Evening star., 1939-04-17

eric J. HdSkin, director, WASHINGTON,
D. c. Please inclose stamp for reply.
@. How many people are employed in
the Government?-C. A. H.
A. About 1,2l1 900 persons were EN-.
ployed in the Federal Government serv-
ice in January. OF this number, 749,20O
exclusive Of force-account, supervisory
and technical employes) were in the ex-
ecutive service, 339 TOO in the military,
$3.50 in the legislative and 2230 in the
judicial service.
@. What is the industrial area of New
York City?-J. D. S.
A. The New York City industrial area.
as defined by the Bureau of the Census.
comprises Greater New York and West
chester County in New York, and Bergen,
Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Passaic and
Union Counties in New Jersey.
@. How many of our Presidents were
born in April?-T. r. NJ.
A. Presidents Jefferson, Monroe, Bu-
chanan and Grant were born in April.
@. Does the air contain more oxygen
at low or high altitude?-R. E. P.
A. At or near sea level, the atmos-
phere is about 81 per cent oxygen.
While this percentage remains constant
up to an elevation of about miles, the
actual amount of oxygen decreases at
high elevations because here the air is
not as compressed as at sea level. At
very high elevations, above IS or so
miles, the lighter gases, e.g, hydrogen,
predominant.
O. Where did Benny Goodman 20 to
school?-P R.
A. Benny Goodman was educated at
Hull House in Chicago and at the Lewis
Institute in the same city.
@. Does it say in the Bible that there
Is time to dance?-L K
A. Ecclesiastes says: ITO everything
there is season and a time to every
purpose under the Heaven time to
weep and time to laugh a time to
mourn and time to dance"
O. Please give the number of ships in
the world and their tonnage-C. J.S S.
A. Lloyd's Register of Shipping" gives
the following figures: Steamers 22.497,
gross tons 51637,198; motor ships 6,912,
gross tons 1922 953; sailing vessels and
barges 1881. gross tons 976.36O. The
total is 30,99O vessels with a gross ton
mage of 67,s46,511"
O. Please give the date of the corona
ton of Queen Victoria-G. S. D.
A. Queen Victoria was crowned on
June %, 1888, in Westminster Abbey.
O. How tall do mahogany trees grow?
j. E. r.
A. They grow to $50 feet in height and
range from 3 to feet in diameter. The
first limb may be as high as from go to
80 feet above the ground.
@. What is the name of the man In
Brooklyn who has famous collection of
dime novels?-M. H. S.
A. Charles Bragin owns collection of
25,000 dime novels which is being ex-
hibited at the American Hobby Show in
the Spear Auditorium, New York City.
@. Are there any tribes in the world
today who practice head hunting?-W S.
A. Head hunting is still being prac-
ticed. The best-known case of this in
present-day times is represented by the
Jlvaro of South America. There is also
good evidence that in spite of govern
mental pressure, isolated cases of taking
heads still occur in remote parts of the
Philippine Islands and in Borneo.
c. How many persons have left the
Dust Bowls. w. j.
A. Approximately $4,000 of the in
habltants of the drought areas have left
their homes and migrated to other States.
@. Does Germany have a law provid-
ing for the sterilization of the unfit
E. S. H.
A. A law for the prevention OF in
herited diseases in posterity went into
effect in 1884. 1t provides that persons
suffering from hereditary diseases may
by surgical operation be rendered sterile
II medical science shows it probable
that their offspring would suffer from
serious bodily or mental defects. 1t ap-
plies to cases of congenital feeble mind
edness, insanity, epilepsy, St. Vitus'
dance, hereditary blindness and deaf
ness, serious hereditary bodily malfor-
nation and chronic alcoholism
@. What is goshawk?-M. T. B.
A. A goshawk is a short-winged hawk
averaging less than feet in length and
having black crown and blue gray
plumage barred with white in the under
parts. 1t is very destructive to poultry
and game birds and so swift and bold
that 1t seizes its prey in the presence of
man.
@. How is the earths curvature esti-
mated?-R. G. N.
A. The curvature of the earth Is esti-
mated to be inches per mile, that is,
from given point it curves inches for
the first mile, 80 inches for the second,
72 inches for the third, and so on. The
law is: Curvature is always equal to 8
inches multiplied by the square of the