The Syracuse Journal, Volume 28, Number 48, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 26 March 1936 — Page 5

THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1936.

Keeping Up WitnScience tyScjena&Serwte __2*lEF.r © Selene* Service.—WNU Service. Killing Condemned Convicts With Gas in North Carolina SHMIHMHMaMnNaSMNMSMMfIN Hydrocyanic Acid Does Job by Internal Asphyxia WASHINGTON. — “Internal asphyxia,” or suffocation of the tissues is what occurs in death by hydrocyanic acid gas. the method of execution of criminals recently adopted by North Carolina and also used in western states. - Tbe body, however. Is not deprived of sir as In ordinary suffocation, say by strangling. There Is plenty of oxygen In the blood of a person poisoned by hydrocyanic acid. But the protoplasm—the essential material of living cells—cannot absorb the oxygen that la available. The process by which tbe body tissues utilize oxygen Is a process of fermentation, just as is wine-mak-ing. for example. The theory Is that tn cyanide poisoning, the cyanide In .some way Interferes with this fermentation process. Cyanide poisons the central nervous system, first stimulating it and producing convulsions and then causing paralysis. Paralysis of the breathing center In the nervous system Is the Immediate cause of death. So persons poisoned by, hydrocyanic acid stop breathing several minutes before their hearts stop beating. Poison Acts Rapidly. ► Hydrocyanic acid Is a very rapidly acting poison, but the speed with which It causes death depends on the amount of the, poison taken Into the body. Scientists studying Its effects on animals in order to determine the fatal dose fake Into account not only tbe amount of the poison but also the weight of the animal. In the case of executions by hydrocyanic add gas, the size of the room or death chamber would affect the speed of Its action. In the shortest case on record, the patient became unconscious In 10 second. and died from two to five minutes later, after some convulsion*. This type of cyanide poisoning la known as the apoplectic type. Ordinarily io poisoning by hydrocyanic add. several minutes elapse before any effect Is noticed and death occurs between 15 minutes and an hour after tbe poison reaches the body. In one case of execution by this gas. tbe man became unconscious within one minute but the heart continued to beat for 10 minutes. Could Kill In One Second. By giving a sufficiently large dose of the gas It would be possible to kill a man within a secopd or two, but practically this would not be possible with safety to the executioner and observers. In Case of accidental or attempted suicidal poisoning by hydrocyanic add. a physician should be called Immediately. In such cases the poison In the form of sodium or potassium cyanide has generally been taken by mouth, but persons have been overcome by hydrocyanic add gas used in fumlfatlng. Antidotes for cyanide poisoning recommended by the San Francisco health department are sodium thiosulphate, methylene blue and sodium nitrite. Tbe first named la given by mouth, using a stomach tube if necessary. The two latter are Injected Into a vein. Blast Old Idea That Caesar Was Born by Caesarean Operation TORONTO. — Julius Caesar, contrary to widespread belief, was . not bom by means of a Caesarean operation. Neither did he have anything to do with enactment of the B old Roman law that forbade burial of r a woman who died In pregnancy before the body of tbe nhborn child had been removed by surgery. Tbe old myth about Caesar and his birth is exploded by Dr. John Harold Couch of Toronto General hospital here and Herbert Newell Couch, assistant professor of Greek at Brown university. Providence, R. I. Reason for Belief. A reason for the persistent linking of Caesar’s name with the operation is given by the Couches tn a report to ’ the Journal of the Canadian Medical ■is quite tbe I belief. Intg named for nlly probably The Couches le that some ras born by •era t ion. per and the cogi I* derived cut. was atMid for that family, bearing tbe name may have derived their cognomen ftom tbe same cause. Such a method nf assigning names would be entirely in harmony with the early Roman traditions. In fact. Hiny Is the authority for this assumption, for In his Natural History ho remarks that certain people were born by an incision of tbe mother and that ’the first of tbe Caesars’ was said to have been . bora Id thia manner." B The Early Caesars,. Further evidence of the inaccuracy of tbe old tradition about Julius Caesar's birth is cited by the Couches. "Not until long after the days of ruiw asnr t hfl OhadMMkMsflaa auk. jMiilgl v wwb tin* t jtrSßrriiu op* if - u -!y pcrfoFwiHi cm Hting women. and It Is a matter of historical lull <£ U

