Evening star., 1935-03-09
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN,

- A reader can get the ansDer to
Gny question OF fact by tDrittn0
The Euenin1 Star Information Bu-
redu, Frederic J. Hdskin, Director,
Washington, D. c. Please inclose
stamp for reply.
q. What is the smallest army in the
world?-G. M. 3.
A. The Monacan Infantry, number
ing 200, Is said to be the smallest army
In the world.
Q. What is q lacrimatory?-M. S.
A. This was a small glass bottle
with q narrow neck found In ancient
tombs and mistakenly supposed TO
have held the tears of the mourners.
In reality 1t contained unguents.
@. Please tell me the earliest date
that veneer was used on wood?-F. r.
A. The use Of veneer on furniture
or on wood or metal surfaces can be
traced to no specified date or year. 1t
transcends all historic data and comes
into notice along with the earliest
known furniture in Egypt. 1t has
been used freely by all civilized peoples
and wherever people have worked In
wood. The British Museum contains
some examples of Egyptian work
which are many thousands Of years
old.
@. Is there an organization inter-
ested in American folk arts?-G. S.
A. There Is a National Committee
on Folk Arts with headquarters at
SIS Fifth avenue, New York City.
@. When did Gene stratton Por-
ter, author Of Girl Of the Limber-
lost" die?-F. c.
A. Mrs. Gene Stratton Porter died
after an accident when she was struck
by an automobile, December 6, 1924,
Los Angeles, Calf.
@. What is the difference between
a lockout and a strike?-H. F.
A. A lockout is the shutting down.
as Of an industrial plant. and with
drawal Of employment from a body
of men who refuse to accede to the
employers conditions. The lockout
Is to be distinguished from the strike
on the ground that in the lockout it
is the employer who directly causes
the stoppage of operations, while in
the strike the initiative lies with the
men.
@. How long has electricity been
known?-W. S. P.
A. Electricity was known to the
ancients. About rs centuries ago
Thales, a Greek philosopher, recorded
the fact that if amber is rubbed it
will attract light objects.
@. Please describe Artists drive in
Death Valley, Calif.AA. D. r.
A. Artists drive Is q one-way high
way containing two loops and mount
ing to an elevation of 1000 feet in its
9-mile course. 1t lies between Golden
Canyon and q point opposite the salt
pools in the foothills Of the Black
Range. The Panamint Range, scenes
Of feverish activity in the mining
days, with its ghost towns and aban-
doned bitches: Telescope Peak, the
most precipitous peak in Inyo County.
and mazes of small canyons. vivid in
coloring and weirdly eroded. are
among the features Of Artists drive.
@. Where is the Ca -Choo Club?-
E. F. C.
A The headquarters Of this or
ganization of hay-fever sufferers is
in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
@. Was Coleridge cured Of the drug
habit in his last years?-H. G. K.
A. Halleck says: He spent the last
18 years OF his life in Highgate with
his kind friend, DR.. Gilman, who sue
ceeded in regulating and decreasing
the amount Of opium which Coleridge
took
@. Please give a biography Of the
English aviatrix who was lost at sea
in 1928 or l929.-W. NICK.
A. Elsie Mackay, English aviatrix
and actress, daughter Of Lord Inch
cape. was born in 1894. She married
Lieut. Dennis Wyndham in 1917. SUBJ
sequently appearing on the stage as
Poppy Wyndham. The marriage was
annulled in 1921. AS an aviatrix she