Evening star., 1935-11-19
ANSWERS TO
QUESTIONS
BY Frederic J. Haskin.

| ny rTsoeFc j. hdSkIB.
reader can get the dns1Uer to am
question OF fact by Writing The Washing
ton Evening Star Information Bureau.
Frederic J. Hdskin, Director, Washing
ton, d. c. Please inclose stamp for reply.
Q. Who are the members of the new
Railroad Retirement Board?-J. E.G
A. Murray w. Latimer is chairman.
Lee M. Eddy and James A. DALEY are
the other members. Application blanks
will probably not be ready before the
first of the year, since the provisions
of the act do not take effect until next
March, and there is no haste about
making application.
@. How many Texas Rangers are
there?-H. o.
A. At one time there were as many
as 500 Texas Rangers. Now, however,
there are about rs regular rangers.
There are, however, innumerable spe-
cial rangers, since any one can receive
an appointment as a special ranger.
c. What kind of mahogany was used
in the furniture for the United States
Supreme Court Building?-G. N. l.,
A. The architect of the Capitol says
that Cuban mahogany was used, with
the exception Of the roStrum in the
Supreme Court room, which was
Mexican.
@. How many men have worked on
the Boulder Dam project?-W. P.
A. About 1000.
O. What is the altitude OF the city
of New York?-F. o. H.
A. 1t varies from 8 feet at Riverview
Park at the foot Of Eighty-fourth street,
to AIT feet on Todd Hill, in the Borough
of Richmond, which is said to be the
highest point on the Atlantic Coast from
Maine to Florida.
G. Does a skeet shooter sight across
his barrel with one eye closed, or is it
an official rule TO keep both eyes open?-
v. F. NJ
A. In skeet, as in trapshooting, the
expert does not take deliberate aim. He
simply looks at the target with both
eyes open, concentrates on breaking 1t,
instinctively swings his gun along the
line of flight, and at the right instant,
without a pause, pulls the trigger. The
exact spot to place the shot load can be
learned only by experience. Nearly all
skeet targets require a slightly different
holding and swing, just as rising birds
do in actual field shooting experience.
@. How were delegates to the Consti-
tutional Convention chosen?-G. G.
A. The delegates to the Constitutional
Convention were elected by the Legis-
latureS or governing bodies of the diff
ferent Colonies or States. The ac-
credited membership of the body which
drafted the Constitution was y, but not
more than S. ever appeared at any one
sitting.
@. What color was the famous Dan
Patch?-B. G. K.
A. He was a mahogany bay with black
points and with a small white star on
the forehead He weighed l,165 pounds;
height, IS hands; girth measure. 731a
inches; shoulder measure, SO inches. His
sire was Joe Patchen: dam, .Zelica.
O. Where did Lewis and Clark recruit
the men who accompanied them on their
famous expedition?-D. D.
A. Lewis left Washington on July S,
1903. and was joined by Clark at the
Ohio. The expedition was delayed at
Pittsburgh till August 81. then proceeded
on its way toward the Mississippi, Lewis
choosing volunteers from the military
posts along the way. The party COM
prised. in addition to Lewis and Clark.
3 sergeants, % soldiers. 3 interpreters
and Clark's Negro slave York.
@. How many people in Canada are
French? English?-W. M.
A. The population of Canada is 1886
1856 OF this number 2927 900 are French.
The number of English is 5,36l OIL.
@. Have any Negro players been chosen
on all-America foot ball teams?-
R.MR.
A. The following Negroes have been
chosen: Marshall, Minnesota, 1905 and
1906: Pollard, Brown University, 1915;
Paul Robson. the popular concert and
opera star, Rutgers, 1918; Slater, Iowa,
1921.
@. How old is cryptography?-W. C. P.
A. Cryptography is of the greatest an
tiouity. Plutarch and GelliuS tell OF q
method employed in Sparta for COM
municating with their generals abroad.
The earliest system was the winding OF
a strip of parchment Spirally upon stan
with the edges meeting. The message
was then written along the line OF join
ture. The broken lines could only be
read afterward by rolling the parch-
ment upon a duplicate staff in the pos
session of one who knew the precise
size. There are great many other
cryptogramS. The Jews made use OF
them. See jeremiah. xiv. Julius Caesar
and Augustus made frequent use OF
them.
O. When was the stamp act passed by
the British Parliament which brought
on the American Revolution?-S. L.
A. 1t was passed February q. 1865,
to become operative on the following
November l.
@. When did the first contingent OF
American soldiers arrive in France?-
A. P.
A. The first United States troops
arrived in France May 10, 1917.
@. Where was the first oratorio So
ciety in the United States?-E. G.
A. The Handel and Haydn Society.
established at Boston in 1915, was the
first Of its kind in America.
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