‘Phooeyf Gives Way to ‘Um-m-mP in Medicines New Drugs Will Have More Pleasant Taste PHILADELPHIA. — BeHertasting medicines will apparently be one result of changes in the National Formulary, which might be called an official recipe book for pharmacists. The changes embodied in the sixth revision of this volume which becomes official on June 1,1936, were explained by Dr. Adley B. Nichols, secretary of the National Formulary committee on revision, at a conference at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science. The National Formulary—known as N. F. for short—is a companion to that other legal standard for drugs In the United States, the United States Pharmacopoeia. The latter includes drugs and remedies of proven efficacy, regardless of whether they are widely used or seldom used. Products are Included In the N. F w on the other band, on tbe basis of how generally they are used. Doctor Nichols pointed out 321 Items Dropped. In tbe present revision 321 Items were dropped from the book because survey of over a hundred thousand prescriptions. collected from all parts of the country, showed that these Items were not used tn actual practice. A total of 233 nfew Items were admitted. Six glandular products were admitted. namely corpus luteum. ovary, ovarian residue, anterior pituitary, whole pituitary and superarenal. Salty-tastlng medicines such as the bromides should taste better because syrup of raspberry la the official ••vehicle" for these preparations. The resulting effect is like adding a pinch of salt to bring ont the flavor of the syrup. Syrup of acacia Is another new vehicle which makes disagreeable medicines pleasant to take because the colloidal action of-the acacia keeps the medicine from coming In contact with the taste buds on the tongue. Praise Cherry Flavor. Syrup of cherry Is another new addition which has been widely acclaimed. "Its specific value lies tn Its fruity tartness which makes It a delightful mask for aour products such as the diluted acids, where the acid almost enhances the taste rather than destroys It.” Doctor Nichols says. For a change, pharmacists are advised to use syrup of thyme which has "a markedly different taste.” A valuable feature of tbe new N. F. Is the addition of many dental products. Among these Is aromatized sodium perborate. Because this is now so widely used by laymen without specific directions from a dentist, pharmacists are advised to caution customers about its promiscuous use. "It has been the cause of severe mouth burns when used as a powder which lodges In cavities and eventually hydrollzes to sodium hydroxide.” Onions’ ‘Breath’ Measured to Find Its Strength by Cornell U. Scientist ITHACA, N. Y.—Onions can now have the strength of their "breath" measured. State# in slightly more technical terms, a definitely quantitative measurement can be made of their pungency, by a new distillation process devised by Hans Platenlus, a young research scientist at Cornell university. Mr. Platenlus' technique la no mere chemical stunt, either: anyone who has ever bought or sold onions In quantity knows that strength or mildness in onions is reflected In cold cash on the hard cobblestones of the produce marketplace. The Cornell onlon-"breath” measuring system is based on the fact that the pungency of an opion depends on a sulphur-containing oil. There Is very little of this in an onion. One mass analysis some years ago used up more than five tons of onions and yielded leu than a pound of tbe oil Bnt it goes a long way. The oil. which is known chemically as atlyl-propyl-dlaulphide, contains about 43 per cent of sulphur by weight. Hence, any method which will measure the amount of sulphur that can be evaporated out of a given lot of onions should give an Indirect measurement of tbe quantity of tbe oniony oil present. and hence of the strength of the oh tons* “breath.” This Is Just what Platenlus' method does. He steams off the vaporizable sulphur from the sample of onions under analysis, and then by suitable chemical means precipitates out the sulphur so that it can be weighed. The method Is rather slow, so that it is not recommended for routine analysis, bnt It offers tbe first accurate quantitative estimate of the relative strengths of different lots nf onions to replace the human nose. Sport of Persian Kings and Ladies Was Polo WASHINGTON—PoIo was sport of kings in Persia over three hundred years ago. Popularity of the fast riding game spread through Asia from Japan to Baghdad, and even veiled ladles had their own sprightly polo matches on tbe field. This romantic old chapter in sport history Is revived through addition of two polo scenes in Persian miniature painting to Oriental collect lona tn the Freer gallery of art of the Smithsonian Tbe beautifully colored paintings Illustrated a Persian manuscript poetically treating of "Tbe Ball and Mallet.” Verse accompanying the pictures admiringly describes the King Muhammed playing polo on a scale not merely Ik Mt Mid.HkA -with mnnn k* Jm• IWI llnv, WHU w-EWff - socti ulfclTl wuit Mis pony Wtmlfl ttwi £<**l Os If be d‘d nol restrain It.

