Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-01-21
UNITED STATES LEADS
WORLD IN WIRELESS
One of Facts Brought Out by Cues
ton to Evening Star 1nfor-
nation Bureau.
"Disestablishmentar Found
to Be Longest Non-Technical
English Word.

| That the government wireless sta
lions of the United States are better
equipped than those of any other ma
ton, and that with the completion of
several new stations now in process OF
construction the United States Will be
able to cover the greater part OF the
F. globe with communications over Its
own wireless lines, were facts brought
out in research by The Evening Star
Information Bureau in answer TO a
query asking the relative efficiency OF
the wireless resources of different ma
lions. The new stations giving Amer
! lean wireless a range that almost cir
! cles the earth with the present long
distance transmission instruments are
those built at the Canal Zone. Hawaii
| and the Philippine Islands.
Queries to the Information Bureau
during the past week brought up ques-
lions on everything. from the relative
merits of the mule and the horse to
| the length of the longest word in the
English language. The mule gets the
decision over the horse on every point
except sweetness Of disposition. ac-
| cording to the War Department. A
mule has more horsepower than a
horse. paradoxical though it may seem;
lasts longer and eats less. 1t costs 33
cents a day to feed an army horse, and
only 80 cents. for a mule. 1t is ad-
mitted, however, that horse Is more
open to conviction in case of diff
ference Of opinion between him and
Longest Word in Language.
| AS for the man who wanted to know
the longest word in the English Ian
guage, he found that the longest nom
technical term was "disestablishmen-
tarianism," which was used to desig
nate the theory of disestablishing the
Church of Ireland in 1871. Longer
words than this are used by the scien-
fist, especially the organic chemist,
who names his complex compounds by
the simple process of running together
the names of all the things that go
into them.
The length of the average life of a
person in the United States was an
While the Psalmist gave man three
score years and ten, the insurance ia
bles only give the modern American
about thirty-nine-thirty- EIGHT and
length of the average life in the United
States today, SO that every man or
| woman who passes forty is helping to
pull up the showing made by the ma
ton as a whole. This low figure is
largely accounted for by infant mortal
| ity however. since a large proportion
of deaths occur in the first few months
Of life.
Are we spending as much money on
education in this country as we spend
for tobacco is what is worrying another
man. The bureau was able to reassure
him with a few figures furnished by
the bureau of the census. showing that
| education. while hard pressed. still
! maintains it's lead over the fragrant
Havana and the succulent quid. The
exact score shows an annual total Of
$555. 900, 900 spent for education and
$4,000. 200 for-tobacco in all its forms.
The last figures for liquor consumption
showed It to be leading the field, with
a total annual sale Of $685.. 600. while
candy and chewing-gum trail along a
bad fourth, at S171.0O0.o00. The liquor
figures were last compiled for the year
1914, and may have fallen off since
then, with the spread Of prohibition.