Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-20
BY GENE A. DAT.

n VOWEL pageantry of the worlds
most beautiful and useful woods
vi in the exhibition guiSe of 400
1 walking sticks, has been added
recently to the educational col
lections at the Old National Museum
where 1t is attracting unusual attention
This collection Of rare and remarkable
cares has come into being because
Rudolph Block, who, incidentally, spurns
a walking stick for himself. has cher
isfed and cultivated the bizarre hobby
of assembling canes depicting all the
known woods which grow over the
worlds map.
After years of search, thousands OF
miles Of globe-trotting and the expend-
iture of small fortune on his strange
hobby, Mr.. Block has gathered together
q matchless group of canes which he
has loaned to Uncle Sam for permanent
display in Washington.
In the course of his diverse wander
tngs over the seven seas and contiguous
countries, Mr.. Block accumulated his
variegated collection He discovered
however, that it was the beautiful woods
, and not the walking sticks in which he
was most interested. AS the cane was
, q practical vehicle for the display of the
rare and marvellous woods which this
traveller collected, he continued to have
treasure trove Of wood finished as walk
ing sticks. When the collection was
completed and included specimens Of
every known wood, Mr.. Block turned
: It over to the Government for educa-
tional purposes
The walking sticks displayed under
glass run the gamut of everything that
you have seen or could possibly visual
lie In the way of canes. The colors
nj he eh ne 41aA t,ztA
with many blended hues added. In
weight. the walking sticks range from
o the lightest to the heaviest woods iden-
tined by science. In grain, design and
conf1guration they typify all the curls
and curlicues known to wood growing.
Worldwide history, superstitions and
tribal traditions ere honeycombed
among the mass of information con-
cealed in this cane collection.
You may have seen, twirled. or even
carried, down the Avenue lightweight
cane which qualified as a champion.
But did you ever handle a regulation
cane, so light in weight that it could be
sent as firSt-claSs mail by merely at
taching 2-cent stamp and a mailing
card? On the other extreme. have you
! ever seen a walking stick which COM
parably was much heavier for its size
than the mighty base ball bat with
which Babe" Ruth, king of swat,
larrups home-runs?
The wonderful, full-size cane in the
Block collection which weighs less than
one-half an ounce is made of barriguda
wood from faraway Brazil. This South
American tree is the little fat man"
of the semi-tropical forest. 1t Is so
light in avoirdupois that one cubic
foot Of the wood weighs under 5 pounds.
Mr.. Average Citizen Immediately
rings in cork as reliable basic unit
when he wishes to describe the light
ness Of a certain material. Balsa wood,
which the ancient Andean shipwrights
used in making RATS, and which is
today employed in aquaplanes, insula-
ton and refrigeration. weighs one-half
as much as cork, while barriguda tips
the scales at less than one-half the
normal weight of similar volume of
balsa. A cane made Of balsa and pro-
vided with meercshaum handle-an
interesting stick in the Block collec-
tion-is so light that a 2-cent stamp