Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-11-16
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING

I average restaurant and hotel merely be
| cause of the fact that Il has beer usec
| after meals. beginning with the stump
tuouS feastS OF Oser-taSen III of the thlr
teenth dynasty OF Egypt, and other an
cient notableS, who used the finger bow
| ulled with scented water.
| A western hotel man who is becoming
one of the leaders in the campaign of til,
use and abuse of the finger bowl has de
vised a finger bowl which he has caiIet
| to the attention of the United State.
| pubic health service.
| When guest desires a bowl he believe:
| that the only bowl used should be made
| of paraffine paper similar to the SAM
tary drinking cups, and which lit into {
framework made of silver or other de.
sirabie metal. He passes this idea or
| to his ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of the United
States. lie frequent objection offered
10 finger bowls is that the employees OF
even many of the best restaurants ane
hotels seldom wash them ard that tht
water is merely poured IN and ou
throughout the day. and what germs
there might find lodgment have excellent
opportunity TO gamer and accumulate
1 ne westerners ideal of a sanitary paper
nnger bowl Will give each Suest his IN
divldual bowl, and to a degree it is
the world one OF their last Ravens OF
refuge.
The manufacture of Niolns and also
sound boxes for the newer types of talk.
ing machines oners
Spruce Timber two of the latest uses
60, M, " h c h have beer
AoA ~ u01e. found for ire-killec
spruce timber. large quantities of which
are found in the forests of Colorado and
olner Rocky mountain states.
One of the first TO call this new use
of dead and down timber to the atten-
ZION of government experts is a Bait
more maker of high grade violins, who
mas just applied TO the denver office OF
ne Ior.st service tor small quantity
OF Colorado fire-killed tnglenanr
Spruc. TO ne used IN making WON tops
ms vloi.n maker CLAIMS mat the Hre-
allied spruce Is the lest material he has
ever found for the manufacture OF TINS
part or nlSn-graue vIoins. Inc valut
OF the wood hes in Its very Ignt wetsnt
IT'S me Straisnt gran and IT'S freedom
from roSln oou Tor Vioiln tops inusi
pe sIralgnt-gralned and apsoiuIe.y eage-
gained, mat rs, cut at riSnt angles 70
annual rings, when Tor tn.S Use
snoula show 1rom twenty 10 lnrty to
me inch.
There is a large quantity of Engeimann
spruce lumber in the hocky mountains
and at the higher attitudes 1t forms the
mann part OF the uinDer stands " hiit
iuresi oIllcerS do not conSiuer the use oi
ms wood tor musical instruments I'M
porJant as To quantity consumed. they
note with interest mat a tree mich mas
ueen generally considered unSuited &c
,uc manufacture OF the best Sraues OF
cood products is now proving valuable
thS Specidl purpose.
Government WOOD utilization experts
are ALREADY experimenting with various
xmas of wood 10 be USED for improving
the Sound qualities OF the inverted nofiis
wnicn are now aiuden Ill the large new
IalkIng macnlneS wnlcn have become
popular during the last toul or nve years.
IL Is proDauie that the same QUANTITIES
which make fire-kliIeu spruce valuable
Tor the making OF Nloiin tops VII, MAKE
IL the most desirable WOOD 10 use Tor tue
inverted monograph hdrna. Speaking ol
the use of woou Tor musical instruments
and the adaplablilty OF the selected
pieces of iii e-nliiea tlmper tor the manu-
iacture of viollns ana talking ma nine
norns, Q. T. Swami, VINO Is IN charge o.
the industrial Investigations OF the
United states TO. est service. says.
AS is generally known, sound is the
result of vibrations niSn as between
5000 and 1900 times per second. Inc
medium propeiiing sound waves, there
fore, should necessarily be elastic anu
resonant, and no material mas been found
that meets the exact reduli enent as Wen
as wood. Metal becomes exhausted UNI
der the strain, SO to speak, wniie WOOD
Is not only not af1ected, out tendS To le-
nne or mellow the vibrations. ana there
tore Is selected Tor pa L or instr umenls
essential in the reproduction OF tones.
Long fiber, uniformity In structure,
and proper seasoning are the principal
properties that mate iai tor these Vi
brant parts should possess, and because
spruce meets the conditions bette than
any other WOOD, it is usually selected.
" God of trees found high elevations
where growth is SLOW making the
structure uniform. is used Tor the high
est priced sounding boards The older
or drier the wood becomes. the greater
its resonance, and 1t is because of this
fact that men pay fabulous sums for old
violins. and TO- wood pipes of organs
that have been in cathedrals for many
years 1t is the efficient seasoning OF
the killed spruce which doubtless
makes it valuable for violin tops, the
sounding board of the instrument and
that EnSemann spruce should be found
suitable is not surprising, because in ad-
dillon to the above mentioned qualities.
its very light weight, fine, straight
grain. stability when in place, and its
non-resinous, easily working properties
probably make II equal to led spruce,
the species most usually. employed for
this line of manufacture.
Statesmen who depend upon the distri-
ing among their constitu-
Free Seeds ents must soon invent
~ some other easy method
Ne1oee"' of insuring their right to
IA seat iii Congress, ii the recommends
tons of the present officials of the United
States Department of Agriculture NEE,
with general approval and are enacted
into law
Free seeds cost the government S3ou.-
GEO a year. and men who have inVesti-
gated the practice and results of the con-
gressional distribution say that the money
is largely a dead waste to Inc!e sam
Many members of Congress have already
awakened to the fact that the more in
telligent farmers consider the free dlStri-
button of seeds at government expense
merely cheap method OF trying to win
favor In both the House of Representa-
tives and in the Senate the practice has
been fought for years. and last session il
was only with the greatest difficulty that
the appropriation was kept in the agri-
cultural bill.
Secretary Houston. both in converse
ton and in a public address delivered
yesterday before the National Grange ir
meeting at Manchester y. H. has dis
approved of the present system of free
distribution of ordinary vegetable anG
flower seeds. In his new estimates tC
Congress he has recommended that the