Indianapolis Times, Volume 47, Number 295, Indianapolis, Marion County, 18 February 1936 — Page 12

PAGE 12

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TUESDAY. FEBRUARY 18, 1938. THE TVA DECISION VI THEN the government makes something it has a right to sell it. That is, if the government is acting in the exercise of some properly delegated power. There we have the essence of the broadly significart Supreme Court TVA decision. And so the greatest social and economic experiment of our time gets the green light. Electricity was the issue around which the great court battle raged. Electricity is the by-product of the TVA dams. The Tennessee River is a navigable stream and as such falls within the zone of properly delegated Federal power. Hence the government car. dispose of its electricity as it pleases, with no one to say it nay. And thus is dis-ipated the elaborately constructed opposition which lawyers for the private power companies had built up Had it been determined that the government was not acting under authority properly delegated it would have been another and a sad story for TVA. But as is, TVA gees ahead. Because human nature likes a fight, because TVA developed early into a battle between a great government and great power interests, and because the contest centered on the question of the sale of electricity, what TVA means in its larger aspects has been pretty much lost in the scuffle. Electricity has been magnified out of all proportion to its real importance in the whole TVA scheme of things. tt u u WHAT is TVA? It is, as the President said at Tupelo, ‘'Community rugged individualism.” It is the far-flung effort of a vast section to throw back the forces of erosion and decay—and to rebuild. It is a struggle to reclaim the most precious of nation's possessions, the land. Socially, it seeks to make happier and more comfortable the lives of a large population. In economics, it promises by increasing the standard of living of that population, by creating new desires, ana by making it possible for those desires to be fulfilled, to create new markets for industrial product* —the potentialities of which are more important than any markets which could be developed abroad. The most vivid and most concise commentary on the Tennessee Valley we have seen is a paragraph from a recent article by Ernie Pyle which said: ‘‘Today, all these Southern Rivers are muddy. But our early explorers recorded how clear and beautiful the rivers were then. That means that before white men came the land was covered with trees and shrubs which held the soil. But years of plowing and planting without deep roots have allowed the rains to wash the soil down hill. And once a gully gets started it grows rapidly. There are billions of gullies in the South and the rain is washing millions of freight train loads of soil away every year and it goes on down and makes rivers muddy and is finally carried out to sea, wasted forever.” That presents the rough outline of the whole picture. Into it the rest of the detail will be drawn, if TVA is brought to completion. And so we have, going on day after day, the building of bulwarks to catch the silt as it washes down, the terracing of the slopes, the construction of dams to prevent the floods which heretofore have been so devastating, the manufacture of fertilizer to bring the “verve” back to the soil, the rotation of crops for the purposes of conservation, the sowing of legumes to keep the earth in place, the planting of millions of trees to reforest the land, and ultimately the merging of factory and agricultural life as the final plan unfolds. B * u \ LL that is TVA in only the most sketchy of *• forms. A great section of America is bettering itself, making a test in a tremendous laboratory, a test which bids fair to produce a formula that will be of untold service to other sections of the nation and to generations as yet unborn. Asa part of it all comes electricity from the water that is impounded in the dams, water that no longer will ravish that Southern soil; electricity which the government under the Supreme Court decision is now' at liberty to sell. That electricity is important. It means revenue with which the test may be pursued. It means light and heat and service in homes hitherto unvisited by its blessings. And unless we miss our guess it means more volume and more prosperity for the very private utilities which have fought TVA so bitterly. For such territory as that can not be built to the maximum of its social and economic possibilities without helping every one and every* Institution now engaged in business there. But electricity is by no means all. And let it be hoped that the nation as it watches the unfolding of the drama that is TVA will view it from now on, not in the narrow light of a legal contest, but in all the majesty of Its true perspective. AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION /T'HE Constitution should be amended to give Con- •*- giess power to promote the economic welfare of the nation, according to Lloyd K. Garrison, dean of the University of Wisconsin law school and former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board. Mr. Garrison, w’ho asserts that Congress has been made powerless to regulate modern-day conditions, proposes the following ponstitutional amendment as a basis for discussion: “Congress shall have power to promote the economic welfare of the United States by such law's as in its judgment are appropriate, and to delegate such power in whole or in part to the states. Existing state powers are not affected by this article, except as Congress may occupy a particular field.” Mr. Garrison explains that the reason for thjs wording Is to leave to the judiciary’ power to prevent arbitrary or discriminatory laws from being passed and enforced. The permission for Congress to delegate its powers to the states, he argues, would permit Congress to lay down desirable standards for the states to follow in enacting legislation on social and economic subjects. Mr. Garrison opposes the current suggestions for amendments specifying matters upon which Congress may legislate; such an amendment would lead to many disputes, he believes. But he warns that “we have got to take some fbancea,” because “if we go on as wa are Ua a

