Evening star., 1935-06-09
enormous map on the wall, Il can
make one as hip as that "

make one as big as that"
They measured the map 1t was So
inches long. Whereupon Peate hur-
ried home and started his huge
project. his sole purpose being to grind
the largest telescope lens in the United
States. All of the large glass works
in his home town and the greater
Pittsburgh district turned him down.
But finally he persuaded a Butler con.
Germ TO take a chance. American
University, so the legend goes, agreed
to stand the actual cost of materi-
al. The glass folks succeeded in cast
ing a remarkable clear disc which the
old man spent two years grinding. The
anti-climaX of this strange yarn is
that the huge lens never actually
was used in telescope. But. in the
opinion of many experts, it would
fl! the bill nicely.
THERE are a number of important
new exhibits in "Aviation's Hall
of Fame" officially designated as the
Aircraft Building and located at Tenth
street and Independence avenue. south
side of the Smithsonian quadrangle.
AS the visitor enters the door the
first thing that strikes his eye, di-
rectly in front of him, is full-sized
engine of the type used in the Graf
Zeppelin. Truly this is beauty, power
and grace personifled, fitting monu-
ment to an airship known the world
over. To the aeronautical engineer
the engine is as highly priced as a
thoroughbred stallion Is to an expert
horse breeder. With the difference
that this engine generates the power
of $50 horses.
Also near the door and to the visitors
left as he enters is the compass used
by Admiral Byrd on his North Pole
flight in 1926. The compass is in a
case commemorating other accom-
plishments of the admiral, and con-
tanning several interesting engines,
including. the Wright Whirlwind,
which was the engine of the endur-
ance flyer, Question Mark. Close by
is Wasp engine, the operation of
which can be studied by pressing the
electric button on the case.
In the northeast corner. under the
left wing of the original Bremen,
which was the first plane to make
nonstop flight westward over the
North Atlantic in 1928, is a splendid
model of the consolidated naval patrol
seaplane, type P-2 VI. This type of
plane, on January 10 and II, 1884, es-
tablished a world record for nom
stop formation flight when six Navy
ships flew from Oakland, Calf, to
Hawaii. In some aviation circles the
fight is regarded as more hazardous
than the one the Italian flyer, Balbo,
made from Italy to the United States.
In any case the Navy planes had
longer -the-water hop-a distance
of 2,400 miles at a single stretch.
Visiting now the "New Museum" on
Constitution avenue, we meet w. L.
Brown, chief taxidermist, who occu-
pies spacious high-ceilinged room on
the ground floor Mr.. Brown, quiet,
friendly man, has served the museum
for q years. Working with him is a
staff of three specialists, j. S. Warm
bath, c. r. Aschemeier and Watson
FeTrygO.
Among the newest specimens mount
ed by Mr.. Browns staff and placed on
exhibition is an African caracal. This,
in case you didn't know, is species of
cat which formerly frolicked about in
the National Geological Park. There
are only two main groups of caracals
in the world, the African and the
Asiatic. This particular one looks
something like our lynx, is tawny-col-
ored on the main portions of the body
but white underneath, and has tufted
ears
Now here's a real tongue-twister
recently completed by the taxi
dermists, but not on display just yet
q viscacha. A native of South Amer
lea, it is regarded as one of the
worlds largest rodents. The animal is
exceedingly plump, with huge, sad