davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1936-01-25

habitationS The small amount OF
warmth which finds its way out of even
the best built and weather stripped home
ought to go a long way toward keeping
bird warm.
It Is interior heat, not exterior heat,
Of course. which warns them, but even
granting this, it would seem as if little
heat would be acceptable to them. 1t is,
to rose bushes. Roses planted close to
house walls will often retain their green
leaves during the most bitter weather.
The amount OF heat they get thus is
surely not great, but it is sufficient to
make all the difference between no shell
ter and some shelter.
The starting. one of the smartest Of
birds, is among the very few which have
seemed to understand that the vantage
point of house wall is good for them.
If the other birds would come to this
realization, there is no telling what hui
manity would have to do about it, so
perhaps 1T is best, after all, that, being
children of Nature, the birds trust them
selves to her, and seek no human aid.
Even when they eat food placed out
for them, they cannot be said to con-
SciouSly seek or even accept human aid.
They simply are eating what they find.
They do come, of course, to realize
that the person who brings out the food
is friend.
There can be no doubt about this.
Some fortunate persons have been able
to induce wild birds to fly down and eat
out of their hands. No doubt this takes
certain knack, and persistence and
patience which most of us do not possess.
X
When the wind strikes a house at
night with gale force there is an ele-
ment of terror in it, not altogether
pleasant.
Many persons are kept awake by it.,
finding time to listen to each blast, as
it travels through the trees. This COM
ing of each successive gale is something
akin to the movement Of waves in the
sea, and gathers momentum and sound
as it comes.
The great trees bend. but they have
no foliage.s and their roots are frozen
solid in the ground, SO the wind cannot
tear them down.
Instead, it tries to tear the house down.
With rip and roar in strikes the
northwest corner. 1t filings itself at the
walls, and succeeds in causing a slight
tremor.
Beds shake slightly.
Then is heard the music Of the
weather strip
AS the wind catches under it, pro-
longed rising sound is heard, which is
magnif1ed by the sounding board effect
of the door.
Here We have all the principles OF
the musical instrument
There is metal strip. which might
be called the reed, or string; there is
sounding board, to magnify it; there
is the house itself. to act as resonating
chamber
The wind supplies the power of the
bow, or the plectrum, or the breath of
the player, however the playing en-
ergy might be applied.
Another shock, another buffet, an
other sudden vail from the weather.
stripping
1t is the music of the storm.
And one thinks of the brown bunny.
seen in the moonlight, and wonders
where he is now.
Evening star., 1936-01-25
Changing Standards.

The method chosen by the r. F.. c.
to reduce the amount Of Government
loans on corn through its subsidiary.
the Commodity Credit Corporation. seems
typically New Deal. Outstanding loans
have been made at forty-five cents q
bushel. with five per cent for skrinkage,
the bushel being defined as two and a
half cubic feet. Anticipating lower corn
prices as the result Of crop control fail
ure, the Government naturally wishes
to protect its collateral by reducing. the
amount of loans per bushel. This 1t
will do by retaining the price Of forty
five cents bushel while increasing the
size Of the bushel to three cubic feet.
The actual effect of the change is to
reduce the loan per bushel by about
fifteen per cent. But the farmer can
still rest easy in the thought that the
Government continues lending him
forty-flve cents bushel.
The change in the standard of meas
urement OF the bushel may be relatively
unimportant in this case because the
bushel already varies widely between
the States, and the change applies only
to those borrowing from the Govern
ment. A bushel of sweet potatoes or
buckwheat may vary as much as twenty
eight per cent through different State
laws; a bushel of apples may vary by
ten per cent and bushel of cranberries
seventeen per cent. Some Government
inspectors allowing for the drying out
of stored corn. have in the past insisted
on three-cubic-fo bushel instead of
two and halt.
But it is characteristic Of the times
to change the standard of measurement
instead of facing the realities Of reduced
values. That was an element in the
psychology OF changing the gold content
of the dollar. It holds true in the case
of the w. p A. security wage" which
has been boosted to the prevailing wage
in some localities as far as hourly rates
go, but by cutting down the number OF
hours of work per month remains gen.
orally within the old limits. If pound
of butter OF a pound of pork promises
to cost too much-reduce the size OF
the pound! 1t is simple procedure. and
for the immediate present provides an
escape from reality.
Evening star., 1936-01-25
Why Refund to Professors
Instead of to Consumers?
To the Editor of The Star:

To the Editor of The Star:
We read in newspapers that proc
essors have paid to the Government
taxes amounting to two hundred million
dollars-said amount being held in
escrow.
There is talk of refunding this to the
professor. Inasmuch as the professor
added this amount of tax to his product
and the consumer paid it, why should
it be refunded? Why not refund to
the consumer who paid this tax under
the sky-high jump of prices on necessi-
ties when many hungry consumers did
not know what they would use for
money when the bad, bad wolf barked at
their doors?
There is also the fear that the nine
hundred and sixty million collars also
paid to the Government by professors
shall be refunded. Why?
Then again the Government bought
live stock and destroyed it in order to
make higher market price for the
coming growth; cotton was plowed under
for the same reason; grain acreage was
depleted and the farmer paid for idle
acreage where previously those acres
produced grains, fruits and vegetables
for the hungry.
Suppose the farmer did sell his prod
Evening star., 1936-01-25

Cosmic rays are truly "cosmic."
There is no little doubt that they
emanate from remote galaxies, many
millions of light years distant from the
solar system, DR.. Arthur H. Compton OF
the University of Chicago maintained IN
a recent summary before physicists OF
the American Association for the Ao-
vancement of Science.
The primary cosmic rays have energies
ranging from 1000, ,000, 900 to 60 ,0oo'ooo
electron volts, and in occasional OUT
bursts particles occur with energies as
high as 600,000,000,000 electron Volts.
Their total heat at earth. however, IS
probably no greater than that OF star
light.
There is adequate evidence, DR..
Compton maintained, that the primary
cosrnic rays are, in fact, electrlcaliy
charged particles In a provisional
ANALYSIS of the components OF the rays
he said:
THE most prominent part OF the prl-
mary cosmic rays observed above sea
level consists Of nearly equal parts OF
positive and negative electrons. Al sea
level and below is very penetrating
component for which the identlflcatlon
as protons seems to be required At
very high attitudes there appears rela-
tively absorbahle component which seems
to consist of alpha particles"
The conclusion that cosmlc rays are
largely electrically charged particles Is
based chiefly, DR.. Compton said, on tne
so-called latitude effect" This is mani
tested in records of intensity taken at
more than 100 stations, scattered over
the earth. by 80 observers working unoer
the direction of DR.. Compton. Inc
observations show that the rays are
affected by the earths magnetic held.
Near the surface of the earth they are
about 16 per cent more intense near the
magnetic poles than they are near the
magnetic equator. At higher attitudes
where the intensity is greater. the ratio
of intensities between the poles and
equator is probably more than 100 to !.
ONLY material particles would be so
affected by the magnetic pull OF the
noles. Photons, or true rays, would not
he DETECTED by the earthS magnetic
field. =:
curve lines of equal cosmic ray in
tensitv. DR.. Compton showed. follow
CLOSELY the parallels of geomagnetic latl-
tude and follow also the lines OF ire
ouency of occurrence of auroral displays
which means that the aurora ana tne
cosmic rays are affected by the earIns s
magnetism in the same manner. Inc
lower intensity of equatorial cosmlc rays
in the Eastern than in the Western
Hemisphere corresponds to the stronger
magnetic field of the earth in the East.
\ X
DIR. Compton's conclusion that the
ravs originate far outside the earth, the
Evening star., 1936-01-25
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Singing weather strips furnished nnu-
sical accompaniment to the bowling OF
the blast.
A wooden door, metal strips and a
60-mile -an-hour wind-when these are
combined in just the right way. high
pitched, musical note. or howl, enSues
No doubt this, is the worlds QueereSt
musical instrument.
Many homes, during the recent stormy
night, heard this noise, and many per-
sons, awaked from sleep, did not know
what it was.
Some may have thought it just an
aural illusion, just as there are optical
illusions.
Others may have wondered, but
thought no more about it.
A wind must be exceptionally high.
such as the one the other night, to cause
the metal strips to howl.
And then it does it only when it
comes from exactly the right point OF
the compass, in relation to the door.
which must be an outside one.
This sheer pitch. of wavering in
tenSity, has something animal-like about
it, something weird, yet at the same time
slightly comical.
The same wind which smashed many
huge plate glass windows in town came
at the houses out our way in gusts, tear
ing and pulling at the walls, and doing
its best to smash in panes.
What wonderful thing is glass!
So fragile, in a sense. that sharp
blow of the finger might crack It, yet
it withstands the buffetings of enor-
nous winds.
We thought of the little birds, and
wondered where they sleep on such
nights.
Every one who has taken up the pleas
ant hobby of feeding the songsters which
Winter with us has thought about this,
but it takes the sheer fright OF a big
wind to cause real wonder.
Our belief is that the birds which fire.
quent the feeding stations during the
day fly to thickets of shrubs and tangles
of vines in nearby woods, where they
get as much protection from the elements
as is possible outdoors.
There are a great many tangles in
such places where birds might be COM
paratively secure. No home grounds,
however poorly kept, offer such spots
to the feathered creatures.
Our belief in this matter Is based on
the action of birds in our garden, espe-
cially on the coldest, rawest days, when
sleet and snow alternate.
Then, and then alone, they come to
a thicket of rhododendrons on the north
side of the house. In it as many as half
a dozen will sit at time, some OF them
with their heads under their wings for
comparatively long periods.
On ordinary cold days they scorn such
shelter and doing. They fly around
the yard. from one feeder to another,
eat seeds, sample suet dart up and into
shrubs, at alarms which are not heard
or seen by human ears or eyes. The
birds take no chances, evidently. They
alternately eat and fly away few feet,
then back again. then eat again, and
so on. It seems to be done on sort
of schedule, just as business pro-
cedure.
It is a matter of wonder why the wild
birds do not learn to seek shelter in
Winter near the side walls of human
Evening star., 1936-01-25

