Indianapolis Times, Volume 43, Number 164, Indianapolis, Marion County, 18 November 1931 — Page 4

PAGE 4

***■!**■* ~ M OW A.M,

Postal Savings Congress should grant the request of PostmasterGeneral Brown and Increase the maximum allowed Individual depositors in postal savings banks from 12,500 to $5,000. The postal savings system has proved a success in normal times, a life saver in depression days. During the last year its growth has been greater than at any period in twenty-year history. Between July 1, 1930, and July 1, 1931, the number of depositors increased from 466,401 to 762,172 and the total deposits from $175,271,686 to $345,887,460. On Aug. 31 of this year the deposits were $414,985,888. Practically all of this is timid money. It represents the savings of those who can not afford to lose a cent. Had it not gone into the government’s postal banks, much of it would have gone into hiding under mattresses and behind fireplaces. Although it may be withdrawn at any time, it earns 2 per cent Interest computed quarterly, and is as safe as the government itself. Opposed at first by the bankers, the postal savings system now is praised by them. They realize that in times of depression this system tends to keep money In circulation that otherwise would be hoarded. The money is reloaned immediately to banks who pay the government 2 1 A per cent and guarantee its safety through deposits of government bonds and other approved collateral. The meritorious work performed by this system should not be handicapped by the rigid limitation of $2,500 which is most burdensome and purposeless in times of financial distress, when millions of dollars go into hiding,” Postmaster Brown declares. We agree. Inside the Farm Board The so-called inside stories of alleged improper operations of the federal farm board and its grain, cottcn and other agencies are multiplying. It appears now that when congress investigates the board these stories will be retold. The investigators, certainly, should make a diligent efforc to prove or disprove them. If disproved, the farm board would benefit; if proven, they will only add details to the general picture of the board with which the country apparently is thoroughly familiar. In either case the fact will remain that the board, In its $500,000,000 spree, has shown itself utterly incapable of providing that long-sought thing called farm relief. It has demonstrated that governmental attempts to peg prices are disastrous. It has illustrated the fallacies of speculating in commodity markets with public funds. It has shown how political “remedies’’ will not cure fundamental economic ills of agriculture. It has fooled the farmer and upset prbducers middlemen and consumers. The farm board is discredited by its actions that have been open and above board. It does not take the revelation of undercover operations, if any, to show what a mistake the administration made. Congress should consider the board in this broad view in investigating it, revamping it, or abolishing it Prison Progress One of the achievements of the Hoover administration is the new spirit in the federal prisons and reformatories. While the three states of New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts have adopted enlightened programs. the federal government seems to be going ahead with actual reforms faster than almost any state. Credit for this is due chiefly to two Hoover appointees, Sanford Bates, head of the prison bureau, and his assistant, Austin MacCormic. In a report just issued by the department of justice, a number of important changes for the better are recorded. Working toward the government’s new ideal of absolute literacy and vocational training for its 25,000 prison inmates, supervisors of education have been placed in all of the prisons and reformatories, libraries have been established, vocational training work begun. Medical care has been turned over to the United States health service with the result that in most of the prisons, notably in Atlanta, good surgeons, dentists, psychiatrists and neurologists are at work. Overcrowding, of course, continues as the result of the grinding out of prisoners by prohibition and other extreme laws. This has been mitigated to some extent by establishing seven road camps housing 1,460 men, and by increasing the number of paroled men from 1,939 last year to 2,544 this year. These reforms represent only a beginning. Selfgovernment to instill among the prisoners a sense of responsibility has not been tried in federal institutions, as in Massachusetts. Other reforms wait upon time. Enough has been accomplished, however, to establish federal leadership in this long-neglected field. For tiiis we congratulate Mr. Hoover and his new prison administrators. The Railroads and Wage Cuts •lluminating facts about the whole present railway situation are assembled fully by Daniel Whiting in Editorial Research Reports. There is no doubt that the railroads are in a hard way just now. This is primarily due to: (1) atrocious mistakes of the early railroad builders in constructing too many lines and in following winding and indirect routes; and (2) piratical exploitation of railroad operation and finance in the generation of Gould, Drew and their associates. Both operators and laborers today suffer for the sins of those who controlled our roads from 1870 to 1900. But we can not relieve the days of Gould and eliminate the sins of that age. The crisis is here. We must deal with it as of 1931 rather than 1881. In 1930 the net operating revenue of Class 1 railroads, earning about 97 per cent of the total revenues of all railroads, fell to $885,000,000. It was the first time net operating revenue had fallen below $1,000,000,000 since 1924. In 1929 it stood at $1,274,600,000. The revenues of railroads shrank even more decisively in the first six months of 1931—t0 $238,500,000. The railroads contended that unless they received additional income, or cut expenses, they would be unable to meet their fixed interest payments on bonds, necessary to make them legally marketable as highgrade investments. They estimated that an increase of 15 per cent in freight rates would give them an additional annual income of some $400,000,000. A 10 per cent wage cut would save them about $220,000,000 yearly. The acale paid railroad employes is about what it was in l® 28 * approximately 70 per cent above what was when the government took over the railroads H%', December, 1917. The purchasing power of^hese

