Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Hen's Contribution Not Only One Used for Food. Washlngtoo. ? "Eggs" m only hens' eggs to the average trader ? something to combine with hnui In thfc morning or to stir Into cakes or cus tards for dlnneri But In the complex civilization of the Twentieth century, man finds use for many and various kinds of eggs. "A New York museum did a thriving business not long ago In eggs of frogs and salamanders," says the National Geographic society. "Jelly-encased frogs' eggs found floating In great numbers on top of Long Island ponds were shipped by thousands to public schools, where biology pupils put them In tanks and watched them develop In to tadpoles. "The scarcer eggs of salamanders, found In stream bottoms, were shipped to research laboratories where scien tists prefer them to other eggs In mak ing certain studies of the embryo. "Hoe, masses of tiny fish eggs, and caviar, tho prepared and salted roe of certain fish, are favorite delicacies on our menus. The best caviar was long made from the great white sturgeons of Itussla. Present-day caviar, lacking the fine flavor of the original, Is often made from roe of spoonbills, buffalo fish, and catfish of lakes and rivers In the southern United States. Put to Various Uses. "Fish eggs are put to various uses. In Brittany, fishermen use salted cod eggs mixed with flour as bait to at tract sardines. American sugar com panies In Mexico have recently import ed certain insect eggs from Cuba in their fight to exterminate other Insects attacking sugar cane. And in the past the United States Department of Agri culture has made many similar Impor tations. "Cormorants' eggs from the Islands off the coast of Peru form a large item on the diet of Peruvians. Ksklmos eat quantities of sea birds' eggs. In Nica ragua, hungry natives dig In the sand for alligator eggs, which contain large yolks, and are said to taste like ducks' eggs. In Mexico, eggs of certain spe cies of flies are used in making a food paste whlcfi is considered a piece de resistance. A preference equally diffi cult to understand la the Chinese predi lection for 'ripened' eggs ? hens' eggs which have been burled In the earth until they have become decomposed to a decided degree. "Humans are not Hie only creatures with a developed taste for eggs. Ants and spiders lick their chops over eggs of butterflies. Fishes gulp minute eggs of other fish borne on ocean ciirronts. Unless Peruvians get there first, they are apt to find rookeries cm the bird is lands of Peru full of rifled nests and broken eggshells. The small greenish cormorant eggs have been devoured by nulla and turkey vultures or pierced and sucked by condors. "Birds with few enemies lay bufone or two eggs. Most of the north ocean ic birds, Btich as little auks, and black and-white guillemots, which breed on Arctic cliff ledges, lay but a single large egg. Pointed at one end, It rolls in a circle and so does not fall from the ledge. -The king penguin of the Ant arctic takes especial care of its egg by carrying It about on top of Its foot, protected by a fold of skin. The male and female relieve each other at this task. Itobbed of its egg, a king pen guin may sometimes be seen attempt ing to shuffle about with a stone on ItH Instep. Mammal Lays Eggs. "Aside from the echidna, the only mammal that lays eggs Is the queer duck-billed platypus which lives lu the streams of Australia and Tasmania. It combines beaverlike fur and habits with webbed feet and bill similar to a duck's, and lays two eggs, each three fourths of an Inch long, encased In a flexible white shell. "Game birds, which are frequently preyed upon, rear large broods. Some qunlls lay as many as thirty eggs for a setting. However, quails take a back seat compared to marine creatures, which, because of their many enemies, must lay eggs by the millions In order Town Waits Fifty Years to Erect Sign Boston. ? Although the people of the town of Essex have been fully aware for more than fifty years of where their town hall Is located, and have found It without the aid of signs, the building now Is to be marked. The townspeople have finally decldo4~that there must be a sign there. Large letters will an nounce to .the passers-by that the old building renlly Is the town half. for the race even to hold lis own. A .cod luya about 5,000,000 eggs, sturgeon about 7,000,000, a turbot Hbout 14,311, CHX) ; but so greatly are the youcjj preyed upon, that only a small propor tion will survive to maturity. , "Eggs vary as greatly as people In color, size, and shape. Exception to the rule that all domestic fowl lay ovoid, white or brownish eggs, Is the Arau cana, a strange South American fowl which lays blue eggs. Kggs laid In holes or domed nests are usually white. Colored eggs, Invisible In dim light, would be In danger of being broken or rolling out of reach. Although puffins lay their colored eggs in holes, they cover the shells with a chalky Incrus tation which reflects light. Eggs of many fishes floating at the sea surface. In masses sometimes 30 feet long, are transparent, which probably hinders their being detected