Determine Sources
of Night Sky Life
Chicago and Texas College
Professors Make Study.
Chicago.—Although the huge 82
lnch telescope of the McDonald ob
servatory, Joint project of the Uni
versity of Texas ami the University
of Chicago, on Mt. Locke, Texas,
Is not yet completed, an investiga
tion is already under way near the
new observatory to determine the
sources of light In the night sky.
Using an old 12-lnch refracting
telescope which was presented some
years ago to the Yerkes observa
tory of the University of Chicago
by Dr. O. E. Hale, assistant Pro
fessor C. T. Elvey of the Yerkes
statT and Dr. F. E. Itoach of the
McDonald observatory have been
recording the light of the night sky
with a recording photo-electric pho
tometer designed by Doctor Elvey.
The light of the night sky Is
made up of direct starlight; star
light which Is scattered both by
the earth’s atmosphere and the mat
ter In Interstellar space; zodiacal
light which Is concentrated In the
ecliptic hut which may extend over
the entire sky; and of the light
originating within the atmosphere
of the earth; the permanent aurora.
This aurora is not the polar aurora,
or northern lights, although it I*
related to It.
Many Study Problem.
Many Investigators have studied
the problem of the composition of
light, and a general Investigation
by the Dutch astronomer, Van Ithljn
has shown the following percent
sge composition: Direct starlight,
18 per cent; starlight scattered by
the earth's atmosphere, 5 per cent;
zodiacal light, 43 per cent; aurora,
15 per cent, and scattered earth
light, 19 per cent.
It Is well known to astronomers
that there are large fluctuations In
some of the sources of light, par
ticularly of the zodiacal light and
the aurora. Lord Rayleigh found
that the light of the night sky un
dergoes large variations, with n
range of eight-fold between the
smallest and largest.
The variations are sometimes fair
ly rapid, Doctor Elvey having found
in his work at Yerkes as much as
a 25 per cent change In brightness
of the sky within a period of two
hours. There also are dally varia
tions In the Intensity of the auroral
light In the night sky, which In
some parts of the world reaches a
maximum about 2 a. in., and In
other parts Ib at Its mnxlmum Just
after twilight hns ended.
These large variations have made
detailed analysis of the light diffi
cult, because during the several
hours required to cover the sky,
there are many changes In the light.
To make possible observations In
a brief space of time Doctor Elvey
devised the recording photo-electric
photometer. It consists of a very
sensitive galvanometer, which meas
ures the output of the amplifier.
The recording Is achieved by shin
ing a lamp on the galvanometer
mirror, which reflects the light to
a silt behind which Is a moving
sheet of bromide paper.
Deflections Recorded.
The deflections of the galvanome
ter are then recorded on the bro
mide paper, which Is directly con
nected to the photometer so that It
moves past the silt as the Instru
ment is rotated around the verti
cal axis. With this Instrument a
complete record of the brightness
of the sky on n circle parallel with
the horizon can lie made In approxi
mately five minutes, and the entire
sky can he observed In about an
hour. A check of the variations In
Without a Country;
He Lives on Vessel
Haifa, Palestine. — Herman
Zevl Nlbam, carpenter, Is a man
without a country, living on a
ship, the S. S. Dacia, in Hetfu
harbor. Nlbam, a resident of
Palestine since 1925, says that
some months ago his wife left
him and in his hurry to overtake
her he boarded a ship for Ru
mania nnd forgot to take his
passport Now the Palestine
authorities refuse to let him
come ashore.
_
light during this time can be made
by observing a given region of the
sky several times.
Doctor Roach already has ob
tained over a hundred tracings with
the Instrument, from which he and
Professor Elvey have determined
the axis of the zodiacal light, the
cone of light that can be seen ris
ing from the horizon after sunset
and before sunrise.
Contrary to general belief, the
axis does not coincide with the
plane of the earth—the ecliptic.
Observations show the morning zo
diacal light Is displaced to the
north of the ecliptic by as much as
five degrees. A series of evening
observations Indicate that In part
of the ecliptic the zodiacal light
was near the ecliptic, apparently
crossing it.
The astronomers expect that a
detailed analysis of the tracings
will give the relative amount and
the distribution of the light from
various sources contributing to the
total light from the night sky.