The Indianapolis Times <A SCKIPI'B-HOWAKII NEWSPAPER) ow .! <Ja, 'y <*cept Sunday) by The Indianapolis Times Publishing Cos., 214-2*o West Maryland Street, Indianapolia, Ind. Price in Marion County, 2 cents a copy; elsewhere, 3 cent*—delivered by carrier. 12 cents a week. Mail subscrip- __ Oon rates in Indiana. $3 a year; outside of Inditna, 65 cents a month. B °YD GCRLBT. ROY W EARL D. BAKER~ Editor President Business Manager PHONE—Riley 5551 WEDNESDAY. NOV. 1. 1931. Member of TJnited Press, Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Newspaper Information Service and Audit Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will P’ind Their Own Way.”

wages is approximately 12 per cent greater than it was in 1928. At the same time, the number employed on railroads has fallen off since 1928 by more than 21 points. Shrinkage in the number of men employed in the last thr<*e years has, then, notably lessened the income of those normally dependent upon work on railroads. It has to a similar degree diminished operating expense* of the railroads. Therefore, when the railroads propose a wage cut they must face the fact that they have a pay roll which is 21 points under 1928 and 24 points under 1929. During the first six months of 1931, the average number of employes on Class 1 railroads was 1,306,054. Total compensation was $1,095,921,590, and average annual compensation to the employe was $1,678.20. In 1928 some 1,656,411 were employed and average annual compensation was $1,706.45. These figures indicate the same thing has happened on the railroads which has taken place in most non-transportation industries in the last two years. The wage scale has been maintained, but pay rolls have been cut considerably, through layoffs and re hirings at lower wages. Factory employment is off more than 20 points since 1928, while factory pay rolls are off more than 29 points since 1928. This shows how thin is the fiction that the purchasing power of labor has been maintained since 1929. If wage scales have not been slashed unmercifully, the actual wages paid to employes have been. Railroad employes have fared slightly better than factory workers with respect to total pay roll slashes, but they have been hard hit. If wage cutting becomes general throughout the country, railway workers doubtless will have to take their punishment along with the rest. But the whole issue must be viewed in the large perspective of the fact that labor as a whole received too little of the total social income from 1921 to 1929. It could not keep its purchasing power up to the level required to keep pace with increased production. Cutting wages anywhere along the line will place in jeopardy the life of the only goose which can lay the golden eggs of returning prosperity under the capitalistic system. As between shippers and workers, it is better that the former should suffer that the railroads may live. Liberty in Los Angeles Liberty is a word in the dictionary, a weekly magazine, a town in Missouri, and a statue in New York harbor. It might help the city of Los Angeles to recall that liberty also is one of the three things the United States fought its revolution to preserve and thereupon wrote with blood into its Constitution. Apparently Los Angeles’ cossack-like police have forgotten this. For recently, after one Captain William Hynes, head of a misnamed “intelligence bureau, ’ refused citizens the right of peaceful assemblage in one of the city’s big halls, where they wished to protest the Mooney and Harlan county outrages, the police ran amuck in the mass meeting at Pershing square. v They swung clubs, slugged men and women, drenched the square and surrounding hotel lobbies with tear gas an dprecipitated a uselcs riot. Indignant citizens now threaten a recall against Mayor Porter. Once again Los Angeles’ “peace” officers have heaped unnecessary odium upon their city. It is unfortunate, for the city’s bar association recently had begun to instill respect for the law in the police department. Some of the fault probably lies with the Los Angeles voters, who, according to Ernest Hopkins, former Wickersham commission investigator, have swamped their police with tasks of regulating the public’s moral and economic views instead of catching the big crooks for which the city is famous. ‘Every Californian,” writes the San Francisco News of this incident, “who cherishes the Constitution of his country, who believes in law and order, who nas a sense of decency, is ashamed of Los Angeles.” Madame Senator Caraway The appointment of Mrs. Hattie Caraway, widow of the late 'Senator Thaddeus Caraway of Arkansas, as the first woman to be an active member of the United States senate will gratify citizens, regardless of sex. We share with Governor Parnell, who appointed her, the belief that Mrs. Caraway is “a most estimable woman, thoroughly capable,” whose “service in the United States senate will be an honor to the state.” We do not, however, share his belief that “the office belongs to Senator Caraway.” Seats in congress belong to those who earn them at the hands of the voters and to no one else. The prevailing sentimentalism that has created scores of little family dynasties in the lower house leaves us cold. We hope that Madame Senator Caraway is a success, and earns her seat at the special election on Jan. 12. If she proves a good senator in her own right, she is entitled to a long tenure of service. In the moonshine many a bootlegger has been mistaken for a blind pig.

