Dayton tribune., March 26, 1925, Image 7

U. S. to Watch
Eclipse in Sumatra
cleaned ' lotlies, wives always get them
and trouble follows.
“I called one woman up at a hotel
and told her we had her diamond sun
hurst, worth a fortune. She yawned
and an hl. "All right, dearie. I’ll aend a
bellhop over some time todty.'"
New Amphibian Airplane Viewed by Representatives
COLUMBUS MEMORIAL
Naval Obaervatory to Send
tlona They Mill be followed by an­
Expedition in 1926.
other volume dealing with the reaults
By ISABEL M
LEWIS.
Washington. It Is gratifying to
American astronomers and others In-
ten-sted In the progress of science to
know that the United Mtntea Naval ob­
servatory will carry on In the observa­
tion of total eclipses of the sun by
sending un expedition to Kumatra to
observe the total eclipse of January II,
192«.
Through Ilie unique opportunities
thut |t ponseasea as a government In-
stltutlou under thè control of thè Navy
depurtment It la poaallde for thè Unit­
ed Mtatea Nevai obaervatory to ad-
vance thè causo of aatrunumleai ad-
cuce In tome Maya flint are not wlthln
tlie reach ut private instltutlona, Thta
waa evldenced in thè aondlng forth of
-special Urne slgnula for thè conveu-
foncé ut ecllpae observera on thè orca
vlon of thè last ecllpae ami In thè
obaervatlon of thè ecllpae frolli thè
navy dlrlglble, Los Angeles, by a group
of scientista from thè obaervatory un­
der thè lead of Capi. Edwln T. Poi
look, auperlntendent ut thè Nevai ob-
An Augury for Success.
The Interest shown by the present
superintendent In promoting eclipse
observations speaks well for the sue-
ceas of tlie eclipse expedition that wlll
be sent forth from uur national oli­
tile
servutury before the
sixth since the year HMM*. It Is also
in keeping with Hie traditions ut the
navy. Many astronomers of today re­
call the enthusiastic interest tn the
cause of astronomical research evl
deuced by Rear Admiral Colby M
< beater, superintendent of the Naval
observatory in I kc , Mho headed an
expedition sent out by this observe
lory to Africa nnd Spain to observe
the eclipse of August 30. HMM, when n
special line squadron of three vessels
»u« detailed by the Navy department
tur the observation of the eclipse and
a special appropriation of $5,KW was
grunted by congress.
An Interesting report of the results
of the observation of this eclipse, by
the way, and of the eclipse of June 8.
1918, as Mell ns notes of aviators ou
the eclipso of September 10, 1923, are
contained In the “Publications of the
U. 8. Naval Observatory," second se-
volume
purt
uppemllx.
which has Just recently cornu from the
1 liero nro soine remarkubly On»-
plates In tlHa volume, photographs of
Kiniini nmt promlnencea, und drawlngs
from negatives. In addltlon to the «cl-
eutitlc dlscusslon of the observations
of tlu ae ecllpsea. The frontIspleee 1»
a reprUduction In color of the painting
of the toruna of the ecllpse of Juu« 8,
1918, by the artlxt, Howard Russell
Butler, «ho was u member of the
N a vai observatory ecllpae expedltlon
to Baker, Ore. There ia also a repro-
duction In color of a palming by the
same artist of the approach of the
moon's shadow arid of details In (he
structure of the prominences.
Earlier
Eclipses Described.
An earller volume of thè "Publlca-
tion a of thè U. S. Naval Obaervatory,"
publlshed in 1006, dcalt wlth resulta
of thè observallons of th< edlpaea of
May 28. 1900, and May 17°, 1901, thè
fortner In North Carolina and Georgia
and tlie latter In Nuinatra. Botti vol­
ume« «re vnlunble contrlbutlons to thè
of the observations of the eclipse of
January 24, 1923, und January 14,
192«.
The ecllpae of next January will be
n fine one of four minutes' duration
In the I'i'llan ocean and over three
minutes' duration In 8umat||i, where
It will occur In the afternoon. Thia
eclipse will «Iso be visible later In the
afternoon and with shorter duration In
Borneo an . the Island'ot Mindanao in
the Philippines. It will occur on the
*Mt African coast near the equator
shortly after sunrise.
