Indianapolis Times, Volume 44, Number 91, Indianapolis, Marion County, 25 August 1932 — Page 4

PAGE 4

<*!*** -HOWaAD

Who Got It? Months ago it was admitted by the federal prohibition department that a very large quantity of exceptionally fine liquor, if any be fine, had disappeared from the local federal building. The liquor had been confiscated by the prohibition agents and was in their custody. The value of the liquor, under present bootleg quotations, amounted to thousands of dollars. The government agents were busy for some time In other matters. They convicted a Democratic mayor by the testimony of men and women who would not be believed in any other place in the world than a federal court. . They snooped into conventions of men who had served their country at the risk of their lives and exercised a supervision over their habits and morals. The boys who had successfully defied the temptations of France could not be trusted to take care of themselves at home and the agents did it. Having completed this work, it might seem reasonable to ask that either the prohibition department- or the department of justice discover where the confiscated whisky went. Not just some of the whisky, but all the whisky could be easily traced. Some of it, probably, was used in the dubious hospitalities of those in its custody. But there is still the question of where the rest of it went—and why. The matter may be more important than the fact that the prohibition agents who confiscate whisky can not be trusted with its custody. It may go higher, much higher.

25,000,000 It is impossible to grasp the actual meaning, the distress and the terrible human problem of 25,000,000 men, women and children in need of food and clothing and shelter. Yet, this is the sober estimate of the magazine Fortune, which just has made a country-wide survey of the unemployment relief task facing America. These millions depend upon private philanthropy, local public charity and the federal government for help. One can not easily understand that vast number. But there are, perhaps, persons in your block, or on the next street, a few persons of a family in need. Their distress can be seen and understood. This is the basis on which the welfare and relief mobilization will work this winter. Its purpose is to furnish national leadership for local communities so that they may meet their local needs. It will raise no national fund for national disbursement. The $300,000,000 which congress has given the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to administer is inadequate to meet the need. Local communities, assisted in part by local and central governments, must make every effort to prevent starvation and suffering this winter by employing all the meager means at their command. Now is the time, in these latter days of summer, to prepare for the winter's tasks. The need should be surveyed for as definite information as may be had; welfare and relief agencies should scan their own operation, to reduce administration expenditures and curb the overlapping of effort; old and new sources of funds should be studied anew; the full strength of all relief agencies should be co-ordinated on this pressing job. There will be again this fall and winter, doubtless, another effort to curb the activities of the agencies which are concerned more with welfare than relief work. It may appear easy to reduce appropriations here and there for work not directly applicable to the relief of the jobless and dependents. But this should not be done; our national welfare system can not be weakened wilfully at any point if disaster is to be avoided. But, above all, those of us who have must give, and give again, if we are to do our part of the nation's duty toward the 25,000,000 who are destitute through no fault of their own.

Roosevelt Must Reply Pat Hurley’s speech in Providence Wednesday night was aimed at the weak spots in the Roosevelt campaign. First, the secretary of war floundered about helplessly trying to defend the Hoover record, but when he took the offensive against the Democrats he drew blood. We hope Hurley keeps up the good work. The more he worries Roosevelt, the better. For Roosevelt has spoken mostly in generalities. Except for his forthright demand for prohibition repeal and immediate modification of the Volstead law, the Democratic candidate has been consistently vague. This is strikingly true on such issues as tariff and foreign debts. A large part of Hurley's address was devoted to the Democratic tariff dilemma—the paradox of cursing the Hawley-Smcot bill in one breath and voting for it in the next breath, or trying to make the Republican high tariff a 1932 campaign issue and failing to suggest a single definite Democratic change in the tariff. Hoover and the Republican campaigners defend this high tariff, which has done so much to destroy our foreign trade and Increase the millions of unemployed. So far. Roosevelt and the Democrats have not had the courage to come out for immediate downward revision. Roosevelt should be smoked out. He talks of his frankness as a candidate. Here is one test. We can not forget that just four years ago another candidate. Hoover by name, was hiding behind tariff and generalities, appearing at one moment to oppose a high tariff and the next moment throwing a sop to the high protectionists. That ended in economic disaster. The country wants a definite answer from Roosevelt on this question: “Will you promise a general tariff cut?” As long as Roosevelt straddles, Hurley and the other G. O. P. oratqrs will continue to make sport of him. Not-So-Sweet Home Despite assaults of jazz, divorce, urbanization, poverty and its other enemies, the American home still stands. But it is battered. A detailed study of more than 23,000 Chicago families has been completed by Miss Day Monroe of Cornell univeristy. The composite thus revealed is nothing to bring cheers. The average size is 3.7 members, young and old, a contrast with the big families of the past and even with the generally accepted idea of the American family of five. Only 14 per cent are “broken.” Os the broken

