Indianapolis Times, Volume 44, Number 50, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 July 1932 — Page 4

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This Can Not Be Delayed The house of representatives had adopted a compromise relief bill not particularly satisfactory to any one, violently opposed by many. It will be killed either by the senate or by the President. The work of getting tangible, practical relief to the people Who need it must start again at the beginning. This time, politics should be left out of the discuslion. Success in a political campaign is important to a great many people, but it is far more important that citizens be saved from suffering and that the country be saved from the wrath of men made desperate by want. It is Important, first, that adequate funds be provided to assure care for all w.lo may be in need. Some weeks ago the senate passed an emergency hunger relief bill, separating this fund from the controversial provisions of the present measure, which are intended to lessen unemployment. Speaker Garner prevented passage of this emergency bill, forcing it to travel the slow, troublesome path of the other relief provisions. Without delay, both houses should make money available to the states for this purpose. They should be very sure that the amount is sufficient to meet all needs. In his proposal that the government take over the function heretofore performed by banks, and loan to private business firms and to individuals, Speaker Garner has raised a fundamental economic question. It never has been debated adequately in either house of congress nor in the committees of either house. It is not enough for Garner and his friends to aey in its defense that help must be given the little fellow as well as the big industries on top. Nor is it enough for the President to say in opposition that the proposal would lead the government into pawnbroking on a gigantic scale. Most of us will agree with the purpose announced by Garner. On the other hand, mast of us want to be shown that the Garner plan actually will bring benefit to men at the bottom of the economic scale, that it will do something to increase the purchasing power of the country rather than simply increase further or maintain the producing power. A study of the problem should have been started months ago. The lateness of the day is added reason why it should be undertaken at once. Committees of senate and house, or a joint nonpartisan committee of both houses, should review the whole problem at once, with expert assistance. They should consider at the same time the interesting proposal of the railroad brotherhoods, sponsored by Senator Costigan and Representative La Guardia, for putting government credit behind needy consumers. Such a study should not take long. Congress should wait in Washington until it is completed, and should then, at last, come to grips with the problem —the problem of creating work for those who have none and restoring the general purchasing power, as the first essential toward making industry function normally. But in the matter of direct relief to prevent suffering, there is no excuse for any delay. Such a bill should be passed, separately, at once. To hold it back for political advantage is little short of criminal.

A Good Platform, But Timid souls in congress have advanced’another excuse for delaying modification of the Volstead act. The eighteenth amendment, they argue, prohibits manufacture, sale and transportation of intoxicating beverages. Thus, until this amendment is repealed!, they say, legalization of 2.75 per cent beer, 3.2 per cent beer, or 4 per cent beer might be in violation of the Constitution. At what point, they ask, does beer become intoxicating? They evidently are insisting on a categorical answer before voting their support of the Democratic platform. They have heard the testimony of qualified experts concerning the intoxicating qualities of beer of various alcoholic content, but they demand more words from more experts. Their high regard for the Constitution might be commendable were it not obvious that they only are angling for time. Must they personally test the intoxicating, or nonintoxicating, qualities of 2.75, 3.2 and 4 per cent beer before they are willing to vote? The real resistance is coming from Democrats. Is this an indication of the manner in which they will carry out the -other promises of their well-written platform? Back to Peasantry? Many tears have been shed in our fair land over the sad fate of the Russian Kulaks. We have worked ourselves up into a white heat over the confiscation of Russian farm lands by the state. But we conveniently have overlooked the fact that worse conditions exist among many American farmers than among the bulk of the Russian peasantry. The Russian state at least assumes the obligation of looking after the rural population and protecting it from starvation. In pur country, foreclosure matches Russian confiscation in extent, while its victims are left to suffer by themselves, according to the canons of rugged individualism. One of the best statements of the plight of the American farmers yet published is contained in an article by Walter Liggett in the American Mercury. Liggett is a trained journalist and an expert of long standing on western farm problems. He presents some rather astonishing facts relative to the degree of incumbrance of our farms. Forty years ago no farms were mortgaged in Oklahoma; today 50 per cent are mortgaged. lowa, the richest agricultural state in the Union, has 65 per cent of its farms mortgaged for a total of $450,000,000. Since 1900 a total of 29,000 farms have been taken over by foreclosure. In North Dakota more than a third of the farms are operated by tenants, and of those operated by owners some 64 per cent are mortgaged. Moving to the eastward edge of the great western farming area, we find Illinois with 47 per cent of its farm land mortgaged for some $400,000,00Q. The story is much the same from Oklahoma to Illinois. Prices of farm products are down to an incredible degree. The spokesman for the Colorado Farmers' Unions declared that "there is not a farm commodity today that is selling at the cost of production. The new wealth created in all agricultural states of this nation will not pay the interest charges and tax bills of this last year." In some areas there has been a reversion to a barter economy. "In some sections farmers are drivyag to town in ancient buggies because they do not

