Evening star., 1932-06-25
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

Did you ever write a letter to Fred
eric j. HASkin? You can ask him any
question Of fact and get the answer in
q personal letter Here is a great edu-
cational idea, introduced into the lives
Of the most intelligent people in the
world-American newspaper readers.
1t Is a part of that best purpose of
newspaper-service. There is no charge
except cents In coin or stamps for
Hasktn, Director The Evening Star In
formation Bureau, Washington, D. c.
@. At what height can a man in
balloon hear sounds made on the
earth?-G. H. N.
A. The Weather Bureau says, since
no definite experiments are known to
have been made to determine the height
In question, no positive answer may be
given. Experience of Army ballooniSts
shows that shouting voices may be heard
in the balloon at a height of 5000 feet
where the wind is not unusually strong.
Birds singing in the trees have been
heard at 10000 feet, and the whistles
Of railroad trains have been heard be-
tween $4,000 to 10000 feet. High
pitched sounds are heard best. In
cloudy, calm days, when the balloon is
in the clouds or Just above them, the
sounds, at least in some cases, seem to
be heard to somewhat greater attitudes
@. Does an ordinary window screen
keep out ultraviolet rays, as ordinary
! window glass does?-A. M. S.
A Not to the same extent, since the
light which comes through the meshes
of the screen is entirely unobStructed.
@. How do the newspapers of the
country stand on the repeal of the
I eighteenth amendment?-M. v.
A. In a poll conducted by the Liter
ary Digest last year as to the attitude
Of leading newspapers Of the country
on the prohibition question, responses
were received from. 389 advocating pro-
hibition, 345 advocating repeal, and the
balance of the 1000 papers solicited
were for modification or were neutral
OF the papers advocating prohibition
| the circulation list was $685.. .041: those
advocating repeal, 12,520,9ll, and for
| modification, 263, 1863; neutral 6l6, ,404
AS a general thing the large papers,
/ particularly those in the cities, we're
| for repeal or modification. Small-town
and country papers we're largely for the
retention of the present status.
@. Where was Harry Horlick, the
] AddAO FOAAlAsNy "
| A. He was born in CheringoW, a
hamlet near Moscow, Russia He studied
music in the Conservatory of Tiflis,
and has wandered in many parts of the
world, listening to the melodies of the
| people.
@. Does France send all Of her Grim
inals to Devils Island?-C. S.
| A. France does not send all persons
who commit crimes to the French penal
colony on the Isles de Salut, of the
coast of French Guiana. The type of
! prisoners sent Is that, generally speak
ing, of the undesirable habitual crimi-
nal whom the French Government does
not want to return to France. In SEN
| fencing the criminal to the colonies the
! type Of criminal rather than the type
OF crime committed is stressed, such as
undesirable political prisoners, as well
as vicious habitual criminals.
@. Was Coon Butte, in Arizona,
formed by falling meteor or an ex-
ploding volcano?-G. NJ. S.
/ A. Scientists have not determined
definitely the cause of this craterlike
depression with its high rim, but most
of them incline to the theory that II
was caused by explosion from beneath.
@. How many miles of railways and
highways has Porto Rico?-J F. M.
| A. There are 463 miles of railroads
in Porto Rico and more than 1000
miles OF surfaced highways.
@. What Is the significance of Isa-
/ bella to American Negroes?-A. A.
| A. Isabella was one of the first Span-
ish settlements in Haiti, first known as
Hispaniola. In 1901 Nicolas Ovanda
obtained permission to bring Negro
slaves there from Africa. For this rea-
son Negroes look upon Isabella as the
first landing place of their race in
America in the same way in which the
English regard the jamestown Settle