bottled-up government, ths weakest in the civilized world, we run the risk of another and greater callapse leading quite possibly to dictatorship or disintegration. “If we amend the Constitution, we run the risk of congressional mistakes, and an increased centralization distasteful to all of us. For myself, I think the greater risk is to go on as we are.” Asserting that “the power we need to make us masters in our own house is Federal power,” he points out that his proposed amendment would be "subject to and limited by all the other parts of the Constitution, including the Fifth Amendment, with its provisions that the Federal government shall deprive no one of life, liberty or property without due process of law, or take private property for public use without just compensation.” TRIAL BY ORDEAL nr'HE United States Supreme Court has again rebuked states that permit brutal and cowardly officers of the law to obtain confessions by torture. The high court's order yesterday saved from the gallows three Mississippi Negroes under sentence of death for murder of a white farmer. In affidavits the three men said they had confessed only after being hanged, beaten and otherwise cruelly abused by a mob led by a deputy sheriff. Mississippi's Supreme Court majority had upheld the convictions on a technicality, and Mississippi pleaded the right to prescribe its own judicial procedure. This right, however, said Chief Justice Hughes, is limited by “The requirement of due process of law.” “Because a state may dispense with a jury trial, it does not follow' that it may substitute trial by ordeal,” he said. “The rack and the torture chamber may not be substituted for the witness stand.” At least one Mississippi judge had held this same view. Justice Virgil Griffith (may his tribe increase) in his minority opinion said: “The transcript reads more like pages torn from some medieval account, than a record made within the confines of a modern civilization which aspires to an enlightened constitutional government." In reversing this conviction the Supreme Court has done well by Mississippi and it has done the nation a service. The extortion of confessions has been common in many communities. A report to the Wickersham Commission by Ernest Hopkins told of finding 67 forced confessions in Appellate Court records alone between 1920 and 1930. How many did not get into the record one can only guess. PL,OWING UNDER CONSUMERS QUCH highly vocal champions of the abundance economy as Senators Vandenberg and Borah missed a chance to aid this cause when they voted against the Wagner consumers’ amendment to the new farm bill. And as a result the amendment was lost by 51 to 25. Senator Wagner, whose New York contains more consumers than any other state, fought valiantly to insert a consumer yardstick in the bill, which contains nothing but the word “adequate” as a standard. Aided by Donald Montgomery, AAA conconsumers’ counsel, he drafted and redrafted the amendment until it was finally approved by both Secretary of Agriculture Wallace and the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Secretary Wallace, it should be pointed out, has been a consistent advocate of plenty to eat, despite criticisms hurled at him for “plowing under the little pigs.” As presented, the Wagner amendment would have used the nineteen twenties as a normal basis of supply, when crops again are curtailed under the soil conservation system set up by the new' bill. Republicans were almost unanimous against it. One of the sponsors of the amendment suggested that they may intend to use this failure of consumer protection in G. O. P. campaign sales talks. If they do, the Democrats will be well W'ithin their rights in demanding a look at the Record.