and eaten. The shells of kingfisher, eggs are translu cent, those of some snails' eggs slightly Iridescent." \ Secretary Perkins Gets a Medal Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins is here shown receiving a gold medal from Mrs. Roosevelt at the White House, which was awarded to her by the Ohl Omega sorority as the outstanding woman in the field of civic achievement for 1034. Crowds Travel to Beau Brummel's Grave ? ? ? as Simple Tombstone Marks Rest ' ing Place in France. Caen, France. ? CJeorge Bryan ("Beau") Brummell was burled here In 1840, and a simple tombstone marks his final resting place after a gay and spec tacular life. 8^ far tills year more than 3,000 British and American tourists have vis ited ids grave In this Protestant cem etery. Brummell wns born In London on June 7, 1778 ? l,r>6 years ago last June. Ills father was Lord North's private secretary. Ho attended Eton and Ox ford, where he was distinguished for his studlousness as well as his metlc ulousness In attire. After four years In the army he cain*? Into an Im mense fortune and thereafter de voted hlmsrlf to the profession of foshlon arbiter. In 1813 he quarreled ?with the prince regent and he had to flee for his life to ('alnts. Here, for HEADS ENGINEERS Ralph R. Flanders Is tho new presl vr^nt. of the American Society o f Me* chnntcnl Engineers, fie U a manufac turer and economist df Springfield, Vt* and also a member of the business advisory and planning council ap pointed by Secretary of Commerce fourteen years, he struggled along In l is reckless, carefree way and from 1830 to 1832 held a fdnecure consulate at Caen. He gradually lost his mind and he died an Idiot In an asylum in 1840, at sixty-two. While in prison In Caen for debts, Rrummell wrote many begging letters to friends who had been willing enough to spend his money In other days. They turned a deaf ear, however. He read a great deal of Washington Irv ing and Lord Byron; received the visit of Tom Moore, and prayed that he might not "die, like William the Con queror, In Normandy." Even God, his friends said turned a deaf ear to this entreaty as If In punishment for his riotous living. He wanted to be burled on British soil, but those who had abandoned him In life also forsook him in death, and his once proud bones long since hnve mold ered to dust In the Caen cemetery. Archeologists Declare Mayas Were Not Urban Washington. ? Mayas of pre-Colunt blan days were farmers and not city folks ns popularly believed, I>r. Oliver U. Hlcketson, Jr., member of the Car negle Institution's arrheologlcal staff, believes. Doctor Rlcketson believes the Maya ruins are not remnlns of extensive cities but remnants of agricultural com munities. He said that even the large, muKI-chnmbered buildings of northern Yucatnn would not houso facilities for a large population. He claimed the ruins are civil and ( religious centers to which surrounding farmers flocked on market and feast Hay*. Proof of this, he added, Is evi denced by the fact that low platforms forming ancient houso mounds extend through the Jungle In every direction and without demarcation between one center and another. Doctor Itlcketson estimated the total Maya population was approximately 148,000. I Coast Convicts Prefer Books on Penal Code Sacramento, Calif.? California penal and political codes head the list of "best sellers" In tfolsom prison, one of the nation's "toughest" penitent!' arles. \ These books, along with the works of Blackstone, top the list of requests from prison Inmates, according to State Librarian Mabel (31111s. The convicts pore over the volumes In an effort to find loopholes In the law which may win freedom for them. Results of this avid study occasion, ally send staid jurists Into, a huddle when habeas corpus petitions contain Ing queer points of law are presented Forest Fires Ruined 43 Million Acres in 1933 Washington. ? Fires In unprotected forest arena of the United States Inst year were 20 times as dnmaging as blazes In protected sections, according to figures compiled by the Agriculture department's forest service. In all, fire -? .-pt 43.880,320 acros of the nation's tlmberland In 1033. Of this area. 40,1(MMKX) acres was forest Innd devoid of protection, and 3,722,020 acres was land under protection. Approximately 20.70 per cent of the country's unprotected . forests were burned, while the toll on protected land wns 1.00 per cent. All national forests are under sys teinatlc fire protection. The forest service estimated that .r>33,570,2'10 acretf need protection. Property damage from forest fires In 1033 was estimated at $(50,274.0(50. compared with a five-year average qt $02,831,423. Mississippi, with 22,3(W5 fins, led the states. Turkish Law Requiring Names Causes Confusion Istanbul.? Turkey's new law making It compulsory for every one to havq a surname has cnused much confusloW because man.. Turks do not know how to find suitable and satisfactory cog nomens. The fashion of using Mur names was dropped In Turkey about 200 years ago, and hns been followed only In some rural districts and for commercial purposes. In the towns It has become the