Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1939-08-30
Huskin's Answers
To Readers Questions
By Frederic J. Hdsktu.

By Frederic J. Hdsktn.
A reader can get the dns,oer to anu
question OF fact by t0rtttng The Spe-
ming Star Information Bureau, Fred
eric J. Haskin, director, Washington,
D. c. Please tnclose stamp for reply.
Q. Who are the five highest paid
Government officials?-C. Fv.
A. The annual salaries of the five
highest paid Government officials are:
The President, $4,000; the Chief JUS
tice, $20,500; associate justices, sc, 1000;
Ambassadors, $l7,5O0; the Vice Presi.
dent, $4,000; cabinet officers, $4,000.
@. What percentage of the families
in the United States own radios?-B.
w. K.
A. According to the 1888 report Of
the Joint Committee on Radio Recep-
ton, 81 per cent of the families in the
United States owned radios.
@. What lake was formed by an earth
quake?-M. j. H.
A. Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee and
Kentucky was formed by the sinking Of
a part of the flood plain Of the Missis-
sippi in the earthquake Of 1911 in New
Madrid, Mo.
@. How many banks were closed when
the President declared bank holiday?
j. E. L.
A. A survey indicated that approx
mately 1926 banking institutions were
closed on March 6, 1888, when the Presi-
dent issued his proclamation At least
$500 were opened after the banking
holiday.
@. What is the largest bird?-N. T.
A. The birds reached their maximum
size in the moa, the great flightless bird
Of New Zealand, which became extinct
about five centuries ago, soon after the
Maoris arrived. 1t was IL feet high.
The largest modern bird is, of course,
the ostrich, feet high, maximum
weight, 300 pounds. The largest flying
bird is the albatross, feet long, Is
pounds in weight and having wing
spread Of II feet. These are maximum
figures for the largest species. The
condor reaches the same size and
weight, on an average, but has a maxi
mum wing spread of only II feet.
@. How many people were there when
the first United States census was taken?
B. H. B.
A. When the first census was taken
in 1870 the population was 3,929,2l4.
@. Was Grays Elegy written about
any particular churchyard?-E. j.
A. 1t is said to have been inspired by
st. Giles Churchyard at Stoke Poges,
a village in Buckinghamshire, England.
where the poet is buried.
@. Please explain the Dalton plan in
education-T. j. H.
A. The Dalton plan was first devel-
oped by Helen Parkhurst in the schools
OF Dalton, Mass. According to this
method, school work beyond the fourth
grade is organized into learning units.
Each unit constitutes, so to speak, q
job which the pupil contracts to do. He
may go at his own rate, for each step
that the learner is to take is clearly
indicated. AS each unit is completed
it Is presented to the teacher for ap-
proval, and if approved, another unit
| Is contracted for
@. What is the longest tug of war on
| record?-M. j. H
A. 1t is probably the one which took
place on August 81, 1889, in Jubbulpore,
India, between the H Company of the
I'd Derbyshire Regiment and the e
Company of the same regiment II
lasted hours and Al minutes and was
won by the H Company.
@. Who was the French woman whs
retained her popularity and charm t.
extreme old age?-W. M. B.
A. Ninon de Lenclos Q615-1705) was
famed for her wit and beauty and In
her old age her home was the rendezvous
OF the most distinguished persons OF
Paris. Scarron consulted her on hia
romances, Moliere on his comedies and
La Rochefoucauld on his maxims. Sha
retained the fascination of youth in he,
manners and conversation, and to some
extent OF her person, to the end OF her
life.
@. What is meant by the term "tc
pipe aboard"?-E. v.
A. The expression Ito pipe aboard" Ii
a nautical term. The ceremony is a.
follows: A call is sounded on the
boatswain's pipe, at which double line
of men is formed and through which
the officer to be honored passes on
boarding or leaving the ship. The
boatswain's pipe sounds and the boys
in the line salute while the officer
passes through.
@. Please give Emerson's tribute tc
beauty. H. r.
A. wherever snow falls, or water
flows, or birds fly, wherever day and
night meet in twilight, wherever the blue
heaven is hung by clouds, or sown with
stars, wherever are forms with trans
parent boundaries, wherever are outlets
into celestial space, wherever is danger
and awe, and love- there is Beauty
plenteous as rain, shed for thee, ano
though thou shouldst walk the worlo
over. thou shalt not be able to find q
condition inopportune or ignoble."
@. What is sabotage?-J. H.
A. Sabotage is malicious damage done
to machinery or an industrial plant By
workers at variance with their EN-.
ployers. The term is also applied tr