Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-03

Q. Is there more hay fever in the
country than there used to be?-
J. A. w.
A. officials Of the American Hay
Fever Association say that the num-
Der Of victims Of hay fever Is steadily
increasing.
@. How long did 1t take to design
and construct the Spirit Of st. Louis?
&C. S.
A. The complete design took $50
total man hours Of engineering time
between February 26 and May 10.
OF this total, IT'S hours were required
in making the aerodynamical and
structural design and flight testing.
For the actual construction, 8, 900 man
hours were expended, not including
the time Of the superintendent and
manager.
@. How many life insurance COM
panieS are there in the United States?
$. T.
A. According to the latest figures
of the Chamber of Commerce of the
United States there are in active oper-
alton 357 life insurance companies.
@. Which is worth more. the eggs
country in a year?-T. o. F.
A. For 1926 the Department of Ag-
riculture estimated there were pro-
duced eggs of a value of $500, 100000
and poultry with value of S561 ,O00,-
900. 1t Is not stated whether this
proportion obtains every year.
Q:~pNhat is the derivation Of the
word kidnap?-G. A. L.
A. 1t was originally slang term
taken from the cant of thieves. 1t
is a combination of the word kid"
meaning a child, plus map" variant
Of nab, meaning to snatch.
@. What are the average earnings
Of workers in the automobile indus
try?-T. F. S.
A. Figures for 1925 showed average
earnings per hours of 1878 cents, and
average full time earnings per week
of $36.37. This covered 144.362 work
ers in 80 representative establishments
in eight states.
@. How tall were Beethoven and
Schubert?-S. F.
A. From estimates made during the
process of elimination and reburial
of the composers bodies, it is believed
that Beethoven was five feet five
inches, and Schubert was only five
feet and one-half inch.
@. What Is lagniappe?-P. L.
A. 1t is trifiing present given
to a customer by tradesman. The
word was coined by the French in
Spanish word having the same mean
ipO TT 10 nrOpo1,ncod In
@. To what industrial use is the
machete puts. f.
A. It is used in agriculture. 1t Is
a short sword-like tool, half knife,
half cleaver, used in Cuba and other
tropical American countries for cut
ting cane. 1t becomes a weapon in
time Of war.
O. What Is a madrigal?-W. A. s.
A. It Is a short lyric poem gener-
ally on an amatory subject. Those of
Tasso represent the finest specimens
Of Italian poetry.
@. When did the American flag fly
on a fortress Of the Old World for the
first time?-T. T.
A. In 1903, when the Marines hauled
down the Tripolitan flag at Derne and
raised the Stars and Stripes.
@. How many descendants are there
Of the people who came over in the
Mayf1ower?-T. M.
A. The Society of Mayfower De.
scendants has more than 1000 mem
bers. There are numerous State So
cieties of similar character.
O. What has become Of Luther Bur-
banks experimental farm?-J. G.
A. This farm. near Sebastopol.
Calf, has been leased to a plant
breeding and nursery company by
Mrs. Burbank.
Q. Please give the equivalent Of the
Swiss watchmaker's ligne.-D. l.. S.
A. Ligne is the unit of measurement
of the diameter of lens. 1t is equiva-
| lent to one-eleventh part of an inch.