Stephen Sneyd, aged 14, of Los Angeles, Calif. for his question;

Why does a boomerang come back to the person who throws it?

If you threw a boomerang, it probably would not return to you at all. It might make some graceful loops and hoops in the air and then fall where you least expected it to fall. Boomerang throwing is An art and a skill. It is practiced by the Australian natives who invented the strange weapon.

The trick of the boomerang is in its shape. It may be from two to four feet long. It may be angled or shaped like a sickle. Its edge is knife sharp. One side is flat, the other is gracefully rounded. The curves of a flying boomerang are caused by the action of the air on this rounded side.

Not all boomerange are made to return to the thrower. Those that do return are used as practice toys. A business‑like boomerang is planned to curve around and bring down an animal or an enemy. It falls to the ground where and when its work is done.

These strange toys and weapons are made of hard wood. They are cut in one piece from the fork of a tree. Often they are hardened still further over glowing embers. A native can make his boomerang sting in figure eights and return to him. He can swing it in loops over his head and have it fall at his feet. But this is all practice for the real skill of using the weapon in bringing down moving game.