The Indianapolis Times (A gCKirrS-HOWAKU NEW SPA PE*) Owned *nd published daily (except Sunday) b j The Indlanapolla Time* Publishing Cos., 214-22 U West Maryland Street, Indianapolis. Ind. Price In Marion County, 2 centa a copy; elsewhere. 3 cents—delivered by carrier. 12 ceifts a week. Mall subscription rates in Indiana, $3 a year; outside of Indiana, 65 centa a month. BOYD OURLEt. ROY W HOWARD. EARL D. BAKER, * Editor President Business Manager PHONE—Riley 5551 ■ THURBDAY. AUO. 35. 1933. Member of United Press Bcrippa-Howard Newspaper Alliance, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Newspaper Information Service and Audit Bureau of Circulations- “ Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”

homes, death is to blame for 82 per cent, separation and desertion for 12 per cent, divorce for only 6 per cent. The much-publicized rebellion of youth has lured 15 per cent of boys and girls between 16 and 21 from home, but the home ties have held 35 per cent who still Jive with one or both parents. The emergence of women as bread winners seems also to have been exaggerated, since in 61 per cent of the families the father is the only wage-earner. One woman out of every five earns as well as keeps nouse, and half of these make their money by taking in lodgers. Only 5 per cent are the much-dis-cussed professional women, and 3 per cent are in business. Fully three-fourths of the children come from homes where the income i3 inadequate to provide educational opportunities and whose standards often are below the “comfort level.” Only 70 per cent of the families live alone. Some 10 per cent take in boarders and 20 per cent have relatives with them. Most disturbing is the report that young boys and girls are breadwinners in 23 per cent of the families. Here, then, is that comer stone of our republic as it really exists in a typical American city. It would seem that the time had come for doing something besides singing sentimental songs about it. The Income Tax Upside Down (From the Philadelphia Record) A sales tax is the income tax upside down. A sales tax means that those who have least are taxed the most. A sales tax means that a man with a $1,500 income —who normally must spend SI,OOO for necessary mer-chandise-will pay a tax of two-thirds of one per cent on his income. * A sales tax means, on the other hand, that the man with a SIOO,OOO income—who will probably not spend more than SIO,OOO a year on merchandise subject to tax—will only pay a tax of one-tenth of one per cent on his income. A sales tax is a heavy tax on the poor man, but a light tax on the rich man, because the latter uses most of his earnings for saving and investment, while the former must spend most of his earnings for food and clothing. A sales tax means lowered purchasing power for the masses and slower business. A sales tax makes depression worse because the fundamental cause of depression is that, while pouring out an ever greater volume of goods, we have failed to pay out enongh in wages so that the masses could buy those goods. A sales tax takes more money from consumers and workers at the very time that business needs their buying power most. A sales tax saves the wealthy from higher income taxes at the very time that taxation of incomes in needed most to redistribute purchasing power. A sales tax means that’moneyed interests, too shortsighted to see that their own wealth depends on greater purchasing power for the masses, choose to soak the poor and so speed the deflation that is ruining their own fortunes. A sales tax violates the fundamental principle of taxation: Those who have molt shall pay most. A sales tax is a graded income tax upside down.