/ Al ADVENTURERS’ gp CLUB fl fl 4 "Death Rides the Waves" By FLOYD GIBBONS Hunter. DID you ever notice, boys and girls, that in all the stories you read about shipwrecks and storms at sea you never seem to hear anything about the fellows who get the worst of it? I mean the boys down below decks in the engine room. ' Harry Helgesen of Brooklyn, N. Y„ tells us about what the “black gang” is up against in a storm at sea. He ought to know, too. Harry is a licensed marine engineer In steam and Diesel. Harry’s big thrill came when he wae assistant engineer on the auxiliary steam yacht Ulvira on a hard luck cruise In the Atlantic. The cruise started from Brooklyn for southern waters on February 8, 1934, but they never got very far south. The bad luck started the very first day, Harry says, when the ship grounded on Roamer’s shoals in the channel. The crew of amateur and professional sailors finally got her afloat again and the ship came back to port and went into drydock for inspection. The hull was found O. K. but they had lost a couple of days. When the Sea Kicks Up There Really Is a Mess. The next start was made in a snow flurry and everything went fine until they got to the open sea. Once there the sails were run up and the engines cut off. Down In the engine room the “black gang" was getting things ship-shape. Now when an auxiliary yacht Is under sail things are generally easy for the boys under decks, but just as they were about to bank the fires, Harry says, the chief mate came down and said they were In for *a bit of a blow.” And a “bit of a blow" was putting It mildly. Wham! a storm from the north slapped the Ulvira with a broadside that nearly turned her over. In a second all was busy as a beehive In the engine room. "Full steam ahead" came tbe order from the bridge, and Harry and his gang went Into action. Death Signs on the Ulvira’s Cruise. Harry ran up on deck to get the smoke stack hoisted. The stack had been letdown when the sails were run up and they needed more draft On-deck all was confusion. A boom had snapped under the strain of the gale and the sail and boom were hanging over the aide and into the water like a sea anchor. And that wasn't all. Hubert Kuechenmeister, a young Northwestern university student and amateur sailor, had been swept overboard. The huge waves breaking over the rail made rescue impossible. Death had signed on the cruise of the Ulvira! Harry got his stack up and hurried down the ladder to his station. What he had seen on deck wasn’t very encouraging, but his Job was below decks, and he went to It Those engines had to get going or the boat and all on it would be lost Ths engine room by now was a mesa. Ths boat was pitching heavily, Harry says, and the huge seas shipped at each pitch started coming down through the bunker plates, hatches and deck houses and filling the bilges with water. “We started the pumps.” Harry writes, “but the ashes stirred up by the water kept clogging the strainers and the water kept rising. The engines were going full blast but we didn’t know bow long that would keep up. Tbe boiler / f r «> The Water Kept Rising Toward the Fire. plates started leaking from the forcing they were getting and the water In the hold was up to the engine cranks. As soon as the water reached the fires we were through.” And tbe water kept rising. It was swishing across the floor like It does In a ship’s pool on a rough day. Anything that floated became a menace as it sailed back and forth at breakneck speed with the action of tbe ship. In all this dirty water full of ashes and debris, Harry and a fireman spent an hour “diving.” Diving in an engine room means going under the water to free the strainer from the debris drawn In by the suction of the pumps. How Would You Like to Dive Into Slimy Water? Just imagine diving In that slimy water wondering if yon are going to be swept up against the boilers and scalded to death I Up on deck another fight was going on against the elements as the ship reeled under the shock of the gigantic waves, but our story is below decks and below decks we stay. Ths four men In tho> black gang fought the advancing water for 24 long hours without relief. Once the captain came down and asked If they wanted more men, but the chief engineer knew that a greenhorn would only be in the way and asked for a bottle oWum instead. The rum came down and Harry says it saved the Ilves of everybody on that ship. The rum gave the exhausted men new life and for the next two hours they worked like madmen. The high point of the water was only eight Inches from the boilers. Another inch and it would be the boats, and the boats could sever live tn a sea like that But that extra Inch never came. Instead, the four men watching the water In the ash pita suddenly let up a weak cheer. The water had stopped! The pumps were at last holding their own! After Death’s Vigil the Black Gang Got Hungry. Well, sir, the gang realized then that they were hungry. Harry climbed perilously up the ladder to the deck to search for food. The galley was a watersoaked mixture of food-stuffs and kitchen utensils that slid back and forth across the floor with every movement of the ship. Tbe ship’s cook was gone seasick. And the galley Area were long since dead. But that black gang had to eat ao Harry fished up a side of bacon and finding some eggs unbroken in the ice box he managed to snare a frying pan and carried bls prizes dtovn the ladder again. , The U. S. Coast Guard to the Rescue! Two men braced him then M he held the frying pan over a shovel full of live coals. Harry admits It was ths best meal he ever in his UM. He admits, though, that he has had better picked the food out of the pan with their hands and had coal dust for salt and pepper-4nit it tasted swelL v. Then rame tbe coast guard and the disabled yacht into Norfolk, Fa, and the mid-winter, hard-luck cruise wa ’ N* o ’*