A WOMAN’S VIEWPOINT By Mrs. Walter Ferguson JOHN ERSKINE S latest book sounds as if he might have been an enraged listener-in at a D. A. R. meeting and dashed home to write “The Influence of Women—and Its Cure.” Although he is a master at the art of glib argument, few of the ones in this volume can stand alone; they are well propped up with left-handed compliments, notable exceptions and half-hearted apologies. The author pulls his punch at the start, when he says he doesn’t understand a thing about women. Such a statement is confusing to a reader of the opposite sex, since Mr. Erskine has earned a wide literary reputation in the last 10 years by his subtle exposure of feminine psychology. This show of ignorance about a subject upon which he presumes to address us is so typically masculine, however. that we seldom notice it any more. His real “mad” is directed at our ladies of leisure. He charges them with ganging up on the men in order to run things through their organizations, and believing as he does that or'„ those who produce should have any say-so about reforms, he resents the situation. If he will turn his eyes to the masculine side, some of his anger might be expended there, where non-producers have always dictated political and economic orders to those w'ho do the work. Mr. Erskine thinks there are too many women in the teaching profession—but admits modern men w'on’t enter it. He believes religion has become feminized—yet deplores the fact that men won’t go to church. He wants all women to support themselves—but fails to tell us w’here the jobs are coming from. He is alarmed at the woman's w’orld in which he lives —but in a thousand admissions he confesses man's inability to alter it. His book is amusing and will no doubt have a tremendous vogue because of the controversial issues it raises. That's why I think he owes an apology to the woman, on one score at least. The group he dislikes most, those supported by men, have in their turn helped to support many writing gentlemen like Mr. Erskine, who, when the fountains of literary inspiration run dry, can always jot down another book about the mysterious feminine sex and thus put more simoleons into their strong boxes, FROM THE RECORD ■p EP. MAVERICK (D„ Tex.): Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to extend my remarks in the Record and to include therein a speech made by the president of the Press Club at the inauguration of officers last week, and also certain headlines and short stories which were gotten out at the Press Club at that time. Rep. Rich (R., Pa.): Mr. Speaker, we are going from bad to worse. (Laughter) . . . Rep. Maverick: Mr. Speaker, I would like to explain that this man is from Texas. He is the president of the Press Club and a distinguished citizen.... Rep. Rich: Will the gentleman tell us where Texas is? ... I object. Mr. Speaker. Rep. Sauthoff (Prog., Wis.): When you see the thousands of Army and Navy officers Kinging around ■Washington doing nothing, you come to the conclusion that they could easily bo cut. ... No such tenderness of sentiment i* shown regarding the pay of those on government jobs. . . . The poor, homeless. ill-fed, ill-clad unemployed can wait. They have no lobby, no gold braid, no social prestige. To hell with them—the; do not counts

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

Squaring The Circle With THE HOOSIEE EDITOR

A MAN w r alked into the Busy Bee Restaurant at Plainfield the other day and asked if he could paint a picture on something for his breakfast. The proprietor said he could so he picked up a piece of cardboard, opened his grip, and painted a picture of the Alps. It was nice. The proprietor, who says he doesn’t know art but knows what he likes, liked it and fed him. After he had eaten, the man, whose name was Peter, said that if the restaurant man wanted him to he would stay around and paint a while. He painted some boats on the ice box door; some mountains on the wall; some sunsets on the mirror. It looked like an art gallery when he was through, and the pictures W'ere all pretty good. So the restaurant man gave him $2 or $3 and the artist went out and got plastered in all primary colors—so plastered that the Busy Bee man had to see that he w 7 as housed for the night, else he might have frozen. n tt T%/|' EANWHILE the pool-room man - L A next door saw’ the murals and wanted some. Draw trade, he said. So next morning he engaged Peter and Peter, wdth hangover, painted the works for him. He painted gals in canoes, and mountains, and an airplane or so. He painted so much he earned sls, was paid, and got plastered. It was several days later that the Busy Bee man and the poolroom owner gathered Peter together, gave him his belongings, saw that he had several dollars still left, and put him on an outbound bus. He never returned and they think of him a lot. 808 T HEAR there are a great number of these nomad muralists drifting here and there. They are a good deal like the early American wanderers w'ho painted the primitives now collected with zeal from the nation’s attics and barn lofts. These artists were more responsible, however, than the Plainfield problem-painter. They had studios and in winter would paint any number of pictures of shoulders and bodies—clothed, of course—both men and women. Next spring out they would go, paints and canvases on their shoulders. and make the rounds of farmhouses. If they could agree on a price the lady or man of the house—sometimes both—would sit and the artist would paint his subject’s face in over the body he painted last winter. Now they’re museum pieces. Some young person ought to collect himself a lot of poolroom walls and sit back and w'ait. In his old age he might be feted as the greatest critic of all time, and the shrew'dest collector. u u C. WEST, of the Indiana Theater, owns a copy of Vol. 1, No. 1, of The Indianapolis Gazette, published Monday, Jan. 8, 1822. by Smith and Bolton. It announced that “We, this day, issue the first number of The Indianapolis Gazette without comment;” and then, stopping only for a colon, went on with a half column of such interesting comment that some of it must be reproduced here. Item: “No subscriber shall be at liberty to discontinue until subscription arrears are paid.” Item: “Produce of every description will be received in payment if delivered at the office.” Item: “The second number of The Gazette will appear on Monday, Feb. 11. This delay is for the purpose of giving those who wish to become subscribers an opportunity of seeing the paper, and of forwarding their names to us.” Item: “Marion is the name which the last Legislature gave to the county.” Item: “The Legislature adjourned the 2ni instant. A list of the acts, togfciner with the most important ones, will be published as soon as they come to hand.” Item: “Through the politeness of a Gentleman of this place, we have received the President’s Message. Its great length prevented it from appearing in this day’s paper, it will receive a place in our next.” n n a C*OME people say the first white resident of the sice of Indianapolis was Ute Perkins. They say he came here from Rushville in 1819 and built a log cabin along Pogue’s Run. He stayed a while, got lonesome and went back to Rushville. Nobody knows exactly why he came or went. No one knows where his parents picked up that first name, either. But descendants say it was his right name. OTHER OPINION The Record fETacsTiUe Courier! Those who raise the cry that the Supreme Court rules the country ought to study the record. Since the beginning of the republic, Congress has enacted some 24.300 public laws. Os fill these laws, only 62 have been hei* unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

