The inter ocean curiosity shop for the year 1883 (part 2 of 4)

Preface

So well known now is this little annual cyclopedia of facts in agriculture, manufactures, commerce, politics, literature, science and the arts, that this sixth volume of OUR CURIOSITY SHOP needs no preface, except to make due acknowledgments to the many who have aided the editor with information, and to explain to such of its readers as are not yet fully advised of this fact, that these pages constitute but a part of the several columns of questions and answers published every week in the DAILY, SEMI-WEEKLY and WEEKLY editions of THE INTER OCEAN. To have all such answers for the year, one must be a regular subscriber to, and reader of, the paper. Hundreds of disputes, raised in political gatherings, in debating societies, in Sunday schools, in social and sporting circles, at the village postoffice when waiting for the mail, on railway cars, in club rooms, around pioneer camp-fires, and in all kinds of places are referred to THE INTER OCEAN for amicable settlement. When none of the several thousand books on the shelves of THE INTER OCEAN and the Chicago Public Library give response to such questions, original sources of information are appealed to; and, again therefore, the grateful acknowledgments of the editor of OUR CURIOSITY SHOP are very heartily made to the Heads of the several executive departments at Washington and many of their chiefs of bureaus, to State and city officials, to his obliging associates of THE INTER OCEAN staff, and to that daily companion and efficient assistant, his daughter.

Every answer given here is in response to at least one person enough interested to call it forth. Not one started up at the editor’s own bidding, but each of them might use the speech put into the mouth of King Philip of Pokanoket, when summoned to meet the General Court of New Plymouth: “You sent for me, and I am here.” So, being here in response to popular call, the editor hopes this volume will have as cordial a welcome as the public has accorded to its predecessor of last year, of which, already, the second edition is nearly exhausted, and to the still earlier volumes of 1878 to 1882, inclusive. It is now a matter of regret that the volumes of 1878 and 1879 were not stereotyped, as all succeeding volumes have been; since that fact renders it impossible for the Publishers to supply the repeated calls for the entire series of six volumes. Readers will take note that the first two are out of print, but all the others will be supplied as fast as called for.

THE EDITOR.

OUR CURIOSITY SHOP.

NATURE’S STORM SIGNALS.

Recent questions and answers in Our Curiosity Shop about the aurora borealis and the Government Signal Service have moved S. H. Ruple, M., M. D., of Oquawka, Ill., to give the result of his observations as follows:

Falling weather follows the aurora borealis, because the lower stratum of the atmosphere at such a time is sufficiently rarified for the manifestation of aqueous vapor, as is indicated by the evolution or liberation of so great a quantity of electricity as is necessary to produce conspicuous and extensive “northern lights.” A continuous south wind, in most localities, will in a few days cause rain, because by its warmth it rarifies the cooler and denser atmosphere of more northern or elevated localities, and reduces its capability of sustaining moisture. A continuous north wind dispels all rain signs for the time being. This is no new theory. Solomon, 3,000 years ago, put it on record in Western Asia. (Prov. xxv., 23.) And a careful observation during twenty-five years has convinced me that it is true for this age and country as well as for his. Flaky clouds, or low-running ones, from any direction but the north, denote rain or snow. Salmon, leaden, or silvery colored clouds denote falling weather; bright red, clear. When the sunset is followed by bright lances or streaks of light of various hues radiating from the point where the sun disappeared, continuing across the heavens and converging to a common point in the opposite horizon, there exists a storm-cloud in line with the sun, though it may be so distant as to be for awhile entirely hidden from view by the rotundity of the earth. If the rays of light are evenly divided north and south of the line between the observer and the radiating point, and continue so till they have faded out, the cloud is approaching. A few years since the writer, becoming interested in an exhibition of this phenomena, sat up to watch the results of his calculations. About 1 a. m. the storm (a moderate cyclone) reached the Mississippi River, about five miles north of his residence, having, according to telegraphic reports, crossed the State of Iowa in five hours and a half. When “heat lightning” is visible you may be sure that there is a storm-cloud in the same direction, though you may neither see it nor hear the thunder. When the lightning is continuous and very brilliant the storm may be regarded as a violent one. In this event the track of the destructive elements may be from 100 to 200 miles away. Some five years ago the writer’s attention was called, a little after dark, to an extraordinary display of heat lightning in the southern horizon, and he ventured the opinion that a devastating cyclone was traveling eastwardly, probably in the vicinity of St. Louis. Though residing in Oquawka, Ill., fourteen miles above Burlington, Iowa, within twenty-four hours THE INTER OCEAN, ever watchful and intelligent, was in his hands with telegraphic reports corroborating his theory and predictions. Jefferson Barracks were reported damaged by the cyclone, and across in Illinois a whole village was laid waste and several lives lost. This was, to say the least, pretty accurate guessing. If the old pioneers of Colorado, traveling at the rate of twenty-five miles a day, had to toil from five to seven days after catching their first view of the snow-cap of Pike’s Peak before gaining the mountain foot hills, how far off may not one see the intensely white, dazzling, and flashing illumination capping a cloud that is from three to five miles above the earth.

LEPROSY.

LIDELL’S GROVE, Ill.

Please state some facts regarding leprosy and the leper settlement on the Hawaiian Islands. Is the same disease prevalent among the Chinese in California? Are Caucasians liable to contract the disease?

S. GRAY.

Answer.—There is no other malady so loathsome and so dreaded among mankind as the terrible disease of leprosy. A little blotch appears, often on the face of the victim, which gradually extending covers the whole body. Scales drop from the sufferer; his limbs become frightfully swollen, his voice grows hoarse, his eyes almost burst from their sockets, as the irresistible decay saps his life’s blood. While thus afflicted the victim suffers no physical inconvenience, except the gradual loss of his limbs. His body is numb and he does not feel the hand of the destroyer; his appetite is as good as ever, and he sleeps with as much relish as he did when he was in health. But in Eastern countries that which is almost as unbearable as the disease itself is the leper’s exclusion from society, even from that of his nearest relatives. In most countries leprosy operates as a divorce of husband and wife. Although it does not fill the air with contagion, yet the possible inoculation by personal contact or by handling the same objects, has led to the banishment of lepers not only from communities but from their homes. Whatever discussion may still be maintained as to the contagiousness of leprosy there exists no reasonable doubt of its transmission by heredity or licentiousness. During the past twenty years and more the Hawaiian Islands have received a large influx of Chinese coolies of the basest sort through the coolie traffic. Many of these associated in the loosest manner with the lower classes of natives, and in 1868 the authorities awakened to the fact that leprosy was spreading at an alarming rate. They determined on the Asiatic remedy of isolation. The western portion of the island of Molokai was selected for this purpose, and here to-day are found over 2,000 lepers shut out from all hope of ever seeing their friends, unless the latter become similarly afflicted. Three times a week a steamer visits the island, carrying provisions and mail, and the latest victims. Among these sufferers is William Ragsdale, the first Governor of the colony. In California a few of the Chinese have been afflicted with the disease, but it is not considered prevalent among them. In Salem, Mass., there is a pitiable case. Charles Derby was living in the Hawaiian Islands, when a slight blotch on his left temple revealed to the experienced islanders the fact that they had among them another leper. To escape banishment, Mr. Derby sailed for San Francisco; but was offered no refuse there, that city following the example of Honolulu. He then went to Salem, where they knew nothing of the disease, and there remained until discovered by two medical students from the Hawaiian Islands. His swollen and decaying face presents a frightful appearance. What is to be done with him is a question which the Salem authorities have not yet decided upon.

