Indianapolis Times, Volume 46, Number 194, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 December 1934 — Page 5

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■k V It Seems to Me HEYIWOD BROUN I HATE to be beaten down by the weight of numbers and compelled to confess an error, but It seems that there Is a Santa Claus. I can only send him the usual telegram of felicitation upon his election He knows that tie is a fake and so do L But as Mr. Shaw said in a reply to a heckling critic. What are we two against so many?" My switch is partly on the evidence, but rather more of strategy. Today, I'm going down to Miami, F-a. Bv tomorrow afternoon I hope to be at Tropilcal Park where the Broadway Bill Handicap is to be run and if I ever needed Santa Claus I will surely be dependent on him then. If the artful old dodger can bring me in so much as a single winner I will promise never again to attack his validity. A year

ago I ventured beyond the race track windows wnere two dollars constitute a legitimate bet, and tried my luck among the colors and the numbers. This time I expect to abstain for economic rather than ethical reasons. Moreover, I don’t want to put too much of a burden on the favor which Santa Claus ought in all fairness show a very recent convert. I ask him merely to hover over the starting gate. 11l give him the nod as to which nag, or nags, is carrying my hope of subsistence. And when the barrier Ls sprung I make the simple plea that Santa Claus reach

3 s * rQ Vs

Heywood Broun

down and place the horse within his Lsleigh and drop him just beyond the finish line at r least a nose in front of the nearest competitor. To an old gentleman who has carried tons of toys all over the world this expeditious delivery of a 1400-pound 2-year-old should be easy enough. a b a And What a Thrill! I HAVE no desire to hint at boycotts or make truculent threats, but if Kris Kringle fails me now I may quite possibly take the stump against him next Yuletide and even go to the length of challenging him to a joint debate. But as I have said, my conversion is not wholly because of ulterior motives. I am much moved by the pertinent testimony of Mr. C. E. A. of The New York Times who manages to put Santa in anew light as far as I am concerned. Mr. A. writes as follow's : “First, I resent and resent strongly your ranking of my old friend Santa Claus in a class with Walter Lippman. If consistency is virtue Santa has not fallen that far and you know it. “Secondly, you old bomb throw'er, you completely overlook the moral side of the Santa Claus question. Did it ever occur to you that Santa Claus can play a star role in the welding of friendship in the home? “I will never forget the thrill I received when, at the age of 6 <moron by your Santa test system), I set out to prove to my unbelieving friends in the neighborhood that by God there w'as a Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve I carefully left two bottles of beer <1 remember it was P. O. N. so your Santa test system is all wet) on the mantelpiece with a note for the old boy. “Was I thrilled when I arose on Christmas morning to see the empty bottles and a note of thanks? I challenged my friends. I became a smug scientist whose laboratory test has been a success. A poke in the nose from my closest and doubting Thomas playmate did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm.” a a a No Peace Pact for Broun “ \ ND now for the moral side of the story,” went F\. on Mr. A. “Santa Claus was the first person on record to beat my father to a drink. The latter's occasional buns used to worry me no little. But not after this episode. If Santa liked it. Pop could. No more did I look upon a watery eye or a gentlemanly hiccough with alarm. A w r arm friendship grew' up between us and has flowered through these many years. Santa deserves some of the credit.” Possibly there is a third reason for my truckling to objectors and replying, "Oh, go ahead and have your old Santa Claus if you must.” Although I am not technically on vacation, the trip to the South will constitute. I hope, a short period of rest and recreation. For ten days time I do expect to write my stint without much benefit of controversy. Not that any of my enthusiasms has waned or diminished. But rather the plan is that I may come back with slightly keener eye. better timing and somewhat more snap in right hand punches to the point of the jaw. Dragons, giants and ogres <in my opinion, of course) please take notice that this is just a lull and not a peace treaty. iCopvriftht. 19341 > Your Health BV DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN MASSAGE will help restore life to tissues that have been bruised, sprained, or fractured. Rubbing may do a good deal of Yiarm, as well as good. A qualified masseur must have a knowledge of the parts concerned and of the way in which they work, and he must also know' the difference between normal tissues and damaged ones. One of the chief values of massage is to exercise parts of the body that can not be exercised normally after an injury. If the tissues are kept absolutely quiet, they are injured by lack of use. Gentle massage of the abdomen occasionally aids movement in the large bowel. When the massage is applied to muscles, it stimulates them and aids removal of the products of muscle action. When a muscle acts, it uses up oxygen and develops lactic acid. a a a EXPERTS in massage recognize several different types of motion, which are used for specific purposes. First there is a stroking movement, with the palm of the hand applied firmly and evenly away from the extremities and toward the heart. Purpose of the movement is to aid in draining the veins in the skin and thereby to improve the circulation of the blood. A light and even stroking of the skin away from the heart and toward the extremities is believed by some masseurs to help relieve muscle spasms. When there are thickenings ol' the tissue under the skin and when the muscles are stiff and sore, another movement is applied to loosen up the thickenings and the stiffness of the muscles This is called friction. It involves a rather circulatory movement which must be applied very carefully not to cause pain or aggravate the condition it is planned to benefit. nan IN the case of athletes whose muscles are hardened and stiff after severe exercise, kneading movements are used. Here the fingers are chiefly employd. the tissues being grasped between the fingers and the thumb as these are moved up and down. You must be careful to avoid hurting by pressing too hard. Sometimes the whole and is used in grasping and sometimes the two hands are used to wring the muscles or to shake them. These are the most useful movements in aiding recuperation of athletes. Another type of movement is tapping with the nalms of the hands, the sides of the hands, or the closed fists. The chief purpose of such movements is vibration. Nowadays various forms of electrical vibrators provide this kind of massage even better than they can be provided by use of the hands. However, you must understand what you are doing with an electrical vibrator, because this also will produce harm if used to excess or in the wrong way.

