Indianapolis Times, Volume 43, Number 64, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 July 1931 — Page 4

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A Prohibition Tragedy Two of the best agents of the prohibition department in this state are dead, killed in an attempted capture of a bootlegger. These particular agents had records for uncovering real criminals in this traffic. They were not content to catch the small peddler. They went for the forces that are back of the gangster. They had a reputation for going to the bottom. They did not look for tools, but fbr principals. That makes the killings not only lamentable, but, perhaps, significant. Very few agents who have been blind have been killed. For years there had been a traffic in alcohol from Clinton county. It had reached the proportions of an established and gigantic business, stills, costing thousands, had operated. Trucks were never molested. Shipments of sugar to that city would have suggested to any alert investigator the facts that one of these men found very easily and which resulted in raids. Whether it has stopped the business in that section is doubtful. But a few men went to jail. It is peculiar, at least, to discover that these agents met death in what was apparently a very easy raid and a very easy capture. The facts of the killing disclose that the government employs in its service convicted bootleggers and places them on the payroll. That may be necessary. But apparently the bootleg industry does not resent these men. They escape. The wise are killed. The honest die. It is to be hoped that the government which demands death as the price of enforcing a law will probe these killings to the very bottom. Every device known to the detection of crime should be employed, including ballistic experts. These murders suggest very strongly that prohibition has created a war condition in this country. Gangsters in the employ of those who grow rich through law violation flourish. The consumption of liquor increases. Its tragedies multiply. If the liquor traffic was a curse before prohibition it now becomes a menace to every established institution of government. We now have reached the stage where the efficient government servant can expect death. The inefficient and the crooked and the venal are immune. Apparently the matter has gone far beyond the question of whether men shall drink or not drink. It challenges the stability of government itself. A real probe of these killings may disclose more than was revealed by the Wickersham commission. OxmaiTs Epitaph Prank C. Oxman, the “honest cattleman," upon whose testimony Tom Mooney was convicted of murder and sentenced to the gallows, is dead in Durkee, Ore. We would like to “say nothing but good of the dead" and remain silent upon this man's guilt. Since he died without confessing, truth and justice to the living compel frankness on the part of those who know the role he played In the nation's worst judicial scandal. Without Oxman’s testimony Mooney would not have been convicted. Billings, an ex-convict, had been found guilty, but the array of human derelicts the prosecution produced as witnesses had raised such doubts that even Billings’ prosecutor had refused to ask the death penalty. For the Mooney trial there was only one “eyewitness" to place Mooney at the explosion scene, the confessed perjurer MacDonald. Suddenly appeared Oxman, apparently rich and respectable, who said he saw the defendants planting the lethal suitcase and who, with an air of simple honesty, identified them. Tire defense was stunned, the jury convinced. After Mooney was sentenced to hang, and as his appeal was pending, there came to light an astounding conspiracy. Letters were produced by the defense In Oxman’s admitted handwriting, in which he had urged a friend, Ed Rigall of Grayville, 111., to “cum to San Fri’co as an expurt witness” in the Mooney case. “You will only hafto answer 3 & 4 questions,” Oxman wrote Rigall, “and I will coach you on them. "You will get mileage and all that a witness can draw probably 100 in cleare.” Another letter, showing that Oxman knew Rigall was in San Francisco at the time, said: “I thought you can make a trip and see California.’’ Rigall went to San Francisco on money Oxman sent him. There he was wined and dined by the prosecution and coached by Oxman to say that he had seen Oxman in San Francisco and also the defendants in the mythical Ford on Market street. It was too much for the Grayville pool room man. He refused to go through. He told Oxman that he was in Niagara Falls on the day of the explosion and that Oxman knew he wasn't in San Francisco. “Well.” Oxman is reported to have said to Rigall, “you were here as much as I was.” Rigall left on the eve of the trial for Grayville, and there told the story to a lawyer friend, who told it to the defense. Oxman was arrested on a charge of subordination of perjury. His trial was a farce, with United States Senator Sam Shortridge defending him and Shortridge's best friend, Raymon Benjamin, acting as special “prosecutor.” Oxman’s defense was that Rigall held out a page of his letter in which he had told Rigall not to come if he hadn’t been In San Francisco on the fatal day. Rigall denied this. Far from believing in Oxman's innocence, the people of Ban Francisco started a recall against District Attorney Flckert on the basis of the Oxman revelations. On the morning of the election a bomb was exploded under a wing of the Governor's mansion In Sacramento. r The. morning. papers, reported, it as a tfot of t V

