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Show THE UTE SENTINEL PAGE TWO Young Men Framed U. S. Constitution Mllwaukee.-Many of those who played prominent parts In framing the Constitution of the United •tates were mere youngsters. The average age of the delegates was ()nJy forty-four years and nine months and would have been lower but tor the presenc~ of that efghtyon~year-old sage. Benjamin Franklin. Fifty-five delegates attended, but the birth date ot one is not known; only seven were more than sixty and only thirteen more than fifty. Six were less than thirty-one, including one wllippersnapper of twenty-six. The formulation of the Constitution was In large measure the work of the "youngsters'" among the delegates, writes a correspondent of the Milwaukee .Tou.rnal. Their brilliance was a commentary upon the intelligence of the American peopleof that age: their intellectual ability upon the efficacy of the American system of education and their political genius upon the profound thought expended on the issues which agitated the nation during and after the Revolution. New Hampshire wanted to be represented, but its pocketbook was :fiat and Its delegates late. George Washington attended the convention against the ad'Vlce of some of his friends, who did not want him involved 1n a failure. Patrick Hen:_refused to have anything to do with the convention. The entire delegation chosen by Maryland refused to accept its appointments and new representatives had to be chosen. Eight delegates who accepted their appointments never showed up at all. Others went visiting or absented themselves for days during sessions and never did more than eleven states have voting delegations present at the same time. The average attendance was about thirty of the fifty-five delegates accredited. On May 14, the date scheduled for the opening of the convention, delegation quorums were present only from Virginia and Pennsylvania. It was eleven days later before the convention could start. When the convention finally opened, tl1e younger "new dealers" quickly showed that they were to play a leading, not a following. role in the deliberations. The first plan for a constitution was submitted ty Gev. Edmund Randolph of Virginia, who was thirty-four. It Is now known as the ..Virginia plan., and contained many of the points finally adopted. The next plan came surprisingly from twenty-nine-year-old Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina. At Lights of New York Chicago.-Ever get drunk on Br r.. r.. sTEVENsoN air? University of Illlnols scientists have proved it can be done l Explaining recent experiments by Dr. Ernst Gellhorn and Irwin G. Sptesmnn of the university medical stall', Dr. Maurice B. Yosscher, head of the university psychology departme:tlt, said: ''Normal persons who breathed air with half the usual oxygen content insisted 4 times 4 did not make sixteen and became angry at those who disagreed. One man of gentle disposition flew into a rage when a drop of water was splashed on him." Be said the ''jags,. last from fifteen to twenty minutes. The e~-periments were made in the Interests of aviation. first the delegates, overcome by the youth's audacity, would have no dealings with it, but when the convention was finished they admitted 1t was "the Constitution in embryo." A third plan, the "New Jersey" plan, was submitted by 'Vllliam Paterson, forty-two, but had little effect on the convention's result. Still another "whippersnapper'' emerged to become "the father of the Constitution;• the leading Ught of the group-- half "brain trusters" and half horse traders-that compiled the document. He was James Madison, of Virginia, then thirty-six and a student of political science, the peer o:f any this country has produced. As proof Qf t11e prominent parts the younger men played, the convention chose them for tour of the five members of the committee on revision which completed tbe final wording to the Constitution in accordance with resolutions adopted in the sessions. The committee members were Madison. Alexander Hamnton, thirty, of New York; Rufus King, thirty-two, o:f Massachusetts; Gouverneur Morris, thirty-five, of Pennsylvania, and ·william Samuel Johnson, sixty, of Connecticut. The esteem In which the dele· gates were held is shown by the honors which they later received. Two, Washington and Madison, became Presidents; one, Gerry, of gerrymandering fame. a Vice President. Ten were senators and eight representatives In the First congress. Five were placed on the Supreme court, two chief justices. King became an attorney general and secretary of state ; Hamilton was secretary of the treasury. Six delegates served terms as goYernors and four were appointed ministers to foreign countries. Once more an attempt 1s being made to do away with the Tombs. Should the plans for a skyscraper criminal jail and combination courts building go through, the most famous prison in the country Gray, sinister, would disappear. sullen, with a Bridge of Sighs connecting it with the red brick CrimInal Courts building. the Tombs has been condemned repeatedly. Built at a time when the clty had a population of but 2,500,000, the prison, because of overcrowding, bas been l1eld to be a school for crime. Also, it has been held a menace to health of prisoner9. That, however, did not gl ve the prison its name. Away back in 1835, John L. Stevens came home from Egypt and published a book about his travels. Here's a Record Shipment From Japan The Tombs has built In 1885. housed many notable prisoners an!J there ha,·e been some sensational esIn November. 192G, three capes. desperate prisoners attempted a brenk in which they killed the warden. Two of the pri90ners, their attempt having failed, shot them· selves and the third was k11led by officers. As was the case tn tb& time of hangings, all nearby windows were fil!ed With spectators. So far as ls known, no fees werecollected, however. Another famous structure slate(} to go~ If the new prison and courts plan is accomplished, is the ol<i county courthouse In City IIall park. a gray stone structure familiarly known as the Tweed courthouse. It was built during the regime of Boss Tweed and put a tidy sum Into the pockets of the ring. The origlnnl cost was estimated at $250,000. but by the time it was completed it cost the taxpayers $12,000,000. One plasterer was "paid" $138,187 for tw() days' work, the total bill for plastering having been $2,870,000. One carpenter was "paid" $300,00Q, and enough of the most expensive carpet in New York was bought to cover City Hall park three times. There were also cuspidors at $175 each. • • • Removal of the old Tweed courthouse, once used for the countv courts and now for the munlcip~l courts, would further the restorntlon of City Ball park to Its orlg· inal dimensions. and would carry out the plan of the municipal center in Foley square to the north. The old Municipal Courts building was torn down some time ago and ln time the old post office building. just south of the park, will als() go. And none will regret the pass· Ing of that landmark. ®. Bell Syndicate.