Head. Toward Locomotive Passenger* Ue with their bead* tpz ward the locomotive io berth* oh train*. Thia position was originated In the earlier day* to eliminate draft* and soot, note* * writer in the Kansas Qty Star. Many person* complain of tllnow if lying with their feet toward the front of the train. When patient* are placed in ambulances, boweter. the head l» toward the rear of the vehicle. which is Mid to be more rest tot - Westminster Abbey'* Flag « In 1831 Westminster Abbey adopted it* eo n flag as the official ensign of the dean. It incorporate* the red and white roses of the Tudors, the croa* and Ove gold martlet* of St Edward the Confessor and the royal arm*. Lovers* Ladders In th* Dolomite* in Italy it to the custom for a youth to set * ladder to a giri’a window, mount It. tap, and talk wtth her—an ancient custom which Shakespeare utilised ta "Borneo and J - L "

SYRACUSE JOURNAL

/ r*pshh*gir-. th* City •* Spire* There are so many spire* and towers in Copenhagen, Denmark, that th* cap ital at the Danes ba* been called th* “City of Spires." The tallest spire surmount* the city ball. The Erioserkrike i* also famous for this feature, which ha* a curious spiral design. Then there 1* the notable Round tower, originally Intended a* an observatory, which I* ascended by a very wide spiral road, up which a horse and carriage can be easily driven. Used i* Thermometer* Mercury I* the liquid usually employed tn thermometer*, but in th* far north, where the temperature has fallen a* low as 90 degrees below zero, alcohol i* substituted, for mercury freeses at 40 below. Tea*. "Horse Marines** During the Texas revolution against Mexico in 1835, 20 mounted Texas Ranger* gained the sobriquet of "Bora* Marine*" by effecting the capture of three ships loaded with supplies for the Mexican army.

IMcGoofey’s First Reader and Eclectic Primer is I. PHILUPSaaBEBaaMI lb 1 i ■ wSrwL 3*'. ■■ OM 1

