Indianapolis Times, Volume 40, Number 260, Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 March 1929 — Page 4

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What Is Fitness? The law under which the state highways are built and controlled is very specific in its demands as to the director of that body.. “The state highway commission shall appoint a director who shall be chosen solely for fitness, irrespective of political beliefs or affiliations and he may be removed by a majority vote of the commission for inefficiency, malfeasance or negligence of duty, after notice and hearing by the commission,” says the law. The law tried to prevent this important work from becoming political in its operations. That body will now spend $20,000,000 a year, a large sum to be placed in the hands of the politically minded. What is fitness : The natural interpretation .would be some knowledge of road building and of engineering. It is an engineering problem. It is also a problem of honesty, and that means more than iHerely not reaching into the funds for graft. It means a mind that sees wrong in favors, in the taking of small perquisites, in the giving or receiving of special privileges. The members of the highway commission, since a change is both inevitable and probably desirable, should be somewhat cautious in placing their approval upon any man for director unless he meets the definition of the law—strictly, accurately and beyond suspicion. The immense road fund is too important to be handed out as a political plum. Protecting Banks Theoretically, all the banks in the state were made gai'e by the legislature when it passed a law providinglife, or near-life, sentences for the bad bandits who take a gun and try to rob them. The action was fully in keeping with the mentality of the which passed it. Asa matter of history, no bank in this state in the past few years has ever been forced into bankruptcy and insolvency by robbery from without. Asa matter of history, no bank ever has gone into insolvency except through the negligence or criminality of some of the officers of the bank. When banks break, they bring a trail of woe to the communities in which they operate. The depositors suffer. Business stagnates. There is despondency, and often suicide. Crime follows naturally. While the legislature veered away from any suggestion that bankers who rob their own institutions be given sentences at least equal to those handed out to the bandit, there is no reason why the banking department should not attempt to stop some of the practices that have resulted in disaster to many communities in the state. At the present time public interest centers around Sullivan where an admitted defaulter returns after a few months exile to blandly explain that he had stolen the bank’s money in order to permit his own son to speculate. Blaming the “hot tip” as the cause of his own troubles and crime is about as simple-minded as blaming the serpent in Eden. The truth is, of course, that bankers who steal money become obsessed by the idea that they own the money of the depositors and that they can juggle funds as long as they are not caught. They become prominent by a show of generosity, publicly and privately. They “take care” of their friends who may need money. Lending money to stock gamblers with hot tips is hardly the standard of conservative banking. It might also be remarked that the indiscriminate lending of money to politicians, or men with great political power, is not the best practice and might be discouraged. The state banking department might at least warn the unsuspecting bankers of the state that certain gentlemen have in the past had many notes in different banks and that few have been paid. It might be worthwhile, in protecting banks, to discover whether the menace comes from bandits with guns or from the mighty with schemes. When the whole story of Sullivan and its environs is written perhaps the legislature will be better able to write laws for the protection of depositors. A Test of Curiosity Curiosity is, and always has been, one of the strongest of human traits. Not long ago Harpers published a mystery novel in which the final chapter, containing the solution, w's sealed, and offered to refund the purchase price to any buyer who, having read that far, could throttle his curiosity and return the book with the seal ununbroken. Since then that uook has gone through ten printings—ar.d only three copies have been returned! Acute curiosity, say the psychologists, is a sign of intelligence. By that gauge we must be remarkably intelligent people. And Harpers, incidentally, must be fairly shrewd in its reading of the public mind. The State Defence Let it be hoped that th-. Governor will act very promptly in the naming of anew armory board, the terms of present members having expired. The national guard is a rather important part of the state organization. It is dedicated to the defense of the state. ’ Its chief use in the past has been on occasions of great disasters where its members served on missions of mercy rather than for terror or force. The Governor has signed the measure adopted by the legislature providing for a very complete inquiry into the building of armories for this guard during the Jackson regime. Tb> plan has been condemned. For it was based on the rong view of public business and was conducted in a manner that invited suspicion. Under that plan a large number of armories were built. They were all built by the same contracting firm, which.is described as a subsidiary of the bank which sold bonds on these armories. The cry was raised that the state was obligated to take care of the investors. The bonds were exempt'from taxation as