The Indianapolis Times <A BCRIPPS-HOWAKO NEWSPAPER) Owned and published daily (except Sunday) by The Indianapolis Tiroes Publishing Cos 214-220 West Maryland Street. Indianapolis. Ind. Price In Marion County, 2 cents a copy: elsewhere. 3 cents—delivered by carrier, 12 cents a week. BOYD GURLEY. ROY W. HOWARD. FRANK G. MORRISON Editor President Business Manager PHONE—Riley Wil FRIDAY. JULY 34. 1931, Member of United Press. Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance. Newspaper Enterprise Association. Newspaper Information Service ind Audit Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”

Mooney's friends t-o intimidate the forces of law and order. Flckert won. Several years later, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Hatcher of Woodland, Cal., swore before a San Francisco county grand jury that Oxman was their guest at their home, ninety miles from San Francisco, on the day of the Preparedness day explosion, that he left on the 2:15 p. m. train for San Francisco, and did not arrive there until 5:21 p. m., or three hours and fifteen minutes after the crime was committed. And that, from the official records, Is the epitaph of Frank C. Oxman. What will be the epitaph of those who organized the conspiracy that sent two innocent men to prison? And what will be written of those responsible California officials w r ho, having the power to do so have failed to set them free? Help for Germany Measures agreed upon at the London conference should prevent for a time at least, the bankruptcy of Germany and the threatened political upheaval. Ihe world will breathe easier as a consequence. It is idle to pretend, however, that they are more than temporary measures to meet the present emergency, the seriousness of which is attested by the fact that the statesmen of the seven powers found it necessary to get together to come to Germany's rescue, and that they were able to reach an agreement so quickly. While the headlong plunge of Germany toward economic and political chaos has been checked, fundamentally the situation in Europe remains little changed. The central banks will renew for three months the credit of $100,000,000 recently granted the Reichsbank. Governments will ask their bankers to stop the withdrawal of short-term credits, which has been draining Germany of its financial resources, a request which doubtless will be acceded to readily, since the bankers stand to lose if Germany goes under. Consideration will be given to possible further credit needs of Germany, and the conversion of short-time into long-time loans. Germany will not get at this time the new and large loan she has said is essential. But it is hoped action of the conference, coupled with the reparations moratorium, will enable her to overcome her difficulties and restore her credit. Spokesmen for the powers, includirig President Hoover, naturally expressed gratification at the outcome of the conference. Even Chancellor Bruening professed .o be happy at the measure of assistance extended, although he will return home with empty pockets, which is not calculated to strengthen the already precarious position of his government. The conference itself realized that the work of putting Germany on its feet only was started. This is indicated by the statement that “if these measures are carried through, they will form the basis of more permanent action to follow.” Permanent action, it is presumed, will include the reduction of armaments, which are the cause of most of Europe’s troubles, and which the conference unfortunately did not touch upon. It will, of necessity, include readjustment of war debts and reparations', payment of which is due to be resumed a year hence. Permanent action to accomplish lasting results also will require the settlement of the differences between France and Germany. There are numerous but not insurmountable obstablcs to this. A beginning was made in conversations at Paris and London, and France has shown some evidences of modifying her truculency. On Skunk Oil With a certain sadness that comes from relinquishing another illusion, we learn from a lengthy government report just issued that skunk oil is, after all, not a panacea for the ills of horseflesh. Dr. H. E. Moskey, United States veterinarian, has made an exhaustive study of the claim of a New York dealer in raw furs that skunk oil will cure strangles, remove fever from the feet, prevent quarter-cracks, remedy sore throat and even correct misshapen hoofs. Dr. Moskey finds that skunk oil will hurt neither man nor beast, that it has on the other hand the virtue of a rather imposing odor that gives the purchaser assurances that the product is authentic and thereby prevents fraudulent imitation. But otherwise, the government says, in effect, skunk oil is much more useful to skunks than to horses. With this problem out of the way, the government scientists may turn their intellects upon the depression, foreign trade, tariffs, unemployment, equalization o t wealth, taxes and other lesser problems confronting Mr. Hoover’s administration. Embarrassing moment: Wilbur Glenn (the world is flat) Voliva trying to explain the round-the-world flight of Gatty and Post.