THE MILITARY ROAD, ARKANSAS.

ORION, Miss.

By whom and for what purpose was the road known as the Military Road, extending west of Memphis, Tenn., laid out? Where does it terminate?

J. F. MC.

Answer.—When the Creeks and Cherokees were being transferred to lands west of the Mississippi, under the command of General Jackson, this military road was constructed to facilitate the movement. The road terminates at Little Rock, Ark.

AURORA BOREALIS NOT A MODERN DISCOVERY.

LOWELL, Mich.

I am informed, on what appears to be good authority, that the aurora borealis has been seen for only about two hundred years, and that we have no record of its previous appearance. Is such the case?

W. A. D.

Answer.—The aurora borealis is not a phenomenon peculiar to modern times. The ancients used to call it chasmata, bolides and trabes, names which expressed the different colors of the lights. The scarlet aurora was looked upon by the superstitious barbarians as an omen of direful slaughter; so it is not unusual for descriptions of bloody battles to contain allusions to northern lights. In the annuls of Cloon-mac-noise it is recorded that in 688 A. D., accompanying a terrible battle between Leinster and Munster, Ireland, a purple aurora lit the northern skies, foretelling the slaughter. To the Latins and Greeks of Southern Europe the phenomenon rarely appeared, and therefore their writings are almost, if not entirely, silent concerning it, yet it was not unknown to them.

WHERE WAS EDEN.

VIRGIL CITY, Mo.

In what part of the world was the Garden of Eden located?

C. A. SHARP.

Answer.—This is still a matter of dispute among Biblical scholars of the highest reputation. Some have endeavored to locate it by means of the fruits and mineral productions named in the description given in the second chapter of Genesis, verses 8-17. But the main question in the opinion of most investigators is, What are the four rivers mentioned? The weight of tradition and scholarly study inclines to an agreement that the Tigris and Euphrates, which, after flowing in a southeasterly direction, unite and empty into the Persian Gulf, are the third and fourth rivers mentioned in the sacred word. But those who agree so far differ widely as to what rivers should be regarded as the Pison and Gihon. Some affirm that the River Pison is the Ganges, and the Gihon the sacred river of Egypt: others that the Garden of Eden was located on the high table-lands of Armenia, from which rise the Tigris and Euphrates. By choosing two rivers which flow into the Caspian Sea, or by giving the name Gihon to one river, and the name Pison to the sea, and extending the boundaries of Eden so as to take in these waters and the head-waters of the Euphrates and Tigris, they consider that they have solved the mystery that veils the cradle of our race. The fact that all the European races of the Aryan family, and also the Semitic races, trace back their origin to this region gives color to this solution. A few scholars of some distinction have argued that the Adamic paradise was in the vicinity of the mountains of the Moon in Africa, regarding the Nile as the Pison, and the Niger as the Gihon, and reconciling it with the views of former scholars by affirming that the Assyrian rivers at that time had their source in the mountains of the Moon, but flowed underneath the ground to their apparent source in the continent of Asia. Others locate Eden in the vicinity of the ancient city of Babylon, considering the doubtful rivers as the two channels by which the united Tigris and Euphrates empty into the Persian Gulf. But two things have not been explained by any of these theories. The four rivers flow from one river, and the River Pison “compasseth the whole land of Havilah.” Until these questions are solved the location of the Garden of Eden will continue to remain a mystery.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD.

HEBRON, Neb.

Please give some information in regard to what geologists term the ice or glacial period. What evidence have they that such a period ever existed?

JAMES KNOX.

Answer.—The loose soil which covers so large a part of the surface of the northern continents to a depth varying from 30 to 100 feet, over which lie the vegetable deposits of later ages, is considered by geologists the effect of glaciers that in the quaternary, or latest geological age, slowly moved southward across the country. Upon examination it is found that the erratic boulders scattered over the Western prairies and other northern regions are unlike the native rock of the same region, being entirely foreign to the localities where they now appear. Sometimes the nativity of the rock is traced hundreds of miles north of where it now rests showing that some powerful agency has carried it southward. Again, if the native rock be uncovered and closely examined, it will be observed to be polished and grooved with parallel marks, running north and south, as if chiseled out by some coarse and heavy instrument. These marks are attributed to sharp, hard rocks projecting through the lower surfaces of the moving glaciers. That glaciers do produce such markings is proven by examination of the rocks which the moving ice fields of Switzerland and other glacial regions have worn and are marking to-day; also, the general appearance of the loose, unstratified, heterogeneous deposit is similar to that of the moraines that the modern glaciers leave as they slowly melt away. Geologists are generally agreed that long before the advent of man parts of the northern hemisphere were elevated several thousand feet higher than they are at present, causing the cold of the arctic zone to extend far southward into the present temperate regions, and that a vast glacier rising in the vicinity of Hudson Bay covered our whole continent north of the 40th parallel. In New York and other Eastern States the rocks are scratched from a northwesterly direction, in Ohio from a northerly, and in Iowa from a northeasterly direction, showing in each State the direction of the origin of the glacier. Afterward there followed a subsidence to a few hundred feet below the existing level, followed by a gradual elevation to the situation of the present era. These elevations and subsidences are evidenced by stratification and fossil remains.

MAYORS OF NEW YORK.

CHICAGO, Ill.

How long has New York City enjoyed a city charter? How many mayors has it had, and who have held this office since the villainous Oakey Hall, under whom Boss Tweed flourished?