Questions and Answers

Q —How Is a United States Representative-at-large elected? A—By th? citizens of the whole state instead of * by voter* of a congressional district. Q —la Mexican onyx as hard and valuable as true onyx? A— lt is much softer and less valuable.

THE MURDER OF BABY LINDBERGH

Hauptmann Alone in Kidnaping, and Murder, Is State's Contention

The otmte of New Jersey was forced to reseat a vital part of its rase against Bruno Rtrhard Hauptmann, accused of the murder of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., when Hauptmann's counsel demanded a “bill of particulars,’’ amplifying the brief indictment against him. The theory upon which the prosecution still base its case is outlined In the following dispatch, twelfth and concluding story in the Sidney B. Whipple series on the Lindbergh crime. a a a By SIDNEY B. WHIPPLE Lnited Press Staff Correspondent iCopyright. 1934, by United Press) RUMORS of dissension wilhin the legal forces preparing to defend Bruno Richard Hauptmann against the charge of murdering Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. arose early in November, after the German carpenter had been lodged in the Flemington jail. The rumors took on substance when Edward J. Reilly, a Brooklyn' attorney with an impressive record for obtaining acquittals, announced he had been retained as rhief defense counsel, and that James M. Fawcett was no longer associated in the case. Various reports of the underlying cause of the change were circulated. The most striking was that Mr. Fawcett had decided to plead his client “not guilty by reason of .nsanity.” Mr. Faw’cett himself, forbidden by the ethics involved to reveal the real facts, contented himself with the simple statement that; the change had been made at the request of Mrs. Anna Hauptmann. Mr. Reilly engaged Lloyd Fisher, Flemington attorney who had defended John Hughes Curtis on charges of obstructing New Jersey justice, as associate counsel. Together with one Harry Whitney, who had joined Mrs. Hauptmann's entourage as a “business manager.” Reilly embarked on a campaign designed to swing public sentiment to the side of his client and to tear down any popular prejudices before the trial. “Birthday parties” were arranged for Mannfried Hauptmann, the

prisoner's infant son. Interviews attacking the “bungling” state police and proclaiming a “clear alibi" for the prisoner were given publicity. Reilly’s first important defense move, however, came on Dec. 13, when he made formal demand, before Justice Thomas W. Trenchard, w r ho will be the presiding judge at the murder trial, for a bill of particulars amplifying the brief indictment. a a a 'T'HE defense posed 12 questions relating to the state’s theory surrounding the actual death of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. It asked if the state would attempt to prove: 1. That the murder was committed with premeditation and malice aforethought? 2. That the murder was committed during the commission of a felony? 3. What was the exact nature of the felony? 4. That Bruno Hauptmann was a principal or accessory?

