Evening star., 1925-01-05
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN

Q. Has the term fait accompli any
special significance in diplomatic Ian
guage ?-F. A. Is.
A. Fait accompli. an accomplished
fact, denotes in diplomacy an event
that has happened and must be ac-
cepted or recognized as definite, how
ever disagreebaIe.
Q. Do they have snow in Aus
tralia ?-E. NJ.
A. Snow falls in southeastern Aus
tralia during the Winter months, and
occasionally lies on the ground as far
north as Melbourne and Sydney. On
the mountains and in northeastern
Victoria and southern New South
Wales, the snowfall is very heavy.
Forests are practically buried in snow
and on the p!ateaus Of northeastern
Victoria the ground is sometimes COW
cred to the depth of several feet from
May to September. This also occurs
| on the highlands Of Tasmania, al
though there are no mountains bear
| ing perpetual snoWcaps in either
Australia or Tasmania.
@. What are the minarets on Mo-
| hammedan mosques for?-H. r. F.
| A. The minarets of Mohammedan
mosques are the towers from which
| the officer whose business it is, IS
| sues the mueZZin or call to prayer,
at which signal all true SIohammedans
! face toward the East and engage in
! devotion.
Q. What kind of a home is n
| Union" in England2-J. w. P.
| A. A very common term for a work
house in England is The Union
Q. How did the privilege of send
ing and receiving mail free Of postage
| develOp2-M. =.
A. This privilege was once enjoyed
| by the President Of the United States,
| Vice President, heads of departments.
! Senators and Representatives. and
| other officials Of the Government dur
| ing their official terms. For a time
! all former Presidents and widows OF
former Presidents also had this right,
| but by an act Of 1873 the privilege
| was abolished. BY later acts it was
| conferred on all officers Of the Gov
ernment in the case Of official CORE
| spondance In 1895 members of Con-
gress were allowed this privilege in
their official correspondence.
Q. Why do Protestahts say 'T be
lieve in the Holy Catholic Church.
| c. 2.
| A. The Apostles Creed is a formula
which has been used as a declaration
| of faith at times by practically all
! Christian churches. One of the artl-
| cles enumerated is. Il believe III the
| Holy Catholic Church" In this sense
the word Catholic" is used in its
original meaning which was the
| Church Universal and referred TO the
entire body of Christians.
! Q. Where did the plan Of laying out
city streets at right angles to each
| other and at regular distances origi-
nate?-D. S. n.
PhiIadelDbfa was r6a fret oF
modern municipalities whose plan
| was prepared for a particular site,
and the rectangular plan there adopt
| ed has guided city planning in Amer
ica ever since.
Q. What is meant by drinking a heel
tap?-D. w.
A. Drinking heel tap means TO
drain the glass to the bottom. A heel
tap is shoe peg stuck in the heel
and taken out when the shoe IS
finished
Q. What is cost plus con
tract?-A. V. L.
A. A cost plus contract is one in
which the contractor agrees to sell
certain things or render a stipulated
service at the actual cost % produc-
tion or cost Of the service, plus an
agreed percentage of that cost as his
profit.
@. What does o. H. NJ s. on
Canadian letter mean?-E. II. w
A. These letters. i'm lieu OF
stamp, mean ION his majesty's serv-
ice"
Qt is certain that yolI puzzle daily
oUeT' questions that ne can dnStcer for
yo1t. You are confronted by problems.
grave to you, lchich can be dlrstoered
easily BY as. our attention is directed
chiefly to matters Of fact In matters
legal, medical aud financial tre do not
gire strictly professional ddUicc, but
eUeI in these ace can often SBtoOthe gOgtr
t0dy and pro1jde the contact po1t need
1Uith technjcidns. Make q practice of
asking tohat you do not k,r01c i'd
dress The Star Information Bureau.
Frederic j. HGSEit director, Tloentv-
first aud streets northwest. I1pcLose
cents in stamps for q direct TepEy.)