E. D. WALKER.

Answer.—The lower portion of Manhattan Island was incorporated as a city under the original Dutch regime, in 1652. Charles II. of England, claiming all the country from the French possessions south to Florida and west to the Pacific as belonging to the English crown, granted a charter covering New York to his brother, the Duke of York, who suddenly appeared before New Amsterdam and took unopposed possession in August, 1664. The name of the city was changed to New York. The Dutch recovered the place in August, 1673, and changed its name to New Orange. The next year it was restored by treaty to the English, and ever since it has kept the name of the city of New York. Since the office of mayor was created there have been seventy-two mayors, of whom the first one elected by the people was Cornelius W. Lawrence. Since Oakey Hall’s administration the following persons have held this office: Wm. F. Havemeyer, Wm. H. Wickham, Smith Ely, Edward Cooper, Wm. R. Grace, and the present Mayor, Franklin Edson.

TENDENCY OF DUTIES TO INCREASE.

DOW CITY, Iowa.

When were the present tariff duties passed? Was it not when Congress was Democratic? Are the duties now greater or less than formerly?

Answer.—The first United States tariff law on imported goods was approved July 4, 1798. A small tax was then imposed, according to the suggestion of Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, upon sugar, coffee, tea, salt, manufactured iron, glass and wool, silk goods, and several articles of minor importance. While the rate of duty has fluctuated, the general tendency has been toward an increase. This is shown by the different enactments from 1832 to the present time. In the latter year the duty on sugar was made 2½ cents per pound; in 1841, 20 per cent; in 1842, 2½ cents per pound; in 1846, 30 per cent; in 1857, 24 per cent; in March, 1861, ¾ cent per pound; in August, 1861, 2 cents per pound; in December, 1861, 2½ cents per pound; in 1862, 3 cents per pound; while the present rate ranges, according to grade, from 57½ to 61¾ per cent. In 1832 the duty on woolen manufactures was 50 per cent; in 1841, 20 per cent ad valorem; in 1842, 40 per cent; in 1857, 24 per cent; in March, 1861, 25 per cent and 12 cents per pound; in 1862, 30 per cent and 18 cents per pound; in 1864, 40 per cent and 24 cents per pound; in 1867, 35 per cent and 50 cents per pound, while the present duty upon woolen imports ranges, according to value, between 41 and 80 per cent. The same gradual increase is observable in silks, which in 1832 were admitted on an ad valorem duty of 10 per cent; in 1841, 20 per cent; in 1842, $2.50 per pound, changing in the same year to 25 per cent. In 1857 it was 19 per cent; in March, 1861, 30 per cent; in August, 1861, 30 per cent; in 1864, 60 per cent, and in 1881, 58 to 70 per cent. With the exception of a few years when Andrew Jackson was President, the different Congresses, Democratic as well as Republican, have sustained the duties upon the imports of this country. While the Republicans are mainly responsible for whatever is good or bad in our present tariff laws, Democratic Representatives from manufacturing districts have of late years, as a rule, given cheerful aid to the maintenance of a protective tariff.

WHAT IS A CARAT.

CHICAGO.

Is a carat a measure of weight or fineness?

J. A. YOUNG.

Answer.—It is used by jewelers to express both. A carat weighs 4 grains, or the 120th part of an ounce, troy. In determining the fineness of a precious metal 24 carats is considered the standard of purity; hence an 18-carat gold ring would be a ring containing 18 parts in 24 of pure gold.

INSTITUTIONS FOR FEEBLE-MINDED.

HOWARD CITY, Mich.

Do any of the States support asylums for weak-minded or imbecile persons?

C. J. BURTCH.

Answer.—The State of Ohio supports such an institution at Columbus, and the State of Illinois at Lincoln. Several other States have similar asylums.

DUTY ON GUNS.

LOWELL, Ind.

Please give the amount of duty on imported guns and gun material.

F. CASTLE.

Answer.—The rate of duty on guns is 35 per cent; gun barrels, wholly iron, 35 per cent; gun blocks, wooden, rough-hewn, or sawed only, 20 per cent; gun locks, steel, 45 per cent; plugs and nipples, for guns of iron and steel, 45 per cent.

HENRY JAMES, SENIOR AND JUNIOR.

DENVER, Ind.

Will you please mention the titles of the works of Henry James, concerning whom an article recently appeared in THE SEMI-WEEKLY INTER OCEAN.

R. F. OPLINGER.

Answer.—Henry James, concerning whose death an interesting article recently appeared in this paper, was the author of “Moralism and Christianity;” “Lectures and Miscellanies;” “The Church of Christ not an Ecclesiasticism;” “The Nature of Evil;” “Christianity, the Logic of Creation;” “Substance and Shadow;” “The Secret of Swedenborg,” and “Reminiscences of Carlyle.” He was a clergyman and not a writer of romance; but his son, Henry James, Jr., is a novelist, and has written the following popular works in this line: “Watch and Ward;” “The American;” “Daisy Miller;” “An International Episode;” “The Diary of a Man of Fifty;” “Washington Square;” “A Bundle of Letters,” and other works of fiction; also, “Transatlantic Sketches,” a volume of travel; “Hawthorne,” one of the series entitled “English Men of Letters,” and “French Poets and Novelists,” a book in the nature of a criticism.

THE LANGUAGE OF GEMS.

ALDEN, Iowa.

Please give the language of gems and precious stones.

C. L. F.

Answer.—The language of the various precious stones is as follows:

Moss Agate—Health, prosperity, and long life.

Amethyst—Prevents violent passions.

Bloodstone—Courage, wisdom, and firmness in affection.

Chrysolite—Frees from evil passions and sadness.

Emerald—Insures true love, discovers false.

Diamond—Innocence, faith, and virgin purity, friends.

Garnet—Constancy and fidelity in every engagement.

Opal—Sharpens the sight and faith of the possessor.

Pearl—Purity; gives clearness to physical and mental sight.

Ruby—Corrects evils resulting from mistaken friendship.

Sapphire—Repentance; frees from enchantment.

Sardonyx—Insures conjugal felicity.

Topaz—Fidelity and friendship; prevents bad dreams.

Turquoise—Insures prosperity in love.

PHRENOLOGY.

MT. AYR, Iowa.

Give a short history of phrenology, mentioning in particular its more prominent advocates.