habit to give a man n nickname, distinguishing him as well by the name of his father or some adjective characteristic of some pe cullarlty. The new law Insists that shall not be military or coinlt. Council Offara Reward Omaha, Neb.? At the request of the Omaha safety board, the city council voted a reward of $100 for information i leading to the arrest of any hit-run driver where ? totality occhrg. The reward will be paid from safety board fund*. SEEN-" HEARD around fch# National Capital By CARTER FIELD V\ sahlngton.? The most liuiK>rtant pending political question In Washing ton. In the Judgment of at least three Important figures, is whether Comp troller of the Currency J. F.' T. O'Con nor takes the $20,000 Job as federal agent at the Federal Reserve bank at i San Francisco, which Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau has kept dau gllng before him for the last month. The three men who think so are members of the Federal Reserve board. ?wh? made thnt simple statement to the er* Mr- Morgenthau, and, though, this, of course. Is ait assumption based on the human tendency not to under estimate one'* own Importance in the scheme of things. Mr. O'Connor him self. If O'Connor takes the Job, thus per mitting the naming of a new comp troller who will be utterly subservient to Morgenthau, absolute domination of the reserve board and comptroller's office? which means absolute domina tion of the banks of the country? will pass Into Morgenthau's hands. If he sticks, there will be a flght. In which O'Connor will have some pow erful support on Capitol Hill among the Lconservatl ves, especially those who like the original plnn for an independ ent reserve board, which would run the banks without regard to politics or po Htlcal tendencies. The present battle, of course, is not with regard to "political" tendencies n the ordinary sense of the word It ,h"s ""th"'K to "? With patronage, or 7 ? ,"r 80 ,nvol>?l are members of this party or that. "Political" in this sense merely means control of the Ranking system by nn administration, which would like to have the hanks 1 6 country spring into action whenever the administration wanted a particular line pursued. Japan's Bad Luck Japan seems to have had luck in retaining the services of Its diplomats who acquire an appreciation and un derstanding of Americans. The tragic death of former Ambassador Hanlhara. who died, according to friends, of a nroken heart. Is a case In point. When he was a young secretary at his em bassy J,, Washington. Hanlhara was a great friend of Richard V. Culahan, then correspondent for the New York Times. Samuel <}. Wythe, a great friend of Culahan. mentioned him In a Saturday Rvenlng Post article, but sly ly called him '?0?Houlahan.?, Whereupon Hanlhara, who was visit ing with his wife down In Texas, Bent "r!?08I?ard t0 DWk w,th the words: O'Haras send their regards to the o Houlahans." It was Hanlhara's desperate effort to convince Secretary of state Hughes ? i ..8er s of the Immigration restrictions that cut short his political career. Hughe, transmitted Han" haras note to congress to prove thnt Monh"8 ",0t unflRr8tntlng the case. Members of a congressional commute. men.pl T?' of^Se hS h?. h""lde,,t PUb,,C* S,noe then he has heen Japan's forgotten man. And he died in his early fifties. Another .Japanese diplomat who had learned to understand Americans Sndao Saburl, feared that he had let his foreign office down In a subsequent assignment to China. He kllledhlm ,n h,H enrIy forties. These Jnrv anese take their mistakes, or thefr m? ? V uy 8er,OU8lv though it is difficult to understand their feel i."Kfal"'rteh<"r h?"?r " May Cut Dollar Again Further devaluation of the cold 2tZrVA\a?l]Rr t0 thG f"? authorized by congress Is being seri ous y considered by the administration. f the moment It seems very llkelv r? luctant as the President l/ to 2k e t KuronrVnl thG *?,f| h,OC of Kurope insist would force them to fur ;; g? d,tdr;nriruai,0r ?f thp,r An cles If It Is decided to take the step. to r?noC,Te ,Pf?re Con^r0f,s Kets down to consideration of related subjects ?though It may he delayed no ns to he ? trading point In soldier bonus com promises. Administrate leaders now believe that they can obtain a bonus com promise, which will cost the govern ment *1.200.000,000. Raising the price of gold to $41.84 nn ounce from the present *3fi would yield the govern ooon? Pr??t ^"PP^mntely *i.ooo. (KM).OOO The si xo Of this amount is due to large purchases of gold in addl t Ion to nationalization of domestic gold ?t the old price of $20.07. So that If the administration Is right In Its hopes Tor a bonus compromise, only *200.000. WX) additional would be needed. And Obviously devaluation would shave actual payments on the bonus by near ly 17 per cent. Japan's attitude on gold plays ? part In the considerations. It has heen holding gold at approximately *0fi nn ounce, thus depreciating its currency so far as to play havoc with American Okports to South America and other market*. Another element, which has played an Important part In the ? ..ntlon lead I!!! HV? further ^ 'nation of prions consld erat Ion Is