Just Every Day Sense BY MRS. WALTER FERGUSON

NOT since the advent of the boyish bob have we been so torn with dissension as that which now arises over the question oi the working wife. A large number of both sexes have taken up the cause of home and family with vigor, and are convinced that all who disagree with them are selfish, unnatural, and even wicked. From Denver comes this contribution to the discussion: All wives should be glad to make happy homes for their families. Any woman who values her work more than her husband .should not marry. She is a cheat.” With reservations, I can agree with this correspondent. I believe sincerely that when a woman deliberately foregoes home life, babies and the securities that we always have prized and always will, for the barren rewards of a business career, she is making a tragic mistake. But like Voltaire, I would fight to the death for her right to make that mistake. u u a WE do not pass laws or make community regulations to prevent men from losing their fortunes on the stock market, or to stop boys from casting away all the best gifts of existence because of the stupidity of their opinions. By the same reason we have no right to lay down stringent rules for all women, merely because certain numbers of our sex do not have the discrimination to understand the true values of life. The exercise of free will should be feminine as well as masculine privilege. And we can’t transform giddy girls into good wives merely by shouting about their folly. Neither can we convince women that home life is the better part, by the simple process of forbidding them to take dictation. Unless of their own desire and out of their own wisdom women choose domesticity and motherhood, all our clamor will be in vain ancLall our rules useless.

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. Tracy SAYS:

The Federal Government Is Facing Too Big a. Deficit Without Creating Any More Soft Jobs. YORK. Nov. 18.—Th-t question of creating a federal department of education, with a cabinet member at its head, should be answered easily. Our educational system is laboring under too much overhead already. Besides, the federal government faces too big a deficit for any new soft jobs. Two billion dollars in the red by next July, according to a committee of investment bankers, and no one at Washington knows where to get the money. ttun Only One Reason AMTORG, the trading corporation representing Soviet Russia in this couritry, reduces its staff by one-half and its office space by onethird. There could be only one reason for such action, and you know it as well as I do. Amtorg explains that It is buying less from us because of the constantly increased difficulty of arranging long-term credits. Admitting that we may be justified in not granting Soviet Russia more liberal terms on her purchases, why should we loan European, the money with which to do it? B B B A Great Man TTAVE you noticed how many -■ A clubs and organizations are inviting Newton D. Baker to address them? Not to beat about the bush, it’s the case of a great office seeking a great man. Some people are waking up to the fact that that is not a bad idea under existing conditions. There are plenty of pushers out in front, but don’t forget that they would do the same kind of pushing and for the same kind of reasons, if they got in office. B B B Wins His Point Benny sabbatino, ex-convict, has just won a $7,500 verdict against two members of the New Yoik parole board on the ground that he was kept in prison three years longer than the law provided. Sent to Sing Sing for a term of sixteen years in 1915, he became eligible for release in 1924 under a law that was passed in 1920. but the parole board refused to grant him a release because the law under which he asked for it had been passed after he was tried and sentenced. Having studied law while a prisoner, he took the case to court and, after seventy diffjrent moves won his point. Then he sued memnnn Sos P ar ole board for $200,000, gett the above mentioned judgment as a result.