The Indianapolis Times U BCRIPPS-HOWABU NEWSPAPER) Owned and published dally (except Sunday) by The Indianapolis Time* PnhU.Mn- rv. 214-220 We.t Maryland Street indlanapolia, fnd. Price in M.r?on Co U „It a" copy: elsewhere, 3 cents—delivered by carrier. 12 cents a week. Mail iiihscVin- * tlon ratet In Indiana. $3 a year; outalde of Indiana, ki cents a mouth P 801D Rd| I I, L * T - HOY PrJ&nS™' KARL D. BAKER t>f I resident Business Manager ’ |ey_(i : 'iSl FRIDAY. JULY 8. 1922, Member of United Press, Scrlpps-Howard Newspaper Alliance. Newspaper Enterprise Assoclstlon. Newspaper Information Service and Audit Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”

have money enough to buy gasoline. Whole communities have gone back to barter. ‘‘The farmer trades butter, eggs, potatoes, or other products for clothing, store food, and whatever else he needs. Several middle west colleges are accepting wheat, pigs, poultry, and other farm produce in return for tuition." Banks have failed. Farmers have lost their savings. The lack of banks impedes the financing of those farmers in a position to borrow money on decent security. Os 1,050 banks in North Dakota in 1920, only 255 have their doors open today. What have been the causes of this demoralization of American agriculture which threatens to 'reduce the free American farmer to the level of the medieval peasant? Mechanical farming, irrigation, and scientific fertilization have increased production. Wheat and cotton production in the rest of the world has made great gains. The result has been sharper competition and lower prices. The price of American wheat is determined by the world price in Liverpool, though three-quarters of the American wheat crop is consumed in the United States. The farmer never has been able to gain any advantages from the tariff on wheat, while the tariff on materials he has to buy greatly has increased his expenses. The western farmer has been the victim of all sorts of extortion—from loan sharks, bankers, elevators, insurance pirates, and the like. Fraudulent grading of grain has cost the farmers of North Dakota alone as much as $10,000,000 in a single year. High interest, extortionate hail and other farm insurance, and unfair grain grading and dockage have taken from the North Dakota farmers as much as $50,000,000 yearly, an average of $650 a year a farmer. This often has exceeded the total annual profit from a farm. After the war the farmer was deflated much more rapidly and extremely than any other group. He was picked on first because he was helpless through lack of organization. No other group could force society to concede justice so quickly as the farmers. But their inability to organize leaves them a most pitiful prey of well organized minorities. Mr. Liggett believes that unless conditions arc remedied, the American farmers will go radical. They certainly have the foundations for such policy and psychology. But their record belies the prospect. A little spurt in the price of wheat and they probably would believe, as they did in 1896 and 1924, that God once more was showing his direct approval of the Grand Old Party.