REASON

WE were down to the hospital yesterday to observe the convalescence of our good and mutual friend, when we were disturbed by the ringing of amjulance sirens announcing the arrival in critical condition of two women, injured in an automobile crash through some one’s criminal negligence. Before we left the hospital one of the women had died. tt tt tt We did not find out the man was at fault, but the chances are he can not pay a tenth of the material damage he has caused. So long as human recklessness exists there w r ill always be certain risk of life and limb on the highways of this state, but it certainly is inexcusable that the victim should be forced to pay for his injuries. tt tt tt EVERY man who drives a car should take out liability insurance, otherwise he is placing at his discretion not only another’s life and health, but also his savings account, be it ever so humble. At its next session the Indiana legislature will have the opportunity of following the lead of other states by passing a compulsory liability insurance law. May it do so. tt a tt They had an earthquake down in Ecuador the other day which leveled a whole town. We never heard of the town until its destruction gave it fame, and we hope the natives got all they could out of this. For about the only compensation of passing through a catastrophe is the opportunity of reading about it. a tt WE passed through an earthquake a little over a year ago. and while it caused no great damage, it was sufficiently vibrating to make one want to see it mentioned in print. It was out in California, it was during our first week there, and being very naive in that sunny land's quaint customs, we looked for an account of the happening in the next day's newspapers. tt a a We shall never forget how we picked up the Los Angeles Times, and found nothing on the first page but the Communist menace, and nothing on the second but an account of the latest adventure of Sister Aimee. Finally, in the second section, immersed in the weather report was a short sentence on “seismographic tremors.” California, the perfect advertiser, knows not only how to embellish, tyjt above all, how ta cover, ufi.. -j

By KENESAW M. LANDIS

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. Tracy SAYS:

Having “Saved” Germany, Hoover and His Advisers Should Give Some Attention to Our Own Problems. NEW YORK, July 24.—T0 the extent that half a loaf is better than nothing, the seven-power conference just concluded at London was successful. Germany got her notes renewed, with implied promises of more substantial relief, if, when, and maybe. According to press reports, Secretary Stimson is “elated,” while President Hoover “hails” the result as bound to hasten recovery. Though joining in the final round of figurative backslapping, the German representatives hardly could hide their glumness. The rattle of the tin cup they had been waving sounded ominously empty, while the news from home sounded like distant thunder. tt tt a Cabinet in Peril IT Is true that the “elders” have refused to call a session of the German reichstag, but by an uncomfortably narrow margin. The petition for it, filed by Communists, Nationalists and National Socialists, needed 267 votes. It received 243, which means that only twenty-four stood between the government and the coalition opposing it. That coalition, though formed of divergent and irreconciliable elements, has one common cause —repudiation of the reparations settlement. „ If twenty-four reichstag “elders change their minds, the German cabinet will fall, with Communists and Nationalists fighting for control of the next one and reparation payments stopped, no matter who wins. tt tt tt Hard Winter Coming HAVING “saved” Germany in this way, it would seem appropriate for President Hoover and his advisers to give some attention to domestic problems. Regardless of what happens m Germany, or Europe, there is every indication that we Americans are in for another hard winter. Are we going to wait until the snow flies and then waste time quarreling as to what should be done, or show a little forehandedness? Are we going to stall with charity drives forced on us at the eleventh hour, or face the music man-fashion, and give the people a chance to help themselves? tt tt tt Bond Issue Needed REALIZING that one plan is not necessarily as good as another, and that we already have been offered one hundred times as many as could be read, much less carried out, I still believe in the suggestion I made last fall. Let the federal government authorize a bond issue to be loaned to states, counties and cities at low rates of interest and expended by them for such projects and improvements as they are prepared to undertake immediately. In my judgment, there is no other way to make a huge amount of money available for local work, and local work is essential. This idea, of relieving unemployment by building roads 500 or 1,000 miles away doesn’t mean much to those who lack the railroad fare. For one, I never have had much faith in purely federal projects as a means of providing work in a general sense. Nation-wide, unemployment and distress calls for a scheme of relief, nation-wide in character, which will be effective not only in all sections, but in hundreds upon hundreds of small communities. a a tt Start Right Now TO begin with, all Governors of states, mayors of cities, county commissioners and heads of other political subdivisions or districts should be asked what projects and improvements they are prepared to undertake and how much money they could use legitimately. Their replies would determine the amount of bonds the federal government should issue. Meanwhile, a plan of payment, supervision, interest charges and time of maturity could be formulated. There is no reason why the proposition couldn't be worked up and put into effect within three months, provided a start w r ere made right now and a special session of congress called for the latter part of September, or early in October. a a a Have Own Problem AS between such a proposition and the kind of half-baked, ineffectual charity with which we floundered last winter, there should be no question. Better $lO for work than 10 cents for a handout. We must not deprive the unfortunates among us of an opportunity to keep their self-respect. We already have damned thousands beyond rescue by forcing them to beg. Our mistaken philanthrophy has created a multitude of moochers. We can-not go on doing such things without creating a social, economic and moral problem which will cost us ten times as much to solve in the future as is required to provide work for the present. Neither can we afford to wait on the hope that things will be all right here, once they are straightened out in Europe. No matter what happens over there, we have many readjustments to make in this country.