-The-

DAILY WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND By Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen \

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24.—Loud, long, and indignant was the howl that arose from Indiana Democratic members of Congress when, after the reecnt elections, it began to appear that Democratic Gov. McNutt reigned as patronage dictator of the State. By precedent as old as the spoils system itself, Democratic Congressmen and Senators have the say on Federal political appointments in their areas. Yet, repeatedly, Indiana "statesmen” found their recommendations junked and personal satellites of the Governor’s machine slipped into Federal jobs instead. From numerous sources, protests showered into the White House. Gov. McNutt, it was charged, was trjing to build up a personal political

machine. Worse, the complaints charged the White House with helping him. The real facts are that during the campaign, the Democratic party was putting all it had into the fight to defeat Senator Arthur Robinson, and it was necessary to have some central clearing house for dispensing Indiana patronage. Because of the heavy preponderance of Republican congressmen from Indiana in the past, there was little existing Democratic machinery to handle it. a a a THE President, worried about the situation, turned the matter over to his political chancellor, Louis McHenry Howe. It was a tough spot for "Louey.” 11l at his summer home on Cape Cod. he knew no one in Indiana politics except Gov. McNutt. So he asked Gov. McNutt to come up for a visit. Unknown to any one, Gov. McNutt made the trip and Howe asked him to handle recommendations for Federal patronage in Indiana—at least until some permanent setup could be arranged. Gov. McNutt, of course, had his own state political machinery, and through this he planned to handle the recommendations of the various Democratic Congressmen and Senators who might be elected. ButSome of the county chairmen weren't quite as accurate, as they might have been in passing along recommendations from congressional recommenders. They sent Gov. McNutt names for postmasterships supposed to have been sugguested by Congressmen, but whom the Congressmen involved had never suggested. And so the mess continued. Finally. McNutt, protesting innocence of what was going on. amazed at the barrage leveled at him. came to Washington and laid it before Howe. Howe called in the protesting Congressmen with McNutt, all sides told their stories, and peace was made. Hereafter. Indiana Federal appointments will come direct from tne Congressmen, and several of Gov. McNutt's county leaders are likely to be out in the cold. a a a MOST coveted of all White House invitations are those to Mrs. Roosevelt's Sunday night suppers. She scrambles the eggs herself in a huge chafing-dish. Usually only about a dozen people are invited. The state horseshoe table in the White House usually seats only 90. . . . But this year an M-shaped arrangement has been worked out whereby it will seat 103. . . . White House invitations are sent out by the wife of a rear admiral, Mrs. Edith Benham Helm, who acts as social secretary. They are delivered by special messengers never mailed. Mrs. Helm also served as secretary to Mrs. Woodrow Wilson. Os tne state receptions, the most popular is that to the diplomats which this year falls on Jan. 3. Receptions to Congress and Army and Navy are the most crowded and least popular ... At a state dinner the guests are lined up in advance by stiff-uniformed military and naval aids. Should a guest step out of line to meet an old

5. That Bruno Hauptmann was an accessory before or after the fact? 6. That Bruno Hauptmann actually was in New Jersey when the crime was committed? 7. That the indicted man was solely responsible for the crime? 8. That all the ransom notes were written by the same hand? 9. That Hauptmann wrote the ransom notes? 10. That the Lindbergh child was killed where the body was found? 11. That the baby was killed on the night of the kidnaping? 12. What was the actual cause of death? a a a JUSTICE TRENCH ARD ruled that all of the first 11 questions were answered by the indictment itself, but that the state should be ordered to respond to the 12th question, regarding the manner of death, “as far as the state can answer it with reasonable certainty.”