E. E. DAVIS.

Answer.—The history of phrenology is embodied in the lives of its expounders. Although the prominent thinkers of mediæval Europe acknowledged many of its principles, it was not until 1796 that phrenology found an able and persistent advocate. Franz Joseph Gall, who in 1758 was born in Baden, began in his childhood to study the human face and head, and connect the various dispositions of men with certain prominences noticeable in the shape of their skulls. He studied medicine at various colleges, receiving his degree at Vienna. Eleven years after his graduation he delivered a lecture in that city, expounding his views on the subject which had been his constant study. It was not well received, and his subsequent writings and lectures were subjected to considerable censure and ridicule. They were, indeed, to such an extent unpopular that in 1805 the Austrian Government interdicted them, and he was compelled to refrain from further advancing his views in that country. With Kasper Spurzheim, a talented young man, who had embraced his doctrines while attending the school of medicine in Vienna, Dr. Gall changed his abode to Paris. In that city, with the aid of his pupil, he succeeded in making a considerable impression. He afterward became a citizen of France, and died in 1828, near Paris, leaving several works valuable to the student of phrenology. In the meantime Dr. Spurzheim visited England. His lectures were listened to with considerable interest and many in that country adopted his views. In 1832 he came to the United States; but soon after his first lecture, which had created quite a sensation, he died in Boston. His efforts in England and Scotland were continued by George Combe, a lawyer, who wrote and lectured in those countries, and who also visited the United States. But he to whom most credit is due for extending the tenets of phrenology in this country is Oscar Squire Fowler, who was born at Cohocton, N. Y., Oct. 11, 1809, was educated at Amherst College, and has spent most of his life in advocating his views. In 1876 he made his home at Boston, although much of his time was spent in lecturing in various parts of the land. Although one of the fundamental principles of phrenology is that the mind is material and inseparable from the body, yet many who deny such a conclusion accept some of its inferences.

THE CAPITOL OF NEW YORK.

VALPARAISO, Ind.

How much has the State of New York expended on its State House? What will be the total cost of the building?

J. M.

Answer.—In 1880 a report presented to the State Legislature of New York in reference to the State House declared that $13,000,000 had already been expended and that the ultimate cost of the building would be fully $20,000,000. With all this lavish expenditure the State House is said to be inadequate; its lower rooms are dark and unwholesome; the acoustics of the Senate Chamber render it difficult to hear a debate; and considerable complaint is made because the building, which covers three acres, is three-fifths halls and corridors.

SILVER POLISH.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What chemical used in boiling water will polish German silver.

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—To clean and polish silver, silver-plate, and alloys, the following method is often employed: To 1 quart of water is added 1 ounce of carbonate of potash and ¼ pound of whiting. This is heated, and the silver immersed. When the liquid has boiled for twenty minutes it is removed from the fire and permitted to cool. Each piece is then taken out and polished with soft leather.

THE FAMOUS BURLEIGH.

COLFAX, Ind.

Give me a short history of Lord Burleigh.

SAMUEL SMITH.

Answer.—William Cecil Burleigh, who, Hume declares, was the “most vigilant, active and prudent Minister ever known in England,” was born in Lincolnshire in 1520. He studied law and graduated at Cambridge. When only 28 years old, he became Secretary of State, but at the accession of the Catholic Queen Mary he resigned. Although he was a stanch supporter of the Protestant cause, he was one of the few who was not persecuted. When Queen Elizabeth in 1558 succeeded her sister, Burleigh again assumed control of the state and became virtually the Prime Minister. For forty years he retained this office, until his death. To his ability much of the credit of Elizabeth’s wise and prosperous reign is due. He was a man in whom “the Virgin Queen” could place entire confidence. He was rewarded in 1571 with a barony and in the following year was made Lord Treasurer. His rule has been severely criticised in some particulars, and especially as regards his treatment of Mary, Queen of Scots; but his integrity and statesmanship have never been called in question by well-informed, impartial historians.

STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS SECTS.

CORNING, Iowa.

Please give the names of the various religious denominations in the United States and their respective membership.

J. B. G.

Answer.—The denominational statistics of the census if compiled are not available. The Rand-McNally Index of the World gives the following data for Jan. 1, 1881, which may be considered a fair estimate:

Roman Catholic 6,174,202 Baptist 2,133,044 Methodist 1,680,779 M. E. South 828,013 Lutheran 684,570 Presbyterian 573,377 Christian 567,448 Congregational 383,685 Protestant Episcopal 323,876 United Brethren 155,437 Reformed Church in U. S. 154,742 United Evangelical 144,000 Presbyterian South 119,970 Protestant Methodist 118,170 Cumberland Presbyterian 111,855 Mormon 110,377 Evangelical Association 99,607 The Brethren 90,000 United Presbyterian 80,236 Reformed Church in America 78,917 Freewill Baptists 76,706 Friends 67,643 Second Adventist 63,500 Anti-Mission Baptist 40,000 Universalist 37,945 Church of God 20,224 Wesleyan Methodist 17,847 Moravian 16,112 Seventh Day Adventist 14,733 Jews 13,683 Free Methodist 12,120 Adventist 11,100 Reformed Episcopal 10,459 Seventh Day Baptist 8,606 Reformed Presbyterian 6,020 New Jerusalem 4,734 Primitive Methodist 3,370 New Mennonite 2,990 American Communities 2,838 Shaker 2,400 Independent Methodist 2,100 Six Principle Baptist 2,075

THE ITALIAN POET TASSO.

CHARLESTON, Ill.

Will you please give something of the life and writings of Torquato Tasso?

H. B. GLASSCO.

Answer.—Torquato Tasso, the unfortunate Italian poet, was born in 1544. With the intention of practicing law he studied at Naples, Rome, and afterward at Bergamo. The wonderful popularity of his first poem, “Rinaldo,” written when only 18 years old, led him to abandon jurisprudence and devote himself entirely to literary pursuits. This production was a lively epic composed of twelve cantos, full of the romance of mediæval times. Soon after he began to labor on his “Gerusalemme Liberata,” or Jerusalem liberated, his chief work, which he completed in 1575. He was for a time in great favor at court and in the Vatican, and the Pope bestowed many favors upon him, and King Alfonso II. gave him a pension. The Duke of Ferrara became his especial patron, and treated him as a member of his household, until Tasso conceived an uncontrollable affection for the Duke’s daughter, which she did not reciprocate, while the Duke was offended. In despair he yielded to melancholy, which soon grew into a species of insanity, so that it became necessary to remove him to the home of his sister. Here he partially recovered, but he would not be satisfied until again admitted to the Duke of Ferrara’s household, where his malady returned, and the Duke, in 1579, removed him to an insane asylum. There he remained seven years, while all Italy was singing his praises. After his release he resided at Mantua, and then at Naples. In 1594, the Pope, Clement VIII., invited him to come to Rome and be crowned; but before he could go to receive the promised honors, he died, April 25, 1595. Two of his dramatic poems “Aminta” and “Torrismondo,” were received with great favor; but that which contributed most to his fame was the “Gerusalemme Liberata,” translated into the English by Edward Fairfax as early as 1600 and by J. K. James as late as 1865. Tasso takes rank among Italian poets next after Dante.

