has been dem- onstrated to be present in a substance known as cozymase, together with phos- phoric acid and a sugar. This is neces- sary to aid in the transfer of oxygen from the blood to the tissues for the burning of food and the resulting re- lease of energy. In the absence of nico- tinic acid this cozymase cannot be Syn- thesized by the body itself. The acid is contained, United States Public Health Service studies show, in a ‘large variety of foods, including lean meats, chicken, liver, green leafy vege- tables and tomato juice. There is still some question as to the requirements of a human being. The average dose now used for cure of pellagra is about 300 milligrams & day. This, however, gives little indication of the daily require- ment for good health. Tests with dogs show that one milligram per kilogram of body weight a day will just prevent development of a disease similar to pellagra. In the United States the diseass is usually associated with the deep South o By Charles E. Tracewell. ] “BETHESDA; Md. “Dear Sir: “Possibly you will recall I wrote you some time ago about the visit of the opossum to our feeding station. “On several occasions lately he has brought his ‘Mrs.’ (at least we assume it to be the Mrs.). “We greatly enjoyed watching the squirrels ‘read’ the peanut butter books. “The 5th of April we had a wood thrush in the yard. Also lately. the towhee and flicker have come to call. “After making a meat loaf I poured the drippings into a small tin can from which the top had been smoothly re- moved. “After they had congealed I placed them on the feeding station. The chickadee, opossum and squirrels like it very much. Many of the other birds have sampled. “A stroll through the nearby woods re- vealed the bloodroot, anemone and vio- lets pushing their way through the leaves. “Yours truly, *x % x .If it is at all possible, every home owner should have some of the typical wild flowers in the home grounds. These are best purchased nowadays from a reliable grower who undemstands the nature and difficulties of such ma- terial, and who can advise one how best to handle them. Ripping wild flowers out of their native habitat in the woods is mostly love's labor lost. Very few of them thus sum- marily transplanted ever survive. Usu- ally they undergo a long period of dying, during which they naturally reflect none of the beauty and joy of lving they showed in the forest. It is much better, therefore, to get them from a dealer who knows the diffi- culties of this work, and who has pre- pared the plants by numerous trans- plantings, always in the proper soil. By the time he has brought the wild- ings on, they are in a “frame of mind,” if it can be called such, and we think it can, when they are willing to g0 on living in their new home. Care should be taken to secure, along with the plants, the proper knowledge from the dealer as to the exact sort of soll in which they must be grown, and particularly the proper location. It will do no good, for instance, to se- cure sweet woodruff, and put it out in the full sunshine. Its natural habitat is beneath trees and shrubbery. It likes some sun, though. In the woods it may be seen peeping out from the very edges of the greater growths as you approach. * % % x Nobody really loves plants, one may feel, until he has fallen in love with sweet woodruff. Master of the woods, this little plant has been called, on account of its per- sistency. This shows how well it does, Letters to Urges Passage of Engineering Safety Bill. To the Editor of The Star: It is not only appropriate but in the public interest at this time when struc- tural and fire safety of buildings is under discussion due to the recent disastrous “White Court” fire, to call attention to a safety measure which requires no ap- propriation, which is now pending before the House of Representatives and has been adopted by 43 of our 48 States and ‘Territories of the Philippine Islands and Puerto Rico. Reference is made to H. R. 4792, a bill to regulate the practice of professional engineering in the District of Columbia. A similar and identical bill with certain minor changes, being S. 1128, was passed by the Senate last year. The engineers of the District of Co- lumbia, who in total number some 4,000, have been working for 15 years to ob- tain an agreement among the various branches of the profession, and the bill now pending is the result. Though by no means a perfect piece of legislation to accomplish the objectives set forth, it is better than none, and in some re- spects superior to other State laws. It is decidedly inferior to most of them in that it does not possess the necessary “teeth” to insure universal compliance in all instances where the public safety or pocketbook is concerned. It seems rather odd that the District with its immense amount of construction should be among the last to adopt a licensing law covering the individuals in trades and professions so closely associ- ated with public safety. The bill at present in the House is opposed by the operative builders of Washington on the grounds that it tends to create a monop- oly and will cause an increase in the price of building. Basically, neither con-~ tention is true, since the “Grandfather Clause” contained in Section 18 prac- tically blankets in all persons who have been practicing engineering in the past without respect to qualification or ex- amination if they apply within one year after the act goes into effect. The cost of construction would not be materially increased unless present conditions are such that costs are kept down by the omission of essential construction which good engineering practice would dictate. It is generally known that structures built for speculation receive primary at- tention to superficial details of appear- ance in matters