Uncle Sam Obliges In Girard, Kan., E. Haldeman-Julius prints a Socialist monthly called the American Freeman, successor to the old Appeal to Reason. For years he has sailed into the "system,” flayed capitalism, called Hoover “a racketeer” and other names and tried to catch the popular ear. His circulation didn't boom. So last month he printed an issue with a provocative article entitled: “Why Don’t the Workers Raise Hell?” This chided the unemployed for cowardice, recalled that the pioneers of fifty years ago took down their muskets when they wanted food, reminded the readers that neither beasts nor birds when hungry would hold private property sacred. It was a foolish piece, but it worked. The local postmaster complained. The post-master-general at Washington “took steps.” The issue was refused the mails under a couple of statutes that make unmailable any matter urging treason, insurrection, or forcible resistance to any law of the U. S. A. The publisher picked up the chip that Uncle Sam had knocked off, and reprinted the offending article in this month’s issue. Uncle Sam knocked it off again and denied that issue the mails. The performance might be amusing if it weren’t dangerous. The publisher gets what he wanted, free publicity and added circulation. And whatever influence he has as a disturber at a time when cool heads are needed will have been extended to a larger audience. It was apparent from the first that the Chicago gangsters had nothing to do with the Democratic convention. Otherwise, a nomination would have been made on the first ballot. A physician points out that many city dwellers walk about with their eyes on the ground. We didn’t realize that modern architecture was qAite that bad. A scientist has found that the sea is receding at the rate of ten inches a year. At that rate, most Oi. our seaside cottages must be at least 10,000 years old.

Just Every Day Sense BY MRS. WALTER FERGUSON

EVERY tax-burdened citizen —and that exempts no mac or ■woman—felt an instant of encouragement ajtPresident Hoover's proposal for drastic armament reductions. Whether this specific plan comes to anything or not, at least it opens the way for future efforts. Armament costs must be reduced or civilization is doomed. And what nation is situated more advantageously to make reductions than ours? Who are the people who should lead the way to peace? We are. The informed individual who is brave enough to speak his honest convictions will admit that the United States is not in any real danger of attack from foreign powers. We know that we never shall be in such danger if we are fair in our dealings with the world. We never have in the whole course of our existence been on the actual defensive. If we want peace, we will have it in spite of all the alarms by the military brigade. And it is ridiculous for us to insist that we must be as well gunned as France, for instance, who sits amid her ancient enemies like a hare within a circle of hounds. We are guarded on the east by the Atlantic and on the west by the Pacific. MM* OUR danger lies within our own boundaries. Do you realize that we have an army of unemployed today that is three times as large as our World war army? Is it not horrible that while the ranks of our jobless, our hungry, and our homeless increase, we pour out floods of gold for cannon, battleships, and all the cruel accoutrements of war? This very year, while many of dur ex-soldiers are starving to death, our congress has appropriated large sums for summer military camps, where well-fed boys will go through their silly drills and for the R. O. T. C., which is a sort of sissyfled. flapperish adjunct to our national army, and which few taxpayers want. America will have war on her hands, but not with an alien enemy. It will be with the Jingoists at home. * And we are ofT *to a magnificent start. While the rest of us have taken from a 10 to 100 per cent cut in salaries, the military gracefully have yielded to a 1 per cent reduction., That’s lowering armament costs for you!

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES .

M. E. Tracy Says:

The Whole War Debt Situation Has Been Tossed Into Our Lap by a Coalition of Former Friends and Former Enemies. NEW YORK. July 7.—Average people hardly could be blamed for being ctnfused by the news from Lausanne. First, we are told of a treaty whereby Germany will pay a fixed - * amount into some kind of a Euroteen fund, instead of reparations. The fixed amount is reported as three billion marfcs, or somewhat less than 1 per cent of the sum originally demanded by the allies. Then we are told of a gentleman’s agreement whereby the treaty will not be ratified until a war debt settlement has been reached with the United States. Again, we are told of an accord whereby the allies will not try to collect from Germany, and Great Britain will not try to collect from the allies until such settlement has been reached. Finally, we are told of a letter whereby Germany will be advised of all this. n,

