Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-05-27
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Asy rssdsx can vss Nv.s the s..;n. ss:wSs e sg
s6istiy to Information; The bureAI can; an
v; sHySs on aS.. ss. NOT %sa,a ssssnps rfs e
llkaAs domestic troubiss. nor to unoeIteAe
Wt1ts ycur questions plainly and b,ieny.
SsSs fsli nams rss'd and addr.s. and snoioss
two cents In stamps for return postage.
Al replies are sent direct 10 tne INQUIRE
@. What kind of food should be used
with poison as rat bait? r. X.
A. The Department of Agriculture
stresses the fact that IL Is necessary
To tempt the we'll fed rats of this coun-
: try ny providing a variety OF FOODS.
Select bait frcsn the three classes, meat.
vegetable and cereal. combining each
with harium carbonate in the propor-
ton of one part poison to four parts
food. II one kind of food does not at
tract the rat. probably another sort
Will.
O. Who furnishes bronze name plates
for sckier memorial trees? |. M. W.
A. The American Forestry Assocda-
tton. Washington. d. c.. furnishes such
plates for soldier memorial trees.
Q. How is break in a cable under
water mended? l.. s.
A. The Bureau or StanuaruS SAYS
that steamers are specially equipped
: for the purpose of finding break in a
cable under the ocean. Steaming at
right angles to the cable they pick up
one end OF it with graphing irons.
They pass along this till they come TO
the break. A new piece is spliced on,
the other broken end picked up and
another splice made.
O What kind of wood are xylo-
phones made of? NJ. G.. c.
A The bars OF many xylophones are
made of Nagaed wood. This gives q
cloar and brilliant tone and is hard
enough to withstand hard usage. The
wood of which the bars are made Is
seasoned for from three to seven years,
N order that the bars win stay In
ne. Tho sounding board frames are
Usually made of white quarter sawed
oak with sound boards of spruce.
q. What became Of the Long Tom
Gun. and what weight WAS it? Il. B.
A. The Lcng Tom is a 42-pound gun
which was originally part of the French
battieship Hpche. 1t was captured by
the English IN 17ss and sold to America
During the French attack or Haiti in
1904 II was used and dismounted until
lN1. 1T was pt3ceu on the erSuetdA
Aru,s<ronG which ran the blockade OF
| the British at New Orleans. 1914. The
General Armstrong ran into the bay
near Horta. Fayal (Azore Islands) after
an encounter with British squadron.
through which she was rendered help
Ices. Long Tom was dismantled and
remained at Fayai until brought back
to New York in 1898. This was through
the efforts OF Colonel Reid. son of the
kConmandcr Of the General Armstrong.
Q. Has Connecticut another nick
name besides Nutmeg Stater A. A.
A. A popular nickname OF Connecd-
|cut Is the Land Of Steady Habits.
Q. Does the eel live in the water en-
\trely? II. ID.
A. The Bureau OF Fisheries says that
Ythe eel is amphibious. that is. il is able
to live on land and in water. However.
the eel has gills.
q. What is the name Of the in
struEaont used 10 measure the distance
between one planet and another? E. ID.
q.
A. The Naval Observatory says In
practice. the distance between planets
ls not measured. but is computed by
means OF the known positions of the
planets. The positions are known from
alrnanacs or Ephemerides which have
heen computed from standard astrono-
miosl tables The tables are based upon
thousands Of observations made with
an instrument known as the meridian
circle.