Questions and Answers

When a man is discharged from the army, does he receive his fare back to the place where he enlisted? The travel pay is 5 cents per mile from the place of discharge to the place of acceptance. What kind of acid is in ripe tomatoes? Chiefly citric acid. Why is Texas called “the lone star state? For a short time it was a republic, and its flag had one star on a blue field which was continued on the state flag. The nickname is derived from the flag. On what day of the week did Woodrow Wilson die? Sunday. Feb.. 3,, I flat.

One Reason Why He Doesn’t Prosper

y \ v " ~

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE Signs of Heart Disease Are Plain

This is the third of a series of five articles by Dr. Morris Fishbcin on “The Failing Heart of Middle Life.” BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor, Joornal of the American Medical Association and of Hygeia, the Health Magazine. THE symptoms of disturbances of the heart are such that they can be recognized by any intelligent individual. A person who has previously been well, who is somewhere between 50 and 55 years old, begins to experience shortness of breath on the slightest exertion. He is likely to attribute the shortness of breath to overweight, lack of exercise, and especially indigestion. He thinks it is due to indigestion because he feels distended after eating. Sometimes, in addition to the slight shortness of breath, the individual will cough repeatedly, but the cough will be out of all proportion to any changes that can be found in the lungs. There is loss of appetite and nausea, and even vomiting, so that

Times Readers Voice Their Views

Editor Times—And now we are to have “pee-wee” fishing holes! Mr. Carter of Danville, proposes to build an angling pool on Westfield boulevard to take the uncertainty out of fishing. What a laudable idea! What high sportsmanship! Perhaps the board of zoning appeals had no choice but to grant the petition. The only objections came fi;om neighbors who fear intrusions upon their peace and quiet. But if there was a single died-in-the-wool angler who didn’t feel contempt more than amusement as he read that announcement, I miss my guess. We fishermen—yes, I’m one of ’em —may be liars, but we’re not bum sports. We like to get out along some quiet stream and do a bit of silent communing with ourselves and nature while we watch a bobbing cork or a wabbling plug come up out of a shady pool. We may forget our line as we watch a muskrat paddle along and dive under the opposite bank; a water snake glide leisurely to the overhanging branches of a willow to sun itself, or a terrapin stick an inquiring nose out of the water at our feet. We match our wits with our quarry in what we think is an even break. And when darkness steals down and the bullfrogs begin their chorus, we turn home, immensely gratified, fish or no fish. Maybe we’re too sentimental, but we anglers think a fellow gets a little closer to himself and to his Maker when he’s “fishin’ ” than when he’s sinking putts on velvety greens. But I’m not arguing that with the golfer. Now what are we to have? We can go to Mr. Carter’s fish-prison, pay our way and get a rod and baited hook! We can draw up an easy chair to the side of the pool, have the boy adjust the sunshads,

Tr x s?TTr

WAR AIRCRAFT BILL

ON July 24, 1917, President Wilson signed the war aircraft bill appropriating $640,000,000, the largest sum for a single project ever voted by any congress. The purpose of raising this money was to equip the aviation corps with about 100,000 men and with about 22,000 planes. As soon as the bill was signed Howard Coffin, chairman of the Aircraft Production board, stated that the board was prepared to go ahead •at once, but that result should not be expected too soon. He added: “In spite of our previous inexperience in quantity production of fighting planes, we must have thousands of them for next year’s use to make the contribution which the allies expect of us. “America is the last great reservoir of material for war pilots as well as for airplanes. Already three of the big twenty-four big new training fields are completed and instruction on them has begun. Others are Bfing rushed to comple-

most of the attention of the physician is likely to be centered on the stomach and the intestines. It will be found, however, that these organs are normal and that the chief reason for the difficulty lies in the beginning weakness of the heart. Among the most serious symptoms of this disease, from the point of view of the patient, is the development of severe pain in the region of the heart called angina pectoris. There are some cases in which the pain is not referred directly to the heart, but over to the gallbladder region or to the middle of the abdomen, so that the patient and his physician fear gallbladder inflammation, gallstones, or even appendicitis, whereas the disturbance is primarily a beginning failure and breakdown of the heart. Newspapers report repeatedly Jthe sudden death of some business man or captain of industry from acute indigestion. Dr. David Riesman classifies such cases as cases of oppressive type of heart disease. The patient on walking feels a