THE GUITEAU JURY.

DUNLAP, Iowa.

Give the names of the jurors in the Guiteau trial.

JOHN KEITGES.

Answer.—After three days’ labor the following jury was selected for the Guiteau trial: John P. Harlin, Fred W. Brandenburg, Charles G. Stewart, Henry J. Bright, Thomas H. Langley, Michael Sheehan, Samuel F. Hobbs, G. W. Gates, Ralph Wormley, William H. Browner, T. Heinlein, and Joseph Prather.

THE ERIE AND MICHIGAN CANAL.

FAIRMONT, Ind.

Is there a prospect of a canal connecting Lakes Erie and Michigan? What would be the length of the canal? What would be the distance around the lakes between the mouths of the proposed canals?

C. T. COX.

Answer.—There is no prospect of an early union of Lake Erie and Lake Michigan by a canal. The length of such waterway would be about 200 miles. The distance around the lakes, from the eastern mouth of the proposed canal to the western mouth is about 700 miles.

A RETIRED CONGRESSMAN.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.

Who represented the Ninth District of Ohio in Congress in 1864 and 1865? Please give a brief sketch of his life.

A READER.

Answer.—Warren P. Noble, who represented the Ninth District of Ohio in Congress from 1861 to 1865, was born in Pennsylvania, June 14, 1821. He received a common school education, and in his youth moved to Ohio, where he studied law. He began to practice at Tiffin, where his abilities were soon recognized, and he became a member of the Legislature of his State, serving in that capacity from 1856 to 1860. He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-seventh Congress in 1860, re-elected in 1862, serving in both Congresses on the Committee on Patents. Being defeated by the Republican nominee in 1864, and this party having grown powerful by the success of its wise and patriotic policy before another biennial election came around, Mr. Noble retired permanently from politics.

SAMUEL J. RANDALL.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.

Send us a few facts in regard to ex-Speaker Randall, one of the big chiefs in the Democratic camp.

S. MOORE.

Answer.—Samuel J. Randall is undoubtedly one of the leading spirits in his party. He is a shrewd, sagacious politician rather than a great statesman, but in statesmanship he is one of the prominent figures on the Democratic side of the House. He is shrewd enough to know that a Democrat of out-and-out free-trade professions would have no encouragement to aspire to any office in the gift of Pennsylvania, but besides this it is only fair to grant him credit for knowing that it would be ruinous to the enormous mining, manufacturing, and farming interests of his State for this country to practice free trade. So he has been instrumental in keeping a considerable following of Democrats who will vote with him against violent reductions in the present tariff. Mr. Randall is a Philadelphian by birth. He was born Oct. 10, 1828; received a fair academic education; was for a time engaged in mercantile business; was for four years a member of the City Council; then a member of the State Senate for a year; was elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress, and has held membership in the House ever since. In the election of 1880 he carried his district by 13,661 votes, against 9,880 for B. L. Berry, Republican, and he was re-elected last November by a still larger majority. He has sat on several of the most important committees in the House; was Speaker for the last session of the Forty-fourth Congress, for the Forty-fifth and the Forty-sixth Congresses, and has a fair prospect of being Speaker of the next Congress.

CAN A JEW BE A GERMAN?

ROCK FALLS, Ill.

Is it possible for a Jew to be a German, or a German a Jew? And how is it in other countries?

L. E. C. ROE.

Answer.—A German may be a Jew, or a Jew a German, Englishman, Frenchman, Italian, American, or of any nationality under the sun. As a Jew his nationality embraces the world; in many respects he still observes the laws of Moses, and by marriage and other peculiar institutions he maintains his race distinctions and national feelings. At the same time he is now in most Christian states a citizen of the land he happens to be born in, and in most such lands is permitted to enjoy all the rights of other citizens, as is the case with American Jews. It was not always so. It is only since the establishment of the German Empire, in 1871, that the Jew has enjoyed full civil equality in Germany. France granted it in 1790, and confirmed this grant in the constitution of 1795. In all but a few petty, contemptible particulars, since 1858 English Jews have enjoyed all the privileges of other British subjects. In Russia and some other European countries the Jew is still denied the rights of citizenship.

DUTIES ON FARM PRODUCTS AND COAL.

REST, Kas.

Give the present import duty on the various kinds of grain, also potatoes, butter, cheese, and coal, and oblige several readers.

JOHN F. COULTER.

Answer.—The following are the import duties on some of the principal farm products and coal:

Wheat, seed or other 20 cts. per bu. of 60 lbs. Wheat flour 20 per cent Corn 10 cts. per bu. of 56 lbs. Corn meal 10 per cent Barley, 48 lbs. to bu. 15 cts. per bu. Barley, patent 20 per cent Barley, pearl or hulled 1 ct. per lb. Barley, pulverized 20 per cent Oats 10 cts. per bu. of 32 lbs. Oatmeal ½ ct. per lb. Rye 15 cts. per bu. of 56 lbs. Rye flour 10 per cent Rye shorts 10 per cent

The import duty on potatoes, seed or otherwise, is 14 cents per bushel; on butter, 4 cents per pound; on cheese of all kinds, 4 cents per pound; on salt in bulk, 8 cents per 100 pounds; in bags, sacks, barrels, or other packages or in brown earthenware jars, 12 cents per 100 pounds; on bituminous coal, 75 cents per ton of 28 bushels of 80 pounds each; on dust coal, 40 cents per ton; on cannel coal, 75 cents per ton.

ST. HELENA.

RACCOON, Ill.

What are the area and present population of the island of St. Helena? What is its history? Was the banishment of Napoleon just?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—The island of St. Helena, whose name always recalls the gloomy downfall of Napoleon I., contains an area of about forty-seven miles. It supports a population of 6,241 souls. It was discovered in 1501 by Juan de Nova Castella, a bold Portugese navigator, who gave it the name St. Helena, because he first saw it on the day sacred to that saint in the Romish calendar. In the following century the Dutch took possession and retained it until England seized it in 1673. When Napoleon Bonaparte was first banished to this island and held here as a political prisoner under British surveillance, the population was but about 800,200 of whom were soldiers and 300 slaves. The importance to a maratime nation like Great Britain of St. Helena, lying as it does in the path of European, South African, Australian, and India and China trade, developed as years passed: its value as a naval station and its other strategic advantages have become more and more apparent, and now it is looked upon as one of the strong keys of English power in the South Atlantic.