The Indianapolis Times <A SCKIPI'S UOWARJ NEWSI'AI’EK) owned and published daily (except Suudayi by The Indianapolis 'Tices Publishing Cos., 214-220 W Maryland Street. Indianapolis, ind Price in Mar-on County 2 cents—lo cents a week . elsewhere, 3 cents—l 2 cents a week. BOYD GURLEY BOY W HOWARD. FRANK G. MORRISON, Editor. President. Business Manager. PHONE—RILEY 555 L WEDNESDAY. MARCH 20. 1929. Member of United Press. Scripps Howard Newspaper Alliance, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Newspaper Information Service and Audit Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”

were the armories. Yet they were privately owned property for a long term of years. The state defense ought not to be a privately conducted expedition. If the state is to own armories, and it needs them if the guard is to grow, there should be no hint of private interest. The senate report showed rather large profits for those who engaged in the presumably patriotic enterprise of furnishing housing quarters. What is more important is the statement of the senators who made a cursory probe that the guard under this system was no greater in size or efficiency than existed before the holding companies began its extensive building program. Certainly if the state is to be bound for a long term of years to continuous payments, there should be some suggestion that the guard itself will improve, either in or in caliber of training. Perhaps a general shakeup would be a fair program in advance of the probe by the board of accounts. The Prince Pioneers The Prince of Wales has not been made regent, but he is entering upon kingly duties. He has started, for instance, to take the starch out of the evening shirt and to make the evening jacket double breasted. All London, we learn, is discussing the fact that the prince appeared the other night at a boys’ boxing club in double-breasted dinner jacket, soft shirt with soft turndown collar and cuffs, soft black tie, and a checked pullover. Whatever that may be. The softening of the shirt appears to us just grand. The conventional wide open bosoms, stiff like cardboard and bulging as they will from the sides and bottom of the scanty vest in spite of daily dozens, always have been a trial. And on a chilly night the double-breasted jacket would not be bad. Os course, a boxing match is informal and we know the prince is not going to wear the same coat to open parliament. But we like his pioneering spirit. Three rousing cheers l For he's a jolly good fellow

Captain Fried’s Hobby There is an old theory that you can get a pretty accurate picture of a man by finding out what his hobby is. That, the theory says, will tell you what the real man is like better than his performances in public. It may be so, but we’re beginning to doubt it. For Gilbert Swan, New York columnist, reveals that Captain George Fried of the liner America has the most prosaic hobby of all —he collects postage stamps. Somehow that doesn’t fit the captain at all. It bespeaks a stay-at-home; a man unfitted for desperate chances and howling gales. It simply isn’t in character. We have a hunch that a better picture of the real captain is the one most of us already have—the picture of him bringing his ship, with consummate skill and bravery, up beside another to save men’s lives in a raging storm. Speaker Shanahan of the Illinois house of representatives was given the job of appointing a committee of seven to investigate what state legislators are on other pay rolls. People who think being speaker of the Illinois house is a pretty nice job seem to be slightly wrong. News dispatches from Florida have been disconcerting, but maybe the advertisers will tell us—what kind of cigaret did Major Segrave smoke when he hit that 231 miles an hour? One of these days some fellow is going to hurl himself into immortal fame by reaching his 95th birthday and telling reporters he knows nothing about practically everything.

-David Dietz on Science-

Weather Wins Battles

-No. 308.

WEATHER by playing an important part in the fortunes of war, has been an important agent in shaping the history of the world. Instances of this have been collected by Dr. Alexander McAdie, professor of meterology at Harvard university. In 174 A. D., the Roman forces under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus were on the verge of defeat by Ger-

man tribes, chiefly because they were suffering from lack of water. A sudden and severe t h u n and e rstorm not only supplied water, but frightened the barbarians sufficiently to give the Roman forces the upper hand. Asa result these forces were known thereafter as the Thundering Legion.