A Queer Case OVER in Austria, they are trying a woman for murder, with her 3-year-old son as chief witness. She had two sons—Adolph, 3, and Herman, 2. Herman’s body was found in a canal the other day. It was regarded as an accident, until Adolph began prattling at the funeral. "Mama threw Herman into the canal, he said, and now great judges, great lawyers and a much bewildered public are trying to discover whether he told a tragic truth, or was merely giving vent to some childish impression. B B B it’s Strange Thing A CHILD’S evidence is very apt to be unreliable, not because he wouldn’t tell the truth if he could, but because he frequently can’t, because he may have no conception of what the truth implies. Well, you know there are some older people like that—people who are so wrapped up in the technique of some transaction, or -who have developed such peculiar notions as to lose their capacity for telling the plain, ordinary truth. There are other people who become confused and afraid under examination and who appear to be lying when they are trying to tell the truth. Such people explain why we have all the rules of evidence.

m TODAY V.w IS THE- Os WORLD WAR a annive^ary

CAPTURE OF JAFFA Nov. 18

ON Nov. 18, 1917, British forces took the city of Jaffa, on the Mediterranean, thirty-two miles northwest of Jerusalem. Australian and New Zealand troops, mounted, had entered the city without opposition the day before. Jerusalem itself was threatened with the taking of Jaffa. Accounts of the capture of the city said that many of Jaffa’s inhabitants had left in March, 1917, but that many remained. The Turks did not attempt to destroy the city, which was found in good order. A few Europeans were left in Jaffa when the Anzac troops entered. The convents and hospitals were left undamaged, and the German colony at Sarona. which was totally intact, was incorporated within the lines of the British forces. Its inhabitants remained. Orange orchards to the east of Jaffa had been thinned by the cutting of trees for fuel. Why are moths and millers attracted to the lights on the streets and in houses? Scientists have never been able to ascertain the reason for the attraction. It is doubly hard to understand because these insects hide themselves away from the light during the day and seem to be attracted only by artificial light. Who Is the president of the Nationalist government of China? Chiang Kai-Shek. Is dived or dove the correct past tense to dive? Dived is the correct English word. Dove is a colloquialism.

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE Good Teeth Vital to Child’s Health

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hygeia, the Health Magazine. “T? VERY child,” says Dr. H. L. K. J_/3haw, “should have sound, healthy teeth, and every child can have good teeth if we begin early enough to provide for them.” The medical adviser helps to make stronger teeth for children by providing the expectant mother with an abundance of foods which are known to be important in building teeth. These include milk, vegetables, fruit and cereals, in which there are enough of vitamins A. C. and D. Furthermore, modern medicine recognizes the necessity for having the mouth kept healthful during the expectant period. The prospective mother should visit her dentist regularly and see to it that decayed teeth, unhealthy or bleeding gums, or any kind of infection are properly taken care of. After a child is born it should

Times Readers Voice Their Views

Editor Times—Why is it that the lives of firemen and citizens also must be jeopardized just to have lower fire insurance rates? The deplorable accident which cost the life of one fireman is only one of several that have occurred in Indianapolis. Is there a building in Indianapolis worth a life? Early in October an alarm brought fire apparatus west on Ohio street and 'then south on Illinois. At the corner of Ohio and Illinois the policeman had everything cleared and even then the driver, without putting on the brakes, turned the corner on two wheels. Those men certainly were in the hands of the Lord or they surely would have turned over. I’ll venture to say the men on the back end offered a prayer for the moment. At my side stood a lady whose brother is In the department, and the nearaccident affected her terribly. Is it any wonder that the women folk are worried when the lives of these firemen are in the hands of drivers like that one? I understand that fire insurance rates are low j just because of the speed the fire department shows in getting to fires. Fire and police apparatus should observe the stop and go signals just as other vehicles do. I say lower the speed, use sensible drivers even at higher insurance rates. J. L. H. Editor Times—Although business conditions apparently are considerably better, nevertheless the public continues to hide its money in safe deposit boxes, keeping it out of circulation. In my travels throughout Indiana in the last few days I have witnessed no fewer than ten bank failures and the situation is exceedingly alarming. The public needs a depository where 100 per cent return of deposit is guaranteed. The federal reserve system could establish such depositories, where checking accounts could be handled, in each city. The money thus deposited could be loaned by the federal reserve to banks with limited cash assets at a rate of interest barely to cover the cost of operating the new system. We still have good, safe banks, but who knows which they are? Few i people can understand bank statements and these statements do not always reflect the true state of affairs. The public can invest its money safely in government bonds, but who wants government bonds to pay bills with? One of our bankers here told me that his bank could pay dollar for dollar any day and even then could continue to operate, although not on such a large scale. Why doesn’t he advertise this fact in large type in our local newspapers? Until something is done to guarantee the public against bank losses, they will continue to hold to their money., I believe that my plan of establishing federal depositories would be far-reaching in restoring confidence immediately. INTERESTED CITIZEN,

