Evening Star editorial page, Aug. 13, 1936 (Union Party convention)

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON. D. C. THURSDAY_August 13, 1936 THEODORE W. NOTES.Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Business Office: 11th St and Pennsylvania A*« New York Office. 110 East 42nd Bt. Chicago Office: Lake Michigan Building, furopte.n Office: t4 Regent 8t. Uradon England. Rate by Carrier Within the City, ■egalar Edltian. The Evening Star -*oc oer month site Evening and Sunday Star _ iwhen 4 Sundays)_-60c Per month The Evening and Sunday Star fwhen 5 Sundays)-85e The Sunday Star_5c oer copy Night Pinal Edition. Night Pinal and Sunday Star--70c pel monf5 Night Etna] Star- ..----65c per mont.n Collection made at the end ot each month. Orders may be sent bv mall or telephone Na tional 5COO Rate by Mall--Payable In Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Pally and Sunday_I yr $]0f>0; 1 mo.. J6c Dally only_1 yr., $600; 1 mo.. 6 c Sunday only.._--1 yr., $4.00; 1 mo- 40c Ail Other Stairs and Canada. Dali? and Sunday_1 yr.. SI2 00; 1 mo.. S4.00 Dally only_1 yr. SR.OO: 1 mo.. 75c Sunday, only_4 yr., $5 00' 1 mo. 60c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Pres* Is exclusively entitled to the use tor republtcatlon of all news dispatches credited to It or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news mibllshed herein All rights of publication ol special dispatches herein are also reserved. Neutrality by Persuasion. The State Department's Instructions to American diplomatic and Consular officers in Spain, reminding them of this country's "well-established policy of non interference with internal affairs in other countries either in time of peace or in the event of civil strife" reveals what appears to be a curious discrepancy in the neutrality law. ¥-It is clear," says the memorandum, "that our neutrality law with respect to embargo of arms, ammunition and implements of war has no application in the present situation, since that applies only in the event of War between and among nations." Section 2 of the neutrality act provides that arms and ammunition and imple ments of war may only be shipped abroad under license of the Munitions Control Board, of which the Secretary of State is head. But it also requires that licenses Bhall be issued, except when the export of such arms and ammunition is un lawful--that is, when the President, under the neutrality act, has placed an embargo on their shipment. As the neutrality law plainly does not apply to civil warfare, the United States has no power to withhold arms shipment licenses or to prevent the shipment of arms or ammunition or airplanes--which have been classified as implements of war--to Spain, although that is exactly What France, through compacts With other European powers, is seeking to do now in respect to European-manufac miinifionc The only resort of the State Depart ment, correctly anxious to preserve American neutrality, is moral suasion, and this seems, so far, to have been suc cessful. Since the outbreak of the Span ish trouble no applications have been received for licenses and none has been granted for the shipment of munitions to Spain. It is reported that the State Department has, in reply to queries re garding airplane shipments to Spain, exhibited the memorandum of instruc tions to our embassy in Spain as indica tive of American policy. That, it is to be hoped, may be enough. The arms licensing section of the neu trality law, designed to prevent the United States from becoming involved In foreign quarrels through activities of munitions makers, was proposed in Con gress originally as separate legislation. Then came the demand for neutrality legislation, and the munitions-licensing section was dumped into the neutrality law. Failure to preserve neutrality in the Spanish strife is dangerous, possibly as dangerous under existing conditions as the same course in a war involving two nations. Yet the teeth of the munitions law are withdrawn and the law becomes inoperative in the Spanish conflict, with American munitions makers free to profit as they choose. Their apparent failure to take advantage of the situation show's their good sense, and the State Department is wisely emphasizing that patriotism is likewise involved. The Department of Agriculture in taking charge of settlement projects may 6ucceed in satisfying for a while the dream of the farmer who for many years has cherished the ambition to turn the Old home into a real estate subdivision. American taxpayers contemplate a Strictly neutral attitude in the light of knowledge gained by experience that war is an exceedingly poor investment. "The Black Legend." Americans who have not traveled In Spain and who do not enjoy intimate acquaintance with conditions there ought not to be uncharitable in their Judgment of the Spanish people in their present troubles. Neutrality certainly is an attitude to be desired on the part of all foreigners; it is the policy of the Government and should be that of the public in the United States. Particularly, fair-minded Americans Will wish to avoid what Spaniards call *the Black Legend"--that curious me lange of myths which suggests that a romantic but fearsome