Evening star., 1932-02-26
ANSWERS . QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

Few Americans realize how much
their Government does for them.
Readers of The Evening Star can draw
On all Government activities through
our free information service. The
worlds greatest libraries, laboratories
and experimental stations are at their
command. Ask any question Of fact
and it will be answered free, by mail
direct to you. Inclose 2-cent stamp for
reply postage and address The Evening
Star Information Bureau, Frederic J.
Haskin, Director, Washington, D. G.
, 8: s Do many States forbid hitch
A. It is quite generally frowned upon
ana the list Of States forbiddiAg it is
growing. At the last compilation,
hitch-hiking was banned in Connecti-
cut. Delaware, Maine. Minnesota, New
Jersey, New York, Oregon and Wis
consin.
@. Has any man ever been nominated
for the presidency by national con-
vention and refused to run?-T. A. r.
A. In 1872 a Democratic Convention,
at Louisville, which had refused to ac-
cept the nomination Of Greeley at Bal
timore. nominated Charles O'Conor Of
New York, a Catholic. O'Conor refused
the nomination by telegraph, but the
convention proceeded to nominate him
anyway. In the subsequent election he
received thousands Of votes in % States.
a. Is there any language now used
which is descendant OF the San
skrit?-E. C.
A. There are a number of dialects
To- It'd Ia I2I tr,f9 =
by SanSkrit, which is the ancient lit
erary language of the Hindus. The
modern language which most nearly
takes the place of Sanskrit is Hin
dustani, which is the lingua franca Of
India and is spoken over a wider ter
ritory than any other Indian tongue.
@. What were the dances in the
time Of George Washington?-E. G.
A. The minuet and the gavotte were
the formal dances, while reels, jigs and
quadril'es were very popular.
@. Why are buildings in Russia
blown up instead of being torn DOWN.
M. r. B.
A. They are dynamited because the
importance Of the new project is so
great and the value Of the old ma
terial is relatively so small that 1t Is
considered less wasteful to proceed with
the new project than to pause and tear
down the old buildings.
@. Please give recipe for sailing
peanuts in the she'll. o. c.
A. Peanuts may be salted in the
shell by soaking in 10 per cent salt
solution before roasting.
@. Do many children of Indian blood
attend public schools with white chill
dren?-G. O. w.
A. About so 900. This is more than
half of all Indian children attending
any school.
Q. Please give history of the physics
Of sound.-A. S.
A. The history Of sound is practically
identical with the progress Of mathe-
matics and dynamics from the time Of
Calico and Newton to the present, and
few dates can be assigned to definite
discoveries. The laws of vibrations Of
a stretched string were first deduced
mathematically by Brook Taylor in IT'S
and by Daniel Bernoulli in 1755. Longi-
tudinal vibrations of bars were inveSti-
gated by Chladni Q756-182D. The his
tory Of the phenomena Of the sense OF
hearing harmony, ETC., begins probably
with the earliest days of civilization.
It was known to Pythagoras in the sixth
century B. C. Much research was con-
Quoted by Helmholtz beginning with
1884.
@. Is there a natural invert sugar2
ID. N.
A. Honey is practically natural form
of invert sugar.
@. What Is the origin of the ski?
e. L. F.
A. Implements for this purpose were
used by many nations of antiquity.