friend he is hurriedly shooed back into place. Following the lineup the guests march in to greet the President and his wife, and thence in to dinner. . . . No one is supposed to decline a White House invitation except in the case of illness or emergency. Nevertheless, many do even at the last moment. . . . The Vice President’s dinner is an innovation created because of the precedence war” started by Dolly Curtis Gann. . . . The Speaker’s dinner was started because Uncle Joe Cannon objected to taking a place after the Cabinet at the Cabinet dinner. (Copyright, 1934. by United Feature Syndicate. Inc.) STUDENTS AT XAVIER RETURN^ FOR HOLIDAYS Basketball Captain Among Group to Visit in City. Indianapolis students returning from Xavier University, Cincinnati, to spend the holidays with their parents include Robert Moseman, 3026 Central-av; Thomas McCormick. 906 lowa-st; Carl Reis, 4404 Broadway; Russell Sweeney, 961 N. Oakland-av, and Joseph Hoffman, 2017 N. Pennsylvania-st. Mr. Sweeney, who is captain of the Xavier basketball team, will return to Cincinnati late next week for the Xavier-Ohio State game Dec. 31.

SIDE GLANCES

ll r ' o M>_SES- "E M TV CS3 J s. PAT. OPF,

“You should have some idea of how many children your listers have.'*

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

Here is the Hunterdon County (N. J.) courtroom where Bruno Hauptmann will be brought to trial on a charge of murdering Charles A. Lindbergh Jr.

The argument of Assistant Attorney General Joseph Lanigan, in this preliminary hearing, revealed at least certain vital points in the prosecution's case. The state will contend that Bruno Richard Hauptmann was alone in the commission of the crime with which he is charged—causing the death of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. during the commission of a felony. It will contend, and seek to prove through physical exhibits Including the kidnap ladder, the ransom' notes, the chisel, that Hauptmann was directly active in the kidnaping that led to the murder; that he was actually in Hopewell; and that he planned and executed the deed himself.

CARLILE STUDIOS TO ENTERTAIN ORPHANS Dance Program to Be Given at Home Saturday. Children at the Indianapolis Orphans’ Home, 4103 E. Washingtonst, will be entertained Thursday with a program of dancing, singing and musical specialties presented by the Carlisle Dance Studios. The program is sponsored by the Indianapolis Post, No. 4, American Legion Auxiliary. Children taking part in the program include: Patricia Ann Mushrush, Elsie Lou Martin, Gerry Schloeman, Armetta Doolittle, Marjorie Boyer, Cora Irene McCubbins, Jean Byers. Sara Jane Dotson, Mary Ann Sexson, Mary Sue McCarty, Jean Blachschleger, Dan Bill McCormack, Lenore Sexson, Joan Sexson, Rosemary Englert, Carolynn Greenlee, Charlotte Weishaar, Wayne Messer - smith, Willie Greenlee and Phyllis Hall. ORIENTAL MASONS TO INSTALL NEW HEADS Rites to Follow Dinner Honoring Past Hig’: Priests. Installation of officers of Oriental Chapter, No. 147, Royal Arch Masons, will be held at 7:30 Thursday night in the chapter hall at 22nd-st and Central-av, following a dinner of honor of past high priests. Officers to be installed are Arthur P. Roell, high priest; Arthur S. Shaffer, king; David C. Pyke, scribe; Ralph I. Routzahn, treasurer; W. Earl Gentrv, secretary; Farris Deputy, captain of the host; Hastings J. Wallace, principal sojourner; Raymond M. Howard, royal arch captain; Edwin M. Demlow, master third veil; William Cannicott, master second veil; John T. Merlich, master first veil; Edward Schuler, guard; John C. Hobson, chaplain.