HOW SLAVERY AFFECTED CONGRESSIONAL APPORTIONMENTS.

HENRIETTA, Neb.

Were slaveholders entitled to extra votes for the slaves which they possessed?

INQUIRER.

Answer.—In Congressional apportionments before the war, five negroes were counted as equal to three whites. Of course the slaves were not permitted to vote, but the voting power of the whites was plainly magnified over that of an equal number of whites in the free States. For example, the first Congressional apportionment allowed one representative for every 30,000 inhabitants; but in the South 21,000 whites owning 15,000 slaves counted the same as 30,000 whites in the North where there were no slaves, or 15,000 whites holding 25,000 slaves were granted the same representation in Congress and the electoral college as double the number of Northern whites.

JEFFERSON AND JEFFERSONIANISM.

BELLE PLAINE, Iowa.

Please give a brief biography of Thomas Jefferson.

A SON OF VULCAN.

Answer.—“Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and father of the University of Virginia,” is the inscription upon Jefferson’s tombstone. He was born April 2, 1743, in the county of Albemarle, in the interior of Virginia, then a desolate forest. His diligence and study was encouraged by his parents, who placed him under the care of a talented Scottish clergyman. When he was 17 he entered William and Mary College, and after graduation studied law. In 1759 he was chosen to represent his county in the House of Burgesses, where he continued with but little interruption until the days of the revolution. Like George Washington, disappointed in his first love, he married a widow, in 1772. Three years later he was sent as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. As Chairman of the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence, he is said to have written the whole of that document, which, with a few minor amendments, was adopted by Congress and sent to the King of England. In October he resigned and retired to his farm, but only again to be forced into civil life by his election to the State Legislature. During the war he was not only busy in originating and advocating measures to aid the cause of liberty but also he began a thorough revision of the statutes of Virginia. From 1779 to 1781 he served as Governor. After a short term in the House of Burgesses he was sent to the Confederate Congress, which, in 1784, thought fit to appoint him as one of the three commissioners to negotiate treaties with European nations. Upon Franklin’s return Jefferson was made Minister Plenipotentiary to the court of Louis XVI. He watched with eager interest the progress of the French Revolution, and when given a leave of absence in 1789 returned filled with democratic ideas from the new republic. Upon his landing he was immediately tendered by Washington a position in his Cabinet as Secretary of State. Soon it became evident to Jefferson that among the President’s advisers there existed a radical difference of opinion on nearly every important subject. Hamilton was regarded by the Secretary of State as a man in favor of a constitutional monarchy, and the latter’s ideas of centralization were construed to mean the destruction of the existing Constitution and the formation of a government like that of England. The Secretary of the Treasury, on the other hand, believed Jefferson to be infused with the socialistic democracy of France, and one whose principles if put in practice would overthrow the Constitution and produce anarchy. To Jefferson the financial policy of Hamilton was very aggravating. The recommendations of the Treasurer to Congress he believed to be in the interest of the speculators and the moneyed classes. On New Year’s Day, 1794, he resigned his office, greatly to the annoyance of Washington, who was reluctantly compelled to acquiesce, and returned to his farm. The position occupied by the first President was a peculiarly embarrassing one. He had in his Cabinet Jefferson and Randolph, the leaders of the Republican, or Anti-Federal party, and Hamilton and Knox prominent Federalists. With such associations the administration as a whole was comparatively little criticised, although Hamilton and Jefferson were the targets for the denunciations of their respective opponents. In 1800 Jefferson and Burr each received 73 electoral votes to Adams’ 65, which threw the election into the House. According to the decision of that body Jefferson was inaugurated March 4, 1801. His frugal administration increased the popularity of his party, which continued to remain in power twenty-four years. After having served two terms he again retired to his farm, a poor man, considerably burdened with debt. Congress purchased his library, which their committee valued at $23,000, although its cost had been nearly double that sum. Mr. Bacon, who had charge of the removal, says that there were sixteen wagon loads, each wagon being required to carry at least 3,000 pounds. The remainder of his life he spent in endeavoring to introduce schools and colleges, and in general, the New England system of local government into his native State. After witnessing the establishment of the University of Virginia, he died July 4, 1826, upon the same day that John Adams passed away. In politics Jefferson was considered by the Federalists as a theorist. Speaking of his administration, Gouverneur Morris says: “There is just now so much philosophy among our rulers that we must not be surprised at the charge of pusillanimity.” In religion he was very bitter against the Calvinists, and held Unitarian views.

WHAT IS MICA—WHERE OBTAINED?

AURORA, Neb.

What is mica, and where is it found?

B. O. B.

Answer.—Mica consists of a silicate of alumina, combined, according to species, with small proportions of potash, soda, lithia, oxide of iron, oxide of manganese, etc. The most common and serviceable variety is known as potash mica. It is a constituent of granite, gneiss, mica slate, and several other kindred rocks. It is found both disseminated and in veins. It is very widely distributed, especially in composition with other minerals; but there are comparatively few localities where it is known to exist in such quantities and form as to be mined with profit. Its most valuable form is that of muscovite, in which it appears in translucent lamina or plates. The larger and clearer these plates the greater the value of the mine or quarry. In Siberia they have been found more than three feet across, and they have been obtained of great size in Sweden and Norway. This is also the case at Acworth, Grafton, and Alstead, N. H., and mica has been found large enough for economic use in Canada. Mica is used largely for the doors of stoves and the sides of lanterns. It is employed in some countries as a substitute for window glass, and its toughness recommends it for this purpose on board vessels of war. It has also been used for spectacles. When ground it makes a cheap bronzing powder. There are some mica factories in North Carolina, near Mitchell County mica mines. In the state of a fine powder it is used to give a brilliant appearance to walls, and as a sand for drying ink on manuscripts. Lithia mica contains a small proportion of lithia, which gives it in many cases a fine rose or peachblow color, so that it is used for ornamental purposes.

WHY THE GREAT DIPPER SPINS AROUND THE POLE.

COLDWATER, Mich.

Please explain the apparent revolution of the Dipper about the Polar Star.

J. C. A.

Answer.—The Great Dipper only appears to revolve, owing to the revolution of the earth. Of course, it makes an apparent revolution every twenty-four hours, the same as the sun. It is visible throughout the entire night because it is within what is called the circle of perpetual apparition, or that part of the heavens which is always in sight to the observer. This circle enlarges as one travels from the equator, where it is nothing, to the pole, where it takes in the whole northern hemisphere.

THE OLD UNITED STATES BANK.

CRESTON, Iowa.

Please give the location and explain the government of the first and second banks of the United States.