Deer With a Memory
Chases Man Up Tree
Eastham, Mass.—Henry How
land was “treed” by a buck deer
—one he believed didn’t forget
a past experience.
Howland, working In his back
yard, saw several deer crossing
a field, when suddenly one es
pied him, chased and forced him
atop a henhouse.
During the half-hour imprison
ment he noticed a scar on the
animal’s fore leg, the place
where he wounded a deer three
years ago. The buck apparent
ly recognized him, he thought.
Sees Trouble for Radio
in Sun Spots Activity
Kansas City, Mo.—Sun spots are
giving indication of activity, accord
ing to George C. Hlakslee, photogra
pher for the Yerkes observatory, and
that, he helieves, spells trouble for
radio. The spots, any one many
times larger than the enrth, have
been more or less dormant for sev
eral years, but past records, over
a long period of years, show they
are due for a period of exceptional
activity.
Relatives of Otto
Take Varied Jobs
Hapsburgs Have a Hard
Time Paying Their Bills.
Vlennn, Austria. — The uncles,
cousins and other kin of Otto of
llapsburg, exiled heir to the thrones
of Austria and Hungary, are hav
ing a hard time meeting bills from
the butcher and baker.
Many of them, all archdukes and
archduchesses of roynl blood, were
left practically penniless when the
republican government of Austria
confiscated the llapsburg proper
ties In 1019.
One became an Insurance agent,
nnother went to Hollywood, another
became a small farmer, another a
LOVELY NEGLIGEE
By <11 KillK NICHOLAS
More nnd more the trend Is to
ward the prettily feminine nnd lux
urious In fashion s realm. The re
action of lovely and exquisite ap
parel Is especially stressed In
boudoir nnd home environment In
that negligees and hostess gowns
are plnylng a sumptuous nnd be
guiling role. A luxurious fur fab
ric, ermine crush. Is the material
of the negligee pictured. It Is lined
throughout with peach satin which
shows In the re vers.
I
grain merchant, another an aviator,
while the rest lived as best they
could.
All of them bore their difficulties
in a cheerful and dignified way.
Naturally, they all await a turn
In their fortunes, If and when Otto
returns to his father's throne.
Archduke Maximilian, the only
brother of the late Emperor Charles,
earns his living as an agent for a
British reinsurance concern.
Maximilian Is Married.
Maximilian is forty and married
to a princess of llohenlohe. He has
two sons.
Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, who
commanded an army in the war,
and became commnnder of the Aus
trian-Hungarian air forces, runs a
small peasant’s fnrm.
The archduke, who Is sixty-three,
morganatlcally married a bourgeois
widow In 1921. The marriage ended
by divorce in 1928.
Ills eldest brother, Peter Ferdi
nand, married to a princess of Bour
bon, lives with his family In mod
est circumstances In Switzerland.
The younger brother, Henry Fer
dinand, who also had contracted a
morganatic marriage, Is a painter
and etcher In Salzburg.
Archduke Anton, thirty-four, son
of Archduke Leopold Salvator, for
mer inspector genernl of the Aus
tro-Hungarian artillery, was a re
nowned aviation Instructor in Bar
celona before he became wealthy
by his murrlage to Princess Beana
of Rumania.
Anton's elder brother, Archduke
Leopold, opened a grain business in
Vienna. It did not prosper and was
liquidated. He spent some time in
Hollywood film studios.
The sons of Archduke Francis,
Hubert, Theodor, and Clement Sal
vator, devoted themselves to agri
culture.
Manage Minor Estates.
They personally manage minor es
tates along the Danube, which they
Inherited from their mother, who
was a daughter of Emperor Fran
cis Joseph.
The children of the so-called "Po
lish” Archduke Charles Stephen are
living in Galicia. Three have be
come Polish citizens, and nre offi
cers in the Polish army. The fourth,
Archduke William, joined the anti
bolshevik ranks of the Ukrainians.
Archduke EugeU* seventy-two,
field marshal of the former Austro
Hungarian army, returned to VI
ennn three years ago. He Is living
In modest retirement.