By George Clark

And as to the manner of death, the answer may be found in the report of Dr. Charles H. Mitchell, county physician of Trenton, who conducted the autopsy. He said: “Diagnosis of death is a fractured skull due to external violence.” From such a plain statement of cause and effect, the state has built up the theory which, directly or indirectly, will be presented to 12 citizens of Hunterdon County for determination. The theory is this: The kidnaper of the Lindbergh baby, fleeing in the darkness after his descent from the broken ladder that led to the nursery, reached a clearing, along the lone-

I COVER THE WORLD a a a a a a By William Philip Swims

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24.—Hope has not been abandoned by the Administration that a naval understanding will yet be reached among the great sea powers. A high Japanese authority expresses to the writer a similar feeling, saying now that the table has been swept clean, there is no reason to despair of anew agreement later on.

Both deprecate talk on both sides of the Pacific and Atlantic which might be interpreted as being of a threatening nature, especially on the part of officials. It will be two years before Japan’s denunciation of the Washington naval limitation treaty becomes effective, they point out, and many things can happen in that time. Japan, the writer learns, intends to press for a major conference next year, at which she plans to propose cutting her own navy in two. a a a CHE will offer to scrap 250,000 tons of capital ships, 70,000 tons of aircraft carriers and 100,000 tons of the big eight-inch gun cruisers—in all more than 400.000 tons. She has a total of approximately 800,000 tons. The United States and Great Britain each have about 1,100,000 tons of warships, and, from their viewpoint, there is the catch. Nippon plans to ask these two powers to scrap about 700,000 tons each to bring Britain, America and Japan down to a common level. To obtain this common level—either by building up to Britain and America, or by inducing them to scrap down to her—was Japan’s stated reason for scrapping the present 5-5-3 ratio. Today, as the State Department awaited word from Ambassador Saito anouncing the arrival of the official notice of withdrawal from the pact of Washington, Capt. Tamon Yamaguchi, naval attache, outlined Nipopn’s stand on naval disarmament. a a a TTE attributed the Manchurian crisis and the sanguinary affair at Shanghai largely to Japan's lack of preparedness. Nippon lost face with China and incurred the contempt of that country when she accepted naval inferiority. “Furthermore.” he said, “beihind Japan's insistence upon parity, there is the problem of our relations with the Union of Soviet Russia. “It is no secret that the Soviet Government in recent years has revived its naval force with renewed vigor. There are more than 20 submarines at Vladivostok. and a great fleet of modern fighting planes is also stationed in that vicinity.” Captain Yamaguchi reminded that Tokio and Osaka, capital and great industrial center, are only 700 miles from Vladivostok. And, he added, China is coming to have a considerable air force as well. a a a ■VTIPPON, he says, must have naval equality for these and other reasons. She must be able to safeguard the peace of the Orient. She not necessarily will insist upon ton-for-ton with Britain and America, but she must be secure in her own quarter of the globe. Accordingly she plans to build the type of fleet best suited to her own particular needs. Few, if any, naval experts here as yet see any loophole for compromise. Time may show the way, they declare with a pessimistic shake of the head. But the outlook at present is unmistakably dark. Certainly abolition of capital ships, aircraft carriers and large cruisers is not viewed here as a way out. That would be excellent for Japan, it is observed. For

ly dirt road, from which he could look back upon the white house on the knoll. In the ransom note he had left behind he had warned the Lindbergh f: mily not to notify the police. a a a CUKVEYING the scene through <3 field glasses, he saw the Lindbergh manor ablaze with lights. He realized the police had been called —that the alarm was out. He could not escape with his small burden. The baby was killed. He placed the body in the underbrush and covered it hurriedly with dirt and leaves. The state of New Jersey claims the fugitive murderer was Bruno Richard Hauptmann. THE END.