It was the weather that defeated the Spanish Armada, Dr. McArdie points out. Ship after ship was wrecked on the coast of Scotland and Ireland in the late summer of 1588 And as Dr. McArdie says. Queen Elizabeth might well have said to her troops, “You can go home now; there will be no invasion! The weather has fought for us!” He also tells us that the weather helped George Washington win the freedom of the American colonies. In August, 1776, the colonial troops under Washington were defeated by the British forces under Howe at the battle of Long Island. A British fleet in the East river apparently had cut off hope of retreat. But the night of Aug. 29 was exceptionally Foggy. The lookouts on the British warships could see nothing and under cover of the heavy dense white fog, Washington’s forces slipped across to New York. A fog once came to the rescue of Napoleon. The campaign in Egypt had gone badly. Affairs at home were even worse. Napoleon found it necessary to hurry home. Nelson’s fleet was looking for him on the high seas. During a heavy fog, the vessel bearing Napoleon passed close to the flagship itself of Nelson’s fleet. Had it not been for the fog, the Frenchman might have been captured and the whole history of Europe changed as a result. Later, however, weather was to prove an enemy of the French leader. It was cold weather that made Napoleon's campaign into Russia so disastrous. Rain, which made the roads almost impassable and delayed the French troops, was one of the important features contributing to the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. Victor Hugo wrote: “If it had not rained on the night of June 17, 1815 tire future of Europe would have been changed. A few drops of rain mastered Napoleon.”

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. TRACY SAYS: “What, the Average Indian Needs to Learn Is the Idea of Steady Work ”

THERE were, perhaps, one million Indians in what is now the United States when Europeans arrived. For the most part, they consisted of roving tribes, without fixed territory or permanent abode. A small group—fifteen or twenty thousand—dwelt in substantial and well-constructed villages. These thg Spaniards named Pueblo, or “town” Indians. One naturally would look for such communities in a fertile and productive region, but they were found on the desert. Eighteen of them still exist—all in New Mexico. Taos is the most famous, but Laguna, San Dia. and Ysleta are rather more typical. These pueblos are the oldest towns in this country, outranking St. Augustine, Jamestown, and Plymouth by at least two centuries, and containing houses that have been occupied for twenty-five generations, sometimes by the same family. tt it it Once Was Jsland YSLETA is situated on the Rio Grande, eighteen miles south of Albuquerque. It once Was an island, as the name implies, but one channel of the river has been filled. The reservation consists of a strip of land, six miles wide and thirty miles long, lying crosswise of the river. The village centers on an irregular plaza, from which radiate narrow, crooked streets, all flanked by long, low adobe structures, partitioned off for apartments, stores, stables and shops. At one side of the plaza, and in what might be described as an extension, or bay, stands the kiva, religious ceremonial house, with a little Catholic church directly across. The kiva is a round affair, looking like an oil tank, with a flight of steps on one side and an opening in the center of the flat roof, through which a ladder protrudes. It contains neither window nor door To enter, one must dim' the steps and descend the ladder, but no one except the “initiated” is permitted to do so.

Live by Odd Jobs YSLETA gets its living by farming a narrow strip along the river, selling curios and doing odd jobs. The women not only bake, weave and scrub, but do all the plastering. Os the 200 men under 50, practically all have had the chance to get a high school education, but less than 10 per cent have taken full advantage of it. The government is a modified communism, the land being owned by the community and leased to individuals or families by the council. Once land has been leased it remains the property of the lessee as long as it is occupied or used. It can be inherited or sub-leased, though not to an outsider, except by consent of the council. Save for such changes as were made necessary to accommodate the Indiana agency and United States supervision, this type of government is the same as it was when Columbus lefk Spain. u n Communism Soon Stops COMMUNISM in Ysleta does not go muh beyond the land and the community oven. Families and individuals are expected to buy or build their own dwellings, provide their own food and pay for whatever else they can afford. There are twelve councilmen—six appointed by the Indian agency and six by the cacique, or tribal chief. Their control is pretty intimate and sometimes rough, because of the power they have to issue or revoke land leases. As might be expected, two parties have arisen—one opposed to this system and known as “radical;” the other favoring it and known as “conservative.” Again, as might be expected, this party division is quite as much a matter of age as political principle. The progressive group contains few men over 40, while the conservative group contains few under it. Curiously enough, an Abeita heads each group—Pablo, a man well versed in all the ancient lore and highly intelligent, being recognized as defender of the old order, while Diego, a graduate not only of the Albuquerque Indian school, but of the University of New Mexico, champions the new. n n n They Talk Fluently WHETHER because of agriculture, education, or fixed residence, the Indians of Ysleta are very different frrom the traditional picture. They are neither inarticulate nor uncommunicative. To talk with Pablo Abeita is to get a clear and complete picture of the tribe’s history and present-day problems from a conservative standpoint. To talk with Diego is to get just as clear and complete picture from the modern standpoint. Both men not only know what they want to say, but have the ability to say it, and this seems to be characteristic of the community. Spanish is spoken by every one, but English is rapidly taking its place. While the tourist trade is bringing easy money to Ysleta, I can not get away from the suspecion that it is teaching some of the children to become moochers and panderers. What the average Indian needs I to learn is the idea of steady work. Ysleta has made considerable | progress in that respect, as is shown |by Its comfortable circumstances, j Though blessed with no oil well or i other piece of good fortune to make l it "Sjch. it is fairly well housed, clothed and fed, not to mention the 100 autos which it sports.

