Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-10
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

Stop a minute and think about this
fact. You can ask our Information
Bureau any question Of fact and get
the answer back in a personal letter.
1t is a great educational idea intro
duced into the lives of the most intelli-
gent people in the world-American
newspaper readers 1t is a part Of that
best purpose of a newSpaper-service.
There is no charge except 2 cents in
coin or stamps for return postage. Get
the habit of asking questions. Address
your letter to The Evening Star Infor-
nation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, di-
rector, Washington, D. c.
@. Is it true that Al Smith has
never been in Washington, D. CO.
NJ. C.
A. Gov. Smiths secretary says that
such a statement is not true. On one
occasion Gov. Smith was in Washington
in answer to the invitation which the
President issued to the governors OF all
the States He has also been in the
National Capital at other times.
@. Has Brazil good highways for
automobiles?-G. c. G.
A. Brazil has a pretentious program
of highway construction under way.
Janeiro to Montevideo, a distance of
200 miles, is practically complete.
@. How far does man have to fall
to gain maximum speed?-A. B.
A. An experiment was recently con-
Quoted at Wright Field to determine
how fast a man falls when dropped
from a great height. The velocity was
found to be considerably lower than
- foil
ing bodies. Were there no atmosphere,
man would fall 16 feet the first sec
ond; Ga feet in two seconds; 256 feet in
four seconds; 1924 feet in eight sec
onds, ETC., the distance increasing as
the square of the time. Due to the re-
sistance of the air, however, there comes
a time when the velocity is no longer
increased. This is known as the "ter-
minal velocity" and was found to be
less than 200 miles an hour. 1t was
reached after the man dummy had
fallen 1000 feet.
@. How many people in the world
are lliterate?-E. M. M.
A. DR.. j. F. Abel, a specialist of the
Bureau of Education says that 62.5 per
cent of all the worlds inhabitants, de-
spite the educational progress of the
last two or three centuries, are still
illiterate. DR.. Abel calculates that the
worlds population now is 100000, 900.
Of these ASS 100000 are deducted on
the ground that people under 10 years
of age are illiterate. This leaves 1885,
100000 above the age of 10, of whom
DR.. Abel finds that about $4,000, 900
are illiterates.
@. How did the people of Alaska and
off IF fIo TY1it
States?-K. H. r.
A. Citizenship has often been con-
ferred on large bodies of people by the
annexation of territory as result of
cession or conquest, and it was in this
way that the inhabitants of Louisiana,
Florida, Texas, Alaska and Hawaii be-
came citizens of the United States.
This is known as naturalization by in
corporation"
@. Does electricity push or pull?-A.
L. 3.
A. The Bureau of Standards says
that electricity neither pushes nor pulls.
Q. Please give the origin of the dress
suit.-H. F. H.
A. The Haberdasher says: "As far as
we know, the formal dress suit of to-
day Is the natural evolution of the dress
coat of the continental era and before.
Black came in when fancy colors went
out, and found its place in formal dress
apparel as it did in ordinary day wear.
The dress coat, from designers angle,
has changed but little from similar gar
mentS worn $50 years ago. Long
trousers, as is commonly known, we're
first introduced by George Bryan Brum-
nell and the vest itself Is only an evolu-
tfon of the waiStcoat which previollS
generations had favored"
c. How is powdered sugar made?-
E. r.
A. Granulated sugar, powdered sugar
and confectioners' sugar are all COM