Standing in His Own Way

have its mother’s milk, if humanly possible. Dentists know that children who have been nursed by their mothers are more likely to have healthy teeth than those who have been fed on artificial foods. Mother’s milk contains the minerals and elements necessary for the growth and development of the teeth. The child also has conveyed to it by its mother’s milk certain substances which, help it to resist infection. After a child gets old enough to eat, it is customary to feed it food material that has been sieved or granulated in varoius ways. It is, of course, important to adapt the food to the intestinal tract of the child. At he same time it is important to teach the child to che wproperly. Small pieces of food may be given to the child, and its mother or nurse should feed the child slowly and see to it that one mouthful is

Editor Times—How many of the modern generation realize that today a boy or girl has to have at least a high school education to obtain the ready opportunities offered in the business world. In some cases your age is an important part. Common labor has its holdback. Wages are being cut. Hours are being shortened to supply more men and women with work. The high cost of living slowly is getting back to pre-war prices, yet there are a great many people receiving enormous salaries. The laborer is the one who has been hit the hardest, because his wages were very small to start with. The average family has children to educate, probably one or two in high school, and maybe one in college. The time has come when the

Questions and Answers

Will there he an eclipse of the sun or moon visible in the United States in 1932? A partial eclipse of the moon, March 22, 1932, will be visible in j western United States. A total eclipse of the sun on Aug. 31, 1932, will be visible as a partial eclipse, 'j except in the New England states, | where the path of totality crosses the United States. Is it easier to swim in salt water than is fresh water? Salt water is more buoyant than fresh water, and therefore it is easier to remain afloat and easier for the novice to swim. An expert swimmer is not able to swim faster in salt water than fresh water; in fact, due to the greater density, his speed would probably be a trifle retarded. How old is Helen Wills Moody, the famous tennis star? She was born Oct. 6, 1905. Who was Quana Parker? A Comanche chief, and the most influential leader among the three confederated tribes of Kiowa, Comanche and Apache, in southwestern Oklahoma. He was a halfbreed son of a captive white woman and a chief of the Kwahadi band Upon the death of hia father Quana Parker became chief. What is the correct pronunciation of dictionary? “Dick-shun-ary” with the accent on the first syllable. Does the term ‘light wines and beer” refer to the color of the beverage? It applies to wines and beer that contain a low percentage of alcohol. Do camels consume their humps? The humps are stores of flesh and fat that can be reabsorbed to support the animals when there Is insufficient food. How much is a hand in actual measurement? It is four inches, the common unit of the height of horses. '•

chewed thoroughly or swallowed before more food is given. Dr. Shaw suggests as a good tooth-building menu for a child over 2 years of age the following diet; Breakfast—Raw apple. Cooked cereal. Crisp toast or stale bread and butter. Milk to drink. Dinner—Split pea soup with croutons. Rare roast beef. Baked potato. Spinach. Stale wholewheat bread and butter. Rice pudding. Milk to drink. Supper—Stewed fruit (apple sauce). Cooked cereal. Stole whole wheat bread and butter. Milk to drink. Certain foods are considered to be of special value because they help to cleanse the teeth and gums and because they have a high content of calcium. The list includes fresh fruits, such as apples, toasted breads and celery, radishes, cabbage, carrots and cauliower.

high school or college student is offered every opportunity in existence for a better future. But how many of them have taken advantage of their education? The aged parents, who through many years gone by, have given their children an education that they themselves did not receive, stand by and see their efforts have gone to waste. Now is the time when every boy and girl who has graduated from high school or college can show his or her parents that great respect for their 'wonderful education by giving them a helping hand in this great depression. It surely wont last forever. Then when things return to their normal state, your parents will be proud to know their efforts have not been in vain. SYDNEY RUSSELL.

Why is it harmful to drink milk while eating fish? It is not harmful provided both are fresh. The danger lies in the fact that both milk and fish s A nil quickly, especially in hot weather, and any spoiled food may be very injurious to the human system. In what countries are the cities of Aszalo and Jolsva? They are both in Hungary. WTiat is the value of an 1811 halfdollar? It is worth less than 75 cents. When did the eighteenth and nineteenth amendments to the United States Constitution go into effect? The eighteenth amendment on Jan. 16. 1920, and the nineteenth on Aug. 26, 1920. Who was the President of the United States during the Mexican war? James K. Polk.