midnight con Itantly hangs over the Iberian Penin sula and that the inhabitants thereof are similarly wrapped in Stygian igno rance, superstition and wickedness. It happens that the composite picture painted by Victor Hugo, Blasco Ibanez and other fanciful novelist simply is not true. Civilization in Spain is no more notably tinctured with barbarism than civilization elsewhere. Neither the follies which Cervantes indicted nor the murderous tendencies which Prosper Merimee reported in his colorful fables are peculiar to the southwestern comer of Europe. The Spain, of "Carmen" does not exist, never has existed except in the imagination of its author--influ enced, as he was, by Borrow's impres aions and by his own natural penchant for exaggeration. Perhaps it would be helpful if an Obvious comparison were made. Suppose b the United States were summarized by Spaniards in the words: Gangsters, lynchings, graft, drought, Jazz bands, walkathon contests, automobile acci dents, the Townsend plan and the num bers racket. Would the resultant ver dict be accurate? Of course it would not! And the same observation may be made with regard to Spain as a land principally characterized by brigands, bull fights, guitars, mantillas, bomb throwers, castanets, incessant revolu tions, persistent beggars, universal thievery, professional Don Juans and that type of procrastination known by the name of "manana." Doubtless every country has its "black legend," but, if so, the fact is deplorable. A nation, it would seem, should be cele brated for its best aspects, not for its worst. It surely serves no useful pur pose to consent to the traduction of any community of this already abundantly slandered planet. This Golden Age. One of the delusions of professional reformers is that this golden age is in point of fact an era of unprecedented hardship, poverty and sorrow. Ignorant or unscrupulous agitators have made a convenience of the depression to propa gandize the notion that the whole wicked capitalist system of society has crashed and that people of all classes can do nothing better than to make certain that the wreckage is complete. But drastic correction for such mis representation may be found in the his tory of the human race. Consider these passages from Dorothy Mills' "The Mid dle Ages": "The serf was not a free man; he belonged to the manor and could not leave it without the consent of the lord. In theory he was secure in the possession of his hut, miserable and poor as it often w'as, and of his strips in the fields as long as he paid service for them, but not longer. Serfs, however, were seldom turned out, as the daily life and welfare of the lord and his family depended on their work. A serf had to give three days' work a week in the lord's fields, and special services and pay ments, generally in kind, at certain sea sons. He was required to convey produce that might be sent to be sold at fairs 'wherever and whenever he was bidden'. He would have to use his own ox or horse to convey such produce and if he were too poor to own an animal he would have to shoulder the load on his own back. He was obliged to have all his flour ground in the lord's mill, his bread baked in the lord's oven, and he had to pay for these services. The 6erf could neither marry, himself, nor could his daughter be married, without the lord's consent." it was not untu tne ena oi tne mteentn century that labor was theoretically free in England: as late as 1785 a* consid erable portion of the population of France was in bondage. Victor Duruy, referring to conditions under Louis XV, says: "All the evidence shows the ter rible misery of the people. The peasants of Normandy lived largely on oats and dressed in skins. In Beauce, the granary of Paris, the farmers begged for part of the year. It was on occasion necessary to make bread of ferns. In a number of provinces the use of meat was unknown. According to one writer, the consump tion for three-quarters of the population in 1762 did not rise above a pound per head a month. Even the rich were poor, since the offices which they bought so dearly and which locked up such masses of capital were poorly paid by the state, hardly giving adequate interest on the money invested, while the vast estates, poorly cultivated, were unproductive." But a much more shocking indictment of civilization in continental Europe in the eighteenth century is given by the moralist philosopher La Bruyere in the oft-quoted words; "Certain wild ani mals, male and female, dark, pale, burned by the sun, might be seen spread over the countryside, bound to the soil which they dug and which they tilled with a strange obstinacy. They had an articulate voice and when they rose to their feet they displayed a human face; in short, they were human beings. At night they retired into the hovels, where they lived on black bread, water and roots. They saved others the trouble of sowing, working and gathering their food." Yet the guillotine cured none of these ills. Only the gradual evolution of the world order of social organization brought relief. Also, it is noteworthy that the widest distribution of wealth occurred in America, not in any European land. Perhaps the apex came in President