Evening star., 1932-05-21

When troublesome questions arise,
avail yourself of the service of this
department 1t costs you nothing
you have only to send two cents for
postage on the personal letter you will
receive in reply. Any question on any
subject of fact will be answered. Ad-
dress your letter of inquiry to The Eve
ming Star Information Bureau, Frederic
j. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C..
@. What is the program for Flag day
| in Washington, D. C.?-J. T. H.
| A. The District Bicentennial Com
mission says that on June IA next,
which is the day that the birthday Of
the flag is celebrated, there will be two
parades in Washington. The first will be
at noon, when the Wild Cat Division
| of the World War Veterans will parade.
The official District Bicentennial pa
rade will begin at pm. at the corner
of Constitution avenue and Fifteenth
street northwest. It will go u0 Fifteenth
street to Pennsylvania avenue and along
Pennsylvania avenue to the Capitol,
where it will be reviewed by Government
officials. Forty-eight States, with at
| least so floats. will be represented. AS
| it will be a night parade, torch lights
will be used on the floats for lighting.
One of the most colorful features of
the parade and of the entire Bicenten-
nial Celebration this year will be liv-
ing flag composed of 900 women, 800
on the Senate steps, 300 on the rotunda
steps and 300 on the House steps.
O. How many commercial licensed
airplanes and pilots are there in the
United States?-A. S.
A. According to latest figures, there
! are 10, 500 commercial licensed airplanes
! in the United States; 5000 Of them in
the hands of private owners-iridivid-
uals and companies outside Of aero
nautics. There are 10000 licensed
pilots in the United States.
O. How much has the invasion OF
Shanghai cost?-D. E. L.
A. The Chinese estimate the cost at
| S400 ,000, ,000 They report 5000 civilians
killed and 10000 families affected.
O. What is a meridian stone-B. K.
A. The term meridian stone is usually
applied to the stones marking the ends
of a so-called meridian line, placed to
define the true north and south line.
Such stones are intended primarily to
enable a surveyor to test his compass
and determine the difference between
the direction indicated by the compass
needle (magnetic north) and the true
north It is important that meridian
line be placed away from buildings,
electric car lines and, in general, any
thing which might defect the needle OF
the compass.
@. Did Long Island at one time be-
long to one man?-G. w. G.
A. The territory of Long Island was
incorporated in the grant of 1920 by
James to the Plymouth Company and
in 1885 conveyed to William Alexander,
Earl of Stirling In 1874 it became part
of the British colony of New York.
@. Please give short biography of
Eli Whitney.-R. D. r.
A. He was born at Westborough,
Mass, December 8, 1865. He graduated
from Yale and went to Georgia as
teacher, and while there invented the
cotton gin. His workshop was broken
into and his machine stolen and others
made before he could secure a patent.
He subsequently manufactured firearms
at Whitneyville, in Connecticut. He
died at New Haven, Conn, January 8,
1925.
@. What were the mourning customs
of the Jews in early times?-O. C.
A. The Scriptures set forth many in
teresting details concerning the method
of Jewish mourning. The next of kin
closed the eyes of the deceased; the
corpse was bathed. and If a person of
any consequence, the body was laid for