Please See That It’s Delivered on Time!

BJMrr n # ®wmiMKe. ffe j TANARUS,

Reason

WE are all interested in the story that Olvany’s resignation as Tammany chieftain means that A1 Smith is to go to the United States senate to succeed Wagner, who is to resign to become mayor of New York to succeed Jimmy Walker, who is to be discarded. The change will be made if Tammany desires, for it makes and unmakes statesmen, regardless of their wishes. tt tt The last creature of Tammany to dispute its authority after he received what he wanted was William Sulzer, former Governor of New York. When he declared war on the organization, that war ended in his being impeached and thrown into political oblivion. tt tt 'tt Os course, Smith would like to go to the senate, so would Walker, who only recently said that it would be next to paradise. * Abraham Lincoln, also fully appreciated the allurements of this most desired public station, for he said only a few months before he was nominated for the presidency that he would prefer a senatorial term to the White House.

Warning Given on Toadstool Poisoning

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hygeia, the Health Magazine. AMONG all the poisonous plants, mushrooms and toadstools are most important. Some sixty to seventy different varieties of mushrooms are poisonous. The most deadly of all is the species known scientifically as Amanitas. These grow from four to twelve inches tall in many parts of the United States, chiefly in pine and, oak forests where there is plenty of moisture. The fly amanita and the one called the death cup are the most dangerous forms. Soon after such mushrooms have been eaten the saliva begins to flow freely, there is a profuse flow of tears and perspiration, then nausea, bowel disturbances, a quick and irregular pulse, contraction of the pupils of the eyes and difficulty in breathing.

*=* r T A YTj? T

THE BRITISH BLOCaDE March 20 ON March 20, 1813, 116 years ago today, Great Britain proclaimed a blockade of the Atlantic seaboard states. It was part of the campaign to win the War of 1812. At first, the coast of New England was spared, because its inhabitants were supposed by England to be favorable to the British cause. This supposition soon was dropped, however, and the blockade was extended from Halifax to the Wect Indies. Soon after, Britain established a naval base at the mouth of Chesapeake bay. America was in no position to challenge the British at sea. The most it could do about the intrusion was to darken all the lighthouses in the neighborhood, and thus place the enemy at as much inconvenience as possible. A number of defenseless coast villages were fired upon, but New York and other large cities were spared because the British feared mines and torpedoes. In fact, two British ships which ventured too close to New York missed being torpedoed by narrow margins, and served as examples to all the others.

KIP'. "j|

By Frederick LANDIS

SINCE President Hoover doesn’t like the Virginia resort which Mr. Coolidge selected for a summer White House, he probably will be up against the terrible hardship of selecting a vacation spot from among several thousand wonderful estates, tendered for his use. It’s better to let the President visit around the republic than to stay all the time along the eastern seaboard. tt tt a If Germany has any gratitude, she will let Trotski into her domain, for he and Lenin did the job Germany sent them to Russia to do—upset the Russian government and remove it as an opposing force in the World war. it it tt If Mr. Hoover persists in his intention to displace officeholders with his personal friends, he will be known as a great fireman, as well as a great engineer.