Ills older brother. Archduke Fred
erick, who was commander In chief
of the Austro-Hungarian army dur
ing the World war, still is consid
ered rich among Hapsburg princes,
although ne lost two-thirds of his
fortune by confiscation of his prop
erties In Czechoslovakia and in Po
land. He lives In Hungary.
Eyebrow Plucking Old
Eyebrow plucking was practlceo
by w omen as early as 100 B. C.
One of Latest Type of British Submarines
This monster British submarine Is the Severn, recently launched at Barrow. It is shown against a
background of Mount Arrochar. at Loch Long, Scotland.
SEEN-" HEARD
•round th«
National Capital
*r ■■ By CARTER FIELD sassss
Washington.—With nature mov
ing in to help extinguish the cot
ton surplus, as she has already
on hogs, cattle and to a lesser ex
tent wheat, probabilities for trouble
in the future for cotton growers in
this country are not diminished,
tut increased.
The point is that the dust storms
In the big cotton producing areas
of Texas and Oklahoma—more than
half of the cotton raised in the
United States is grown west of the
Mississippi, despite the prevailing
opinion to the contrary—have al
ready boosted the price of cotton.
Pressure on AAA is expected to
continue loans at around 12 cents,
despite the desire to drop them
gradually. All of which means that
the price of cotton will be main
tained at tills high level next year.
So far, so good, but unfortunate
ly It is impossible for the United
States to keep such a situation a
secret. If this country could only
do what Itussiu did a few years
back with wheat, It could make a
killing on cotton—perhaps—next
year.
The Russians, it may be recalled,
circulated stories that their wheat
crop had failed, back In the days
of Secretary of Agriculture Ilyde
and the farm board. The farm
board began buying wheat, and the
Russians began selling. Hyde
thought they were selling short,
and actually denounced them in
public speeches for such a nefari
ous practice. But the Russians de
livered the wheat. Whereupon the
price collapsed, the Russians having
been the only wheut farmers to get
a real price for their product, and
the money for that coming out of
the United States treasury.
But the whole world knows about
crops in the United States. Dowrn
In Brazil they know about the
dust storms that are wrecking cot
ton crop prospects west of the
Mississippi. They knov^ about the
agitation to continue the 12-cent
loans—which means an artificially
maintained 12-cent price next year.
And they know in Brazil they can
produce cotton at a profit at 6
cents a pound!
Big Brazilian Crop
So naturally Brazil will increase
her cotton acreage next season by
every square yard possible. This
“possible” amount is far from triv
ial. Tremendous overnight expan
sion is impossible, of course, but
Brazil’s agricultural expertB fig
ure that only about one-tenth of
the land capable of producing cot
ton—always with the G cents, In
cluding profit, In ndnd—is now un
der cultivation. So that the real
problem is labor. But there is
enough labor for much more expan
sion. So it can safely ne assured
that there will be a big Increase In
the Brazilian crop.
Over in England the cotton spin
ning people know about these dust
storms, and about the prospect of
the United States maintaining the
12-cent price. Some of their big
mills have made the change in their
looms so as to spin the Brazilian
cotton. More of them now are ex
pected to do so. They will naturally
figure they can buy Brazilian cot
ton cheaper than United States cot
ton.
Over In the Japanese puppet
state there are now 30,000,000 acres
of cotton. Very small so far as
world figures go, but there also the
facts about the situation in the
United States are known, and may
be expected to have results. Sim
ilarly In Egypt and India.
All of which point unerringly to
the probability that throughout
the world there will be a mad rush
to take advantage of the situation.
This promises eventually to leave
the United States treasury holding
the bag, owning millions of bales
of cotton for which It paid 12 cents
a pound, when the world market
will be around 7 or 8 cents at
the most, and G cents in all proba
bility.
But this is only part of the trou
ble. Johnson and Johnson have
already announced their plans for
setting up cotton mills in Brazil,
the idea being not only to get cheap
er cotton, but to get away from the
processing tax. Products of this
mill would be used in place of
goods formerly exported from the
American mills.
Army Is Stirred
Army and navy officers are ter
ribly concerned over the bill just
passed by the house, and soon to
be considered in the senate, for
taking the profit out of war. They
assure everyone who will listen
to them, in private, that it will
also take national defense out of
war, which might be very serious
indeed to the nation In the event
of u conflict.