Japan could dominate all Asia without a single warship—providing no other power had a warship. Her legions could cross the Straits of Korea in mudskows. That, it is observed wryly, could not make for world peace. OFFICERS ARE NAMED BY SOUTHPORT MASONS William G. Hartman Is Elected Worshipful Master. Wiiliam G. Hartman has been elected worshipful master of Southport Lodge No. 270, Free and Accepted Masons, it was announced today. Other newly elected officers include John A. Whalen, senior warden; Ralph E. Smith, junior warden; Leonard McAlpin, treasurer; Otis O. Burnett, secretary, and Charles F. Bohne, trustee. Joint installation exercises with Southport Chapter. Order of the i Eastern Star, will be held Thursday. LIBEL SUIT DROPPED BY GEN, MACARTHUR “Washington Merry -Go - Round” Authors Deny Settlement. By Times Special WASHINGTON, Dec. 24.—Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen, “Washington Merry-Go-Round” authors, questioned today regarding Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s action in dropping his $1,750,000 libel suit, said: “We only wish to say that no money was paid by us to Gen. MacArthur for costs or otherwise; no apologies or retractions were given or asked for. Our position in the case is the same as it was when the general first filed suit, namely that we stood ready to prove the truth ! of all that we had published.” FEDERAL ~ToBS OPEN Competitive Examinations Announced by City Commission. Additional competitive examinations for Government positions have been announced by the United States Civil Service Commission. They include ship engineering draftsmen, scientific aid in graphic arts, industrial and financial economists and financial manager. Applications must be received in Washington by Jan. 14. AUSTRIA FREES REBELS 2000 Socialists Included in Annual Christmas Amnesty. By United Press VIENNA, Dec. 24. —Christmas amnesty to political offenders includes 2000 Socialists sentenced to prison : for participation in the February revolt, it was announced today. Altogether about 5000 men held in concentration camps were ordered freed. British Admiral Dead By United Press WEYMOUTH. England. Dec. 24 - Vice Admiral John Collings-Tas-well Glossop. 63. former commander of the cruiser Sydney, which sank the German raider Emden off Cocos Islands in the early days of the war, died here yesterday.

Fair Enough WESTBROOK PEGLER NOT yet has any mob of citizens stormed through the streets of a capital shouting “Down with freedom!" But if this is ever going to happen. Havana would seem to be the likeliest place and the time the near future. The citizens of Cuba have been ground benbattf the iron Jheel of freedom ever since the old Oppressor, Gerado Machado, gave way before the dread forces of the liberation and fled the country. In that time, the grim specter of freedom has stalked the land with rifle and bomb and things have now come to such a pass

that Sgt. Fulgencio Batista, the liberator, is considering a change in the constitution to permit the summary execution of all persons who strike a blow against free government. As long as Machado held his power in Cuba, the Cubans were more or less protected from the scourge of liberty. Gen. Machado held that every Cuban citizen had a right to be oppressed and his troops and his strong-arm police force, known as the Porra, protected them with an iron hand. While Machado ruled Cuba, the plotters against the sacred heritage

of tyranny skulked in dark places or languished in exile in Miami longing for the day of deliverance. Those who remained in Cuba to carry on the fight took desperate chances and many of them were killed by the secret police. If a bomb went off in the lap of one of the general’s senators or colonels, the Porra would seize six high school boys known to have expressed the principles of freedom and push them off the Morro Castle to the sharks. The high school and university students of Cuba were quite a different breed of cats from the students of Louisiana State University. They were always slipping a hand grenade into the pants pocket of one of the general’s personal following and the reprisals were calculated at the rate of anywhere from two to six to one. B B B And It Comes to Pass THE old oppressor dreaded the day when freedom should come to ravage the fair land of Cuba and he predicted, to your correspondent one afternoon that the horrors of liberty would shock the civilized world. His personal mayor of Havana, Mr. Tiro Mesa, went so far as to say that even if freedom should gain a temporary victory, there would come a time some day when the people wou'd drive out their political savior or shoot him in the palace and erect a monument in some conspicuous place to Gen. Gerado Machado. To the uninformed observer, looking a* the Cuban political situation from afar, it was possible to imagine a situation in which the cuiztms would be compelled to embrace liberty at the point of the bayonet or before the guns of the firing squad. Yet. much of what the general foresaw that afternoon has come to pass in Cuba and nobody now remains to protect the people from the liberator but a few martyrs, including high school *-•* university students who are ready to lay down their lives for their political principles. They have seen freedom suspend the franchise, abandon elections and nullify the right of habeas corpus. Anew secret police force has replaced Machado’s Porra to abduct the enemies of the liberation and, perhaps, shove them off the castle wall to the sharks which have learned to loiter in the bay. The more Cuba changes under liberty the more she resembles Machado’s Cuba in the days of the bloody dictatorship. tt tt tt Strange Things I)o Happen ANEW colony of refugees has replaced the old in Miami, to await the day when Cuba will be freed from the strangling clutch of the liberator. And now the crackle of the rifles of the firing squad soon may be heard in the tropical thickets above the patriots’ perishing cry of “Give me tyranny or give me death.” Strange things have been happening in the world. The United States has been quickly adjusted to the renunciation of thrift, efficiency and abstinence from alcoholic beverages. It seems possible that even the sacred principle of freedom in time will be found to have been the bunk. Certainly the seeds of doubt have taken root in Louisiana. Maybe Mr. Mesa, the mayor of Havana, knew what he was talking about when he envisioned crowds gathering along the Malecon at some fair day in the future, shouting, cheering and weeping for joy as a little girl pulls the string to reveal a statue of Machado, the tyrant, inscribed with the words, “Despot, patriot and protector of the Cuban people in the long war against the murderous blight of liberty.” (Copyright. 1934, bv United Feature Syndicate. Inc.)