- W ~ 'U Service. When a Woman Becomes of Age I.:ets Houses Go Vacant Rather Than Pay Taxes For certain legal purposes a woman ls of age at twenty-one years. The meaning of the term, however, varies according to the connection In which lt is used, such as marriage, descent and distribution of property, adoption, election, naturalization, etc. The Shohle l\Iaru from Yokohama arrived at San Francisco the other day with a record shipment of t• ·o hundred tubs of goldfish from Japan, designated for distribution to cities all over the United States. On the trip across the Pacific the temperature of the water in the tubs had to • be maintained at a uniform degree. On the cover was the picture of an Egyptian tomb. That inspired the architecture of the prison, which was opened in 1838. It also gave it a name that was passed on to its successor. Census of Stars Is Near Completion 0------------------------------- Only 50,000 light years away. Yet Observatory at Harvard Unlight now reaching us from the dertakes Big Task. outermost star was old when Alex- • • • ander sought new worlds to conquer. Closer still the census moves-to within 50 miles of the earth. And 'there, Professor Shapley said, it finds a daily bombardment o:f billions o:f meteors-the wreckage o:f some vast solar cataclysm of which only a few have been photographed. That Is the nature of the censu~ of the stars. Professor Shapley~s talk was the first of six he will give on it. Chlcago.-A census of the infinite l A counting o:f the uncountableof the unknown, ancient stars~ stretching into the timeless, limitless darkness of space r That is the huge task nearing completion--or what finite men must call completion-at the llai'vard observatory. It was described by Prof. Harlow Shapley, director of the observatory, speaking at . Northwestern university. It is a task that is limited by the ability of the camera's eye-aided by powerful telescopes-to record the light that filters to the earth from distant suns. That limit ts set at 15,000,000 light years-and a light year ts the distance that light, traveling at the speed of 186,000 feet a second, Will go in a y£>.ar! The world was young 15,000,000 years ago, when the most distant light started on its journey. And the census of those most distant stars-counted today-is already 15,000,000 years out of date J Nearer to the earth-less b1•eathtaking in its distance-is the Milky \Vay-at the most 50,000 light years away. There are 100,000,000,000 stars In ''Just because he speaks the same language,'' says Ironic Irene, "it that group-formlng our ''local gal· doe~n't make It any easier for her axy"-and, by comparison with the people to understand his excuses for others, they are right in our own back yard, Professor Shapley pointbeing out nights." out. ed •'-·~u sen·lce. 1 Originally, the site of tbe Tombs was a body of fresh water known as Collect's pond. Willlam IV of England came very near losing his life there when he was the duke of Clarence. As a young naval officer he visited New York and went skating on the pond along with the bloods of the city. The Ice broke and the duke sank. Julian C. Verplanck, a prominent citizen, fished him out and saved him to become king. Some time later-in 1808lt was decided to fill In the pond, but not because of the ducal ducking. The country was suffering from a depression and idle workmen marched to the city hall witb a The petition In plea for jobs. boots was heeded and filling the pond made work. If a new prison is built. the money will come from ·p~vA funds. Attempted Sul.CJ.de Brings Four More Tokyo.-li'ive people living in one house attempted to commit suicide in rapid succession. Two lads, aged seventeen and eighteen, seeing their mother, a Mrs. Sakan. take poison, decided they too would die. Their groans caused a woman boarder to rush into the room. "If you are all going to die, 1 may as well die, too," she declared,and swallowed some of the poison herself. Appalled by what he sa'v when he returned home shortly afterward, Mr. Sakan exclaimed: '''Vhat is the use of my Jiving if every one else dies," and also took polson. The five were discovered in tim~ to be saved. .•,.,.,,,.,.,•••,,,,,,,,••,.,...,.,,............. -t~-++-M~H••••••••••• ~ .I Science Shows You Can Get Air Drunk • Average Age of Delegates 44 Years, 9 Months. Midvale, Utah, F1iday, February 1, 1935 ate Budapest.-li..,our modern apart· ment houses are standing vacant in Debrecen. The buildings are ownef} by a wealthy citizen who has decided that taxes are too high. "I would not demand excessive rentals," he said, ''but I am a victim of taxation, and I should like to complete the few years I stm have here in peace. There ls no peace for house owners. "Sixty-five per cent of the gross income goes to the tax office and I have to defray repairs and other public charges from the remaining 35 per cent. "As I have a pension after my former office, I do not want to con~ tinue this struggle with the authorities, and when my tenants die ot move, I close down the vacate<l apartment for gc)Od." WITTY KITTY By NINA WIL;CPX PUTNAM • • • In the old days, all the hangings were at the Tombs. Owners of nearby buildings that commanded a view of the courtyard reaped quite a harvest by charging $5 for a place at a window. Tbe prison had but 148 cells, and as the city grew, conditions approached those of the old Bridewell. Nothing was I The girl chum says that, as fat done until 1894 when Mayor Strong, a reform candidate, was elected. as she can find out, no woman haa The present structure was com- ever made a practice of reading pleted In 1903. Behind it, however, herself to sleep with a cook book. WNU service. are two old cell blocks that were I .:4••~••••••••••••••••••••••~•••••••••~••r"'·•••w• · Space Next Week I |