which meet the eye, and there is peculiar irony in the fact that beauty parlor operators, whose field is the superficial care and appearance of the complexion and body, must be quali- fled and licensed. The practice of engineering is one of the basic sciences and as a profession is as old as that of medicine or law, yet it H.C” where the winter diet of the poorer fami- Hes is likely to consist hrge.!y of fat pork and cornbread. There is a strong suspicion, however, that a subclinical pellagra may be widespread in all parts of the country. This, like subclinical beriberi, is especially likely to attack alcoholics because alcohol kills their ap- petite for the food containing nicotinic acid. ‘While cases of pellagra are cured by the acid with dramatic suddenness, there has been found some tendency to re- lapse when the dosage is reduced. There 1s a possibility that some other vitamin, s yet unknown, may play some part in the complex. A, when 1t gets the right conditions, and this applies to all wild flowers. Lacking right conditions, they fade ‘and droop. So the main thing in planting such material is to go slow, acquire some knowledge and get good plants to begin with, In recent years there has been a vogue in such things, along with the good endeavor to keep people from in- discriminately pilfering from the woods. Leave the plants in ethe woods, to Mother Nature, and to others who come that way. Do not be like these people you see— but not as much today as a few years ago—who come home with the back seat loaded down with beautiful red leaves, to find to their sorrow that they have a car filled with poison ivy! In 99 cases out of a hundred, taking & wildflower from its bed in the forest is doomed to faflure. But it is great sport to get good plants and try to pit your ability as a gardener against the difficulties of growing wildflowers at home. * k % x Usually an abandoned corner behind the garage is best for such plants. Not only do they find more natural conditions, and the necessary shade, but they are protected somewhat from unappreciative eyes. It should be said that there is no sort of plant material more unap- preciated than this, in the home garden, so that if you “go in for it,” be sure to keep the fact to yourself, except with & few wise friends, for they alone will be appreciative. “Just weeds,” the hoi-poloi will say of your precious flowers. And if you dare tell them what some of them cost, they will look at you as if you had stolen money out of their very own pocket. The way to love the wildflowers is to appreciate them in the woods, as did our correspondent, and then to have a few of them back home, so that their habits and ways of growth may be studied carefully. There are many medicinal plants which can be grown successfully in a small back yard. These, too, are wild- flowers, at least in a sense. They have a long history behind them. ‘Why shouldn't you have coltsfoot, and yarrow, and golden seal? The latter is a hard one to handle, but well worth the trouble, if you are interested. Then there is the famous boneset of the Indians, the original natural treatment for colds, grippe and flu. The Colonists used it successfully in the treatment of “breakbone” fever. What a descriptive namé for the grippe! Wild plants of all kinds offer tremend- ously interesting material for the home garden, provided the gardener uses a little imagination and reads a bit. With- out these precious ingredients one had better stick to petunias and marigolds —and what could be nicer, to be sure? 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! is among the last in which public as- surance of qualification has been re- quired. Death from structural collapse of buildings as well as through fire has taken a toll in the District during the past years and while no legislation can act as a guaranteed preventative of the repetition of deadly failures, yet it is a step toward an ultimate goal. The sav- ing of even one life would be worth the enactment of the pending licensing law. At the present moment the House bill is in the hands of Mr. McGehee, chair- man of the Legislative Subcommittee of the House District Committee, It is doubtful whether any action will be taken until and unless the opposition of the speculative group is withdrawn, and this can only be done through a removal of the few provisions still left in the bill which would make it a public safety measure rather than one merely to estab- lish and protect the title, “engineer.” Newspnpex‘pubh’city concerning hear- ings which have been held in the past in the Senate and House have over- stressed certain points and have created a false idea that a college education plus many years of experience are pre-requi- site to licensing. The bill provides for the substitution of experience alone for college work and gives credit for gradua- tion in an approved curriculum of engi- neering. Since the bill is one to insure engi- neering pre-qualification through traine ing or experience, it is a basic necessity. Objection to qualifications in this bill could be applied with equal reason and vigor to qualifications required by the Civil Service Commission for technical positions and to Army and Navy for pro- motion in the ranks of their respective officers or from the ranks to the obtaine ing of a commission. < April 22 T. H. URDAHL. Urges Housecleaning In U. 8. Services. To the Editor of The Star: I was greatly interested in Mrs. B. L. Ward’s letter to the editor in yesterday’s Star. I indorse her idea heartily and wish to state further that in view of the grave danger to the United States, if in- volved in the present war, those in charge of the War and Navy Depart~ ments should start housecleaning. The vital departments of our Government have a good many unfriendly foreigners in them. It