The census taker found three communities in Colorado without a single radio set. Inhabitants are reported preparing for a rapid influx of tourists. To those who have no faith in government, we want to call attention to the regularity with which oills always arrive not later than the second of the month. A writer says that suffrage for women hasn’t nelped anybody. But isn’t he forgetting the delicatessen owners? A man in Italy celebrated his 100th birthday by eating garlic alone. And if he were in the United States he would be alone for quite a while to come. The Actors’ Equity Association announces that it has a plan to revive the theater, thus providing jobs for thousands of idle actors. The simplest plan would be to revive the audiences. Prosperity note: Washington item says sales tax again is being considered. That’s proof that something is being sold somewhere. An uplifter says that he could use a brown shirt movement in the United States. How about a keep-your-shirt-on movement? Just Every Day Sense By Mrs. Walter Ferguson CERTAIN things remain forever beyond our 'feeble understanding. Bimetallism, the economics of Calvin Coolidge, the Einstein theory. Yet even these become simplified when we consider the motive that prompted a beautiful California girl to swallow poison because of an overwhelming love for Jack Dempsey. On second thought, however, perhaps this is not so surprising. Does not the Bible tell us that the way of a man with a maid is one of the uncomprehended mysteries of the universe? What is more strange than this process known as “falling in love,” what more unfathomable than the attraction of one person for another? You can become addle-pated trying to figure it out. Men and women choose their mates apparently from the most puzzling and perverse of motives. You nearly always get a shock when you “meet the wife.” For vivacious, sociable men will possess whining, pouting, neurotic mates. The grave student still chooses a flirt and the pious sort will, as likely as not, show up with an empty-headed, unmoral spouse. UK* what,” you ask yourself, "did he ever see in ■L w her to make him fall in love?” And this, you may be sure, will remain the everlasting enigma, the unanswerable query of all time. And a very good thing, if you want my opinion. It upsets all the rules, overthrows the regulations, flouts the experts, and lends hope to many a despondent maiden. In the unreason of love lies its chief strength. The deep, mysterious quality we neither can understand nor explain that holds men and women together against all prophecies of seers and palaver psychologists constitutes one of the most fascinating contradictions of human nature. Husbands will remain tied to grasping, faultfinding, jealous women, and wives are faithful unto death to no-account drunken, philandering men, att because of this inexplicable thing we call love. And perhaps it makes little difference whom we .love, so that we are capable of a sentiment that adds a spark of divine to the mundane.

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. Tracy Says:

Civilization Has Protected the Weak, but Has Done Little to Protect the Fairly Strong From the Very Strong . NEW YORK, Aug. 25.—The captain of industry, w'ar lord and gang leader are not far apart psychologically, according to Dr. Herman J. Muller of the University of Texas. In his opinion, there is ground for believing that “the dominant classes tend to have a genetic equipment which would be least desirable in a well-ordered social system. “The high-minded, the scrupulous, the idealistic, the generous and those too intelligent to confine their interests to personal success,” he says, “are apt to be left behind in' the present-day battle.” They are, indeed. Though not as brutal, the struggle for place is about as ruthless as it ever was. Civilization has done something for the protection of real weaklings. It has done little to protect the fairly strong from the very strong. Unrestrained competition and trial by combat still govern our essential aspirations. In principle, we still are ready to form rings and keep out the cops whenever two good fighters put on a show. Half the kick in democracy comes from the contests it makes possible. A scandalous campaign between two candidates for constable will bring out a much bigger vote than a bond issue.