‘THE PILLARS OF DEMOCRACY’

The Hoosier Forum l wholly disapprove of what you say—and will defend to the death your right to say it. — Voltaire.

(Times renter} are invited to express their views in these columns, religious controversies excluded. Make vour letters short, so all can have a chance. Limit them to SSO words or less. Your letter must be signed, but names will be withheld on reauest.) tt tt st WOMAN ALARMED BY DISAFFECTION BILL By Mrs. B. J. Randall, Noblesville Perhaps the most dangerous legislation in recent years is the McCor-mick-Tydings Disaffection Bill. This bill has already passed the Senate and is on the House calendar. If enacted it will deprive the press and the people of our country of their constitutional right of free speech. This bill provides in brief: “Whoever advises, counsels, urges, or solicits any member of the Army or Navy of the United States to disobey the laws or regulations (any order issued by higher authority) governing such forces; or whoever publishes or distributes any book, pamphet, paper, print, article, letter or other writing which advises, etc., shall be punished by a fine of not more than SIOOO or by imprisonment for not more than two years, or both.” A second section provides that any of the writing described in the first section might be seized from any place or person under a search warrant in accordance with the provisions of the war-time Espionage Act. The third section of Title I of the Espionage Act (Act of June 15, 1917 upon which the present bill is modeled) reads in part: “Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully cause or attempt to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny or refusal of duty in the military or naval forces of the United States,” etc. The first year after the enactment of the Espionage Act found more than 100 prosecutions. The fact that utterances w'ere made in good faith, and with complete innocence of any idea of direct incitement, was utterly ignored. This law was bad enough in time of war, but in time of peace such injustice is unthinkable. The minority report on the Mc-Cormick-Tydings bill by Rep. Maverick (D., Texas) and K. Vale (F. L„ Minn.) charges that the bill is unconstitutional, unnecessary and a brash piece of Hitieristic Fascism, and points out that “If a mother wrote her son, a soldier, and told him that the Army w r as no place for him and enjoined him to get out, she would be subject to a penitentiary sentence. . . . Any newspaper so much as suggesting an increase or decrease in the Army would be subject to its provisions. A newspaper suggesting that the Navy did not have the best of bat-