is possible that they could gather invaluable information for their own countries while being supported by American taxpayers. The Army and Navy are expanding rapidly. This expansion should take in citizens regardless of color. That ‘would knit a closer bond in this country’s de- fense and at the same time help keep America for Americans. April 24, J. R. TAYLOR. Reader Comments .on Star Editorial. To the Editor of The Star: In reply to your editorial of April 30, 1940, on John L. Lewis and the National Negro Congress, I offer one question: Precisely what does the Democratic party, the Republican or the American Federation of Labor present the Negro? April 30, H. A. CALLIS. Answers To Questions By Frederic J. Haskin. A reader can get the answer to eny question of fact by writing The Eve= ning Star Information Bureau, Fred- eric J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose :t‘amp for reply. Q. What percentage of visitors to the 1939 New York World's Fair traveled by automobile?—J, E. A. The automobile furnished trans- portation to New York for 50.3 per cent of the visitors. Thirty-six per cent trave eled by train, 104 by bus, 2.5 by aire plane and 0.8 by boat. Q. Where is the statue erected in honor of Paul Bunyan?—W. W. A. The monument to this legendary hero is at Bemidji, Minn. There is also & statue there of Babe, his famous blue ox. Q. What were the names of the thieves hanged on the cross with Jesus?—C. V.M. A. Dismas or Dysmas is the name usu= ally given, in the apocryphal gospels, to the penitent thief who was crucified with Jesus. The impenitent thief is come monly known as Gesmas or Gestas. Longfellow, in his “Golden Legend,” calls the penitent Titus, and his fellow thief Dumachus. Q. Please give the origin of the word cocktail—G. F. A. There have been several explana- tions of the name but perhaps the most picturesque is the one concerning a Mexican beauty. It appears that the original cocktail was made from pulque, an alcoholic beverage distilled from the Juice of the maguey or agave. This liquor was discovered by a Toltec noble, who sent some of it to the king by his daughter. The king became so ename oured of both the maiden and the drink that he married the former and started a pulque plantation. The name of the girl, which was Xochitl, became associ- ated with the national intoxicant, and later when Gen. Scott's troops came to Mexico, they found it pleasing. Upon their return to the United States they simplified the Aztec name into cocktail, and brought it back with them. Q. Can wood be liquefied?—T. K. 8. A. Prof. Harold Hibbert of McGill University has discovered a process for liquefying wood. The wood is trans- formed into water-white liquids which can be separated by distillation without decomposition and which may become the raw materials of a new synthetic organic chemical industry. Q. What river is called the American Nile>—L. 8. P. A. The St. Johns River of Florida, which flows northward from Lake Helen Blazes to Jacksonville, a distance of 182 miles. Q. Please give the titles of some songs by Duke Ellington—R. K. A. Some of his compositions are as follows: “Beautiful Romance” (joint com- poser), “Black Butterfly,” “Blue Light,” “Boy Meets Horn” (joint composer), “Daybreak Express,” “Delta Mood,” “Demi-Tasse,” “Dooji Woojl,” “Grievin’,” $I'm Checking Out,” “Lonely Co-ed,” “Lullaby,” “Old King Wooji” and “Some- thing to Live For.” Q. When was perfume first made with alcohol?—A. H. T. A. Alcoholic perfumes are supposed to have been first made in the 14th century. The first of which there is record was Hungary water, distilled from rosemary in 1370 by Queen Eliza- beth of Hungary, who got the recipe from a hermit, and by the use of it is said to have preserved her beauty to old age. Q. Please give the date of the Windsor Hotel fire—E. M. A. The Windsor Hotel fire in New York City occurred on March 17, 1899, Forty-five persons lost their lives. Q. Who is head of the Ku Klux Klan?—T. W. S. A. James A. Colescott is the imperial wizard of the organization. Q. Which of Archibald MacLeish's poems is said to be the greatest work since Walt Whitman?—H. G. N, A. “America Was Promises,” which appeared in the New Republic last November, has been so described. The epic poem was recently broadcast on the radio, set to music in cantata form by Nicolas Nabokoff, composer, Q. Are sharks valuable commercially? —R.E. S. A. The hide of the shark is used for shoes, luggage, belts, briefcases and & number of other products. The flesh is converted into fertilizer and even the teeth have a market value as souvenirs, Recent estimates place shark fishing among the Nation's $20,000,000 busi- nesses. Q. How long had Patrick Henry studied law when he was admitted to the bar?—B. S. A. He read for six weeks, then ap- plied for a license. It was granted upon condition that he study further before practicing. Q. What was Columbus’ appearance? —S. N. R. A. Columbus, according to tradition, was of an engaging presence, tall, well formed and muscular, and of a dignified demeanor. His face was long, his nose aquiline, his eyes light gray and apt to kindle. His whole countenance had an air of authority. His hair was white at 30 years of age. Sonnet When, for one moment, from the sullen sky z Ot dolorous winter you by chance dise cern, Feathered with light, slim shafts of sune light fly, . Do not presume that April days return, Do not believe when from the ghostly bough, With tremulous music, oné small bird may sing, P g That winter, less unsentimental now, Puts on the whimsicalities of spring, But if one day with wisdom seeing through Uncertain symbols you become aware Of one who looks With luminous eyes on you, Smiling a little, one with golden ha! Proclaim as liars calendar =nd cumem 8hould they deny spring com this time? e