Evening star., 1935-09-21

question OF fact By DritiHg The Wdshinq-
ton Evening Star Information Bureau,
Frederic J. Hdskin, Director, Washing
ton, .. c. Please inclose stamp for reply.
q. How many airplanes are there in
the United States?-H. H. G.
A. According to recent survey, there
are 1888 civilian airplanes and 2,739
military planes in the United States.
q. Where was the first drive-in Serv-
ice station in the United States?-L. M.
A. station built at Union and Dud-
ley streets in Memphis in 1914 is said
to have been. 1t has now been removed
and its site has become parking lot.
@. How many miles of railroad were
abandoned last year?-C. j.
A. Abandonment of improbable
branch lines by the railways of the
United States tOtaled 1895 miles in 1894.
This was an increase of ll9 miles.
breaking the record of the year before
with the largest aggregate abandon
ment for any one year during more
than century Of railway operation.
1t compares with 1876 miles aban-
doned in 1888 and with 1926 miles in
1921, the record prior to 1893.
O. When did the dodo become ex-
tinct?-W. M.
A. A specimen was last seen on the
Island of Mauritius in the Indian
Ocean in 1851.
Q. How many American ships were
sunk by Germany before and after war
was declared?-T. A.
A. The American merchant vessels
sunk by German submarines prior to
April 6, 1917, numbered 10, of 67,143
gross tons. The grand total of all yes
sells sunk up to the time Of the armistice
was 145, of 354,449 tons.
@. What is the Columbia River named
for?-H. P.
A. Capt. Robert Gray Of Boston first
discovered its mouth in 1892 and named
the river after his ship, the Columbia.
Q. How many portraits did Sir Joshua
Reynolds paint?-L. P.
A. He did between 1000 and 5000. He
also had literary ability. his Is dis
courses On painting having high lit
erary, critical and artistic value.
@. How old is the art of carica-
ture ?-J. G.
A. The practice Of personal carica-
ture IS at least as old as to be recorded
by Aristotle and AriStophanes both of
whom tell something of an artist named
PauSon who made pictorial fun of peo-
pie and was made to suffer for it. Pliny
mentions two sculptors, Bupalus and
Athenis who by way of joke, exhibited
a portrait Of the poet Hipponax, who
was very ugly, for public ridicule The
poet retaliated with satirical verse so
effectively that the sculptors hanged
themselves.
@. What is an ivory pearl? Is it
rare?-E. H.
A. The ivory pearl originates as a
small pulpstone in the pulp cavity OF
the teeth or tusks of elephants With
the growth Of the animal the stone
either coalesces with the main wall of
the teeth or remains a separate unit.
1t is golden brown and egg-shaped and
because Of its rarity is valued highly in
the Orient.
@. What is the origin of the express
sion, ugly as mud fence"?-G. A.
A. Some Of the settlers of the Middle
West tried to make fences of sod Sod
houses had been found practical. Fences
were not, since they had no roofs to
protect them. They soon become un-
slightly lines of mud and tangled roots
A person or thing which is homely, is
therefore lkened to mud fence.
@, Which onions are strongest, red.
yellow. or white?-P M.
A. The red are strongest, the yellow
intermediate and the white are mildeSt
@. Hold old was William Jennings
Bryan when he was first nominated
for the presidency?-B. J.
A. He was SO when he was nomi-
mated in 1896.
G. Where was the former presiden-
tial yacht, Mayfower, built?-F. L.
A. 1t was built at Clydebank, Scot
land.
Q. Was there really a Baron Mum
chauSen?-P. T. w.
A. He really lived. He was born in
1920 and died in 1897. He was a Ger
man cavalry officer and his tales of i'm
possible adventures related to his service
in Russia, They were published in Eng
hsh by his friend. Rudolph Erich Raspe,
and received later additions.
@. Did Thomas jefferson tranScribe
the Declaration of Independence on
Vellum?-J. D.
A. The original draft of the Declara-
ton of Independence is in the hand
writing of Jefferson. The actual tran
scribing Of the declaration on vellum
was the work of Timothy Matlack.
@. Did Stephen Foster ever appear in
a minstrel troupe?-H. M. B.
A. He became for a short time the
star performer of a boyish thespian
society in Negro-minstrel jingles.
@. What are floor traders?-G. M.
A. They are members of a stock eX-
change who buy and sell securities for
their own account and who do not con-
duct transactions for clients. They are
to be distinguished from the commission
brokers whose exclusive function is to
trade for the accounts Of clients.
@. What is the white population of
Alaska? ?-P. M
A. The white population numbers
$1,000.
Whn frat mead tho u,0rd