that community has just reported that
during the year 1885 nothing happened.
There were no births or deaths, no mar
riages, no divorces, no civil or criminal
suits involving the residents. Literally,
q land Of no news.
This may safely be regarded as q
unique record. It Is to be doubted If 1t
can be paralleled anywhere. Such
placidity of existence is almost unbe-
lievable, yet it is now matter Of record
"a record OF negation. The island is
not sought by tourists, for there are no
special attractions there. Summer resorts
are near at hand. where seasonal tnfiuxes
occur, but the hundred or SO permanent
residents seemingly do not miss the lack
of contact. If they desire diversion
now and then they can cross the mile
of water to Cheboygan, on the lower
peninsula, where there are somewhat
less than ten thousand dwellers, going
by boat in the season of open water or
by sledge over an ice bridge in the
Winter. Or they may contact with the
livelier life of Mackinac by a longer trip
by boat during the tourist season.
Many will envy the inhabitants of
Bois Blanc for their immunity from the
stress of modern life. If so, and move-
ment occurs on the part of the novelty
seekers, there will be news a-plenty in
Bois Blanc. Maybe the dwellers will
not relish such an invasion of their placid
lives. Certainly the seekers for sensa-
tions will not flock there. But this
record of no happenings for a year is
not apt to be repeated. Nature aver
ages up pretty evenly in the course of
time and possibly the township clerk
will find himself overworked during 1885
keeping the books of the borough, or
whatever may be the designation of this
tiny community.
In one respect Bois Blanc is to be
envied. 1t assuredly has no traffic prob
lem, with its constant strain upon the
nerves.
Evening star., 1936-01-25
Smallest French-English
Dictionary in the World