the fact that the govern ment has not heen able to buy any. thing like the quantity of silver It had hoped. Despite skillful maneuvering inch As the'govemment'N suddenly with drawing Its bid for silver on the Lon don market, as though It had aban doned Its campaign, and then rtishlng In with purchases next day seeking to take advantage of the temporary low ering of prlee, the silver purchases have been very disappointing. Need Further Inflation fror naturally the "government, pleased /over the tremendous profit made In devaluing gold, had been Hop ing to buy all the silver It wanted at low prices, and repeat the prolit. Un fortunately lor this hope, China's pro tests thai the American government was ruining her with 'he silver buying policy, and this government's reply that It W.i8 sorry but would have to keep on, served olllelal notice on the world of this government's Intention to buy a lot of silver. So holders of the white metal held on, hoping for higher prices. Entirely aside from this, however. President Itoosevelt Is convinced that a little further Inflation la necessary. He had thought to obtain It by silver purchases. Also to make a big profit out of silver. The conferences now go ing on look to at least deferring this program, and getting both the Inllatloa and the profit by further devaluing gold. Several knotty problems are In volved. Not the least Is the situation of the gold bloc countries. They have informed t he President that If there Is any further marking down of the gold value of the dollar, every one of them will be forced to devalue. Italy, 1' ranee and Belgium of course devalued drastically. Italy 75 per cent, France 80 per cent and Belgium slightly more, when they returned to gold after the war. Holland and Switzerland are practically alone In having maintained the gold value of their currencies un changed since before the war. One other, point being duly consid ered is that no matter what this gov ernment does, Britain Is expected to follow suit. Apparently her elTort Is to maintain the pound at about It is thought she would continue to keep it pegged at $o, or a little lower If I>08.sll)le, no matter how much the value of the dollar should be reduced. In fact. It Is the virtual certainty of this, rather than what may be done to the dollar, that has caused so much agitation among the gold bloc coun tries. Cheaper Electricity Klectric rates are going to be forced down all over the United States, If President Roosevelt can do It. despite all the recent talk about a "truce" be tween the President and the utilities. And there Is no doubt whatever In the President's mind that he can do It. This Idea of a rapprochement be tween these two bitter enemies,, dat ing back to the preconventlon cam paign, In which the utilities, fright ened by many of the actions of Roose velt as governor of New York, fought his nomination, has been considerably exaggerated. Reporters mistook the President's smile of triumph for a smile of com promise and good feeling. It was good humor, all right, but there was only the good feeling that a victor feels when his adversary has both shoul ders to the ground. What had happened was simple. The President had scared the electric companies to death with his sugges tion, made In his Southern speech, of new TVA'8 all over the country. Im mediately various utility magnates be gan to run to the White House. Then, when the President was ques tioned about It, ho threw out what ap peared at first glance o new and rath er benevolent theory about the fixing of rates. The yardstick to determine return. on Investment, or rather on the Investment on which a return should be permitted, was to be "prudent In vestment" rather than reproduction value. As was explained at the time, reproduction value presented too many difficulties. And applied only ? so far ns the utilities were concerned ? when their properties had enhanced rather than diminished In value. But actually a more accurate In terpretation of the President's mind would he had If Instead of "prudent Investment" were substituted "pru dent Investment, or reproduction value, which ever Is lower." For the President and his advisors have no Idea whatever of allowing a capitalization on which a fair return can be made If that capitalization Is In excess of what the plant could he reproduced for, no matter how "pru dent" the original Investment may have been. Fixing the Scale Actually, the scale of electric rates will bo determined pretty ymlfch by what an outfit similar toTVA could enter fhc field and provide service for. If such rafes should prove so low that fair returns cannot be earned on a "prudent Investment" It will be jnst too bad for the prudent Investors. They will he In Just as bad shape a* though they had a lot of water In their stock. For In such a situation, argue the Now Oealers, obviously there has been a stupid dissipation of the afore said prudent Investment, and why should the public he expected to pay for that? The President meantime has been trying with some success to drive a wedge In between the holding com parties and the operating companies Home of the