Evening star., 1940-12-21
Hoskin's Answers
To Questions
By Frederic J. Haskin.


A reader can get the answer to any
question of fact by Driting The EUe.
ming Star Information Bureau, Fred
eric J. Haskin, director, Washington,
D. c. Please inclose stamp for reply.
@. What town holds the largest Christ.
mas community party?-M. S. w.
A. 1t is claimed that the largest one
in the United States is that held at
Winston-Salem. N. c., by the tobaccon-
lists for the farmers and their families.
Candy is purchased by the freight car
load and toys are bought by the thou
sands. Frequently as many as $4,000
people take part in the jamboree.
@. How many States in the United
States have towns named Lincoln?-
E. H. w.
A. Twenty-three States have towns
bearing this name.
@. Please give the history of the
Christmas hymn, Silent Night
D. r. L.
A. The music was composed by Franz
words by Josef Mohr, clergyman. De-
string some new music for the Christmas
service, they wrote the hymn on Christ
mas Eve in 1918 and it was sung for
the first time the following day.
O. Who was the first woman stunt
fyer?-H. E. M.
A. Ruth Law made her earliest fights
in 1912, and was unsurpassed as an
aerial daredevil. She retired from
aviation in 1922.
@. Please give the heights of the
Woolworth and Empire State Buildings
in New York City.-M C.
A. The Woolworth Building is 1872 feet
high and the Empire State Building is
1880 feet in height.
@. How many counties are there?-
j. D. L.
A. There are 5000 counties in the
United States.
@. Who was Snowshoe Thompson?-
r. w. NJ
A. From 1856 to 1876 John A. Thomp-
son was engaged in carrying mail from
Placerville Calf. to Carson Valley, New,
| a distance of 80 miles through a desc
| late, snowbound stretch of the Sierra
| Nevada Mountains. Thompsons faith
| full and efficient discharge of this perilous
| task, his personal daring, and his powers
! of endurance upon snowshoes caused him
to have been appropriately designated
| Snowshoe Thompson.
@. Has the Army-Navy football game
ever been played in Baltimore?-W. S. H.
A. The only time the game was ever
played in that city was on November %.
1924, when the new Venable Stadium
was opened.
@. Why was monument In Alabama
| erected to the boil weevil?-W. c. w.
| A. The citizens of Enterprise, Ala,
| erected a bronze statue in the center Of
| the town as memorial to the fact that
| after the boil weevil destroyed their cot
ton crops, they changed to other crops
which brought them greater prosperity.
@. How long can sponge and pearl div
ers remain under water without diving
| apparatus?-J. P. K.
A. Sponge divers of the Mediterranean
| Sea are able to work at a maximum
| depth Of $50 feet without diving suits.
They make only short stays. The pearl
divers of Australia descend to a depth of
about 120 feet. The best divers remain
below surface about u minutes. Only
in exceptional cases can they stay two
minutes There are no authentic records
of longer stays.
| @. Why was the late munitions mag
nate. Sir Basil Zaharoff, knighted?-
| A. K B.
| A. For his services to the Allies in the
World War, Zaharoff was knighted by
George v and decorated by the French
| Government.
| @. Where is the coolest place in the
| world?-E. T. J.
| A. 1t is at Verkhoyansk in Northern
Siberia, where the official weather sta
ton has recorded 90 degrees F. below
zero.
| ne1a Cr~fe Almanac t1oH1