To the Editor of The Star:
I notice in The Star of January IL an
interesting article by Robert Crawford,
which mentions, among other things, that
Miss Marian U. M. Lane has a tiny
dictionary on exhibition this week in the
southeast gallery of the Corcoran Art
Building.
Reading the article has reminded me
that I have dictionary of 618 pages
which is one and one-sixteenth inches
long, three -fourthS of an inch wide and
three -eighths of an inch thick. 1t is
fitted into metal case which opens like
locket. With the aid Of good magni-
flying glass I find the following printed
statement on its title page:
THE smallest French and English
Dictionary in the world; containing more
than 5000 modern and current words,
and idiomatic phrases and renderings
not found in any other dictionary of the
two languages (including the largest)
and the correction for the first time of
hundreds of vulgar errors which occur in
all other French and English diction-
aries.
by F. E A. Case, M. A. (of Paris.
author of "A Modern French Course, etc.
1IdoSOWs Lawn olyCC O. Dull.
London: George Bell g. Sons. All
rights reserved"
On the fly leaf it says: printed at the
University Press. West Nile street, Glas-
gow"
On its front cover in gold leaf is,
Smallest French & English Dictionary"
while on its back cover is pasted an Eng
lish postage stamp bearing the cancella-
ton, London S. E. Feb, '8O," and using
all the cover space.
I bought this book in 1895 at a dead
letter office sale. The type used in it is
smaller size than the brilliant, which I
understand is the smallest regular size
used by printers, so it must have been a
special cut of type.
There is record that the American
Bible Society printed an 882-page Bible
with diamond-size type in 1927, and that
the Oxford University Press printed a
984-page Bible on India paper with dia-
mond-size type (next larger than the
brilliant) in 1875; but they were both
larger than this book that I have. As
the first half of my book gives the French
word and then the English equivalent,
and the second half gives the English
world first, it follows that it must con-
tain more than twice the 5000 words
mentioned on the title page.
E. c. PALMER.
Evening star., 1936-01-25
The Boundary Dispute.

Regardless of the merits of the contro-
versy raised through the report OF the
District Virginia Boundary Commission,
It now becomes apparent that the action
of Congress in creating the commission
and limiting its powers to advisory recon-
mendations was mistake.
The commission devoted two years to
q determination OF the District-Virginia
boundary line It's findings have been
vigorously contested by the National
Government. Legislation creating the
commission provided that those findings,
before acceptance, should be ratified both
by Congress and by the Virginia Legis-
lature.
The seriousness of the commissions
errors as alleged by the Government
means that before the House Judiciary
Committee recommends acceptance OF
the commissions report practically all
the evidence submitted to the commits
sion is going to be re-examined in detail
and the case reargued, consuming lot
of time. An6 when it is recalled that
acceptance by Congress OF the findings
as submitted means that Uncle Sam will
lose property valued at approximately
million dollars, together with the pos
sibly radical revision Of plans for park
development on the other side Of the
river, it is manifest that opposition to the
report in Congress, as well as by the De-
partment of Justice, will continue to the
last ditch.
This might have been foreseen. Had
the commissions report been as COM
plete a victory for the National Govern
ment as it happened to be for Virginia,
the Virginia Legislature would doubtless
have declined to accept it. There is little
disposition anywhere to accept without
question the purely advisory findings OF
such commissions.
The Government has proposed to the
House judiciary Committee that Con-
gress decline to accept the report, leav-
ing determination of specific disputes
between the Federal Government and
private land owners to the courts. That
would have been the reasonable and the
less costly procedure in the beginning.
It offers the best way out now. in view
of the extraordinarily strong objections
to the findings submitted by the Depart
ment of Justice and other Government
agencies.
Evening star., 1936-01-25
No News in 1885.

In these days Of rushing events, his
tory y-making happenings, tragedies and
all the cross currents of human exist
ence that make for what is known as
news it is refreshing to hear of a COM
munity where for q year nothing
occurred sufficiently out of the ordinary
to stir public interest. Such place
has come to attention. It is the Island
of Bots Blanc, in Lake Huron, just east
of the Straits Of Mackinac, about twelve
miles long and half as wide. with one
town, which has q population Of about
one hundred. The township clerk Of
Evening star., 1936-01-25
A Missing "E. ,"

