Evening star., 1935-01-12
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

clude most Of the inhabitants Of Eu-
rope Except the Turks, Hungarians
and Finns), the Hindus, Persians,
Arabs, Hebrews and large proportion
OF the Inhabitants of northern Africa.
@. Is it true that DR.. Axel Munthe's
sight has been restored?-H. r. M.
A. DR.. Munthe has recently recov-
cred his sight through an operation
which he underwent in Zurich.
@. How are crossword puzzles
NADER. B. w.
A. In constructing crossword puz.
zle, the design Is first selected and
should be made so that not too many
two or three-letter words are neceS-
sary, nor should words Of too great
length be used. Fill in the longer
words first. The puzzle should inter-
lock, that is, no section should be
completely separated from the other.
Editors generally object to obsolete.
archaic, colloquial, slang and highly
scientific or technical terms.
O. Why DO people throw old shoes
after newly welded couples?-S. C.
|
| Authorities differ concerning the
origin of the custom. 1t may be
traceable to the fact that ages ago
the placing of shoe on a piece Of
land was a symbol Of ownership.
Among the early Anglo-Saxons the
father gave the brides shoe to her
husband, symbolizing the fact that he
was yielding his authority over her.
Other authorities believe that the Gus
| tom refers to marriage by capture
@. How many ears are there on
stalk of sweet corn, and how many
kernels on an earl. H.
A. The number of ears may be any
where from one to one-haf dozen or
more on the same plant, while the
number Of kernels to the ear may vary
between 500 and 1000 or more. The
| golden bantam types Of sweet corn,
| for example, have smaller ears with
| fewer kernels than most other types
and 500 would be an average for this
type.
Q.I know that the quotation,
Everybody talks about the weather
a lot, but no one does anything about
it," is often attributed to Mark Twain,
but does not appear in his writings.
Isn't it possible to trace ITO. G.
A. Charles Dudley Warner, editor,
author and friend Of Mark Twain's, is
the originator of this famous With
cism. The paragraph was written by
him for the editorial page Of the Hart
ford Courant.
@. Is the earth farther from the sun
at the time of the Winter solstice
than at the time Of the Summer
SolStice?-G. E. M.
A. The sun Is nearer the earth in
Winter than in Summer in the north
ern hemisphere, but the difference
between the Summer and Winter
temperatures at a given place does
not depend upon this fact as may
be seen from the fact that while 1t Is
Winter in the northern hemisphere it
is Summer in the southern. The diff
ference of temperatures Is due to the
different angles at which the suns
rays strike the earth's surface at the
place in Summer and in Winter.
@. Has Rosa Ponselle, the opera
singer, sister who sings?-E. B.
| A. Her sister, Carmela Ponselle. re-
| Gently appeared with Rosa Ponselle in
a Metropolitan performance Of la
Gioconda."
@. Why do the Galapagos Islands
have English names?-N. T.
A. 1t is believed that the group was
visited by buccaneers as early as the
sixteenth century and that they gave
them their English names Of Albe-
marie, Indefatigable, Chatham. James
and Charles.