Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-11-30
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

What do you need to know? Is there
some point about your business or per-
sonal life that puzzles you? Is there
something you want to know without
delay? Submit your question to Fred
eric j. Haskin, director of our Wash
ington Information Bureau. He is
employed to help you. Address your
inquiry to The Evening Star Informa-
ton Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, direc-
tor. Washington, D. c., and inclose 2
cents in coin or stamps for return post
age.
O. How many negroes are employed
at the White HouSe?-W. J.
A. The number of negroes employed
at the White House, including those in
the executive Office, is 90. They are
employed in various capacities, such as
ooorkeepers, messengers and laborerS.
@. What was the Godin idea of
profit sharing between capital and
labor?-C. l.. B.
A. Godin, a French Socialist, estab-
lished a cooperative association in 1859
and by 1886 had fully established profit
sharing. BY his plan profits in excess
of per cent on capital were to be
divided between labor and capital in the
ratio of aggregate wages to aggregate
minimum profits.
O. What is a message stick?-E. w.
A. A message stick was used by the
early Indians as a means of commune
cation. 1t was, literally, stick which
bore feathers or upon which notcneS
were cut. It was sent by runners.
@. Do carpets and rugs in a choir loft
reduce the reverberation of Sound?-
d. R. B.
A. The Bureau of Standards says that
carpets and rugs absorb sound and have
the effect of reducing the reverber-
alton time of a room. The area of the
floor covering in choir loft OF average
size would hardly be large enough to
have any deadening effect upon the
reverberation in the church as whole.
Musicians generally prefer to have tner
immediate surroundings bare and re-
verberant.
O. Where is Ell Dorado supposed to
have been located?-J. K.
A. Ell Dorado was the name OF a
fabulous city of great wealth which
during the sixteenth, seventeenth and
part of the eighteenth centuries was
supposed to exist somewhere in the
northern part of South America.
@. Is cedar, cypress or redwood the
most durable?-W. D. G.
A. Cedar, cypress and redwood are
classed in the same durability group and
! have approximately the same decay
resisting properties. The decay resist
ance of these species, however, lies in
their heartwood only; the sapwood OF
all of them will rot rather quickly when
used under conditions which favor
decay.
@. How many States have constitu-
tons which prohibit using funds fol-
parochial schools?-W. M. M.
A. The constitutions of 40 States
contain provisions against the use oil
public school funds for other than pub
lie school purposes.
@. Please give the length and width
of London Bridget. P.
A. Old London Bridge, begun about
ITO, was completed in 1909. 1t carried
a row of timber houses, which were
frequently burned down, but the main
structure existed until the beginning OF
the nineteenth century. The old bridge
was the center for booksellers and
other tradesmen. On it stood the Chapel
of st. Thomas of Canterbury and a
tower on which the heads of traitors
were exposed to view. The present
London Bridge was begun in 1924, and
completed in 1881. 1t is borne on five
granite arches, is 928 feet long, IS feet
wide, and Sc feet above the river.
@. Upon what other occasion did
Virginia vote for Republican Presi-
dent?-M. j. D.
A Virginia voted a Republican ticket