Coolidges administration--the boom epoch, when nobody dreamed of scrap ping the Constitution or of declaring war on "economic royalists. Tne crasn 011929 probably was inevitable in view of the "overexpansion." But it ought no longer to be imagined that even in the worst slumps of modern experience the masses have suffered under capitalism as their ancestors did under feudalism. The ma chine age has its faults and there is no efficiency in attempting to deny them, but there have been many less comfort able periods in the annals of the race. A practical cotton-picking machine Is at last announced. It will not be com plete without a radio attachment loaded with a choice assortment of old planta tion melodies. No Townsend Flood. Before Dr. Townsend was beguiled into chasing Coughlin and Lemke rainbows, the strategy of the O. A. R. P. backers was to concentrate on sending Town send candidates to Congress. That was good strategy, sound and proven--pro vided, of course, the Townsend candi dates could manage to get themselves nominated. Tuesday's primaries indicate nothing for the Townsendites to crow over. In Idaho Senator Borah left the Townsend candidate, Byron Defenbach, far behind. Senator Borah's 29,390 votes against his opponent's 8,727 in 70 per cent of the precincts belied the claim of the State Townsend manager that the Townsendites controlled half of Idaho's 200,000 voters. Another Town send candidate ran second In a congres sional primary and another was un opposed. In Arkansas Senator Robinson ful filled the expectation of his friends by leaving his Townsend opponent far be hind. In the race for the seat of the late Speaker Byrns in the fifth Tennes see district, a Townsendite, Richard M. Atkinson, nosed out his opponent by a margin of thirteen votes. As Mr. Atkin son has been compared with the late Huey P. Long, however, it is not certain whether the Long or the Townsend in fluence was responsible for the thirteen winning votes. In Florida Charles O. Andrews won the nomination to fill the unexpired term of the late Senator Park Trammel and he is described as an advocate of the Townsend plan. His friends here, however, have known him best as a teacher, State Senator, judge and a conservative fellow generally and his advocacy of the Townsend plan has brought him no particular prominence. Coming after the Kansas primaries last week, when every Townsendite candidate save one was defeated by a Republican or a Democrat, the Town send threat does not seem to loom," as the headliners have it, quite so large.

Penalty of Fame. If any man ever deserved a prize, that man is John H. Hunter, who has won the Washington American Automobile Association's safe driving contest. In the thirty-two years he has been driving, Mr. Hunter is reputed to have covered 600,000 miles without any unpleasantness with the Police Department, without any blot of any kind on his driving escutcheon. That Is something for any man to be proud of, and if there were more John H. Hunters behind the steering wheels of our automobiles today this would be a far happier world. But while con gratulating Mr. Hunter, this is the occa sion also for the exercise of pardonable skepticism regarding his future as a safe driver. It is the time, in other words, to knock on wood. For by win ning the safe driving contest, Mr. Hunter has increased manifold the hazards which will surround him as a driver. One may envy him as the successful winner of a safety contest, but not his position now as the man who won a safety driving contest. From this time forward danger to that record will lurk in a thousand different forms. An ill natured policeman, a fender-scraping taxi driver, a horn-blowing idiot, a dreamy young man with a girl on his mind--these, one fears, are only a few of the forms that demons will take In their zest to deprive Mr. Hunter of his hard-won trophy. May he survive another 600.000 miles in health and happiness! But it might be safer to quit driving. As the cost of local government in creases theoretical questioning is pretty sure to arise as to why the founders of this Republic could not have provided some kind of an old-age pension plan for the District of Columbia. The President visited in nearby Mary land recently, expecting, no doubt, to encourage a "good neighbor" movement that will really mean something in the next election. Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Educating Nature. Every day that comes along Brings a sorrow or a song Save when man with superskill Works with a superior will Telling grasses how to grow And the rivers W'here to flow. Men pretend to knowledge vast Which proves valueless at last. Every day that hurries by Brings us laughter or a sigh. Nature offers small relief For the pains of man-made grief, And the song with truthless tone Leaves us groping and alone. Why insist on such distress? Nature knows her business! The Ring and the Hat. "What do you mean when you say your hat is in the ring?" asked the anxious inquirer. "It's a phrase that implies defiant courage," said Senator Sorghum. "You toss the hat into the ring only after you have passed it around and gathered enough campaign contributions to give you some political authority." A-Voting