If pracent plane are carrp*d out
there will be nt least one other eclipse
1'Xpedltlon Bent out from the united
Ntatcs to observe this eclipse, the
Nproul obaervatory expedition from
Hwerthmerc college. This Institution,
whose department of astronomy in un
<ler the direction of Dr. John A. Miller,
hie been particularly active In observ­
ing recent edlpeM. English, French
and German oboervetortee also are
now planning to send expeditions
fb« new amphibian airplane, that Is at home both on Muter «nd land as well as In the air, was inspected by a
congressional committee at Bolling field. The machine was designed by Grover Loenlng of New York. Left to right
In the group, standing before the new plane, are—Maj. H. B. Clagett, commander of Bolling field; Representatives
I rank Reed, Florian Lampert, Randolph Parkins, A. 8. Prall ; Maj. Raycroft Walsh; Lieut. Wendell H. Brookley,
Mho piloted the mnchlne from New York to Washington; Mr. Loening, tlie designer, and Representative Roy O
Woodniff.
i'laos
hemispherical tomb.
topped by a latticed "steel lighthouse
Strange Find« Made in
130 feet higher than the Eiffel tower,
were displayed at a dinner to William
Ciothcs-Cleaning Plant« : E. Pulliam, receiver general of cus­
Man Francisco.—Tile old saw that toms for Sunto Domingo, as embodying
no man la a hero to hla valet might i many of the requisite features of a
be rewritten to any that no man. or I pr<>|M>acd Pan-American monument to
woman either, la entirely a mystery I Christopher Columbus, conceived by
to Ida or her dry cleaner. If one Mr. Pulliam ten years ago and now be­
accepts the view« of Miss KHsabetb ing promoted by him. B. W. Levitan
Sentry, receiver at a •»cal dry cleaning is the architect and bls plan, approved
eslubllahment.
by the Pan-American Union, provides
Miss Huntry sums up her reactions f-T ■ i.n'-of-ot IlghtlMUM and wire-
severely ns follows: "The men are un less station on Torrecllla j»olnt in Sun
faithful and careless The women are Doming» harbor, Hushing a four-ray
stupid and Indifferent."
' beacon 3«) miles. Its dome-shaped
She explains men are prone to leave I base would be a miniature of the earth
love letters In their clothes, and that I north of the equator, with the routes
women make a habit of sending gar­ I taken by Columbus plainly Indicated.
ments with jewelry adhering.
| Inside It Mr. Levitan plans u crypt.
"Life in a dry cleaning office Is just ■ covered by a great crystal bull, to
one piece of jewelry after another and ! which the remains of the discoverer
one love letter on the heels of another/ <>f America would be transferred from
When we send the letters home In the , the Cathedral of Santo Domingo.
Seek for Cradle of
First Civilization
Bamboo World’s
Best Timber Grass
Provides
Wood
of
More It Western people multiplied Rs uses
Washington, D. C.—Chicago cele­
brates the two-score anniversary of
chop suey, and Illustrates bow a lunch­
eon fad among State street shoppers
literally transformed hillside land­
scapes In Japan and China.
“Chop suey is a stranger to China—
It is as American as the Ice cream
soda or .’hot dog,’ but Its making re­
quires bamboo sprouts from Cbluu and
Japan,” says a bulletin from the Wash­
ington, D. CM beadquarters of the Na­
tional Geographic society. “When the
United States began buying the suc­
culent sprouts tho effect upon the
thrifty farmers of Honshu and Kl­
angsu was akin to a Nebraska granger
finding acres of weeds turned to wheat.
'Edible bamboo’ had been scrub bam­
boo; soon Rs yield vied with 'timber
bamboo.’
Jack-and-the-Bamboo-Staik
The expedition m 'IH be financed by
"Of course It did not take an Amer­
Beloit College to Send Ex ,
Frank G. Logan, Chicago, patron of ican food fancy to show the Orient
pedition to Africa.
art and archeology. Pond will co-op­ that bamboo sprouts were good eat­
Beloit, Wls—Were the prehistoric :
ancestors of modern man natives of ’
north Africa?
Will the theories of archeologists be
revolutionized in regard to the cradle ■
of prehistoric civilization?