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE

If poisoning with mushrooms is suspected in the presence of these symptoms, it is important to e*npty the stomach as soon as possible, to flush out the intestines with salts and to apply heat to the body. A physician when called will administer drugs which will counteract the effects of the mushroom poisoning. The death cup form of the amanita is also called the destroying angel and the bulbous amanita. It grows from three to six inches tall, has a smooth velvety cap and is usually white, although it may be yellow, green or brown. It looks like the common mushroom, is usually found in pine forests, but occasionally is seen in fields. At least fifteen to twenty people are killed each year in the United States by this mushroom and many more are made ill. ! Dr. W. G. Farlow of Harvard university has formulated rules for those gathering mushrooms which should prevent the eating of the most poisonous varieties. 1. Avoid fungi when in the but-

Questions and Answers

Vou can Ret an answer to an? answer, able question of fact or Information bv writing to Frederick M. Kerbv Question Editor The Indiananoiis Times' Washinßton Bureau. 1322 New York avenue Washington. D. C. Inclosing 2 cents in stamps for reply Medical and legal advice cannot be Riven, nor can extended research ce made. All otbet questions will receive a personal reply Unsigned requests cannot be answered All letters are confidential. You are cordlaUv invited to make use of this service. Q Did Manual play In the state basketball finals several years ago at the state fairground coliseum? A. No city team ever before has played in the state tournaments finals since it has been held In Indianapolis. Manual and Technical have both gone to the finals, several years.ago, before the tournament was held in this city. What national holidays have been specifically authorized by congress? With the exception of the act of June 28, 1894, providing that the first Monday in September of each year, known as Labor day. is made a public holiday, congress has not passed any law creating a holiday that must be observed throughout the Unto, New Year’s day, Christmas day, Washington’s birthday. Fourth of July, etc., are observed or

SMITH AS A SENATOR SULZER AND TAMMANY AS A GREAT FIREMAN

SINCE Queen Marie has gone to Paris to try to get her wife-de-serting son to return and take the throne, it goes without saying that this particular job , calls for a perfectly upright and level-headed statesman. tt tt tt Our senators and representatives will rejoice that Mr. Hoover is not going to appear in person and speak his messages to them, as his two immediate predecessors did, and if the President knew how the lawmakers fled from the floor when his message is reacl he would just have it printed in the Congressional Record and let it go at that. tt u tt There’s no hope now for Marshal Foch, for he has nine doctors. u tt a Remembering how President Andrew Jackson took the hide off John C. Calhoun and his fellow nullificationists in his Washington speech, President Hoover might pay his respects very forcibly to the New York lawyers who have banded together to defend those who violate the prohibition law, when he goes to New York to address the Associated Press next month.

ton or unexpanded stage; also those in which the flesh has begun to decay, even if only slightly. 2. Avoid all fungi which have death cups, stalks with a swollen base surrounded by a sac-like or scaly envelope, especially if the gills are white. 3. Avoid fungi having a milky juice, unless the milk is reddish. 4. Avoid fungi in which the cap is thin in proportion to the gills, and in which the gills are nearly all of equal length, especially if the pile us is bright colored. 5. Avoid all tube-bearing fungi in which the flesh changes color when cut or broken, or where the mouths s os the tubes are reddish, and in the case of other tube-bearing fungi experiment with caution. 6. Fungi which have a sort of spider web or ring around the upper part of the stalk should in general be avoided. 7. Do not collect mushrooms in or near wooded areas except for study purposes.

'celebrated in most of the states and in this sense, they are generally considered national holidays; but there is no federal law making it obligatory upon the several states to observe them as such. The public holidays created by acts of congress affect only the federal agencies, such ass ederal offices,' national banks, etc. Each state is left free to legislate on the subjects of holidays. Docs ligh and Low German refer to a people or a language? Low German and High German are dialects. The German language is divided geographically into Low German spoken in the Netherlands and includes Fresian, Dutch, Flemish and Old Saxon. High G.rman includes the Thurlngian, Franconian, Swabian, Alsatian, Swiss and Bavarian dialects. Modern high. German is the literary language and the language of the educated classes and is known simply as German What is the nationality and meaning of the name Ameliore? It is -jj Italian name of Teutonic origin and the English form is Amelia. It means “work,” “energetic.”

."MARCH 20,1929'

149(1 t 4 opinions ft* preiaod In this column lit those of one of America's most Interesting writers and are presented wll houi regard to their agreement with the editorial attitude of this paper. The Editor.