Workers Are Safe and Satisfied: Only when they are sure of their jobs. They are sure of their jobs when they own and control the plant in which they work. And they are satisfied. Only when health is protected by the funds of industry and does not depend upon the hazzard of individual conditions. Only when there is a pay envelope every week, in slack times as well as in prosperous days. Only when retirement pensions are a part of the industrial scheme. All these benefits are enjoyed by the workers at the Columbia Conserve Company, if you believe in them vote your dimes in the market place for an extension of this new systtem of industrial democracy. All for COLUMBIA brands of soup, catsup, chill, pork and oeans and Tomato Juice. Sold at ALL REGAL STORES. (Ask a Regal Grocer for Our Booklet “A Business Without a Boss”)

NOV. 18, lC n ,l

SCIENCE BY DAVID DIETZ

Harvard Will Build New Astronomical Station to Speed Up the Study of the Heavens. HARVARD university is to have anew astronomical observing station, according to an announcement by Dr. Harlow Shapley, director of the Harvard observatory. The new station is to be located on Oak ridge, twenty-seven miles northwest of Cambridge, Mass., the location of Harvard university. Oak ridge is the highest point between Mt. Waschusett and the sea. Construction is to begin in the spring, according to Dr. Shapley. Harvard’s new’ sixty-inch telescope is to be located at this station. In addition, five or six of the photographic telescopes now located at Cambridge will be moved to the new site. The sixty-inch telescope is of the reflector type. It rivals in size the sixty-inch telescope of the Mt. Wilson observatory, now the third largest telescope in the world. It will be the largest telescope in the east and will contribute materially to the study of the heavens. Many types of investigations are now going forward slowly because there are so few telescopes of sufficient magnitude for the work. Each new’ giant telescope will speed up the work just that much. b b te Rating to Change THE world’s largest telescope at the present time is the 100-inch telescope at Mt. Wilson in California. The second largest is the 72inch one at the Dominion physical observatory at Victoria, British Columbia. Third honors are shared by Mt. Wilson and Harvard. Both have 60inch reflectors. This rating, however, will be upset soon. First honors before long will go to the new 200-inch telescope w’hich is to be built for the California Institute of Technology by Rockefeller funds. This telescope will be twice as large as the 100inch and ten times as powerful. Another giant telescope soon to be put into operation is the 69-inch reflector at the Perkins observatory of Ohio Wesleyan university at Delaware, O. This telescope will become the third largest in the world. Not only will these new telescopes rearrange the rating of the world’s giants, but they give a better distribution to the big telescopes. The new lineup will be as follows: California will lead with the world’s largest and second largest telescopes—the 200-inch on a mountain top not yet selected, but in all probability near Mt. Wilson, and the 100-inch on Mt. Wilson. Third place will go to Canada with the 72-inch telescope at Victoria. Ohio will rank fourth with the ‘)9-inch telescope at Delaware. Fifth place will be shared by California and Massachusetts with the 60-inch telescopes at Mt. Wilson and Harvard. B B B Mirror Is Simpler ALL the telescopes listed are of the type known as reflectors. This type uses a large concave mirror at the bottom of the telescope tube instead of a large lens at the top. The familiar type of telescope, the sort in which you gaze in an eyepiece at one end and out through a big lens at the other, is known technically as a refractor. In the reflector, a concave mirror takes the place of the big lens. It is situated at the bottom of the tube. The top of the telescope tube is open. The light of the star or other object under observation enters the open end of the tube and falls upon the big mirror. Because of its concave shape, the mirror brings the light to a focus just as a lens would. Small auxiliary mirrors reflect the light to an eyepiece, which as a rule is mounted in the side of the tube. It is easier to build a big reflecting telescope for two reasons. In the refractor, the light passes through the lens. In the reflector, the light is reflected from the upper side of the mirror, which is silvered. It is much easier to grind a mirror than a lens. Secondly, the task of mounting the mirror is simpler since the mirror is at the bottom of the tube and not at the top as is the lens of the refractor. The largest refractor in the world is the forty-inch telescope at the Yerkes observatory. Attempts to build larger refractors have failed to date.

Daily Thought

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.—Romans 3:10. Perfection does not exist. To understand it is the triumph of human intelligence; to desire to possess it is the most dangerous kind of madness.—Alfred de Musset. What is the source of the following verse? “Knowest thou yonder land where the orange grows. where the fruit Is of gold, and so fab the rose. Where so calm and so soft like Heaven’* blessing true Boring eternally reigns with the skies ever blue.” It is from the opera, “Mignon,” by Thomas.