Beloit college nIII send an expedition i
next summer to seek light on these
mattery, Denn George L. Collie, head of
the department of anthropology nt Be­
loit nnd curator of Logan museum, an­
nounced. Beloit will be represented
on the expedition by Alonzo Pond,
graduate of Beloit In 1918. a research
worker for the college, and one who
Inst year lidded the now famous Aurl-
gunclan necklace nnd other Important
specimens to the collection at Logan
museum at Beloit, which, anthropolo­
gists say. Is tlie finest teaching collec­
tion In tlie United States.
Decorated for Her Heroic Acts
erate with M. Maurice Reygrasse, gov-
eroor general of Algiers, whom Pond
describes the leading African arche­
ologist.
Men In Franca Seen as OffshooL
Archeologists have accepted France
heretofore as the birthplace of many
of the ancestors of humans of today,
and the cradle of prehistoric civiliza­
tion. but reports of recent discoveries
In French Algiers seem Io Indicate that
the remnants found In the caves of
France are merely those left by the
offshoot from the original stock.
It may be that parallel civilizations
were developed In France and In north­
ern Africa, but the character-of the
material found in Africa Indicates that
the Aurlpeaclnn mid Neolithic man
may have lived there some time before
the date set for the enrllekt remains
of man found In Europe. Large quan­
tities of nrcl eological remains of early
man have been found In Algiers—tools, -
pottery, dolmans and ornaments. The
only collection of this material hi the
United States is at Logan museum,
Beloit.
The expedition which Is being sent
out by Beloit to survey this territory
will travel oh racing camels In order
to cover us much ground ns possible
in the abort season In which It Is
possible for white people to travel In
the Sahara. The party will start its
journey In Africa some time In Octo­
ber, for before then and after March
the heat' is so intense that travel Is
Impossible, The military escort, fur
nlshed by the French government, will
vary witli conditions mid depend on
tlie advice of the commanders of the
various military posts In the sectors
of forest, always give a peculiar soft­
ness to the scene.’
"Makers of scores of manufactured
products would be Inconvenienced if
they were deprived of bamboo; epi­
cures would be saddened; but the
American small boy would be deso­
lated if the millions of bamboo poles
shipped here every ygar were cut off.
What would be do for his Ashing
rods?”
ing. The Japanese variety of the
gruss which yields the most luscious
sprputs Is known ns 'Moso'—a desig­
nation that goes back to the "24 para
gons of Chinese filial piety.'
“Once a widowed mother, bo the
story goes, fell 111 in midwinter, and
longed for hot broth of bamboo shoots
Her devoted son dug down In the
snow to find them for her, and the
gods rewarded his piety by raising up
shoots that grew to an amazing size,
Japanese artists, to this day, perpetu-
ate this Jack-and-tlie-bamboo-stalk leg­
end by their drawings of the boy,
Moso.
“The actual facts about the bamboo
are fabulous enough. It is a grass,
and provides wqod of more numerous
uses than any tree. One root may pro­
ject a hundred straight, polished, joint­
ed stems Into the air; these grow as
high ns 120 feet; and their rate of
growth has been marked at more than
two feet a day.
“A Chinese or Japanese family eat
bamboo, sleep under It, sail the river
on it, write with a pen and paper
made from It, comb their hair with
It, cut their food with It. pipe water
with It, and make their bird cages of
by their inventions and employ it for
airplanes.
flutes.
hairpins, porch i
screens and phonograph needles.
COAL MADE TO ORDER
Comparable to Coconut and Date.
"Bamboo has been called one of na­
ture’s most valuable gifts to man. In :
parts of Klangsu province, China, and
In large tracts of rural Japan, it would
not be amiss to speak of the bamboo
age; keeping In mind, however, that
the ’bamboo civilization' is much far­
ther advanced than the 'date palm civ­
ilization' of the Sahara or the ’coconut
palm civilizations' of the South Sea
islands.
“The giant bamboos are true grasses ■
They send underground stems long dis­
tances through the soil, binding it to- i
gether with hard, flintlike root stalks,
or rhizomes. From this network of
roots and rhizomes they send uoward
tlie most rapid-growing shoots of any
plant known. While the shoots are so
fresh and tender that they can be
«napped off with the hand and cooked
to an asparagus-like delicacy, bamboo '
wood Is the strongest known timber i
for its weight, and Its hard, siliceous
exterior makes It serve for knives and
whetstones.
"Despite Its numerous uses the
grass is valued also for its beauty.
