Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-11

Q. Who received the 1890 spingsrn
Medal7-L. D.
A. Richard Harrison was awarded
the honor for his outstanding perform
ance as the Lord In THE Green Pas
lures" He is the second Negro actor
to receive the award, Charles s. Gilpin
of Emperor Jones" fame being the
other.
@. From what source Is the phos-
phate obtained which is used in making
baking powder?-M E. K.
A. While there are deposits Of phos-
phate rock in the West, practically all
which Is used in baking powders comes
from Florida and Tennessee. Since the
early part of the twentieth century nat
ural phosphate rock has been the prin-
clpal source OF phosphate used for food
purposes. Formerly the rock was treat
ed with sulphuric acid, in which process
the trtbasic phosphate was converted
into free phoSphoric acid. The crude
phoSphoric acid usually contained small
quantities of impurities, which had to
be completely removed before it could
be used for food purposes. The purified
phosphoric acid was made into mono
calcium phosphate by reaction with
calcium carbonate. 1t was then dried
in vacuum, milled to fine granulation
and bolted to uniform size The wet
process Of producing phoephoric acid
AAoso w oplItC CAtCAlt Bcth DY
the volattlization processes in which
phosphorus Is voltalized, oxidized to
phoSphoric anhydride and condensed in
small quantity of water, yielding a
concentrated solution Of phosphoric
acid (HPOO.
@. What is a flapperaLF. p.
A. Webster's New International Die
tionary says: A young girl of about IS
to Ii years Of age, especially one who is
not yet out of1icially; probably SO
called with double allusion to flap
per" young duck, and to the braid Of
nalr worn hanging down the back Of
young girls.
@. What are the denominations Of
money in common use in England
Fl. r. @.
A. The three major units of Eng
lish money are pounds streling, shillinRs
and pence. The guinea, the half crown,
and the half penny and the form also
remain In use, but the vast majority
OF business is done with the first three
named.
@. What causes spontaneous COM
bustion of coal2-D. s.
A. The Bureau Of Mines saws that
the heating of coal is believed to be a
surface phenomenon. II ton of btu.
mlnous coal could be delivered In a sim
gle cube, each dimension of the cube
would be about 2.8 feet. When coal
heats, 1t is due to something that goes
on with respect to the surface and not
something that happens inside OF the
piece. So far as is known, this Is true
no matter how finely the piece il d.
vided. 1t is, therefore, interesting to
Know the area of the total exposed sur
lace In ton of coal. If the cube hay-
Ing originally an area of about AT square
feet, be continuously subdivided until
all the pieces are fine enough lust to
pass through 16-mesh screen. the area
OF exposed surface in one ton Of coal
becomes an acre, 1t Is perfectly obvi-
Gus from this why it is that trouble
from spontaneous combustion originates
In nne coal, because the great increase
IN extent OF surface does not begin un-
til one gets below ia inch. or nut size.
II nne coal is kept out Of the pile. the
heating surface Is relatively so small as
70 remove the cause of spontaneous
combustion.
Q. What Is the local name of the
hibiscus. Hawaii's national flower?
A. The flower emblem Of Hawaii ,s
the Pua Alcalo.
Q. Who is the carillonneur OF the
Laura Spelman Rockefeller chimes of
Riverside Churchill. NJ. r.
A. Kanniel Lefevre.
Q. What is panda?-E. L. G.
A. This Asiatic animal is one Of the
rarest Of mammals with the face of a
raccoon, feet like a cat and body similar
to that Of the bear There are two
specimens at the Field Museum in
Chicago. These were captured by
Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt near
the border Of Tibet.