Evening star., 1928-05-30

O. Just what are MIME balls and
why 30 called?-M. z.
A. A MIME ball is "A conical rife bull
let with a cavity in its base plugged
with metal cup, which. BY the ezplo-
sion Of the charge, Is driven farther In.
expanding the sides to fit closely the
rifiing. Such balls we're much used In
the middle Of the nineteenth century
and are. named after the inventor. Capt
e. Z. MIME Of France.
q. Is ebony always Blacks. L.
a. The ebony Of CeylOn is black, but
the variety found In Jamaica Is green
@. What time Of day should straw
| berries be picked?-L. z. r.
A. The best time for picking the fruit
I Is in the morning. when the berries are
/ cool. They should be pinched rathe!
/ than pulled from the plant. StTaUosr-
ries picked on rainy day do not keep
/ we'll.
O. Why are hides tanned?-M G. ..
A. The American Chemical Society
| says that II left untanned hide. Ike
| the meat, decays In the untanned state
the fibers Of the hide are glued or
matted together. When tanned the
| that they move separately without tear
| ing apart This process also gTells or
thickens the skin.
O. Give an easy method Of cleaning a
straw hat.--W. ID.
| A. The Druggists Circular for MAY
I recommends the following. Scrub the
| hat with warm water. Sprinkle on J.
/ while still damp some sodium Derbora'e
| and brush well. Wipe clean with a
damp sponge. Dry in the sun
O. Where is the City Of Hundred
| TOwerS?-R. r..
A. Pavia. Italy. Is 50 called from ia
many towers and steeples.
! O. Do elephants Of both sexes have
| tusks?' Which have the larger ears
African or Indian elepnants?-B. Meg.
/ A. The African elephant has very
large ears. a convex forehead, and tlIsks
| in both sexes. The Asiatic Or Indian
elephant has small or moderate-sized
ears, a concaVe forehead, and tusks
only on the male.
! Q. How is Don Quixote pronounced7
| M. K. r.
! A. 1t may be pronounced either don
kwik sot long o. or don ke-ho "a. The
latter Is the Spanish pronunciation.
@. Who is the author of the old
song beginning There Was an Old
Darky and His Name Was Uncle Ned?"
/ L. S. n.
| A This Is one Of Stephen Collins
| Fosters popular negro songs entitled
/ old Uncle Ned"
! Q. In what year was America
/ named &C. H.
A. America is q name first applied
/ witn hstle warrant 70 what Is now
/ North and South America by Martin
i WaldSeemulleT, a young geographsT Of
( st. Die, town IN the VoSgeS Noun
/ taInS. In Latin work, "CoSmogra-
/ pllae InEroductlo," which Waloseemul-
| Ter edited in 1907. he used the name
America" IN honor OF Amerigo YES
/ pucci, whose narrative Of the latters
| voyage Of discovery In the New World
/ AEnericus discovered it. Waldseemuller
wrote. 1T ought to be called the land
| OF AmeTicus or America"
@. What is meant by provincial fur
/ niture?-R. G.
/ A. Provincial furniture is furniture
| OF the French provinces, notably Nor
/ mandy, Breton, Alsatia and Provence.
/ It's distinctions are simplicity and
| gracefulneSs OF line combined with
/ comfort. There is much interest in
I this type OF furniture in America az
/ the present time, as it seems 70 G:
| into our types OF homes.
@. Were any comets visible IN 1927?
w. w. T.
A. Ten comets became visible In 1927,
and four which had made their ap-
peaTance a year or more before the
beginning Of 1927 continued Visible
during part o. that year These we're
all telescope comets except SkjeHerup's
and the Pons-Winnecke comet, which
was barely visible 70 the naked eye for
few evenings.