and, with pop bottle in one hand and hot dog in the other, engage in the noble art of angling with our pole between our knees! Attendants will bait our hooks, remove and clean our fish, and refund our money if we don’t catch any. But for just one thing, Mr. Carter has eliminated successfully every joy, every characteristic, every traditional virtue of a fishing excursion. He has missed one thing. You still can dip the seat of your pants in his bird-bath and try to imagine you’ve been fishing! IKE ABASHED. Editor Times—One hardly can read the news of the day without a complete feeling of disgust. In one column we find a former cabinet officer sentenced to prison for a year and a day. His offense —nothing short of treason, an offense that should be dealt with by the firing squad or complete banishment from this country Then in another column, a 13-year-old boy banished from his home and his county. Finally sentenced to serve an eight-year term in prison. Certainly the work of a hot-headed judge and a decided miscarriage of justice. Can one really expect to convince even himself that there is such a thing as justice? Why not handle the boy’s father for not giving the proper parental care to his son? That appeals are made to our honorable Governor is even more disgusting. How can any one expect consideration from an executive who will spend the people’s money for mansions, cleaning jobs and what-not, and then have the nerve to say that it is his money and he will spend it as he sees fit? A special session of legislature should be called to impeach the judge who has failed miserably in his position. But it also would be well to consider impeaching an executive who not only fails miserably, but betrays the trust placed in him by the people of his state. Such actions of judges and Governors should stir the ire of every citizen of this state. It is time that they were demanding explanations. Must we continue to be at the brunt of the criticism given us by the other forty-seven states? Are we going to be pointed out as a state that miscarries justice, such as California has done with Mooney and Billings? CHESTER F. PETERSON. 22 North Bosart avenue. Editor Times—Following is a copy of a letter to Harry G. Leslie, Governor of Indiana: If the banishment into exile of motherless, helpless, 13-year-old John Tooley is justice as it is written in the statutes of the land, then Indiana may hang low her head in shame. By the laws of nature and of nature’s God, there is no jutifleation for such an act, regardless of the contributory factors. When a country or a state permits itself to sink in degradation so low that an orphan of such tender years must be sentenced to eight years’ servitude because he dared defy the edicts of an autocrat, only to gather together his few rats of clothing and to, break bread ffth. his. fatfce*

sudden sense of oppression against the upper part of the chest or in the middle of the abdomen; if he stops walking and rests, the condition passes off sometimes with the belching of gas. The trouble appears to be mild, and the person is likely to pay not the slightest attention to it. It resembles, however, the condition called angina pectoris but without the pain. In such cases, an examination would probably have indicated a beginning disturbance of the heart months before, but the patient likely passes these attacks as being due to temporary indigestion. Dr. Riesman points out that a catastrophe might have been foreseen or suspected if the patient had been asked repeatedly as to the pain* and the symptoms, and if the most delicate means of examination, including the use of the electrocardiograph, had been used before the patient had been given a clean bill of health.

for perhaps the last time, then there can be little wonder that the coals of discontent with an atrocious social system are being fanned to a steady flame. The state of Indiana is not so great that she can shoulder the unfavorable criticism this unwarranted outrage of human decency will precipitate. The smirches upon Indiana’s character over the last decade already are too deep. One thing, at least, is certain: Indiana has no place upon her benches for a czar. EARL W. CAPPER, President of Association Western Union Employes. Editor Times—Since The Times always is interested in helping the citizens of our city, and especially the less fortunate ones, I would like to bring to your attention one phase where I believe your paper, in cooperation with the police department, can do some real service, I have in mind protection against foraging on the numerous truck gardens that the unemployed have planted throughout the city. We have, surrounding our factory, considerable acreage which we allowed four or five men to cultivate. They have been working hard ever since spring on their gardens, and now, when it is about time to reap the benefits from their labors, the children and adults of the neighborhood come along and steal the crops. This robs the deserving gardener of his labors and probably will make him go hungry this winter. I thing that the police and your paper should use every means to protect these deserving men who are counting on their gardens to bring them through the winter ahead. I hope something can be done about this, and thank you for your co-operation in this matter. E. J. ELLIOTT. Standard Dry Kiln Company.