The pacifists hail the bill as:
“A bill to keep the United States
out of war by providing In advance
‘that there will be (1) profits for
none, and (2) confiscatory taxes rnr
all. so that it will be to every Amer
ican’s interest to keep the United
States at peace.”
Army and navy experts say that
it should be called:
“A bill (1) to transfer the war
munitions Industry now in the
United States, and which might be
started here, to foreign soil, (2)
to provide for a murderous delay in
preparation in ease a war is forced
on this country, (3) to conscript
soldiers and employers but not
workmen, and (4) to repeal the
oldest law of military strategy:
that the best defense Is a vigor
ous offensive.”
Goaded by a $2,000,000 bonus to
Eugene G. Grace, by screams of
the pacifists, by complaints of sol
dier bonus lobbyists that “these
boys fought and risked their lives
while profiteers were making mil
lions,” the house voted down every
qualifying amendment, passed the
bill, and privately hopes the senate
will write some sense into it.
Tax on Profits
More serious, from a prepared
ness standpoint, is the tax provision
on profits. Half of all profits up to
0 per cent and then 100 per cent Is
the house provision. Suppose, say
army and navy officers, the du Ponts
had been faced with such a situa
tion at the entry of the United
States In the World war. Would
they have dared expand their
plants? Suppose, instead of a pre
liminary period of nearly three
years during which the allies were
buying all the munitions they could
get, and which naturally caused
tremendous expansion of the du
Pont, Bethlehem and other munl:
tlons plants, the United States had
been Involved from the first, with
such restrictions on earnings as are
now proposed.
The point made by the army and
navy men is primarily that no man
ufacturer would dare expand his
plant to take care of a war need.
He would not be able to make
enough to scrap the plant after the
war, and he would have to take his
chances with government auditors
on depreciation charges. Altogether
he would be much safer if his plant
were located on foreign soil, where
It would be welcomed as an element
of military strength.
So that the natural development
would be for foreign countries to
benefit—even in time of peace—by
the training of their workmen in
the making of munitions, and in
time of war by the possibility of big
profits, which these foreign govern
ments could tax to their heart’s con
tent and still leave something for
the manufacturers.
Nearly every one agrees that the
proposed law would be repealed as
the first act of congress after the
next declaration of war. Critics are
not much worried about that. What
really worries them Is the prospect
of American business enterprise
moving abroad wholesale to escape
such conditions, thus not only de
priving the United States of this
element of strength, but actually
providing It for potential enemies.
See Long Session
Congress Is not going to be rushed
to an early adjournment. It will be
with us for a long time yet. Almost
surely until August.
This Is true despite all the flat
predictions by leaders that the
“must” items will be rushed through,
and everything else will be aban
doned. Many things may be “aban
doned.” But they will not be aban
doned because of the time element.
They will be abandoned, if at all,
because actually they are not want
ed. Careful examination of the left
overs at the time of adjournment
will reveal the truth of this state
ment.
Utility heads got all pepped up a
few days ago at this list of “must”
measures. It did not include the
public utility/holding company bill.
Now, despite all the statements, the
probability of the moment is that a
holding company bill affecting the
utilities will be passed. It will not
be passed In the form desired hv
President Roosevelt. It will be much
more moderate. It will actually be
what some of the utility chiefs fa
vored as much ns ten years ago.
Soldier Bonus
Naturally, the soldier bonus was
not on the “must” list. The Presi
dent does not want that. But if
anyone thinks that it Is not going
to take a lot of the senate’s time,
he just does not know very much
about the senate. Especially, as
the best predictions now are that
the bonus legislation, after passing
both houses, and being vetoed, will
be passed over the veto by the
house and then fail of passage in
the senate.
This unofficial program calls for
two separate considerations of the
measure by the senate!
That is not all. Very few admin
istration leaders are optimistic
enough to believe this congress will
adjourn without giving the soldiers
something. Which means that time
must Intervene—after a sufficient
demonstration of strength to fright
en the White House, and after a
sufficient demonstration of weak
ness to frighten the American Le
gion—for a compromise to be
worked out.
