Pentagon 3669

Navy pensions from 1790 to 1940: $14,131,-
846,000. The number of veterans receiving
compensation was 610,122; deceased vet-
erans* beneficiaries, 239,176. The pensions
paid in 1940 were: Civil War, $27,790,000;
War with Spain, $127,427,000; World War,
$254,846,000; other wars, $19,075,000. 608,-
923 service and ex-service men and women
were carrying government Life Insurance.
There were 3,792,432 Service Certificates
with total indebtedness outstanding of
$3,709,94S5ooo.

In the Seventy-second Congress, of Janu-
ary to March 1932, the appropriation bill of
$1,000,000,000, of which $960,000,000 was
for costs of the Veterans' Administration,
was vetoed by President Hoover, who rec-
ommended a curtailment of $127,000,000 in
payments to Veterans on disabilities not
traceable to service in war. In the Seventy-
third Congress, meeting in March 1932, the
Economy Act was passed. This act reduced
the pensions of veterans of wars previous to
1917 10 per cent; maximum and minimum
rates were provided for disabilities in wars
subsequent to the Civil War; no reduction
was to be more than 25 per cent. The Presi-
dent was authorized within these limits to
set pension rates to be paid. One of the chief
effects was to separate from the roll some
328,000 men who could not show service
connection for disabilities. In 1936 the Ad-
justed Compensation Act was enacted, which
made veterans' World War adjusted com-
pensation certificates immediately payable,
in $50 U. S. bonds, bearing interest at 3 per
cent unless cashed within one year, dated
June 15, 1936, to mature June 15, 1945, re-
deemable in cash at any time. This action
taken by Congress over the President's veto,
cost the government about 27 per cent more
than payment in 1945 would have cost.
Most of the bonds were cashed within a
year. In the 1939 conventions of veterans'
groups efforts were blocked to start move-
ments for World War pensions. Sec OLD AGE
PENSIONS; LABOR LEGISLATION; UNITED
STATES, NEW DEAL.

Many industrial pension and insurance
plans in the United States are entirely at the
expense of the employers, though in an in-
creasing number of plants some contribution
from the employee is required. The contribu-
tion is usually returned if the employee leaves
the company. See EMPLOYERS* LIABILITY.

Pentagon, a geometrical figure of five sides,
A regular pentagon is one having both sides
and angles equal When a pentagon takes the

Penza nee

form of a star, it is called a pentacle or penta-
gram. The name pentagon is also applied
to a fort with five bastions.

Pentateuch, a Greek word (pentateuchos)
meaning 'the five-volumed (book),' is the
name used by Origen to denote what the
Jews of his time called 'the law' (Torak).

Pentathlon, or Pentathlum, one of the
regular contests in the Greek games. Its victor
was the man who gained the greatest success
in five different events—leaping, foot running,
throwing the quoit, casting the javelin, and
wrestling.

Pentecost, a Jewish festival observed fifty
days after the offering of the wave sheaf on
the second day of unleavened bread (Pass-
over) , and intended to indicate the end of the
harvest. The later Jews associated the feast
with the deliverance of the law at Sinai, be-
lieved to have taken place fifty days after
the Exodus from Egypt. The festival has
passed into the Christian Church as commem-
orative of the descent of the Holy Spirit
Pentecost is one of the great festivals of the
Christian year, and it was chosen as one oi
the times for the administration of baptism.
The English name Whit Sunday is derived
from the white robes in which the newly
baptized were clad.

Pentelicus, mountain range (3,640 ft.) ir
Attica, 10 m. n.e. of Athens. Its marble which
was much quarried in ancient times is still in
great demand at the present day. It is of a
brilliant white color, with a yellowish tinge
and it was employed for the Parthenon and
other public buildings in Athens.

Pentland Hills, mountain range, Scotland,
running s.w. through the counties of Edin-
burgh, Peebles, and Lanark. The highest
summit is Scald Law (1,898 ft.).

Penumbra, in astronomy, means the par-
tial shadow between the umbra, or region of
total eclipse, and the region of entire freedom
from eclipse.

Penza, province, Soviet Republic of Russia,
a rolling plain, cut by deep river valleys, and
rising highest toward the s. and s.w., where
lies the watershed between the Don and the
Volga. The climate is severe. Cattle breeding
is an important industry. The non-Russian
population is composed of Mordvins, Mesh-
cheriaks, and Tartars. Trade centers are Pen-
za, a fine city in its modern part, and the
capital; Nijni-Lomov, Mokshani, and Sar-
ansk; p. 2,207,000.

Penzance, seaport town, England, in
Cornwall, on Mount's Bay, nearly opposite
St. Michael's Mount. It enjoys a mild climate;