Evening star., 1932-01-08

wood or inclosed In some form OF
holder, Is IN the treatise on fossils py
Conrad Gesner Of Zurich, Switzerland,
in 1865. This writer describes an
article for writing formed Of wood and
piece of lead, or, as he believed, an
artificial composition called English
antimony The famous Borrowdals
mine. in Cumberland, having been dis
covered about that time, 1t Is probaels
that we have here the first allusion
to that great find of graphite. While
the supply of the Cumberland mine
lasted the material for English pencils
consisted simply Of the native graphite
as taken from the mine.
@. What is spindrift?-E T.
A. Spindrift, or spoondrift, Is the
spray blown from the crests Of waves.
Q. When did the traffic in slaves
from Africa cease in the United
States?-C. w.
A. According to Elson's History Of
the United States" "A part of one of
the compromises Of the Constitution
was that Congress must not interfere
with the slave trade before 1908. Long
before this time, however, the South
ern States put an end TO the trafic,
each within its own bounds. But In
1904 South Carolina reopened it (after
it had been closed in that State for
IS years., and in the remaining four
years imported about 10000 Negroes.
In 1907 Congress passed a law to take
effect January l, 1908, prohibiting the
trade, under severe penalties. In 1920
an additional act made the traffc
piracy punishable by death. But, In
spite Of all vigilance Of the Govern
ment, aided by the British government,
there continued a smuggling trade I'D
to the Civil War. In all this period
there was but one execution for SNUG
Cling Negroes and that after the open
ing of the Civil War"
@. What does the word senate
mean?-J. p.
A. 1t is Latin word meaning coun~
Gil Of elders.
Q. When was the Gorgas Laboratory
dedicated?-A. D. r. "A
A. The Gorgas Laboratory Of Trop-
ical Research was dedicated on April 2,
1929, in the City of Panama. The
cost Of maintenance Is to be borne for
fiye years by the United States within
limit Of $4,000 per annum.
@. What kind of targets are used In
archery tournaments?-J. J. r.
A. Regulation archery targets are the
only ones used in the large tournaments.
They are feet in diameter and weigh
from so to so pounds They are made
of light straw, carefully sewn, with
bright painted faces.
Q. How many chain stores are there
In the United States?-V. r. r.
A. The latest authoritative figures
showed a total of 4,2s0 chains with
112,509 stores in 80 lines of merchan-
dising.
@. What were the Mulligan let
ters?-S. It. w.
A. Certain letters written by James
G.. Blaine to his private business part
ner, Warren Fisher. They were OBJ
tanned in some way by James Mulligan,
a clerk Of Fishers, and the insinuation
made that they showed corruption on
Blaine's part in the legislation affecting
certain Western railroads. Mulligan
appeared before congressional COM
mittee investigating Blaine, but Blaine
himself regained possession Of the let
ters and read them to Congress In June,
1876. The letters were the subject Of
much campaign controversy.
@. Does the alligator make any other
noise besides hissing?-D. B.
A. The alligator is noted for its pro-
nounced roaring or believing noise
which it makes when angered or dis
turbed. This Is remarkable, since 1t is
the only. saurian or reptile of the alli-
gator group which Is known to make O
distinctive noise.