The President has let it be known
to a few friends on Capitol Hill
that he is willing to go to a compro
mise of about $1,200,000,000. The
bonus leaders know that, and will
move heaven and earth to obtain it
if they find that they are going to
lose out on the main tight.
Incidentally, there is nothing on
the 'must” program about the AAA
amendments, nor about the growing
movement to rescind the cotton
processing tax. Nor the corn and
hog processing tax. Flat prediction
is hereby made that there will be
a lot of oratory in the senate od
both before the final gavel taps.
Copyrisbt.—WNU Servic*.
J/tcmAhatfcdionj
m / rac
Blowing Up Skins Which Buoy a Yellow River Raft
Preparwl by National Geographic Society.
Washington, L>. C.—WMJ Service.
STREAMLINE trains and giant
airliners recently have been
in the spotlight in America;
Italy is still applauding an
alrminded son who sped through the
air more than 400 miles nn hour a
short time ago; and Great Britain
is just quieting down after cele
brating the victory of her flyers
who won the London-Melbourne air
race. In Germany streamline trains
are linking additional cities as
quickly as the new type transporta
tion equipment can be manufac
tured.
Modern transportation, this. But
one can still find types of transpor
tation facilities, even in the world’s
largest cities and their rural neigh
borhoods, that were in use decades
and even centuries ago.
There Is not a sizable town in the
United States in which one cannot
hail a taxi, and in many of them
charter a plane; yet the top-hatteil
cabbie, whose pompous figure held
sway over traffic on boulevards in
the gay nineties, has not been en
tirely shelved. These “taximen” of
another era have jealously watched
as new traffic lights have been in
stalled, traffic lanes have been
painted to keep modern motorists
from crushing bumpers and fenders,
and streets have been widened and
trees sacrificed to make room for
more of their rivals; yet they still
constitute something of a traffic
problem.
Ox-Drawn Vehicles.
Within sight of concrete. 40-mlle
an-hour highways, and less than a
hundred miles from Washington,
D. C., and Annapolis, Mil., ox-drawn
vehicles still lumber along; while
in the isolated mountain regions of
the West, sure-footed burros and
pack mules continue to be the only
companions of many rugged pros
pectors.
Millions of visitors arrive at At
lantic City by automobile, airplane
and train, yet to see the ‘'sights”
along the Boardwalk, they hire
three-wheeled rolling chairs. Oth
ers arrive at Bermuda aboard pala
tial steamships but take to bicycles
and horse-drawn carriages to tour
the island.
\V hat traveler leaves uuman,
Natal, without employing a Zulu
rikshaman? The dark-hued tribes
man in gay-feathered headdress
and scant clothing, is one of the
colorful features of the South Af
rican city. In remote Szechwan
province, China, wheelbarrows,
which are the local transports,
have worn ruts in flagstone pave
ments; in Sumatra, if one goes na
tive, he must travel in a buiTalo
drawn cart whose thatched top is
shaped like a sway-backed horse,
and is pointed at each end. In Pa
lermo. Sicily, the purely Sicilian
way to get about is by native cart,
a two-wheeled vehicle on whose
side panels are gayly depicted Bible
scenes and Sicilian panoramas; and
in Ireland, the Irish jaunting car
on which passengers sit back to
back and face outward lends atmos
phere to a tour of the Emerald isle.
Llamas still carry loads in the
Andes, and elephants still are fa
vored among the tiger hunters of
India. In spite of progress in Bel
gium, the morning milk is still de
livered by dogcart at many a door
step, and dog sleds are yet the
most dependable transportation in
the icy wastes of the Arctic and
Antarctic. The tired explorer enjoys
comfortnble travel in a hammock
like chair borne by native porters
In central Africa; the mountaineers
of northern India and western
China employ the yak as their beast
of burden; the camel still plods the
caravan routes of north Africa,
Arabia and central Asia; and the
carabao (water buffalo) is the de
pendable draft-animal of the Last
Indian Islands.
“Floating Population.”
Land transportation is of no in
terest whatever to millions of C hi
nese. Children are born, grow up,
marry, carry on their lives, and
work aboard the sampans of China’s
floating cities.