THE STORY OF FELIX 1 — Felix was what Is known as a tough nut 2— In his school days the teachers even suspected he might be a mental delinquent 3— He stood at the bottom of the class in all his studies. 4— The only thing he liked about school was the recess, during which he could get Into a good fight 5— He lacked anything approaching refinement and thought delicacy was a place where they sold delicatessen goods. 6— He was a monotone and when the class sung the opening, morning anthems his voice ruined everything and gave teacher the jitters. 7 — He was the sort of boy who scribbled on fences with chalk. 8 — He left school as soon as he could and went to work for a living. 9 — They put him on a job that called for the Intelligence of a seven-year-old child, and even at that he didn’t seem to fill It. 10— He knew all the smoking-car stories and kept clippings from suppressed magazines. 11— He thought all art began and ended with the penny-tn-the-slot peep shows. 12— He had a very low mind and people passed him up as hopeless. 13— It seemd Impossible that he would ever get anywhere. 14— But he became a big figure In the show world and made a couple of fortunes. 15— He found he was equipped perfect mentally to write sketches for big Broadway revues. And some of the songs and lyrics. MORAL: It’s an age of specialization. • • • HENRY ' Who is this? This is Henry. w h° is Henry? Bf *• / Henry Is a travelr ing sa,esman - I / What is a travelI S ing salesman? I A traveling salesI t yyj man is a man who has been listening t 0 sa - v "-''othing today” for the r three years. Doesn't Henry get tired of hearing people say “Nothing today”? Very, but he has become accustomed to IL Is Henry downhearted. No, Henry is not downhearted. Why not? Because being a traveling salesman and being downhearted don’t go together. It la a profession for optimists only. What 18 Henry doing now? He is about to start out on another swing around the country in search of a customer. Will Henry find a customer? If there Is a customer around anywhere Henry will find him. and just now Henry is very hopeful. What makes Henry hfipeful? He knows from experience that no slump was ever permanent and that there comes a time when the stock gets so low that something has to be ordered to refill the shelves. Has that time arrived? Well, even If It hasn’t, you won’t find Henry discouraged. He will still be in there taking his cut at the ball and always trying. THE STORY OF FRISBY Frisby was well raised. ' His parents were well to do and they gave him every comfort He was a pampered kid. As an Infant he had three styles of perambulators with « de luxe model for Sundays. When be was a little boy he had a Shetland pony and was the envy of all the other little boys as be rode hither and thither and vice versa. He also had two bicycles and was tbe first kid in the neighborhood to possess a motorcycle. He rode It to and from school. When he was a little older his dad bought him an automobile and before he was sixteen years old he was pinched as a “scorcher.” He went everywhere in his red racing car. Even if he was only going a distance ot two blocks he drove the distance. He was raised to expect comfort and ease and to avoid exertion. When he was eighteen he built him-

WOOD PRESERVED IN WATER Water doe* not always hasten decay. Wood can be preserved for centuries in water in which it I* free of fungi and bacteria. The only wooden objects made by Neolithic man on exhibition today were found in mud at the bottom of lake* or in swamp*. Another example i* the pile* supporting the building* of Venice. Many of them are «tfU In good condition after being In service for more than 1,000 year*.— Collier * Weekly.

self an airplane and cut capers over the village. There was only one method of travel with which Frllby was totally unfamiliar. That was pedestrianlsm. Everybody predicted that he would some day figure In the headline, “Girdles Globe In Twenty-Four Hours.” Suddenly his folks lost their wealth and Frisby was thrown on his own resources. It was a long time before he found a job, but he finally landed one. This was ten years ago and Frisby is still at it You’ll never guess his job, so we’ll have to tell you. Frisby is a letter carrier. MORAL—It is a bad idea not to learn to walk early In life. * • e PSALMS OF LIFE Exercise ” A lot of exercise is good For any girl or boy; Long hikes along the open road Bring vigor, vim and joy. A daily sprint stirs up the blood; A romp across the fields Is something that pays dividends In all the health it yields. A horseback ride is excellent — It tends to make one strong; To gallop ’cross the countryside Is like a gypsy song. A little swim each summer day (Say just a mile or two) Will build your little body up And bring new pep to you. A round of golf Is very fine And maybe two or three. While tennis Is a type of sport That keeps the muscles free. So be an outdoor boy or girl And with fine health abound; You hike and swim and ride and jump— Not me! . . . I’ll sit around. • • • INTELLIGENCE TEST Check the word which properly completes these sentences: 1— Mark Antony wasa snare drummera jockey a Florida night club singer ..a Roman politician a racehorse. 2— Cleopatra was famous for ....freeing the slaves.......heroism at Bunker Hillher custard piesher romance with Julius Caesar. 3— Spion Kop Is known in history as the place where Joan of Arc was executed.-tbe home of Gabrielle D’Annunzio the scene of a Boer war episode an alias for Scotland Yard. 4— “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” was written by..Rudyard Kipling Eddie Dowling .... ’Lord Tennyson Longfellow Andrew Mel Ion;. .Laura Jean Libbey. 5— A zipper Isa kind of sleda man who trains apes ...a small article of footweara group of stars an attachment for opening bags quickly. • • CURIOUS FACTS FOR CURIOUS PEOPLE It takes the average man eleven minutes to find what he wants In a medicine cabinet Mohammedans never eat deep dish apple pie for breakfast The male bee is quite Irresponsible and cannot be trusted In matters of great Importance. There are 45,679,345 types of floor lumps east of the Mississippi alone. Tbe buttonhook has practically disappeared from the modern home. Three-fifths of all the energy expended to America in the summer months Is expended by women in cleaning white shoes. Teething babies should never be fed hot chestnuts or corn on the cob. Warming the bed sheets with a hot brick in the winter is m longer considered good form In the average American home. Ramsay Macdonald takes-four putts to a green. The mustache worn by Adolf Hitler is his own and not artificial. Tbe caloric content of toothpicks Is very low. Polar bears make poor house pets. There Is no sucker list on the Island of Yap.