Thrown in U. S. Lap TO sum it up, Europe has not only ended the reparations farce, but agreed to a moratorium on war debts until such time as a satisfactory bargain can be made with . Uncle SamThis megns that the whole war debt situation has been tossed into our lap hy a coalition of former friends and former enemies. Theoretically, the reparations settlement will not be put up to us as having a direct bearing on debt revision, or cancellation, yet it has become the real basis of European strategy. In other words, European governments have made an agreement among themselves conditioned on what we do- Among other things, thye have agreed not to pay each other until we act, which makes it logical to assume that they will not pay us.

We Should Sit Tight NOW the proposition arises as to whether we should- take the initiative or permit Europe to hold the play, whether we should indicat* a willingness to consider the revision of debts or force Europe to ask for it. Some think, that w*e should adopt the former course, that our position in world affairs makes it incumbent on us to move first and that we would gain by doing so. Others think that it is our cue to sit tight, and I agree with them. Assuming that the debts owed us on account of the war never will be paid, why should we call it cancellation when it amounts to repudiation? Why not conduct negotiations so that the record will be kept straight? It is not our fault that Europeans can’t pay. We did not overestimate German reparations, or take any part in the abortive attempt to levy them. We would not sign the treaty of Versailles. * a , We Gained Nothing THE United States not only financed herself in the war, but loaned European governments an enormous amount of money. The fact that they used most of that money to buy food and ammunition for their soldiers has little to do with the matter. They, had to buy somewhere and they could not have bought anywhere without our help. When the war was over, we asked nothing, either by way of added territory, payments in kind, or cash. The allies took not only all the German colonies, but about all the German cattle, coal, and ships on which they could lay their hands. Besides that, they levied a preposterous tribute on the German people. The fact that they overreached themselves should be no concern of ours. The fact that we have no idea of forcing them to pay us beyond their strength should not deter us from insisting that negotiations be carried out in such manner as will let posterity know who made -the mistake.

9 T ?S^ Y • WORLD WAR A ANNIVERSARY

TRANSPORT WHIPS SUBS July 8

ON July 8, 1918, a transport ship returning to the United States from France was attacked by eight German submarines in the Bay of Biscay. Outnumbered as the ship was, she succeeded in escaping the subs and in sinking one of them. An accompanying destroyer escort sank another. French forces, strengthened by American reserves, and heartened by previous successes, staged a strong attack on the edge of the forest of Villers-Cotterets, and broke through the German lines on a front of about two miles. Australians, too, had a successful day, carrying their line forward along the Somme river for a depth of 600 feet along a front of about a mile and a half.

People’s Voice

Editor Times —I have been a reader of your paper for years and I know you try to be fair. But I don’t understand why there's such a row over the soldiers’ bonus. Why did congress ever pass it. Didn’t they think we were entitled to it? I, for one, would like to know what ever became of all the insurance money that every veteran paid during the war. Surely all the money did not go to the dependents cf the fallen. I believe that most of that money could have paid for most of -the bonus. I hope someone will enlighten me on this subject. A BUDDY What sport is popularly referred to as “the great national pastime”? Baseball, because of the popularity of the game. Wat A1 Capone bom in this tryHe was born in Brooklyn, N. Y.

When a Feller Needs a Friend!

