Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-09
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC J. 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
It is great educational idea introduced
into the lives Of the most intelligent
people in the world-American news
paper readers. 1t is part OF that
best purpose Of a newspaper-service.
There is no charge except cents
Get the habit OF asking questions.
Address your letter to The Evening
Star Information Bureau, Frederic j.
HaSkin, director, Washington, D. c.
@. How many passengers use the
ferries in the San Francisco Bay Dis
trict every "a hours?-H. F.
A. The Oakland Chamber of Com
merce says that the reports are not
yet available for 1880, but Tor the call
endar year 1929 the number Of one
way fares paid for transportation
across San Francisco Bay by vehicular
and foot passengers only was 57,256, 947.
This includes both commuters and
irregular travellers Commuters num-
bered 26,800 and they made approx
mately so one-Way trips q month. The
water distance is about 3 miles.
Q. How many sheets will a bale OF
cotton makef-M. M.
A. A 5O0-pound bale of cotton,
allowing Is per cent for waste and
tare, will make 675 82x99-inch sheets.
@. Is it true that trees explode
from extreme cold?-E. w.
A. They do not explode, but are
subject to frost cracks. At times the
extreme cold wood of the tree will
contract: in other words. 1t will be-
come frozen. If the sun comes out
and shines brightly on one portion of
the tree and the rest Of the tree is
unable to take up the expansion, the
result is crack. Sometimes this
cracking makes itself heard. This
noise iS not comparable to an explosion.
@. How many Popes have there been
in the Roman Catholic Church?-L-
P. P.
A. Pope Plus XII is the 27eth Pope.
Q. How are the dolls made whose
frocks change color as the weather
changes?-H. w.
A. Some MICROSCOPES are not me-
chanical; they owe their microscopic
properties to their color, which changes
with the state Of humidity of the air by
reason of the application of sympa-
thetic inks These instruments are
often composed of flower or a figure,
Of light muslin or paper, immersed In
the following solution: Cobalt chloride,
part; gelatin, 10 parts; water, 100
parts. The normal coloring is pink.
This color changes into violet in me-
dunn humid weather and into blue in
very dry weather.
@. What is the theme song of the
A. g. P. Gypsies?-E. G. r.
A. 1t is 'The Two Guitars"
@. Which makes more noise, an air
plane motor or propeller?-R. w. M
A. The Army Air Corps says that
the propeller of an airplane makes a
greater volume of noise than the en-
CINE.
Q. Please give some information
about Snug Harbor-M. c. T.
A. Robert Richard Randall was the
founder of Snug Harbor. Randall was
a sea captain who retired from the sea
in the late eighteenth century and set
tied down on large farm on the edge
of which is now Greenwich Village.
When he died he left his property to
an institution known as Sailors Snug
Harbor for ancient and decreptt sea-
men. His relatives did all they could
TO break the will, but in 1881, over 80
wears after the captains death, the
Supreme Court upheld the bequest In
the meantime the City of New York
had grown so enormously that the
trustees decided it would be better to
lease the land contained in the Randall
farm and locate the seamen's home on
Staten Island. At the time of the cap
tain'S death or prior, his farm brought