IT SEEMS TOME * a By HEYWOOD BROUN

“/ r 'VH, GOD, Sam, I’ve seen the jungle at dawn, and these fellows have stayed here, stuck at little desks, and never drifted five steps away from their regular route from home, to the office, to the speakeasy, to the movies, to home. I was on a ship afire in the Persian gulf ” Ross Ireland, a character in “Dodsworth,” by Sinclair Lewis is speaking. He speaks for himsell for the author, for most of us. Thomas Cook, and all his sons have prospered because we believe that somewhere there is a purple land and trees on which authentic romance grows. And little trees so that it may be plucked down by the passing traveler. I was in a small boat that almost swamped under the pounding waves in Cheefoo harbor. I've seen the sun rise over the flat roofs of Peping. I watched 10,000 troops come through a mist and land upon an alien shore while brass bands played “Over There.” And I think it is fallacious to assume that life is more spiced in distant places and that romance is tiie sure reward of those who turn their backs upon familiar things and sail to the east through days and nights and tempests. a a What of It? I HAPPENED to see the dawn in Peping because we had an allnight poker game. It was a good game. But good games there have been in Forty-fourth street. It is by no means impossible to be stodgy in the south seas and a humdrum life can be lived even by those who pitch their huts upon the slope of some volcano. Romance is a state of mind, an inner ferment having only the dimmest relation to climate, the view from your window or the local language. ‘These fellows,” of whom Ross Ireland spoke, were men who worked upon a New York newspaper. After twenty years I still am ready to maintain that it is the most romantic of all occupations. Before I went to China I might well have thought of a lieutenant of United States marines stationed at Peping as a fellow of infinite glamor. He and his buddies were the ones that kept me up till dawn, for just ona more round of stud and a consolation pot. “I don’t know what conditions are now, but in the old days an officer in the marine guard in Peping spent his afternons drinking Scotch highballs, and his nights at poker games. it tt tt Our Thrills SOLDIERING in peace time lc' lazy and dull work. Newspaper* reporting is at least three and onehalf times as thrilling. It is not my intention to suggest that any one does well to stifle his curiosity about the lands which lie beyond the spot where the sky dips down to meet the sea. I’ve never seen the jungle at dawn, and I’d like to. But the experience would not justify me in taking a snooty attitude forever after toward men at little desks. Indeed there should be no need of arguing the question. One writer has proved as much. O. Henry was no recluse, and his wanderings took him to the Carribean and other likely places, but any examination of his work will show that he did not find the magical city until he chose New York for his laboratory. But, of course, there is Rudyard | Kipling. I suppose Kipling has sold I more steamship tickets than any | writer who ever lived. Few would I sign on for personally conducted | tours around the world if they did : not hope to catch some sight of I Wowgli in an Indian glade or hear a 1 tale from Ortheris at first hand. tt a London Fog STILL, it must be rememba j that the mar who pined for the road to Mandalay was not an imaginative fellow. He dropped in London, not because of an excessive capacity for romanticism, but because he lacked it. The drizzle and the gritty paving stones broke down his morale. The soldier of the song I fear was a gross materialist. He longed for a dawn which came up like thunder and was blind to more subtle effects. Shanghai has a pleasant sound, and Rio is a lovely name to prut in any ballad. I’m ready to admit that Long Island City falls less trippingly from off the tongue than doss the Vale of Kashmlra. Quincy, 111., fails to suggest the same chance for adventure as Yokohoma, Japan. Granting that no spot in all the world is too isolated or too slicked up to harbor strange happenings, I am still of the opinion that New York is richest in romantic possibilities. And I don’t mean Greenwich Village. (Copyright. 1929, for The Timei)

Daily Thought

Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith; so do. —Timothy 1:4. n tt u THERE should always be some foundation of fact for the most airy fabric: and pure invention is but the talent of a deceiver.—Byron, Are “soul” and “instinct” the same? Soul is the principle or vehicle of the life of the individual, conceived of as a substance, quality or efficient cause of the phenomena of sentence and consciousness in general. Instinct is a natural, spontaneous impulse or propensity in the lower animals or in men, moving them without reasoning toward actions essential to thei, existence, preservation and development.