Most of the great river cities of
southern and central China have
such a “floating population,” but
the boat dwellers of Shanghai and
Canton form large communities in
themselves. A traveler of sufficient
energy could laboriously progress
for miles by jumping from the deck
of one sampan to another.
Like the Dutch canal boat dwell
ers, these river folk are a race unto
themselves, apart from the common
run of their fellow men. In many
cases their mode of life has been
handed down from father to son
for generations. When China's teem
ing acres became overcrowded and
expensive, and a growing commerce
demanded river transportation in
even larger volume, many ingenious
Chinese combined business with
economy and took to living aboard
their tiny craft
Although business might call far
and wide along the numerous rivers
and canals it was the large commer
cial centers at the mouths of mighty
streams that offered the most lively
carrying trade. Hence these cities
early became headquarters for the
water dwellers.
The rlverman often made long
voyages up country, but he always
came home to roost. Hence the
dirty, evil-smelling stretches of
river and backwash surrounding
such centers as Canton and Shang
hai, and even around Hongkong
and Singapore, became the native
heath of an army of sampan dwell
ing Chinese, who from childhood
have known no other life.
The visible means of support of
these communities is the carrying
trade from wharf to wharf, and
from bund to steamer or junk,
across river and up canals.
Barnyard Afloat.
Some sampans house petty mer
chants and peddlers who carry on a
small trade in the necessaries of
life from boat to boat within the
water colony Itself. Occasionally a
craft is filled to overflowing with
huge w'hite ducks which fatten in
the daytime on the tidal mud flats
or harvested fields, and at night
wyalk a gangplank back to their
floating barnyard. They proceed,
one by one, in a quacking and push
ing single file, each hurrying not
to be the last duck aboard. The re
turn home in the evenings is some
times hastened, it is said, by giving
the last duck a sharp crack with a
switch. The awkward procession
soon learns the trick and a comic
tumult arises not to be the unfor*
tunate tail of the procession.
Chinese sampans are marvelously
easy to handle, being the product
of generations of adaptation to en
vironment. They dart like water
spiders here and there amidst the
harbor traffic, clustering like barna
cles around the great steamers an
chored offshore. With lightning
swiftness, they flee in droves be
fore an approaching storm, each
knowing as if by instinct his own
place in the quiet reaches.
In spite of the shifting needs of
commerce, family life aboard pro
ceeds nbout its daily routine ns
usual, albeit in rather more cramped
quarters. Clothes, vegetables, and
babies are washed side by side in
the stream and the cooking is done
above a diminutive brazierlike stove.
Crowing children help with the
handling of the boat and cargo, and
grandmothers in blue cotton ragged
garments smoke long-stemmed
pipes. At night all draw together
and neighborly chatter from boat to
boat sounds like that of a newly
arrived flock of blackbirds. The riv
er folk are poor but extremely
cheerful, especially over the eve
ning meal.
Lights from great modern liners
shine across the harbor and music
from an occasional gaily decked
pleasure barge floats from the mid
stream channel. In few other
places lurks so strongly the spell
of the East.
Raft Transports.
On the shallow, shifting Hwang
Ho, or Yellow river of China rafts
are the principal means of trans
port, especially for freight cargoes.
There are two types of raft: one
using as buoys inflated sheepskins,
and the other, large ox-hldes which
are stuffed with wool and then tied
up to keep them water-tight. The
sheepskin rafts vary in size, accord
ing to the use for which they are
intended, ranging from as few as
12 to 15 skins on the small one-man
rafts. For the large rafts some 120
ox-hides are used.
The ox-hldes are carefully treated
on the Inside with salt and oil. This
treatment not only preserves and
waterproofs them but also keeps
them tlextble. There is no extraor
dinary technique required in the
construction of a raft. Poles are
lashed together, forming a frame
work to which the hides or sheep
skins are fastened.
Moslem Chinese who form a con
siderable percentage of the popula
tion of Kansu province, are the
rafts men on the Yellow river. A
sturdy people, they stahd well the
hardships of river life. It is far
from an easy life with all the con
trasts of heat and cold and the
strenuous labor involved in handling
the clumsy transports through the
rapids: or freeing them, once they
have stranded on a sand bar. The
men, however, are happy and
friendly.