Ulcer of Leg May Persist 50 Years

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association. and of Hvgeia, the Health Magazine. ULCERS on other regions of the body than the legs heal promptly unless they are due to cancer or to a constitutional, venereal disease. An ulcer of the leg. as is pointed out in a recent consideration of the subject by Dr. A. Dickson Wright, may persist for any period of time up to fifty years. The reason ulcers of the leg. are likely to become chronic Is mechanical, primarily. Drainage of blood from the legs is slower than from the upper parts of the body, even under the best of circumstances. It is necessary, of course, for the blood to rise against the force of gravity. Various factors help in this process. In the first place, the veins have valves so arranged as to step the blood up gradually and hold it in the stepping up process. The veins have a small amount of contractile power as contrasted with the arteries, but they do have

IT SEEMS TO ME by ™od

HEARST and Huey got their man, and the triumph represented some nice dovetailing in team play. Mr. Hearst, of course, pulled all the strings, but his post was more than a thousand miles away, and so the leg work was up to Senator Long. Louisiana's Kingfish was easily the most colorful man in the convention. Alfalfa Bill Murray seemed palid in comparison. To a certain extent Senator Long’s advantage was a physical one. In the mere matter of mileage he outdistanced all competitors. One second Would find him busily arguing in the aisles with the lowa delegation, and within the next he would have forced his way back to the platform again. “We had to sweat them through a night session before they came around for him,” he declared to his constituents back home after the nomination of Franklin D. Roosevelt. And it was generous of him to call it “we,” for there were many times when it seemed as if he were both star and supporting cast ias well, M M Long Outlasts Them MOREOVER, the lad from the red clay country has every right to be proud of the manner in which he took the city slickers in the all-night session. It might be supposed that the Broadway boys would have been more accustomed to the rigors of a dawn patrol, but as the rosy finger of the morning came through the great windows of the stadium and messed about in the white thatch of Mr. Curry, it was the product of the canebreaks who looked the new day in the face

When You Travel Rates are lower for travel than for many years. Hotels, steamship companies, railroads, resort places, are making all kinds of (inducements to lure the prospective traveler and vacationists. Are you thinking of YOUR vacation? Our Washington Bureau has anew bulletin on THE ETIQUETTE OF TRAVEL, that will prove very helpful to the intending vacationist. Hints and suggestions of all kind as to the proper thing to do on train, steamship, at the hotel, how to secure information of al kinds, suggestions for dress in travel; registering and leaving a hotel, tips, baggage, tickets, reservations, travel and motoring abroad—all the things you need to know to make your trip easy and comfortable. Fill out the coupon below and send for this bulletin: CLIP COUPON HERn Dept. 181, Washington Bureau, The Indianapolis Times, 1322 New York Avenue, Washington. D. C. I want a copy of the bulletin ETIQUETTE FOR TRAVELERS, and inclose herewith 5 cents in coin, or loose, uncancelled United States postage stamps to cover return postage and handling costs: Name--and No. City State .* I am a reader of The Indianapolis Times (Code No.)

some. As the human being walks the muscles of the legs, by their contractions, serve to force the blood upward. The elasticity of the skin and the suction created by the breathing help, also. Naturally, interference with any one of these factors may result in weakness of action. The valves may break down, the walls of the vessels may lose their contractile power and dilate. Failure to exercise may result in loss of the part that leg muscles play. As one grows older the skin loses its elasticity. Tumors in the abdomen, due to a growth of any kind, may interfere with the rate of the flow of blood. Excess weight may interfere with circulatory action and also with exercise. The effects of such failure is to cause gradual swelling of the tissues due to the accumulation of fluid and finally to destruction of th ■ tissue by failure to secure proper blood supply. Then when any injury to the skin

and said, “Let’s have one more round.” James J. Walker had already gone to bed and had to be aroused to make his belated and dramatic entrance for the poll of the New York delegation. Dudley Field Malone protested to. the chairman that it was monstrous to make decent citizens stay up so late. But Senator Long still was ready for a fight or a frolic. I saw him plainly at 5:30 as he was dashing down to the aisles to soothe a swaying delegation. Duty called, and yet Senator Long of Louisiana paused for a moment is his mad career. For the first time he noticed a blond stenographer who was keeping track of the convention proceedings. Inspired by the chivalry of the old southland, he leaned across the rail in her direction and said, ‘‘How are you, baby?” Before she could reply, he had bounded off to bleed and die in the cause of Franklin Roosevelt. It is these little touches of cavalier courtesy which endear the senator to the gently bred unreconstructed areas. nan • Up From Nowhere AND yet the Kingfish did not come from any great whitepillared house upon a hill. He worked his way up from the mudflats of his native state and began life as a traveling salesman in rural Louisiana. He sold baking powder, and no successor on his route ever has approached his performance. Again it was the personal touch. He not only described the merits of his product, but he demonstrated it. Taking a can from his sample case, he would go into the kitchen and,