Must Have Competition THERE is plenty of room for idealism in this old world, but there also is plenty of need for strength. The incentive to win the race, to beat a rival in business, to fight for a woman’s love, to construct the tallest building, or form the ’biggest corporation has played and will continue to play a mighty part in human progress. Somehow, we never can seem to do our best, except in competition. We have no yardstick to go by, save that of comparison. Each of us is forced to measure his strength and ability according to marks set by others, and each of us does a little better because of it. There is an element of weakness in what some regard as the wellordered social system. Some day men may acquire sufcient intelligence and ambition to do their best as a matter of social duty. Some day they may not need a track meet to break athletic records, or a popular appreciation of triumph to do their best.

Safeguard Unfit Too Far IT is easy enough to find an excuse for weeping over those who lose, but if made of the right kind of stuff, they don’t thank us for it. If anything, we have gone too far in safeguarding the unfit and inefficient. The great appeal of eugenics lies in the hope that it may do something to improve the mental and bodily average. That automatically involves the rejection of some as unsuited for reproduction. Progress, whether viewed from an economic or social standpoint, is not to be found in lower standards, or comfortable levels. The generosity of people who have nothing is meaningless. The idealism of weak people gets nowhere. We can not leave vitality and achievement out of the scheme of things, no matter how they hurt. We must go on insisting that people do their best. Our one hope is to visualize the best as belonging to an ever higher plane, to put a premium on mental attainments, rather than on bodily skill, to emphasize character as more important than ability. Even so, we can not ignore the physical, since bodily health has a definite bearing on the mind, and since character must look to intelligence for improvement. We can not alter the laws of nature, but we can study them. Our destiny is to continue as students, putting our faith in evolution, not revolution. Questions and Answers Please state the proportions of whites and Negroes in the population of Puerto Rico? The 1930 population had 1,141,114 white; 397,156 Negroes; 5,605 foreign born white and other races 38. What is the nationality and meaning of the name “Domsitz?” It is a German family name meaning “judgment-seat.” What is the literal translation of “Aloha?” It is a common Hawaiian salutation at greeting or parting and may be translated “loving,” “beloved,” “favored.”

M TODAY ' WORLD WAR A, ANNIVERSARY BRITISH VICTORIES Aug. 25. ON Aug. 25, 1918, British troops swept through German opposition north of the Somme and reached a point within a mile of the old Hindenburg line, after taking nine towns and thousands of prisoners. French forces operating in the salient created by the March offensive of the Germans continued their gains, storming important positions during a day of intense fighting. Germany rapidly was losing the ground gained at the cost of many thousands of lives in the five great offensives of the earlier part of the year. General Horvath attempted to gain control of all anti-Soviet forces in the Far East by a coup d'etat, but was foiled by the allies. The Canadian steamer Eric was sunk by shell fire, presumably from a German submarine, off Miquelon island. Five members of the crew were wounded.

pt POAD

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE Carbon Monoxide Deaths on Increase

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hygeia, the Health Magazine. WITH the coming of the first cold spell, newspapers will begin to contain news accounts of persons who have died from overexposure to carbon monoxide gas. Indeed, there have appeared frequently throughout the summer records of men who died while under their automobiles with the engines running in closed garages. The report of the Ohio state department of health just made public indicated seventy persons who took a chance with this dangerous gas in connection with domestic heating appliances and eighty-two in connection with automobile exhaust fumes during the year ended June 30, 1932. The chief domestic appliances involved in the records of such acci-