Delicious Fruit Recipes Fresh fruits are very Important in the diet as regulatory foods and tissue builders. The fact that they contain mineral salts such as calcium, phosphorus, lime and iron -each necessary to the body tissues—makes the use of fruit in the diet necessary. And the fact that most lruits are low in food value, while furnishing cellulose and acids, makes them ideal for summer use in the-diet. Our Washington bureau has ready for you a comprehensive new bulletin on fruit dishes, drinks and desserts. It includes recipes for delicious fruit muffins, fritters, cocktails, salads, desserts and beverages. You’ll be surprised at the variety of tasteful ways you can use fruit and berries in the daily menu. Fill out the coupon below and send for this bulletin. CLIP -COUPON HERE Dept. 131, Washington Bureau, The Indianapolis Times. 1322 New York avenue, Washington, D. C. I want a copy of the bulletin, Fruit Dishes, Drinks and Desserts, and inclose herewith 5 cents in coin or loose, uncancelled United States postage stamps for return postage and handling costs. Name Street and Number City State I am a reader of The Indianapolis Times. (Code NoJ

.JULY 24, 1931

SCIENCE —BY DAVID DIETZ—

Connection Between Life and Cosmic Rays Is Deemed Possible. IS there a connection between the mysterious cosmic rays and the phenomena of life? This is a question capturing the imagination -! many men of science. The existence of these rays was confirmed a few years ago by Dr. R. A. Milliken, famous physicist of Pasadena. Cal., and Nobel prize winner. His experiments demonstrated that these rays, a thousand times shorter than the rr.net penet!~v > ‘-'" rays of radium, continuously were bombarding the earth from outer space. The cosmic rays ~-2 so penetrating that they will pass directly through thick lead screens which are perfect bars to X-rays or the rays of radium. This means, therefore, that at every minute of the day and night these cosmic rays, entering the earth’s atmosphere from outer space, are passing through and through the bodies of all living creature I first heard the suggestion that there might be some connection between life and cosmic rays made by Professor Michael Pupin, famous inventor and professor at Columbia university. Professor Pupin hazarded the guess that some day experiments might show that the energy of life came from the cosmic rays. tt b a Life-Giving PHYSIOLOGISTS, of course, hays shown the direct connection between the energy of living creatures and the food which they consume. In general, there Is no mystery here. But this process, known technically as metabolism, does not tell the. whole story. A good exam pi a is the case of the vitamins. Apparently, the living organism does not function properly without them. One theory is that the vitamins are little storehouses of energy needed to make the larger process of metabolism complete. They ara like triggers which set off a gun. The organization of the cells, which compose living organisms, is extremely complicated. The fine structure, it is felt, proceeds to a point far beyond the power of the most powerful microscope and into the real of the atom itself. Perhaps here there are minute processes which make possible the more apparent functions of the cell and make possible the ordinary and observed phenomena of life. A somewhat similar suggestion has come recently from Sir James Jeans, famous British astronomgr and secretary of the Royal Society. But Professor Jeans does not know whether the cosmic rays are helpful or harmful. He simply raises the speculation that perhaps they are necessary to life and that perhaps they are the lethal factor which introduces the downward half of the life cycle, ushering in senility, and death. 4 tt ft tt Cancer THE most recent guess aboutcosmic rays is made by Dr. John Joly. Dr. Joly suggests that an increase in cancer may be due to a falling off in the intensity of cosmic rays. According to our best knowledge today, cancer is a condition in which the cells of the body begin to grow wild. Apparently, some restraining influence is suddenly lifted and the cells grow all out of proportion to their normal state. Apparently, Dr. Joly thinks that in some way the cosmic rays act as an influence to restrain cell growth and that a lessening of such an influence would result in an increase of wild growth or cancer. While his theory is interesting,' the reader must exercise caution. First of all, I am not sure that there is any proof of an actual increase in cancer or any of the diseases which attack people in later life, such as heart disease. The advance of medicine has cut down the infantile deaths and the deaths in early life from contagious diseases. Since more people live to old age, there is bound to be an increase in the diseases of oid age. Secondly, I do not believe that sufficient evidence has been accumulated about cosmic rays to say whether their Intensity is increasing or decreasing. Origin of the cosmic rays still is a mystery. Many scientists think that they originate in the far corners of the universe in distant nebulae where atoms of matter are commg into existence. The rays, they think, are by-products of this process.

Daily Thought

I.et people serve thee and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee; cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.—Genesis 27:29, Respect Is a serious thing in him who feels it, and the height of honor for him who inspires the feeling.—Mme. Swetchine.