The trees of China and Japan lend a
charm to many landscapes. They are
In the University of Illinois labora­
waving plumes of delicate green fo­
liage, v ch, whether seen against the tories at Urbana is this oak piling
skyline or backed by a darker mass which was originally 30 feet long and
which was driven for 30 hours with
a 5,000-pound steam hammer Into a
bed of gravel. It is now 8^4 feet long
and part of'the wood, by heat and
Court Rules Teeth
pressure, has been transformed Into
coal. In th-i picture the coal forma-
Not Part of Body
tion Is quite noticeable 'between the
potsdum. Germany.—It’s no
wires on the right-hand side of the
crime here to knock a man's
piling.
teeth out. A local court decided
that there was no "bodily In­
jury” Involved when a piano
Famous Brittany Church
player clipped a guest in a cab
Destroyed by Lightning
aret so hard that eight of his
Morlaix, France. — Fire destroyed
teeth came out. The court rea­
soned that the teeth—anatomi­
the Fifteenth-century church of St.
cally speaking—were not a part
Jean-du-Doigt, near* here, one of the
of the body. The learned Judge
most famous shrines in Brittany, dur-
i ing a storm. Lightning struck and set
opined that It was simple
enough to buy some store teeth
tire to an adjoining house and the
to replace the missing eight.
tlames ignited the church steeple. The
villagers formed a bucket brigade, but
their efforts were fruitless, and many
wept as they saw their beloved church
consumed. The famous reliquary con­
taining a linger of John the Baptist,
which drew pilgrims from all Brittany,
was saved, as were the ancient sacred
vessels.
Gathering Books for the Sailors
The old timber bridge at North Sea­
ton, England, spanning River Wans-
beck, has been In use for well over a
half century.
Route of Expedition.
Mrs. Samuel Burleigh Milton, prominent Washington woman, hns been
presented with a const guard life saving medal for the rescue of two persons
from Chesapeake liny more than a year ago. In presenting the medal. Admiral
Blllnrd, commandant of the United States coast guard, declared that It was an
unusual and conspicuous award and that it was bestowed only In cases of rare
bravery. Mrs. Milton saved a boy from drowning In August, 1923, nnd also
Miss Rose Cohen, a war worker from St. Louis.
i
The party will start from Algiers
nnd go directly to Oran, on the Medl
terrnnean, tlie next stop being nt Anl
Sefrn, from whence it will continue
south to Colomb Beehan, which is In
the mountnins along the enstern bor­
der of Morocco, thence to the Great
Eastern Erg, finally arriving nt Insnlnh
The return Journey will proceed by
way of the vnlley of Oned Myn, Inlfek.
Obnrgln and Biskra, ending nt Tebessn.
The entire trip probably will consume
six months, covering about 4,(XM) miles
Besides the archeological work,
which Is the mnln object of the expedl
tion, opportunity will be offered to
study the Tounreg Hoggar, one of the
most snvnge tribes of Africa, about
which practically nothing Is known.
The work of this pnrty will be in
practically virgin territory, ns far ns
the archeologist Is concerned, since
the only research work that has been
done there consists of one short trip
made by M. Reygnsse a short time
ago. The discoveries made at that
time were so Important and aroused
so much comment In the scientific
More than 32,000 books have been received to date in the American Mer
world, that Mr. Pond determined on chant Marine Library association's annual drive for books for seamen. Mirs
the expedition which Is now being pre­ Anna >1. Llngsweller of the association Is shown opening packages, which
pared.
continue to pour in.
Cross-Words Crowding
Gum-Chewing Habit
Washington. — Gum chewing
may be dying out In the United
States, its greatest stronghold.
The gum-chewing stenographer
may be in the process of being
eliminated by the one who
works cross-word puzzles.
At any rate, the imports of
chicle, the raw material for gum
decreased last year. Only $4,-
123,000 worth of the elastic sub­
stance derived from the milky
juice of the sapodilla tree was
brought In from Mexico, Hon­
duras and the British West In­
dies—a decrease of a half-mil­
lion dollars from the previous
year, according to Department
of Commerce figures.
Europe, however, may take up
the gum chewer’s burden. Near
ly 3.000,000 pounds of American-
made chewing gum, valued at
$1,385,000. was exported during
the year, of which France took
the largest part.