M. M. MCKEE.

Answer.—The act establishing the old United States Bank, although opposed by the Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, and by Edmund Randolph, the Attorney General, on the ground of its unconstitutionality, was approved by President Washington, July 25, 1791. The bank was organized at Philadelphia. The different clauses declared that the capital should be $10,000,000, which should be divided into 25,000 shares of $400 each; that any person, copartnership or body politic might subscribe for any number of shares not exceeding 1,000—only the United States could subscribe for more than this number of shares; that, with the exception of the United States, the subscriptions should be payable one-fourth in gold and silver, and the remaining three-fourths in certain 6 per cent bonds of the United States; that the subscribers should be incorporated under the name of “The President, Directors, and company of the Bank of the United States,” and the organization should continue until March 4, 1811; that the bank could hold property of all kinds, inclusive of its capital, to the amount of $15,000,000; that twenty-five directors should be chosen, who in turn should choose from their number a President; that as soon as $400,000 in gold and silver was received on subscription the bank could organize, after giving a notice of its intention. The general effect of this institution was very salutary. The credit of the United States became firmly established. The bank notes stood at par with gold and silver. The large deposits made the money available for the use of the Treasury, and the State bank currency, which had flooded the country, with no prospects of redemption, was greatly reduced. But with all its recognized advantages the act to re-charter was defeated in 1811, by the casting vote of the Vice President, George Clinton. Its loss, however, was immediately felt in the sudden and rapid increase of the currency of the State banks. To ward off an impending crisis, the second bank was established by an act approved by President Madison, April 10, 1816, at Philadelphia. A capital of $35,000,000 was required, which was to be equally divided into 350,000 shares, of which the United States took 70,000. The charter extended to March 3, 1836. It was prohibited from lending on account of the United States more than $500,000, or to any prince or foreign power any sum whatever, without the sanction of law first obtained. The bank was also prohibited from issuing bills of less denomination than $5. In time, to facilitate business, branch offices were established in every State. In December, 1829, however, the bank met strenuous opposition in the message of President Jackson, who argued, like Jefferson, against the constitutionality of its charter. When Congress, in 1832, passed a bill to re-charter the institution, Jackson imposed his veto, and soon after removed from the bank the United States’ deposits. The bank corporation, however, continued to exist, hoping that succeeding elections would change the complexion of affairs before their charter expired; but in this they were disappointed. In 1836 the charter terminated, and a few months afterward the business interests of the country were overwhelmed in a most disastrous financial revulsion.

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER.

PERRYVILLE, Ind.

Give a short biography of James Fenimore Cooper.

C. A. MOODY.

Answer.—J. Fenimore Cooper, the pioneer of American novelists, was born in Burlington, N. J., Sept. 15, 1789. Reared in the wild country surrounding Otsego Lake, he early became acquainted with the natural scenery which he afterward so vividly described. His father, who was a member of Congress, sent him when but 13 to Yale College, where he remained two years. At the age of 16 he joined the United States navy, and made two extended cruises, which gave him all the information he desired concerning the sea. Resigning, he married, and settled at Westchester, N. Y., where he began to write his novels. The first, “Precaution,” appeared in 1819, and from that time he continued to write until his death, in 1851. In 1826 he visited Europe, returning in 1833. The novels of Cooper are considered remarkable for their descriptions; but in the general finish of his stories he has many superiors. His histories, while they are fascinating in interest, are not considered altogether reliable. His principal works are “The Pioneers,” “The Spy,” “The Pilot,” “The Prairie,” “Naval History of the United States,” and “The Pathfinder.”

MACKINAC.

BRIMFIELD, Ind.

Please give a short history of Mackinac Island.

D. D. POITNER.

Answer.—The island of Mackinac, famed in Indian legends and the early French and English history of the West, was first visited by white men in 1634, when John Nicollet and a few Hurons and French voyageurs came to Green Bay to make a treaty with the Indians of that region. In 1670 that devout Jesuit missionary, Jean Marquette, lived on this island for about two years while building a chapel and dwelling on a point opposite on the site of the present Mackinac City. While here he wrote the following description: “Missili-Mackinac is an island, famous in these regions. It is of more than a league in diameter, and elevated in some places into such high cliffs as to be seen more than twelve leagues off. It is situated just in the strait forming the communication between Lakes Huron and Illinois (Michigan). It is the key and, as it were, the gate for all the tribes from the south.” “This place is the most noted in these regions for the abundance of its fisheries; for, according to the Indian saying, this is the home of the fishes.” The history of this gem of the lakes is intertwined with that of the old Mackinac town. This ancient village was for many centuries the headquarters of the Ottawa, Objibwa, and other Indian nations, and when Marquette succeeded in winning their friendship and in constructing his chapel, it became the great trading post of the French-Canadians. Soon a fort was constructed, and the white foreigners lived here and traded in peace. But when in 1759 Quebec was taken by the English, Mackinac fell to the conquerors. These new masters were very unpopular with the suspicious inhabitants, who soon found an opportunity to avenge their previous wrongs and defeats by a complete massacre of the garrison. In order to retain a post in that locality and prevent a repetition of such slaughter, the English constructed in 1780 a fort on the island, which in 1793 was surrendered to the United States. In the war of 1812 it was surprised before its garrison was aware of the declaration of war and surrendered to the English besiegers. Upon the close of the struggle it was returned to the jurisdiction of the United States. For many years the island was the outfitting and furnishing place of John Jacob Astors’ Indian traffic, under the name of the Northwestern Fur Company, but when that gentleman sold out in 1834 to Ramsey Crooks, of New York, the trade of the post gradually decreased. The island is one of the most beautiful localities, in its natural scenery and surroundings, of which our country can boast. The clear water, the imposing rocks, and the old fort, all add luster to its many charms. One of its chief natural attractions is Arch Rock, which, projecting from the precipice on the northeastern side of the island, forms a natural bridge 140 feet in height. The bridge, the Indians say, was constructed by the giant fairies, who formerly made the island their abode, but the unpoetical scientist declares that at one time the water was much higher than in this age, and that its continuous action wore away the calcareous rock, and left this arch.

METALS AND THEIR USES.

WALL LAKE, Iowa.

How many kinds of metals are there? For what are they used; where found?

LAURA.

