Evening star., 1939-09-10

belief that the sound of the guns bro
a new study, it is pointed out by
eminent authorities that smoke-and
not sound-does the trick.
On the earth, the scientists want
to know what causes earthquakes
and why gold and copper deposits
occur in certain strata, oil and gas
in another.
Under the sea. they want to know
just how the bottom compares with
the upper crust of the earth.
For five days. now, the greatest
scientists in the world have ex-
changed ideas in the laboratories of
George Washington University They
have really accomplished something,
too. their leaders state, but the world
may never know the result of the
studies until the present tension in
Europe ends. The scientists will
remain here until Thursday
War Slows Up Work.
War. it seems, puts a stop to in
ternational scientific work, or slows
it up These scientists gathered
here depend on the nations CO.
operation. They are members of the
International Union of Geodesy and
Geophysics.
Some of the high lights of their
current studies are these:
First, in a generation or two fish
may disappear from what is known
as the Continental Shelf, along the
Atlantic Ocean - especially that
part of the ocean that borders the
United States.
DR.. Frederick w. Lee of the United
States Geological Survey laid this
thought before the scientists ex-
amining a new model of the Con-
tinental Shelf, constructed under
the supervision of the continental
structure of the American Geo.
physics Union, of which Prof. w. T.
Thorn is chairman.
DR.. Lee said there should be Fed
eral control exercised over fishing
off the Atlantic Coast-in the same
way that the Government main
tains grazing control in the West.
Limitations W 1911.
Pointing to the map, DR.. Lee
showed just where the fish dwell
where they start and where they
60. Most people believe the ocean
is full of fish, that all you have to
do is to get in a boat and drop over
a line and that the farther out you
go the bigger the fish. Actually,
DR.. Lee says, the fish are confined
to the Continental Shelf. Further,
he points out that the manner in
which big fishing boats drag in the
fish make the industry hazard to
future generations. 1t may be that
children of present-day parents will
not know the taste of fish. They
may be that scarce. Commercial
fishermen make ravages against the
finny tribe. Already. it has been
established by studies made by the
Bureau of Fisheries that Holsters
and crabs are becoming scarcer each
season. DR.. Lee fears that shad
and herring will share the same fate.
To back up this study. it is said
that whales once were plentiful in
the oceans, but later they became
scarce. Any one interested in the
subject has only to consider the
career of New Bedford, Mass,
metropolis of the whaling industry
in the old days. Later, New Bedford
became the deserted village of the
whalers. OF course, the marketing
of kerosene Oil had something to do
with the disappearance of whale oil,
but fishing had a great hand in it,
too. That's what the scientists say,
and they warn that the same thing
may happen to shad and many other
delectable fish that swim the waters
of the earth.
Think They Have Solution.
Now. about the air. Scientists
have worked hard to learn some
thing that will benefit mankind in
the newly conquered region. Why
are there air pockets? Why do
clouds form? How is it that radio
waves travel half way around the
world on some days and on others
cannot get across the ocean? They
went to know why London and
Paris, especially in these days of
strife, can be heard at some mo-
ments and are silent at others. They
think they have a solution in a
study of sun spots. Still. they say
precious little on the subject-but
some day man will know. The whole
field, according to DR.. H. T. Stetson
of Massachusetts Institute of Tech
nology, one of Americas greatest
astronomers, is just opening up.
On the earth. Well, the old lady
Mother Earth-constantly changes
her shape, even as the young girls
of today change styles.
Like the young girls, too, the old
lady must always bear in mind that
nature is right on her trail. She. too.
mas to take exercises-to keep ins