Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-10
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

Q. How much shorter was Lind
bergh's route than the steamer
w. K. S.
A. According to a statement IS
sued by the National Geographic So
ciety, the circular course taken by
Lindbergh was about 473 miles
shorter than the route from New
York to Paris via the Azores.
@. Why is horse racing called
the sport of kings-N. j. K.
A. Horse racing has been called
the sport of kings because 1t has
been one Of their amusements since
the earliest dawn of civilization.
Thothmes I of the eighteenth Egyp-
tan dynasty left a papyrus letter
telling of his conquest of Mesopo-
tamia and priding himself upon the
acquisition of the racing horse Che
Arab and being the first to intro
duce him in Africa. Somewhat later
the records tell of King Solomon
buying horses from Egypt and pay
ing as much as $4,000 for some of
them. Among the Greeks horse rae
ing was introduced into the Olympic
Games in the thirty-third Olympiad
GAS B.C).
Q. Is a hens egg considered
meat?-F. M.
A. The Department of Agricul-
ture says that while the hens egg Is
an animal product, 1t is not meat.
Hens egg is composed of two parts
the white, which is a secretion of
the glands of the oviduct; the yolk,
which is largely fat; being a single
cell, the hens egg is the same as the
egg of any other female, repro
ductive cell.
Q. When were long-distance tele-
phone calls first made?-T. H.
A. Long distance telephony was
first made possible in 1885, when the
American Bell Telephone Co. organ
lied the American Telephone & Tele-
graph Co. For several years previous
ly experimental lines were operated
between New York and Boston. In
1885 regular line between New York
and Philadelphia was constructed.
Q. Why do gold and silver coins
have milled edges?-W. N.
A. This is done to prevent unde-
tected scraping of the edges, which
@. When was the Marquis de La
fayette made a major general in the
American Army?-E. W.
A. He was commissioned by Con.
gress July 8, 1777.
@. Does an old iron stove show any
signs of being burned up?-E. s.
A. The Bureau of Standards says
that the constant heating oXidizes the
iron, which is slow "burning-up,"
therefore, an old iron stove will show
signs of being burned.
y. Will a shipyard crane lift a
stone weighing so pounds 100 feet into
the Arp. r. B.
A. Cranes used in shipyards can
do so.
@. What will keep scum from form
ing on pickles kept in a barrel?-J.
F. B.
A. The Bureau of Chemistry says
that nothing will keep the scum from
forming on a barrel Of pickles which
were kept in vinegar. The vinegar
soaks the brine out Of the pickles, and
this brine dilutes the vinegar and
makes it weak, so that it will not
keep the scum, which Is bacteria,
from forming. You should take the
pickles out, wipe them off, cover them
10 days. At this time throw away the
vinegar and put the pickles in a Sec
ond vinegar, and you will find that
the pickles will keep and the vinegar
will be quite free from scum. Any
scum that appears should be skinned
off.
@. Is the percentage Of delinquent
girls in institutions increasing?-L. S.
A. The percentage Of delinquent
girls is increasing in institutions; that
Of boys is decreasing.
@. Please explain the action of a
well that eXhales with the approach
Of a storm and inhales when the
weather is about to clear.-L. r. NJ.
A. The Weather Bureau says that
this well evidently communicates
through a crevice, or otherwise, with
one or more underground caverns.
Now. when a storm is approaching,
the atmospheric pressure at the sur
face of the ground becomes less,
hence some Of the air in the cavern
blows out by expansion. On the
other hand, on the approach of clear
weather, the atmospheric pressure