Evening star., 1932-02-27
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

This great service Is maintained by
| The Evening Star for the benefit OF its
readers, who may use it every day with
/ out cost to themselves. All they have
| to do is ask for any information de-
sired and they will receive prompt
answers by mail. Questions must be
clearly written and stated as briefly as
possible. IncloSe two-cent stamp for
return postage and address The Eve
ming Star Information Bureau, Frederic
j. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. G.
O. viii election day this year come
on the first day of November or on the
eighth?-J. L.
A. Election day is the first Tuesday
| after the first Monday in November,
which in 1882 comes on November 8.
@. What is meant by bibliomancy?
! S. N.
| A. 1t is the act or art of foretelling
| the future by means of books, especially
| by passages from the Bible. 1t Is usual
| ly done by opening the books and choos-
| ing a passage at random. The passage
| Is regarded as an augury.
@. How many air mail routes are
there in the United States?-R. I.
A. There are now 20.
@. Where is the geographic center
| of New York State?-L. K. j.
A. In Madison County, six miles
southeast Of Oneida.
! @. Why are the rates higher for an
nuitieS on women's lives than on mems?
M. r.
A. Practically every life insurance
| company charges women higher rates
| for annuities than they charge men.
! The rates charged are based on tables
| compiled from actual experience under
annuity contracts, and every such ex-
perience has shown that the mortality
Of female annuitants is lower than that
| Of male annuitantS. There have been
many reasons advanced for the longer
longevity of women. Among them are
that women take better care of them
selves, being able to stay at home or
indoors when they are i'll. At the ad-
ya1ced ages they are probably not ex-
posed as much to deaths from accidents.
@. Is the japanese Constitution OF
| 1889 still In use?-L. M.
A. It Is still in effect.
@. What changes have taken place IN
family life In the last hundred years?
j. OD.
A. A great many things have
affected family life during the last
100 years. Among these are the inven-
ton Of the automobile and the improve
ment Of our roads, the moving picture,
the telephone, the radio, the fact that
many wives earn an independent in
| come, the establishment of good nursery
schools, the development Of hotels,
restaurants and apartment houses.
Q. What Is meant by genre in art9
III. r.
A. 1t is style Of painting or sculpture
representing everyday life and manners
in realistic way.
@. Did Andrew Carnegie provide pen
sions for former Presidents or widows of
Presidents?-A. r.
| A. Andrew Carnegie In his will left
an annuity Of $1,000 to Mrs. Preston
| formerly Mrs. Cleveland) and to Mrs.
| Roosevelt. He left an annuity of
$4,000 to ex-President Taft. He did
not provide any pensions for Presidents
and Presidents wives.
@. What is the origin Of the mu-
seum?-E. K.
A. The word museum Is much older
than the thing which it now denotes.
Its Greek meaning is "a temple of the
Muses. 1t could be applied meta
phoricaIly to any place where htera-
ture and the arts were cultivated, and
its most famous use in antiquity was
as the title of the Museum of Alex
andria. founded and endowed by Alex
ander as a great library and home for
scholars and for literary study. It's
application to collection of antiqui-