occurs with slight infection, the tissues of the body are unable to take care of it satisfactorily. The ulcer persists and the patient despairs. There are, however, many instances in which proper treatment will result in a cure of such cases, even though they have persisted for a quarter century. There is no magic healing salve; nor is there any method of treatment that will cure an ulcer overnight. The condition is one that has persisted long because of the development of factors which must be overcome before the cure can be brought about. Obviously,, it is important to increase the circulation of the blood, to free the oatient from pain, to permit him to get adequate sleep, to support the tissues with bandages, and to raise the foot of the bed so as to aid drainage. Os course, the presence of diabetes or some degenerative disorder, a weakness of the heart, o~ a tumor of tin abdomen, require special attention if permanent results are to be accomplished.

Ideal* and opinion* expressed In this column are those of one of America’* mo*t interesting writers and are presented without regard to their agreement or disagreement with the editorial attitude of this paper.—The Editor.

using whatever the house afforded, proceed to bake a pie. Then he would eat the pie to prove it was a good one. He has applied the same system to politics, and the taxpayers of Louisiana know full well that what Huey cooks Huey eats. Seemingly he found the baking powder business extremely profitable, for the roll of bills which he carried casually in his pocket was the wonder and admiration of every hotel lobby in Chicago. Upon one occasion he peeled a thousand-dollar note from the outside to make a wager that Franklin D. Roosevelt would carry Texas -by more than 100,000 votes. One of the newspaper commentators objected in his critique that senator Long “weeps about unemployment on the floor of congress the ho? 1^ 5 f tl ?° usand dolla r beu in the hotels of the convention city." a £ iCIC W3S Call<!d 10 the attention of the Kingfish he was he r s a ?d ngr^:That bl^ety-b,ank?” Vs d ‘ „ Whafc does he think I am C S2O non Why ' down home I too!” 20 ’ 000 ° n S pnmary and *on it, n o u Simplifying Democracy iCENATOR LONG has been quoted as saying. “i n my state lam the party.” Nobody ever had to poll Louisiana to determine the accuracy of the count. Every delegate always knew which way he was going to vote as soon as Senator Lone told him. Upon one occasion a reporter, ignorant of the way things are done down in the delta, undertook to ask a delegate from New Orleans how he purposed to stand in regard to a certain issue about to come up before the convention. The luckless one undertook to reply in his own right, and Long swung upon him fiercely. “Hush up! ’ he said. “What do you know about it?” Only one issue ever has been raised which gave him real trouble. The story of his receiving the German naval officer while wearing pajamas sent Long scurrying out to the back ajpas of the red clay country to explain. But he managed to square himself with a speech which ran about as follows: “Fellow Democratis, I owe you an explanation and an apology. It is true that I did receive that officer in pajamas. But you know that isn’t like me. I received him in pajamas because all my good old-fash-ioned nightshirts were up at the statehouse.” iCoovrUht. 1932. bv The Tlrae*

Daily Thoughts

A man that beareth false witness against his neighbor is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.—Proverbs 25:1*. The gain of lying is nothing else but not to be trusted of any, nor to be believed when we say the truth.—Sir Walter Raleigh.