Questions and Answers

Inclose ft 3-cent stamp for reply when addressing any question of fact or information to The Indianapolis Times Washington Service Bureau, 1013 13thst, N. W., Washington, D. C. Legal and medical advice can not be given, nor can extended research be undertaken. Q—WMt government department has supervision over the Coast Guard? A—Treasury Department. Q —What were the losses in lives, planes, and money resulting from the carriage of air mail by the United States Army? A—The War Department reported 12 persons killed, including three passengers; 18 planes destroyed or damaged in accidents, and wreckage expense amounting to $517,559. Q-Did Jefferson Davis suggest the model for the statue of Freedom on the dome of the Capitol in Washington, D. C.? A—The statue was modeled by Thomas Crawford in Rome. Italy, from plans approved by Jefferson Davis. Senator from Mississippi, who was chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings in 1850. Q —Has the construction of a subocean tunnel connecting Great Britain with the United States eyer been attempted? A—No. Q —Why does cloth become a darker shade when wet? A—Wet materials absorb more light rays thin dry materials and

tleships could be charged with violation of the law in that they w’ere inciting sailors to disaffection. . . . Criticism of brutality, mistreatment, bad food, unsanitary conditions—or anything of that character—could be met by the most brutal suppression, searches and seizures, and penitentiary sentences.” This bill must be defeated in the House if we value our liberty of press and speech. IT’S JUST A MATTER OF arithmetic By N. C. The Supreme Court picked a bad time to hand down all these doublebarreled decisions. Ordinarily most pepople wouldn’t pay much attention to them, but this cold weather has kept everybody by the fire w’here they have plenty of time to read the papers. In this neighborhood some of the folks are getting downright impatient waiting for the court to decide a case in favor of the government or at least in favor of something that isn't incorporated. We all sort of look to Eddie Squashworth to help us out in these things. Eddie has been around and reads a book now and then. The other day he explained a situation like this: “The Supreme Court reminds me of the gambling house I played in down in Sonora. For a W’eek I took $lO every night and bought chips. The cashier gave me four for e dollar and every night I would 10, e all 40 before I quit. “Then on the eighth night I w T on a whole hatful of chips. When the man in the cage paid me off he allowed me a dollar for six chips. -“‘Look here,’ I told him, ‘those chips cost two-bits apiece. What kind of a joint is this?’ “The cashier looked down the end of his nose and said, ‘Listen, kid. I’ve been here a long time and I know what I’m doing. The trouble w'ith fellows like ‘you, you can’t understand our kind of arithmetic.’ ” Guy Finkel got sore at that story. He jumped up and yelled, “Looky here, Eddie, don’t you bc-lieve we ought to uphold the Constitution of this here country?” “Yes, sir,” said Eddie. “Even if we have to send the Supreme Court judges back to the railroads where they came from.” tt a u PLEADS FOR PARTY OF ‘COMMON MEN’ By a Reader Like the majority. I want democracy to survive in America. It can not under political leadership, high pressured by monopolies. It can not as long as we have nine Dieties appointed through this pressure, ap-

consequently they appear darker. The color of any material depends upon its ability to absorb some rays, and to reflect others. Q —Who are the fencing champions for foils, epee, and saber in the United States? A—Joseph L. Levis, foils; Lieut. Thomas Sands, epee; Norman C. Armitage, saber. Q—Which actress played the role of Mary in the motion picture, “The Virginia Judge”? A—Marsha Hunt. Q—What does the name Esau mean? A—Hairy. The Esau of the Bible narrative was also called Edom, which means “red.” Q—Name the secretaries to President Roosevelt. A—Louis McHenry Howe. Marvin H. Mclntyre and Stephen Early. His personal secretary is Marguerite Le Hand. Q—How old is King Edward VIII of Great Britain? A—He is 41. Q —What is the past tense of the verb light? A—Either lighted or lit. Q —What is the name and address of the apostolic delegate to the United States? A—Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, 1811 Biltmore-st, N. W, Washington, D. C. 4

