Evening star., 1929-07-01

Stop O minute and think about this
fact: You can ask our Information
bureau any question Of fact and get
the answer back in o personal letter.
It Is o great educational idea, intro
duced into the lives Of the most intelli-
gent people In the world-American
newspaper readers. 1t is part Of that
best purpose Of q newspaper-service.
There is no charge except Q 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, d.
rector, Washington, D. @.
@. What flags did Lindbergh's boat
A The nag at the bow was the
the yacht ensign.
@. Is riding in an airplane more
dangerous than riding in an automo-
bile?--F. G. M.
A. Recent figures which compare au-
tomobile accidents with airpiane acc1-
dents show that the atrplane Is 10 Times
as dancerols. In automobiles one life
is lost for every 6,00l,219 automobile
miles.
q. Are all children who enter the
first grade ready to be taught to read?
IN. D.
A. A survey was made by the Bureau
of Education, primary teachers Deme
asked to state their opinions. more
than 90 per cent felt that there was q
difference In the mental ages Of the
children which led them to believe that
about 20 per cent were not ready TO be
taught to read.
@. Which is the darkest hour Of the
night?-J. G. K.
A. The Naval Observatory says that
no light is received from the sun when
zon, and during those hours there Is
none that Is regularly the darkest.
G. Was James Smithson, who left
the money for the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition. ever married?-M. G.
A. He never married. He was the
natural son Of Hugh Smithson, VINO
became the Duke Of northumberland
and of Elizabeth Keate Macie. VINO was
q descendant Of King Henry VII.
@. who originated the Chautauqua
aSsembly?--W. w. @.
A. The first Chautauqua assembly,
known as the Sunday School Assembly,
was In session August 4-l8, 1874, as
the result Of plan formed by Lewis
Miller of Akron, Ohio, and Rev. John
H. Vincent Of New York. The assem-
bly, plans widened rapidly in successive
years. In 1879 q school for teachers In
secular subjects was opened. Probably
Chautauqua Is best known In connec-
ton with the plan of systematic home
reading. The plan was proposed and
explained In 1878. The first year 1000
persons were enrolled, and from that
time readers, varying In number from
5000 to $4,000, have joined the circle
per season. There are now throughout
the United States and Canada more
than $50 local assemblies modelled after
the original Chautauqua institution.
q. Are locomotives and freight cars
increasing in size?-R. II.
A. The Locomotive Engineers Jour-
nal says that the extent Of the increase
in the size Of locomotives In the past
few years is shown by the figures OF
locomotives retired and installed In
1928. The decrease In number OF loco
motives Is also shown by the fact that
the 1888 locomotives retired in 1875
were replaced by less than half that
number. The locomotives retired last
effort, while the locomotives which re-
placed them averaged 50,558 pounds
The average power Of locomotives in
service increased from 2,674 pounds per
locomotive at the end OF 1927 to 43,590
pounds at the end Of 1878. The capacity
Of freight cars shows q like increase.
The new freight cars installed have an
average capacity Of 80 tons, aS COM
pared with an average Of 39.8 tons for
the retired cars.
- r. what country Aid fatfnoinc