Evening star., 1932-03-10

ident Lincoln declared: There are
already among us those who, II the
Union be preserved, will live to see II
contain $50, ,0O0, ,000." In his second
annual message Mr.. Lincoln predicted
that by 1920 the population would
have reached $4,000, 900. At that time
it was only 105,7l0,000. The geogra-
pliers now set the probable static maxi
mum at from $50 100000 to 10000
900.
@. What birds have become extinct
m the United States within the last
200 years?-C. B.
A. The passenger pigeon In the
1905, Labrador duck in the I840's
and the great aux in the 1840's.
@. How much first-class mail was
handled by the Post Once Department
last year?-M. s.
A. For the fiscal year ending June
30, 1881: Number of letters, 1871
567,s16; penalty letters, 511,993,88S:
franked letters, 38,843,177. OF the to-
tai number of letters given in the first
figure, 1922 ,080,268 were government
post cards and 278,008,o18 were private
mailing post cards.
O. How tall were George Washing
ton and Abraham Lincoln?-W. M.
A. At the time Of his death George
Washington was 6 feet 3ls inches. 1t
Is probable that he was considerably
taller during the prime of life. Abra-
ham Lincoln was 6 feet 4 inches.
@. Were the coinages Of ancient
Babylon. Greece and Rome gold or sill
ver?-W. w. L.
A. The coins Of the Babylonian En-
x1fr L~4l1
Rome. from 268 B. C. onward, the ses-
tertius was the unit of money. 1t was
at first a small silver coin, but under
the Empire a brass sestertius was is
sued. Silver was the standard coinage
of ancient Greece. Gold was rarely
coined in Greece proper, but 1t was
largely minted by Alexander the Great
and his immediate successors.
@. Do crickets eat clothing?-R. M.
A-CricketS do not subsist entirely
on clothing, as clothes moths do. In
fact, they are essentially field insects,
which live on plant material naturally.
However, they do get into houses for
the sake Of warmth, and in some cases
eat clothing when no other food Is
available.
Q. When and where Is this years
National Aircraft Show to be held?-
H. S.
A. 1t will be held in Detroit, April
2 to 10.
@. How many islands are there Of
an area of $4,000 square miles or
more?-W. c. L.
A. There are twenty-eight single
islands in such list. This Is headed
by the island continent of Australia
and is concluded with Banks Island.
in the Arctic Ocean, which has an
area of $4,000 square miles.
Q. Why Is standard time measured
from England?-P. N.
A. The custom of reckoning the
prime meridian as that of Greenwich
arose because Greenwich is the Ma
tional Observatory of England. Brit
iSh ships naturally referred their
longitude to this meridian and the sys-
tenn spread all over the world. The
advantage of having a single system
overcame local prejudices.
@. What has become of the banking
house of Rothschlld?-R. N.
A. 1t still flouriShes. However, so
many great joint stock company enter
prises have arisen, doing vaster busi-
ness, that the old personal firms are
overshadowed. The Rothschilds have
no counting house in the United States,
although they have correspondents.
They operate largely in England and
on the continent.
@. How far up is the Missouri river
navigable?-F. I.
A. 1t is navigable in summer dur
ing the flood period as far as Great
Fall, Montana, and in low water as
far as Buford, at the mouth Of the
Yellowstone river.