IT SEEMS TO ME by h ™>

AT the moment it seems to me that the presidential campaign has not come down to its essentials. Mr. Hoover would do something vague about the eighteenth amendment, and Charlie Curtis would do nothing. One would add gin, and the other would supply water. If there were only a lime, this combination well might provide a not unpalatable Republican rickey. The Herald Tribunte has spiked a Democratic plot, Editorially, the paper has revealed the fact that a drive has been started for Governor Roosevelt on the ground that he is a stamp collector. The proposed slogan, I suppose, was “Stamp collectors should stick together.” But the Tribune has brushed aside this danger by announcing that not only Herbert Hoover but all the members of his family are stamp collectors. tt ft tt In Youth It Sheltered Us I WONDER if the ardent philatelist in the White House has kept any specimens of the good old 2-cent stamp which used to carry a letter. I’m not complaining about 3-penny postage. I get just as much mail as usual. The man who owns the apartment writes as often as three times a month. Quite evidently Mr. Hoover has tried to match Governor Roosevelt’s skill as a yachtsman by presenting himself in his piscatorial perfection. He caught more fish than any of his friends and associates on the trip around Chesapeake bay. Cleopatra used to send divers down to attach fish to the lines of Marc Antony, and upon one occasion gave him a nasty turn when he pulled in a dried herring. Mr. Hoover’s catch seems to have smacked of more legitimacy. As I remember the headlines, his creel contained five trout and seven hardheads. I’m not surprised at the trout. They will bite at any worm without thought of partisanship, but the hardheads puzzle me. I am minded to inquire, “Why hardheads?” or “Why Hoover?” I wish the rival candidates would pull in their sails or lines and begin to get down to the serious business of the campaign. I would sug-

Ever Make It? Ever make iced cocoa, coconutade, colonel’s mint cup, currant punch, lemon snow, orange honey cocktail, grape punch, prohibition mint julep, spruce beer, Turkish punch? These and dozens more of home-made, nonalcoholic drinks are explained, and directions for making them are contained in our Washington Bureau’s bulletin on the subject. You will find in it dozens of refreshing and delicious drinks —some of which you never heard of—-with full directions for concocting. Fill out the coupon below and give your family or your guests anew kind of drink. CLIP COUPON HERE Dept. 194, Washington Bureau The Indianapolis Times, 1322 New York avenue, Washington, D. C. I want a copy of the bulletin, HOME-MADE NONALCOHOLIC DRINKS, and inclose herewith 5 cents in coin, or loose, uncanceled United States postage stamps, to cover return postage and handling costs: NAME STREET AND NO CITY STATE I am a reader of The Indianapolis Times. (Code No.)

Tear Down the Barrier!

dents are heaters without flues used in bedrooms and bathrooms, and occasionally a kitchen gas range or a hot plate. Three deaths occurred among tramps living in a shanty, who used charcoal in a bucket for heating purposes. It is pointed out that Benjamin Franklin was so impressed with the danger from this combination that he invented the stove or the furnace and gave the patent rights free to the world in 1750. A few people thought that they could get more heat out of a gas flame by putting something on top of it, such as a plate or a bread toastex, and instead released a sufficient amount of carbon monoxide poison gas into the room to make them seriously sick or to cause death. There were eighty-two cases of

gest to one of them an issue which seems doomed to be evaded. These are days in which it is easy to revive the old spirit of the Know Nothing party. Though the klan has languished, its spirit persists under other labels. # u a Stranger Within Gates NOT in a hundred years has there been such an animus toward the foreigner within our gates. There may be momentary reasons which seem to justify the stoppage of immigration, but I do not see why any American who loves his country’s traditions should point with pride to the figures which Secretary Doak gives forth so gleefully from time to time. In the year ended in June, 1932, thirty-five thousand immigrants entered this country and more than a hundred thousand departed. Some of them were victims of Mr. Doak’s spies and snoopers, but the majority left our shores of their own free will because we have made the lot of the alien hard. During the last ten years a growing suspicion has mounted against all those not native-born. The idea of a haven to which the oppressed of the world might flock has given way to a regime of urging fingerprints for all born beyond our borders. Once Americans took pride in the fact that men and women came here from the ends of the earth. Nor was it true that these visitors were drawn wholly by the hope of maternal advantage. We said to them that here w.\s freedom from religious and political oppression. This was, in cur bright dream, to be a melting pot out of which should come brotherhood and fellowship. All this happened in the days before “Why don’t you go back where you came from?” became such a familiar Daily Thoughts | O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever. —Chronicles 16:34. Bodily labor alleviates the pains of the mind; and hence arises the happiness of the poor.—La Rochefoucauld.