We Will Go! Merrily we go to vote As the years go passing by. Bands will play while banners float Comforting the ear and eye. Candidates we will select, Well go voting as before, Still determined to correct Errors that were made of yore. Valuation. "Have you ever tried to figure out how much you are worth?" "Yes," answered Mr. Dustin Stax. "That sort of thing depends on how I might be located. In a bank I'd be worth several million dollars, but in a foot race I wouldn't be worth ten cents." "Distance fascinates," said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. "I have heard learned men explain the stars and still be ignorant of mysteries of this earth to be found within a city block of their own homes." Be Kind to Animals Day. Had a picnic where the breeze Stirred the branches near tlje sky. Caterpillars took their ease, Where the ants attacked the pie. Had a picnic in a way Philanthropic and refined On a day when people say "Unto Animals Be Kind!" "I got dis much to say foh de weather," said Uncle Eben, "when it makes me suffer nobody kin tell me my troubles is my own fault." r> THE POLITICAL MILL BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. FALMOUTH, Mass., August 13.--The Lemke-O'Brien Union party ticket is to receive Its official birth in Cleveland this week end if present plans do not fall through. With the backing of Father Coughlin the new third party ticket is to have the indorsement of the National Union for Social Justice, which is holding a three-day convention in the Ohio city. Coughlin has promised that the conven tion will make the Republican National Convention, held early in June, look like 30 cents or thereabouts. As a talker Father Coughlin has acquired all the facility for gib claims that go with the politician. He has entered the great game of politics-^priest as he is. It looks as through he were, going to play the game very much as other politicians play it. How many votes Father Coughlin can really com mand when the showdown comes is still very much of a mystery. They may be sufficient to cause defeat of the Repub lican or Democratic party in States that are close. But it is entirely unlikely that Coughlin and his Lemke-O'Brien ticket will carry a single State for themselves.

w w w The stronger the Lemke-O'Brien ticket becomes the more of a threat to the re-election of President Roosevelt. There are two reasons for this. The Coughlin following, generally speaking, is recruited from the Democrats rather than from the Republicans. Those voters who follow because of his peculiar views also would, under other conditions, be found sup porting Roosevelt rather than Landon. The second reason is that Father Coughlin himself seems to be out to get the scalp of President Roosevelt rather than that of Gov. Landon, the Repub lican presidential candidate. It wasn't long ago that the priest in a public address called the President a "liar." He considers that the President has failed to drive the money changers from the temple--as the President promised to do. So Father Coughlin is intent at present upon driving the President out of the White House.

It looks at the present writing as though Dr. Townsend--$200-a-month old-age-pension planner--was Intent upon hooking up also with the Lemke O'Brien ticket. If he does, this should mean more votes for the third party ticket. But here again, no one can estimate with any exactitude how many of the followers of Dr. Townsend will obey his directions when it comes to casting ballots in November. According to the dispatches. Dr. Townsend has fired three of his aides. J. B. Keifer, central region director of the Townsend movement; William Parker, Eastern regional director, and Dr. Clinton Wun der, national speaker. These gentlemen have been labeled "inefficient" and also charged with playing politics. Pre sumably they were not playing politics for the Lemke-O'Brien ticket. Dr. Wunder has declared that Dr. Town send has undertaken to sell the old-age pension organization down the river to Father Coughlin and the Lemke ticket. It will be recalled that despite the fact the Townsendites. at their convention earlier in the Summer, failed to give in dorsement to the Lemke ticket, Town send himself declared his intention of campaigning for the ticket along with Father Coughlin and Rev. Gerald Smith, who claims to have inherited the political following of the late Huey P. Long. Times are bettering. Business is in creasing and so is employment. These are circumstances which will tend to decrease the strength of the Lemke ticket, and the following of both Cough lin and Townsend. They should also increase the chances of President Roose velt for re-election. That is, provided the voters generally agree that it is better not to "upset the apple cart'' when it seems to be rolling along successfully; that it is better not to swap horses when crossing a stream. On the other hand, the huge debt and the increased taxes which have already come, with the promise of future heavy taxation, grow ing out of the Roosevelt administration are likely to have an adverse effect for the President and the New Deal party. They are things the Republicans will stress more and more as the campaign proceeds.