President Roosevelt yesterday went
back to horse and buggy days by sending
to Congress his message of disapproval
of the bonus bill in manuscript. Not
for many years has an executive COM
munication gone to the legislative branch
of the Government in such form. Until
the administration of Theodore Roose-
welt, it is explained, all presidential mes
sages to Congress were sent in longhand,
though not in the hand of the President
himself. Not since then has such a
script gone forth from the White House,
the official communications having been
in typescript accompanied by printed
copies for the convenience of distribu-
ton to members of the respective houses
Presidential messages are as a rule SO
lengthy that the preparation of manu-
script document would entail severe
burden upon the Executive. This latest
one that has expressed the Presidents
disapproval, however, was so brief that
it was not grievous task to indite it.
Not only did the President revert to
the old style of communication in his
message, but he INDUCED in bit Of
somewhat archaic spelling, whether by
accident or design is not disclosed. The
facsimiles of the message show the word
therefore" in the concluding sentence
without the final &c" that is now the
accepted usage. Whether this was in
advertent or Intentional can only be
guessed. The dictionaries give both
spellings of this word. but with marks
that denote the shorter form as obsolete.
Therefor" has in present usage quite
a different significance from there
FORE" which means because, hence or
consequently whereas therefor means,
if anything. "for that purpose" and not
"for that reason"
The misspelling Of word in presi-
Dental message. whether by design or
accident. does not, of course. invalidate
the document. as it might conceivably
do in case of statute. The Presidents
meaning is altogether clear. It was that
his objections to the proposed legisla-
ton. previously expressed. remain un-
altered, and that in consequence he could
not give his approval to the measure.
But there are those who will wonder
whether this slip Of the pen may not
betoken trend toward spelling reform
such as his predecessor cousin under
took to institute.
Evening star., 1936-01-25
A Rhyme at Twilight
By
Gertrude Brooke Hamilton
Deserted Mansion.

There is one house for sale in WELL
peopled street;
No cars at its gateway, no homecoming
feet;
It's curtainless windows in desolate stare
Seem to wonder and wonder why lamps
are not there.
Surrounded by hearthfires an alien 1t
stands
Though doorknob and knocker have
known ardent hands,
And walks lined with ivy have known
human tread
And the now dusty stairways to warm
chambers led.
Peopled only by ghosts of the inmates
long gone
Whose voices still echo within its dim
zone,
The house seems expectant of feet at the
door:
And to ponder and ponder why they
come no more.
Evening star., 1936-01-25

ucts at a low figure, was the consumer
in financial condition to oay a high
price? He was not.
The result of the destroyed live stock
and the depleted acreage has caused
shortage of foodstuffs and the result
of that shortage is the importation OF
foodstuffs grown by the pauper labor
of other countries. and we nay the same
price for imports that we pay for do
mestic. So again, why? We pay the
foreign farmer to labor and grow food
stuffs for us and pay our own farmers
to sit in idleneSs.
What blessing 1t is we have body
of wise men, known. collectively. as the
Supreme Court Of the United States OF
America, to keep our Congress In the
straight and narrow legal path.
w. ]. DERMOTT.
Evening star., 1936-01-25
Air Armaments Race.

Testifying before the House Military
Affairs Committee this week, Eugene L.
Vidal, Air Commerce Bureau chief, lifted
the curtain on the preparations which
world powers are now making to create
vast air forces. He emphasized that
whereas the five leading foreign nations
have hitherto laid stress on quantity,
they are now more interested in quality.
In consequence, they are ordering planes
not on basis Of competitive bidding,
but on negotiated contracts. One power,
Mr.. Vidal stated, had recently ordered
i 800 planes. Americas obvious duty, in
the presence Of these events overseas,
the Commerce Department official
pointed out. is to provide itself with
more planes, more pilots and more air
fields.
Mr.. Vidal's observations produced
prompt repercussion in Europe. In
London, according to an Associated
Press dispatch, "a furious European air
armament race" is an open secret.
Authorities for this statement declare
that only an early war or the admittedly
dim chances Of an air security pact
between Great Britain, France, Germany,
Italy and Russia can halt the mad
scramble for armed supremacy in the
skies. Oh1cials make no secret of the
fact that Great Britain has ordered $500
planes. "and probably a good many
more" for completion by March !, 1887.
It is known that other powers also have
heavy programs under way.
These revelations, coming on the heels
Of the breakdown Of the naval limitation
conference, will dishearten peoples every
where who have been hoping for prog
ress in international efforts to restrict
armaments. Apparently. no relief for
the worlds overburdened taxpayers is in
sight in that direction. Peace-craving
democracies like Great Britain and the
United States envision that situation
with special chagrin. But. as President
Roosevelt set forth on Armistice day,
"we cannot hide our heads in the sand"
Even nations which contemplate with
horror the possibility of war cannot avoid
facing stern facts. Mr.. Roosevelt gave
further expression to that thought when
he discussed autocracy in his recent
address before Congress. What he obvi-