JULY 8, 1932

SCIENCE BY DAVID’ DIETZ

Last Heath Hen Wanders on Martha's Vineyard; Bird of Colonial Days Near Extinction. SOMEWHERE among the scrub oaks of Martha’s Vineyard, the little island off the Massachusetts coast, wanders a disconsolate bird, the last survivor of a once numerous species. The bird is the last heath hen left in the world. When it dies the heath hen will join the passenger pigeon as an extinct species. This last heath hen on Marthas Vineyard was previously given up as dead, but its reappearance was reported this year by Alfred O. Gross, v.ho transmitted his discovery to the Smithsonian institution. The story of the heath hen is the . tragic story of a bird which could not survive the coming of the white man to Airerica. Even when man himself tried to befriend the bird, it could not survive. Perhaps help came too late. In Colonial days, the bird was common throughout the northeastern region. In fact, it was such a common article of food that servants in colonial Massachusetts often stipulated that they were not to serve it oftener than a ‘‘few times a week." The bird was captured easily oc killed and undoubtedly saved many of the early settlements from a food shortage.

Fate Was Unkind WHEN the white man came to America, the bird was found in most of the sandy scrub oak plains of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Long Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. But by 1840 it had disappeared from most of this area. By 1870. the bird was found only on Martha's Vineyard. In 1908 a state reservation was established on the island. A survey showed that only fifty heath hens still were in existence. Under proper care, the birds seemed to thrive and by 1914, their number had increased to about 2,000. Then fate took a hand in the game. In May, 1916, a fire swept over the interior of Martha's Vineyard. It destroyed the brooding birds with their nests and eggs. The summer of the fire was followed by an unusually hard winter, which brought an unusual flight of goshawks. These are natural enemies of the heath hen. The next spring there were only 150 heath hens on the island, most of them males. Next, turkeys were introduced on to Martha's Vineyard. The turkeys brought in an epidemic to which the heath hens proved susceptible. The mortality was so great among the heath hens that the colony was reduced to thirteen birds, of which only two were females. During the fall of 1928 only two heath hens were seen. One of these disappeared during the winter. Since 1929 there has been only a single heath hen upon the island. This is the bird, recently given up for lost, which again has made its appearance. * a Noisy Courtship GROSS, who has made a careful study of the heath hen, recalls the habits of the bird in a report to the Smithsonian Institution. ‘•There was no part of its behavior," he says, ‘‘more unique, more interesting, and more specialized than the extraordinary performances during the courting season.” During this season, he says, the heath hens begin to gather before sunrise, the males emitting a ‘‘toot'' which sounded like the muffled blast of a tug boat or a fog horn. ‘‘The males frequently leaped into air to a height of three or four feet," he says, "uttering a piercing, rolling cry followed by a curious, indescribable laughter-like sound. "In this wild demonstration, the bird completely reversed his orientation in the air and landed on the ground usually facing in the opposite direction." With sunrise, the males began to quarrel with one another, jumping at one another and ruffling feathers, but without doing any serious harm. Shortly after sunrise, the birds quieted down, only to repeat the commotion late in the day at sunset. "The female’s part in the courtship is a passive one,” Gross says. ‘‘She minds her own business and I never have heard her utter any calls or notes or show any concern in response to the ardent attentions of the males. t "However, the females gave frequent calls and notes when attending their young. "If the mother bird was surprised she gave a characteristic sharp call signal to her chicks to scatter and hide."

Questions and Answers

Would an electric fan whirling in a perfectly insulated and hermetically sealed room lower the temperature? The operation of the fan would not change the temperature, but the movement of the air will hasten evaporation of moisture and dissipation of heat energy cf a human body, so that a person would ‘'feer cooler. What Is the name for a tailor's smoothing iron? Goose.

Your Questions Answered You can get an answer to any answerable question of fact or information by writing to Frederick M. Kerby, Question Editor, Indianapolis Times Washington Bureau, 1322 New York avenue, Washington, enclosing 3 cents in coin or postage stamps for reply. Medical and legal advice can not be given, nor can extended research be made. All other questions will receive a personal reply. All letters are confidential. You are cordially invited to make use of this free service as often as you please. Let our Washington Bureau help with your problems.