Senator William E. Borah has once more demonstrated his great strength with the voters in Idaho. Running in the Republican primary against Byron Deffenbach, a Towusendite, the veteran Republican Senator has rolled up a big vote. His opponent in the November election will be Gov. Ben Ross, Demo crat. It does not appear that Ross will be able to overtake the Senator. Indeed, the chances are distinctly in favor of the re-election of Borah. The people of his State doubtless feel, as many do out side of Iadho, that to retire Borah from the Senate would be a distinct dis service not only to the State but also to the entire country. Borah's reputa tion as a statesman is not an overnight growth. It is the product of 30 years' service in the Senate--a service which has been as unselfish as that of any other man in public life in the history of the country. Now that the Idaho primary has been held and Borah been nominated, it is expected that he will get into the na tional as well as the State campaign. It has been his desire to support Landon for the presidency and to oppose Roose velt. It looks very much as though he was to have his wish in this matter. If and when he takes the stump for Landon, it will be a great help in the Western country to the Republican natinnal tlrlrpf William Green, president of the Amer ican Federation of Labor, insists that the federation will maintain its tradi tional non-partisan position in the presidential campaign--a policy that was only abandoned once when the fed eration declared for La Follette in the 1924 presidential campaign. Green's attitude is in sharp contrast to the position now taken by John L. Lewis, head of the United Mine Workers and of the Committee for Industrial Organiza tion, who is working tooth and toe-nail for Roosevelt's re-election. Green insists that the federation is in no way tied up with fhe so-called Non-Partisan Labor League, in which Lewis is a prime mover, along with Maj. George Berry and Sidney Hillman. Although Green has declared himself in favor of the re-elec tion of Roosevelt--he is a Democrat--he admits that the strife between the feder ation and the Lewis C. I. O. may very well work for the election of Landon. In other words, the labor vote is not going to be "delivered" solidly to the Demo cratic candidate for President.

Theodore G. Joslin, who was secretary to President Hoover, has made a flat statement that the spokesman for Presi dent Roosevelt who insisted that Roose velt had conferred.with Hoover before the former took office "does not know what he is talking about or is a con summate liar. Joslin Inclined to the latter belief. He waa Interviewed by the Boston Herald on bis vacation at b I THIS AND THAT I BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. A wood pewee was sitting on the stub end of a broken limb, waiting for in sects to come close. It was a characteristic pose and place for thijs bird, and readily helped identify him. Had he been on a full-leafed branch of the locust tree, he might have been mistaken for the phoebe, a bird of the same size and somewhat the same ap pearance. His selection of a perch, however, gave him away. Such small points are always valuable guides in bird identification. Many birds come to the suburban garden infrequent ly, fly around for a time, and then go back to the woods. The wood pewee and the wood thrush get the first part of their names from their usual habitat, but the latter is seen nowadays in suburban gardens more than in the forests, whereas the pewee only files in from time to time. It is necessary to keep a close look out for him, if the bird enthusiast is to see him when he arrives.

The great trouble in amateur bird identification comes in the gap between the bird on the bough and the colored illustration in the book. The enthusiast must realize that there is a great difference, not only between two-pictures in two books, but also be tween the same bircl in May and August. Feathers are constantly being shed and replaced by new. There is further complication in the fact that the juvenile birds are as large as their parents, and often look nothing like them, or at least are enough dif ferent in coloration to fool the beginner. Hence we find that birds may look differently at different seasons, and even month by month; that their babies may easily be mistaken for other birds, since they are so large; that there is a per plexing difference between the colors of male and female of the same species, in most cases, and that there may be a vast difference between two colored illus trations in two books. Let us not be harsh on the illustrators, but keep in mind the other three rea sons for differences, especially the first, that birds do vary, from time to time, and as seen by different persons. It will be realized that all other dis tinctions, such as whether the bird pre fers a dead limb or a live one, are val uable aids to the man or woman who makes no pretensions of being a scien tist, but who nevertheless has an honest admiration for the birds, and likes to know one from the other.