poisoning from motor exhaust fumes, in which forty-three were fatal. In one instance death occurred in a closed car which the driver was trying to drive through a river. Several deaths occurred during the winter among people who kept the motor running with the car standing still, to keep the interior warm. Several persons had narrow escapes in garages under houses which always practically are ventilated Insufficiently. Year after year the warning is issued as to the danger of this menace to health and life, but year after year the number of deaths continues to reveal the breadth of the menace. Safety lies only in suitable ventilation and in proper apparatus for conducting poisonous gases away.

Ideals and opinions expressed in this column are those of one of America’s most interesting writers and are presented without regard to their agreement or disagreement with the editorial attitude of this paper.—The Editor.

taunt. Indeed, Americans rejoiced in the chance by which the seeds of universal culture were planted in our soil. And such jokes as passed about concerning the German, Swede or Irishman were of the friendliest sort. We thrilled at the tales of men out of Russia and Rumania who lifted themselves and their families up out of pushcart days. u u * Our League of Nations AMERICA in its own right was a league of nations, where ancient animosities faded in the hope and vision of anew Utopia. All that is gone. Our hospitality has changed to snarling suspicion. Ten daysago when a judge in Westchester ordered the court room cleared because the air was “stuffy,” agents of the department of labor seized no fewer than fortytwo ejected spectators. These forty-two were cross-ques-tioned upon no charge other than the accusation that they did not happen to be born in this country. I doubt very much that a demand for a return to the old traditions of this nation would prove a votegetting arument. And yet, I hope some candidate will make it. We are not yet so old and weary that we can afford to sell our dreams. If we are to survive in any important way we must once more wrap ourselves in bright visions. (Copyright. 1932. bv The Times) People’s Voice Editor Times—The Governor has vetoed the bill which would have given the cities of our state unrestricted authority to construct their own electric plants and remove them from control of the public service commission, notwithstanding that it was passed by a large majority in a Democratic house and a Republican senate. The bill met with favor in the legislature, notwithstanding that it was opposed continuously by a paid, insidious utility lobby. The Governor and the utilities told the people the reason the bill should not become a law was that it would force privately owned utilities out of business and much property would be removed from the tax duplicate and as a result other property owrters would be compelled to pay increased taxation. In my opinion, there never was a more misleading public statement made. The city of Washington, Ind., which has its own plant, has a tax rate of 65 cents, while Connersville, which is being monopolized by a private utility, has a tax rate of 94 cents and Washington is paying less for electric current than Connersville. The reason for its lower tax rate is that even with its lower electric rate the plant has sufficient earnings to replenish the city's general fund. I wonder why privately owned utilities, along with pointing to the amount of taxes which they pay, do not also point to their property valuation on which they pay taxes and then to their valuation on which their rates are based. Such a report would give some real light on the situation, but thus far the taxpayers, for whom they hold such high admiration, have been deprived of such report. ■Why should public t utilities be classed specially by having legislation which guarantees them a certain percentage on their investment and be given an indeterminate permit, free of charge, to use the cities’ •