pointed for life, puppets and tools sometimes, but for the most part very successful corporation lawyers. When nine efficiency experts for big business have more power than the popular vote of a nation, democracy is very sick indeed. Oh, for another Jefferson, Jackson or a Lincoln to “reverse” decisions. It will take such men as these to safeguard a democratic form of government, men who fought for humane decisions, not moneyed decisions; human rights, not property rights. Such men will not be found on the platform of the..major political parties that are nurtured and controlled by the special privileged few. It remains for the common man, the real American, the forgotten man if you please, to create his own political party. This will have to come if democracy survives in America. If this fails, some American Hitler will wield the fist and squeeze out every vestige of liberty and human rights that our forefathers gained in the first American revolution. The combined forces of the socalled “Liberty Leaguers;” “Grass Rooters;” “Crusaders;” "Ku Kluxers,” etc., are easily bulldozing a week-kneed Administration into a compromising position. These organizations and the Hearst Press are America’s menace of Fascism. Wake up America! tt it B EX-SOLDIER WOULD AID FATHER COUGHLIN By Earl Boyd, Ex-Soldier and Protestant Comrades, now that the bonus war is won, what do you say, let each and every one of us help a loyal friend of ours with his war. We all know how much good he did for us; let’s each and every one send at least $1 to Father Coughlin. SPELL BY MARY WARD There were many Lincolns great, But always I loved so well The Lincoln studying late While the log fire rose and fell, Or when a charred tallow dip Cast a gleam on his firm lip As the boy Lincoln learned to spell. DAILY THOUGHT Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it can not save; neither His ear heavy, that it can not hear.—lsaiah lix, 1. THE recognition of sin is the beginning of salvation.—Luther.

SIDE GLANCES

*r • <J^; ® jKjljißpp^

“Oh, we can’t possibly, Tom. We just returned from our vacation, and we’U need at least a week to rest up/’

FEB. 18, 1938

Your.. . Health By dr. morris fishbein

THE pioneer advocate of diets with lots of roughage was Sylvester Graham, who lived from 1794 to 1851. Graham flour and graham crackers are named after him. Since his time, bran has been regarded as useful in the human diet, particularly for its laxative effect. A few years ago, a veritable bran craze swept the country. Newspapers teemed with recommendations for baking bran muffins, bran biscuits, and ail sorts of other bran products. In general, however, doctors are opposed to the habitual use of bran as a laxative. For a person with an irritable bowel, it is certain to lead to still further irritation. People with colitis ought never to take bran. There are. of course, some cases of constipation which are due to an insufficient amount of roughage in the diet. In these cases, bran may be taken, but only as the doctor recommends. a a tt INCIDENTALLY, the n e c e s sary cellulose or fiber may be had in other forms. Most vegetables, fruits, and whole-grain cereals, for instance, contain cellulose, which lends bulk to the material in the bowel, and gives the intestines something “to work on.” Cellulose in lettuce, fruits, and cooked vegetables may be partially digested; in general, though, it is not digested at all. Cellulose is found also in potatoes, beans and nuts, in which it is utilized as roughage. This cellulose in food products is the same cellulose that, is found in cotton, and in paper obtained from wood. When water acts on cellulose, the latter swells, which increases its bulk still further. One of the disadvantages of too much cellulose in the diet is the fact that it may irritate a sensitive intestine.

TODAY’S SCIENCE -BY SCIENCE SERVICE

DESPITE statements of eminent pianists to the contrary, the tone produced by striking a given key on a piano is the same no matter in what manner the key is struck. Ignace Padereswki is the notable exception among the musicians who cling to the idea that, in some manner the way the key is struck influences tone. New research on this finding, which has been a center of argument between physicists and musicians for years, was presented before the Franklin Institute by Prof. Charles Weyl of the University of Pennsylvania's school of electrical engineering. Key demonstration of Prof. Weyl was a giant model of the action of a grand piano consisting of one key. one hammer and one string. With it he w r as able to show that after striking the key a musician has no more control over the tone than a marksman has over a bullet after he has pressed the trigger of his gun. According to musician's views, tone and loudness are separate factors controlled by the manner of depressing the piano keys. Scientists claim that both tone and loudness are determined simultaneously by the piano key. Only the velocity of the hammer at the instant of striking the string is determined by the key. And the same tone and loudness can be produced by any method which would yield the same velocity of impact. tt tt tt PROF. WEYL showed a “mechanical pianist” in a mechanism which produced more accurately and repeatedly a given tone than anv pianist could do. “In fact,” said Prof. Weyl, “the device is able to produce many more graduations of tone than the most competent pianist, no matter how great his technique.” The mechanical pianist also demonstrated for the audience gradations of tone so small that no ear could detect them; yet they were visible on an oscillograph. Another demonstration with a mechanical striker indicated that the same tone could be produced by three different methods of striking a piano key, corresponding to three different methods of human touch.

By George Clark