Todays Science

BY DAVID DIETZ

IT is now certain that 1934 will end without that big comet which astronomers were hoping for at the beginning of the year. The only thing to do is hope that 1935 will be a little more spectacular. Some astronomers feel particularly cheated because the November meteoric shower, the Leonids, also iailed them. So brilliant in 1833 and again in 1866 that the sky seemed to be raining fire, the Leonids, which used to give such a brilliant show every 33 years, were disappointing in 1899 and 1932. It had been hoped that the 1932 show was merely delayed, but things were no better in 1933 and 1934. In the realm of meteors and comets, the astronomer is at a disadvantage. He can predict an eclipse of the sun to the hundredth part of a second and he knows in advance just how beautiful and brilliant the spectacle will be. In the case of a meteoric shower, it is only possible to predict the approximate date. It is impossible to say whether the show will be good or bad. With comets the astronomer has an equal amount of trouble. It is possible to predict the return of the periodic comets. These, however, are for the most part small and visible only in the telescope. The appearance of anew comet is obviously an unpredictable event. When comets are far away, they can not be seen at all. When first picked up in the telescope, they appear as tiny fuzzy stars. Then they must be watched until enough data have been accumulated to say what the orbit is and how near the earth the comet will come. a a a THE hope for a big comet is based on statistical material. Big comets in the early years of the present century included Borelly’s in 1903, Kopff's in 1906, Daniel's in 1907, Morehouse's in 1908. Halley’s in 1910, Brooks’ in 1911, and Gale's in 1912. Since then there has been a shortage of big comets and astronomers ever since 1930 have been rather expecting one to appear any day. As already stated, it is passible to predict the return of short-period comets —although sometimes they fail to show up. And a French astronomer has checked over the records and made the predictions. a a a \CCORDING to Prof. Baldet. French astronomer, eight comets are expected to return in 1935. These include Reinmuth's comet, last seen in 1928; second comet, last seen in 1929: Taylor's comet, which has been missing since 1915; Scgaymasse's comet, last seen in 1927; Comas Sola's comet, discovered in 1926: Forbes’ second cornet, discovered in 1929; Schwassman-Wach-mann’s third comet, discovered in 1930. and Tempers second comet, last seen in 1930. Most of these are rather faint and it may be that some, including Taylor's missing comet, may not be seen this year. It is doubtful that any of them will become visible to the unaided eye. A big comet would be particularly welcome in 1936 because it would give astronomers a chance to check up new theories about the nature of comets. Q —Give the membership and address of the United States Board of Vocational Education. A—Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, chairman; Henry A. Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture; Daniel C. Roper, Secretary of Commerce, and John Ward Studebaker, Commissioner of Education. Th® address is Hurley-Wright build 1 ,ig. Eighteenth and;j Penn6ylvania-av., N. W., Wash ngton, D. C.

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Westbrook Pegler