This is not an impossible tasK, in most instances. What is required, however, is a genuine interest. Without this, no one will be willing to keep an open eye, and it is the open eye, the seeing eye, above all, which is necessary in this work. Thousands of good people live sur rounded by birds which they do not know. "None are so blind as those who will not see." it has been said, and this ap plies here as elsewhere. "It is possible to live without pic tures." a wise man said, "but not as well." It is possible to live with scores of species of birds in the trees all around you, without once knowing them or car ing a whoop about them. At the same time it is equally possible to want to recognize them, to be inter ested In their life habits, to get a real "kick" out of their daily observation. Often the bird enthusiast will stop to realize that this occupatlop, which so Interests him, is utterly or practically unknown to most of his neighbors. They are satisfied with their automo biles, their radios, and so on. What are a few birds to them? And they are right--for them--until something or other turns their minds birdward, then they, in their turn, will stop row and then to wonder how it was that they did not know before how inter esting this pursuit could be. Especially the booklover should turn to birds, for there are many charming works about them, all illustrated with colored paintings of the most delightful nature. Even books on flowers and the like cannot vie, as far as colors go, with the books on birds. Then to correlate these pictures with the real birds in your own garden-- isn't that a happy occupation for mind and eye and heart, the great trio?

If you see a little nondescript bird perched on a dead branch, waiting eagerly, make up your mind that it may be the wood pewee. Then listen for its cry. If it says "pee-a-wee," as plain as anything, be sure of him. This cry is given with rising inflection, a question as surely as any bird can utter it. The first note is the highest, the sec ond considerably lower, and the last ris ing to mid-position. This is one of the plainest of bird cries which can be identified by the use of words. "Bob white" is perhaps the most fa mous. There are many others, such as "Sam Peabody," which one songster is supposed to say, and ''cheerily" and scores of other words which other birds have said, according to the interpreta tions of various ornithologists and just plain bird lovers. It will be understood that each one of these interpretations simply repre sents some human being's idea of what the bird in question "says." What the bird really says no one knows, or ever will know, but since humanity is very much agog at its own importance, of course, it follows that its members, in hearing the cries of other creatures, will do their utmost to wrest them to language as the world of men knows it. While this attempt is natural, and laudable, in a sense, since it is built solidly on the good rock of interest and admiration, it is wrong in another, since it means nothing at all, in so many cases, to any one else.

But this "pee-a-wee" interpretation is good, because it does, in many ways, give any reader a good idea of the cry. The notes are soft, rather shy in ex pression, with a wistful quality all their own. It is not repeated often, but only at rather long intervals, so the ears must be sharp to catch it. Once heard, however, and recognized as belonging to the little creature perched there on the dead bough, it takes on a meaning all its own, and is a precious possession thereafter. "Pee-a-wee-* Soft and gentle, a whisper of the woodlands, it floats in the open window in the late afternoon, one with the air, and the sun and the stars. STARS, MEN AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HESRY. There is a mysterious gas exuded from ripe apples which checks the growth of potatoes, protects stored potatoes from sprouting and rotting, and increases the amount of sugar in them five-fold. This gas. which cannot be obtained in amounts sufficient for positive identifi cation, acts as if it were ethylene. This is known to chemists as a colorless, in flammable gas with a suffocating odor, ordinarily derived from coal gas, which is best known from its properties as a surgical anesthetic. The amount exuded from ripe apples must be very small, but sufficient in a closed space to pro duce extraordinary effects. The experiments indicating Its pres ence in apples are reported by O. H. Elmer, Department of Agriculture chem ist, In the Journal of Agricultural Re search. That this fruit gives off a potent growth-inhibiting factor has been re ported before, with the implication that this was some sort of radiation. The present experiments show that It is almost certainly a gas. Duplicate ex periments with ethylene gave almost identical results. Potatoes exposed In a compartment with two cubic feet with ripe apples of any variety fail to sprout or send out