operating company officials, quick to sense which way the Presi dential wind was blowing, were eager to win favor for themselves by argu ing that the management charges the holding companies Imposed on them were far too high, and that they could make lower' rates If these charge* were lightened. In short. If they conld throw off the yoke of the holding companies, Oopyrt*ht.? WNt) BRISBANE THIS WEEK A Pretty Good Christmas Germs Travel High We Are Coughing Better Prairie Dogs, Catacombs It was a satisfactory Christ cms, the beet since the depression began. The nation at least kinuv? that ilie depres sion Is here and that attending to It. Instead of talking about things "Just around the corner." Is the program. The government knows that money wfiV made to be spent in emergencies ami that hetplng tlie people is cheaper "Tmtn revocation. The government 1? i BpendliiK and helping. Colonel Lindbergh proves, after transatlantic (lights, that bacteria can travel across the ocean by air. The winds of the north Atlantic carry microscopic germs of life through the upper air. Disease germs might trav el, thus, across either ocean. That interests anybody planning to make war more Interesting by adding disease germs to poison gas and hlgb explosives. Scientists already believed that, since life cannot be created on the earth, except supernaturally, life be gan on this planet probably with germs that had traveled millions, per haps billions, of miles through space at absolute zero. They started life on the earth when It had sutllelently cooled off. and may have been brought In the wake of flying meteors. Heat destroys microscopic life, cold does not. Cheerful optimists, '.ellinc you that conditions are getting better, remind you of Meyer Heclit's benevolent friend who told each tuberculosis patient, "You are coughing better this morn ing." Wo all are "coughing" a little bet ter It has been the best, most free ly spending Christinas season since th? depression began. Merchants testify to that. The season of grand opera opened In New York with every seat sold and a demand for seats nonexist ent. ' Mr. Hull, able secretary of state, wants freer trade with foreign coun tries. Those that shut their markets to the outside world are like "animals which burrow In the ground." says Mr. IIuP That mlght^be true, without proving that protection Is unwise. Animals burrowing in the ground ? prairie dogs, etc. ? would regret It If they came to the surface and sat around inviting coyotes to eat thein. Karly Christians burrowing In the catacombs were better ofT than they would have been on the surface, thrown to the lions. It is better for this country to bur row under protection than be thrown to the lions of free competition of la bor and manufacturing. Occasionally you hear what Mr. Field called "a sour note" In the hope ful chorus of "Happy Days Are Here Again." Senator Dickinson of Iowa? Republican, of course ? snys NKA plans have collapsed. He finds that "monopoly" Is being encouraged, pri vate Initiative Is bel^t depressed and the small business man driven to the wall ? "The rich are becoming richer and the poor poorer." That will be news for some of the rich ? they had not heard It. You may hear many of them say now, "If I can get together and keep enough to take care of my family, that Is all I ask," and they mean It. Projects thus far proposed by con gressmen and executives In Washing ton would cost Uncle Sam, In addition to money already spent, $.'K).(X)0,<x>0,000, and would double the national debt. If the money were wisely created, wisely spent, the country would be better off, with many employed In useful work. Put If It Is found necessary to inflate with Interest-bearing bonds, Instead of flmply printing the money and later retiring It as bonds would be retired, the $'10,000, 000, 0(X) would cost the coun try $flO,(XX),(XX).0(X). Is It really necessary to force on taxpayers that extra load of $"<>, 000, (MX),(X)0 for Interest, when Interest bonds are Just so much "Inflation money," In no respect different from greenbacks? According to dispatches from Nan king, China's killing methods mnke the efforts of Rtalln or Hitler seem feeble. Clen. Klang Kai-Shek gives proof In Klangsl province. Six million people have been driven from their homes and 1,000.000 killed In cold blood by "Ited Communist" troops. The killing championship Is now with China, naturally one of the most peaceful countries on earth. Mr. Irenee du I'ont. munitions man ufacturer, who knows about wnr, since he produces "the good#," tells the muni tions committee "the only wav to wage a war Is to have an absolute monarch at the head of the government"; also "wo shall have a h ? I of n time In case of wnr." No question about the last statement. Mr. Barueh, entering whole-hearted ly Into the President's campnlgn to prevent profits for munitions makers In wartime, wisely iir^s preparation, says the country should buy and store thousands of tons of tin for use In the event of war. "1 think we ought to buy tin just as we would Invest In * battleship, and keep It In storage*." 4ft. Kln? C(*tur? SvndlflM*. Ib?. WNl) S?l vie*.