AUG. 25, 1032

SCIENCE BY DAVID DIETZ

“Flash Spectrum" Important to Astronomers in Study of Eclipses. WHEN the eclipse of the sun occurs on Aug. 31, astronomers observing it will devote much of their efforts to photographing the “flash spectrum.” It is only within recent years that astronomers have had a high degree of success with the flash spectrum and its study promises to be an important item at ail future eclipses. When a prism is held up to sunlight, it spreads the light into a little rainbow. Astronomers call this rainbow a spectrum. The ordinary spectrum of the sun is a continuous spectrum crossed with a great number of dark lines, the so-called Fraunhofer lines. The flash spectrum is just the opposite. It consists of a series of isolated bright lights, each line occurring where the dark lines occur in the ordinary spectrum. To understand the reason for the occurrence of the flash spectrum, we must turn to the structure of the sun. The bright surface of the sun is known as the photosphere. The dazzling light of the sun originates in the photosphere. The photosphere is a dense mass of gaseous material at a temperature of 6.000 degrees Centigrade, or 10,000 degrees on the Fahrenheit thermometer, the one in general use in this country. Above the photosphere is a layer of cooler gases known to astronomers as the reversing layer. Above this is the chromosphere or upper atmosphere of the sun, an envelope of thinner gases, chiefly hydrogen. The solar prominences, great tongues of flaming gases, arise from the chromosphere. Surrounding the chromosphere is the great silvery halo, the corona. Reversing Layer THE light of the sun which originates in the photosphere has to make its way through the other layers of the sun’s outer region before it reaches the earth. In this fact lies the explanation of the ordinary spectrum of the sun, with its dark Fraunhofer lines. When a gas is heated to luminosity and the light from it examined with a spectroscope—the spectroscope is essentially a prism—the resulting rainbow of spectrum consists of a series of isolated bright lines. But if the light from some source is made to pass through a layer of cooler gas of the same sort, the bright lines are changed to dark lines. These lines sometimes are called absorption lines, on the theory that a mass of cool gas absorbs the wavelengths of light which it would emit when luminous. The dark lines in the solar spectrum, therefore, are the result of absorption by the sun’s reversing layer of wavelengths arising in the photosphere. In fact, this is why the name of reversing layer was given to it. Now during an eclipse of the sun, the disc of the moon gradually creeps across the face of the sun, shutting off the bright lights of the photosphere. That is why during the instant of totality, the sun’s halo or corona becomes visible. The corona always is there, but it is lost at all other times in the bright glare of the sun’s light. At the moment or totality, the solar prominences rising from the chromosphere and some of the chromosphere itself also can be seen. At that time, these features appear a bright red in color.

Flash Spectrum JUST before the instant of totality, however, there is just a narrow silver of sun visible.. Since this is the outer edge of the sun, it consists of solar atmosphere or reversing layer and chromosphere. In other words, at that time, the photosphere is cut off from view by the disc of the moon, but an edge of solar atmosphere still is exposed to view. The same thing also is true just after the phase of totality has ended and the sun again is coming into view. Now, if a spectroscope is focused on the edge of the sun at the instant just before or after totality, it is possible to get a spectrum of the reversing layer, that is, a spectrum consisting of radiation arising in the photosphere and passing through the reversing layer itself. The ordinary dark line spectrum of the sun, it will be recalled, consists of radiation arising in the photosphere and passing through the reversing layer. When the spectrum of the reversing layer is obtained, it is found to be a bright line spectrum. Since this spectrum of bright flashes out only for an instant before or after totality, astronomers have christened it the “flash spectrum/’ The flash spectrum is the only opportunity astronomers have to obtain evidence as to the nature and composition of the reversing layer. That is why it is so important to astronomers. Many technical difficulties had to be overcome in designing and operating apparatus to photograph the flash spectrum. streets and alleys which the taxpayers maintain and then allow them by legislation to monopolize the cities’ electric business and charge excessive rates, based on watered stock valuations? All of this makes the veto of the bill which was supported by all mayors, very mysteriously. WILLIAM DENTLINGER. Mayor of Connersville. Editor Times—Stuart A. Bishop’s figures are right enough. For 480 days overseas service, congress granted additional pay to the amount of S6OO. Converted in accordance with the act, this brought a certificate for $1,446. Loan value of 50 per cent is $723. Present value as stated in the same letter, $Bl6. But Mr. Bishop’s conclusion may be questioned. He says the present full value is “only slightly in excess of the loan." As you see, it is $93 in excess, a sum of money that would be important to a man with a starving family. It is that slight excess that so many bonus claimants arc trying to collect now. when they need it the most. GARDNER WILSON. Captain U. S. Aux. Res.