SPOTTED SANDPIPER The spotted Sandpiper is grayish olive-brown above, mottled with wavy, dusky lines; wings and tall showing darker brown; underparts white, spotted with black (the spots of the female are larger and mors round than those of her mate). The wings have white bases which form a white stripe when the bird* are in flight It* long, flesh-eolored leg* ar* made for wading in shallow water. It ha* a biack-tipped beak.

ACCENTS WRONGLY PLACED REVERSE REAL MEANING Did you ever read the You don’t think it very interesting? Well, it Is, and It Is probably more useful than some of the books you do read. Half of the trouble people get themselves into Is due to misunderstanding spoken or written words often occasioned by the fact that words have more than one meaning. “The dog would have died If we hadn’t cut off his bead” seems ludicrously Impossible if you accent the word “died.” Accent the word "hadn’t" and it becomes Indisputable fact (Jan you trust your reader not to accent the wrong word? Are your written statements susceptible of two meanings? Are you sure the words you employ tn conversation may not create an Impression in the minds of your hearers In startling contrast with what you intended, or that they cannot repeat them to your detriment? I know of a 20-page contract where the changing of the word “and" to “or" cost one party to It $350,600. Fortunately I was in a business that necessitated wiring thousands of words dally. It was appalling the number of Instances where wrong punctuation, the addition or omission of an apparently unnecessary word or a natural misinterpretation of a word would disastrously reverse the meaning.—F. A. Garbutt in Los Angeles Times. Week’s Supply of Postum Free Read the offer made by the Postum Company in another part of this paper. They will send a full week’s supply of health giving Postum free to anyone who writes for it—Adv. Purity of Motive* x Let the motive be in the deed and ( not in the event Be not one whose motive for action is the hope of reward.— Kreeshna. Patience You can rule children if you don’t get mad about It Tired.. Nervous Wife W' ns Back k 4>E| Pe P' Ml Her raw nerves wer* MbIL. ’ soothed. She ban- ? ished that "dead■K J tired” feeling. Won new youthful color—restful nights, active days —all because she rid her system of bowel-dog-ging wastes that were sapping her vitality. NR Tablets (Nature’s Remedy)—the mild, safe, all-vegetable laxative worked the transformation. Try it for constipation, biliousness, beadaches, diszy spells, colds. See how refreshed fl.' • UJj[klL3ufl you feel. At all nOWER SEIM— ISM NOVELTIES Marigold Harmony. Phlox Glgutea & Others ISc Pkts. Guaranteed. Free Catalog. Write Arthur Papke. Seedsman. New Lewox, HL from surface conditions A UCkfejF need not be endured, jF Make your skin clearer smoother with Atagg soothing « Forget It Happy the man who can "pot It out of his mind.” ging shoe pressure and quickly; safely loosen and remove corns or callouses—use Dr. Scholl’s Zinopads. These soothing, healing, cushioning pads prevent sore toes and bisters. At drug, shoe or dept, stores —only and a box, WNU—A 13—38 t | Cleanse Internally sad feel the Mferasce! Wfiy let ccnstipetiaa hold you beck? Fed your best, look your beat —cleanse inreraally the easy tea-cup way GAR FIELD TEAienotamirWrtee ear weaker, but a wadt FKE SJUHIE due “jynaJ Immßl -raw am treatment will mton •“SlSs you Begin tonight BrasMsklLV. Mt your drug store) pkIHUIIIMBT