oniy small, abnormal sprouts. When planted they send up not a single, healthy sprout, but many little ones. This, Dr. Elmer believes, is because the gas coming from the apples destroys the ''bud dominance" of the potato tuber so that all its parts acquire equal poten tialities in this direction. When growing potato plants are ex posed in the container, growth ceases, the leaves lose their green color, and leaves and stems are thrown into a sort of cataleptic rigidity. The plant acts as if it bad been anesthetized. The stem tends to become thicker at the base, but does not increase in height. The older leaves bend down as if they were wilted. About two hours are required before these effects start. Probably this period is required for the gas to attain sufficient concentration in .the atmosphere to affect the plants. Potatoes stored with apples for a few days taste much sweeter, and the reason for this is evident when chemical analy sis shows that the total sugar content has increased about 500 per cent. There is also a considerably greater output of carbon dioxide. This is a phenomenon comparable to that produced by expos ing green lemons and bananas to ethy lene, to hasten the ripening process. As soon as exposure ends, the effects on growth* seem to end immediately. Seed potatoes removed from the influ ence of apples sprout and the plants grow normally. This may make the exposure of some value in preserving such stock through the Winter.- It is notable, Dr. Elmer found, that the ap Swampscott. Joslin said that Hoover had sought co-operation from Roosevelt again and again; that he had even offered to let Roosevelt write a program for submission to the session of Con gress which wound up March 4, 1933, but that Roosevelt would do nothing. It is Joslin's idea that if Roosevelt had co-operated, the bank panic and the eventual closing of all the banks could have been avoided and many persons would have failed to lose money. That idea has been in the back of the heads of a lot of people who lost heavily through the closing of ^jie banka. pies be fully ripe. The effect declines as soon as the apples start to rot, but there are traces of it as long as any ripe, sound substance remains. Tests showed that the gas-producing material is in the flesh of the apple. No such effects can be found when pota toes are exposed to skin or seeds alone. Cider does not give out the paralyzing gas. but some results can be noted with ground pulp. Two other fruits, pears and haw'thorne berries, seem to emit the gas as well as apples. No effect could be obtained with bananas, onions, oranges or sweet potatoes. The gas emission does not seem to be affected by the variety of apple or pear. Several gases besides ethylene, Dr. Elmer reports, might act in ways sim ilar to the "apple gas." but chemical tests serye to eliminate them. The mitogenetic ray hypothesis, while it can not be entirely disproved, appears to be "dragging something in by the tail" to explain the phenomenon. There is no satisfactory proof that such rays actually exist. The most careful tests have left experts in doubt. On the other hand, it is reasonable to expect that gases would be produced from the ripening process which slowly would be released.

Discovery of a flourescent constituent of green leaves which may play a vital part in such essential processes of photosynthesis, pigment formation, cell elongation and light tropisms in plant life is announced by Dr. Harold F. Strain of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. When extracts of dried leaf material are filtered through magnesium and silaceous earth the coloring matter is quickly absorbed, leaving colorless hydro carbons which are recoverable as crys tals. Two of these glow strongly under invisible ultra-violet light. The floures cence looks like white light to the eye, but examination shows that it is restricted to wave lengths from the long green to the short red. The crystals quickly lose their ability to glow when exposed to ordinary light. A Mystery. From the Albuquerque Journal. If we could figure out what solace or pleasure a fly can get from walking on your face when there are so many other things to walk on, we might become reconciled. Mental Trash. From the Worcester Gazette. A movie actress advises every one to keep a mental wastebasket handy for worthless thoughts. It's well not to empty it too often, however, in case some one urges you to serve as toastmaster. Behind the Ears. From the Bay City <Mich.) Times. Authoress Pearl Buck has adopted two small boys. After scrubbing their necks a few times, it is wondered if she will still think it the good earth. Cleopatra's Lure. From the Burlington (Iowa) Hawlceye Gazette. The secret of Cleopatra's fascination was brains instead of beauty, we are now told. Well, possibly men were different in those days. i H. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Evening star information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. What trotting race corresponds to the Kentucky Derby as a running race? --G. T. A. The Hambletonian. It was run at Goshen, N. Y., on August 12. Q. How effective are anti-aircrait guns?--W. W. A. Air Commodore L. E. O. Charlton of the British air service has calculated that 16.200 anti-aircraft guns would be required to bring down one airplane flying at 8,000 feet altitude 100 miles an hour. At greater speed hits would be J less likely. A Q. What was the highest price ever paid for a book at auction?--J. K. G. A. In 1927 Dr. Abraham S. Rosenbach paid $106,000 for a copy of the Gutenberg Bible. This is said to be the highest price ever given for a book at auction. Q. What State Legislatures have re fused to pass the child labor amendment to the Constitution?--R. E. A. A. In New York one House of the Leg islature has acted unfavorably on the child labor amendment. The legislative bodies of Delaware, Florida. Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mas sachusetts. North Carolina. South Caro lina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia have at some time rejected in both Houses the child labor amend ment. In Alabama no definite action has been taken by the Legislature. Tin, is true of Rhode Island, although a res olution in regard to it died in a com mittee of the Legislature this year. I:i the States of Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nevada and Nebraska one House of the Legislature has at some time ratified the child labor amendment. Q. How can a person remember whether poison ivy has three leave* is five?--E. H. A. The warning is: Fingers th/<**~ tum and flee. Q. How much money did James Smith son leave for the founding of the Smith sonian Institution?--S. R. A. The value of the estate that flnah: came to our National Govemmer.. amounted to about $550,000. Q What is the name of Senator Glass' home in Virginia?--E. H. A. Mountview Farm is the Senator's home. It is 4 or 5 miles from Lynch burg, Va. Q. How many medals have been given since the medals of honor act was passed, in 1905?--S. E. A. Forty-three. A train conductor has lately been awarded one for saving a boy who was thrown from his bicycle in front of cars which were being switched. The conductor was slightly injured. Q. When is the annual meeting of the National Association of Gardeners?--E. J. A. The National Association of Gar deners will hold its twenty-sixth annual convention at Hotel Douglas, Newark, N. J., from August 18 to 20. Q. What qualities are considered i.i measuring intelligence?--F. R. W. A. Prof. Louis L. Thurstone of the Psy chofogy Department of the University of Chicago gives seven abilities that mus: be considered in weighing mental en dowment: Number facility, word flu ency. visualizing, memory, perceptual speed, induction and verbal reasoning. Q. What do moving picture trailers cost?--T. W. A. They cost from $300 to $1,500 each, depending on length, wordage and pro duction. Q. What was the name of the man who drove a boat on the Potomac with a power pump in the 1780s?--H. M. A. In 1786 James Rumsey drove a 4 boat on the Potomac 4 miles an hour by means of a power pump. Q Is there an income tax in the Ba hama Islands?--E. R. A. The Bahamas have no income tax. Q. What was Mother Shipton'i real name?--J. M. A. Tradition states that the maiden name of the reputed sorceress was Ursula SouthilJ, Sowthiel or Southiel. When about 24 years old she married a builder of York, Tobias Shipton. Q. What age is the average public school teacher? Is she a college gradu ate?--E. M. H. A. The average woman who teaches in the United States is 29 years old and a graduate of a normal school. Q. What Slavic language is the most commonly used and most generally learned of the Slavic group?--W. F. j. A. Russian. Q. When was Port Royal. Jamaica, destroyed and washed into the sea?-- R. L. G. A. Port Royal, Jamaica, a city of buc caneers, was completely destroyed bv earthquake in June, 1692. The land and remains of the buildings were washed into the sea and are now under water beneath the quarantine station. John D.'s Rule. From the Boston Transcript. One of the rules John D. Rockefellc says he followed through life was net to lose interest in things. Of course, 1 never mislaid a principal, either. Confusing. From the Indianapolis Star. It must be terribly embarrassing rightist troops when it becomes necc sary to make a left wheel. Final Proof. From the Omaha World-Herald. The prohibitionists at last have bet given a demonstration by the weathi.' man of what "bone-dry" really meant. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton Forever. Friend of my heart, years come and go In weal and wee, But your handclasp is always there To lighten care. Reaching God's Heaven 'tis my prayer That we may share A love omniscient we cannot know While here below. That the bond may unbroken be Twixt you and me E'en when our'souls attain release To perfect peace. _ v* A