Answer.—There is a difference of opinion among practical chemists as to the number of existing metals. Professor Youmans affirms that there are at least fifty simple metals, nearly one-half of which are of little importance. Other scientists make the number considerably less. The greater number of metals are rarely or never found in nature in a simple state. They exist in compound forms, and are useful only in such conditions. For example, sodium, the basis of our common salt, cannot be exposed to any moisture, and therefore in its simple state is comparatively useless. Aluminum, as it is found in the ordinary clay, or the alum of commerce, is of great utility, but when separated from its associated elements its use is confined almost exclusively to the laboratory. Of the more important metals iron is the king. In its production Great Britain leads the world. From her furnaces and mills in 1879 were taken 5,995,337 tons of cast and pig iron, and 1,344,297 tons of steel, a ton consisting of 2,240 lbs. During the same year the United States produced 2,741,853 tons of iron, and 1,440,121 tons of steel; Germany, 2,161,192 tons of iron and 800,000 tons of steel, and France, 1,344,759 tons of iron and 561,691 tons of steel. Of the production in the United States, Pennsylvania furnaces yielded about one-half, and those of Ohio about one-seventh. Copper has been in use from early times. Often among the bones of primitive man are found utensils beaten out of this malleable metal. At present it is mined extensively in Wales, Germany, Australia, Upper Michigan, Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, and to a small degree in various other localities. Tin is found either as rock-tin, in veins with rock and other ores, or as stream-tin in alluvial deposits. The principal mines are in Cornwall, Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, Mexico and China. Not only is it used in the manufacture of tin-plate, but also in the composition of various valuable alloys. Zinc, in the form of a carbonate or selicate, is obtained from mines in Silesia and Belgium, and also in small quantities in Wales, France, and this country. Like tin, it is used in the composition of various alloys, as well as in the ordinary form of zinc plate. Until a recent date, the value of nickel was not known. The Germans, who, out of derision, gave it its name, were accustomed to cast it aside as a spurious or base copper. The mines of Germany and Wales produce nearly the entire amount, although a little has been obtained from mines in Pennsylvania. Its use is mainly confined to its alloys, such as German silver, white metal, and a few minor coins. Platinum, which, owing to its high fusive point and its lack of affinity for acids is peculiarly adapted for the manufacture of chemical vessels, is found in Brazil, and also in Russia. In the production of gold the United States leads all other countries. The yield of our gold mines in 1881 was valued at $36,500,000, while the total yield from 1845 to 1880 amounted to $1,523,678,301. Between the years 1493 and 1875 Austria produced in gold $889,963,800, New Granada $596,501,675, and Russia $590,629,944. The silver of the world for the last four centuries has been produced mainly in Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia. Since the discovery of America Mexican mines have yielded over $2,600,280,659; Peruvian, $1,065,357,084; and Bolivian, $1,286,999,947. The mines of the United States have yielded since their first discovery about $540,000,000. Mercury is obtained either in the fluid state, inclosed in the rocky receptacles of the earth, or is derived by roasting its sulphate. In Southern California and Mexico, and also in Austria and Spain, productive mines are worked. It is valuable in the construction of thermometers, barometers, pendulums, etc., manufactures, and also in refining metals by amalgamation.

A SHORT HISTORY OF SUFFRAGE.

WOODLAWN, Mo.

Please give a brief history of the right of suffrage in this country.

READER.

Answer.—The history of suffrage has been a record of progress and extension. The most limited form is observed in the first election of the Virginia colony in 1607, and the most extensive to-day is in Wyoming Territory. By the charter granted to the Virginia Company the members of a council of settlers, chosen by a higher council resident in England, were privileged to choose annually a President from their own number. In accordance with this the first right of suffrage that existed in any permanent American colony was exercised by six members of the council, who, in May, 1607, chose Edward Maria Wingfield as the first President. In 1619 the different towns of Virginia elected, by general suffrage, twenty-two burgesses, who, assembling at Jamestown, constituted the first legislative body convened in America. In the following year, a few hundred miles north, the Plymouth Fathers gathered on the deck of the Mayflower, and exercised a still more extended right of suffrage in the choice of John Carver as the first Governor of the colony. These privileges continued, with only a few changes in Virginia, until the American revolution, excepting that eighteen years after the election of Carver, in Massachusetts, their mass assemblies were deemed too large, and a representative government was established. Although democratic in principle, a few laws passed by the New England colonists restricted the privilege of suffrage. No person who had not become a freeman by taking the oath of allegiance was permitted to vote. No man, according to a law of 1631, was admitted to the freedom of the body politic who was not a member of some of the churches within the limits of the same. No Quaker was permitted to become a freeman. The two latter restrictions, however, were soon removed. The power of the people was greatly increased through the results of the revolution, yet in several of the original thirteen States the right of suffrage was restricted to property-holders or rate-payers, and otherwise limited for periods extending in some cases through one or more decades of the present century. The tendency was constantly to the wide limits of manhood suffrage, which was then prevailing rule, but only as regards white citizens, until the fifteenth amendment in March, 1870, extended the same right to colored citizens. The present movement toward the extension of the right to women has been successful in Wyoming Territory and to a certain extent in Massachusetts, which permits women to vote for members of the Board of Education. The agitation, also, of the educational qualification of electors has resulted in late years in a slight limitation of the right of suffrage in a few of the States, notably Massachusetts.

ELIZA COOK.

OHIO.

Please give a short sketch of Eliza Cook, the English poetess.

MRS. RANKIN.

Answer.—Eliza Cook, who is now residing in the village of Merton in Surrey, England, was born in Southwark in 1817. In early life she established a considerable reputation through the poems which she contributed to several of the leading magazines of London. In 1840 these poems were collected and with others published in one volume, since which time she has issued several editions of her lyrics that are read with as much interest in our country as in England. In 1849 she published a magazine entitled Eliza Cook’s Journal, which was quite successful for many years. Although the effects of age are beginning to be noticeable, she still contributes to various magazines.

A HISTORY OF OUR FLAG.

MILTON, Ind.

Please give a history of our National flag.

HARRY WOODARD.

Answer.—In June, 1777, a committee having been appointed by Congress to confer with General Washington concerning a design for a National flag, reported in favor of a flag containing thirteen stripes, alternately red and white, and a blue field adorned with thirteen white stars. This was adopted June 14, and the design was carried to the upholstering shop of Mrs. Ross, No. 239 Arch street, Philadelphia, where the first National flag was made. The original design required six-pointed stars, but, upon Mrs. Ross’ suggestion that five-pointed stars would be more symmetrical, the pattern was changed. This lady was afterward given the position of manufacturer of government flags, which occupation upon her death was retained by her children. The stars and stripes were first unfurled at the battle of Saratoga upon the occasion of the surrender of Burgoyne. By an act of Congress, Jan. 13, 1794, the design was changed so as to incorporate fifteen stripes and fifteen stars, and one star was to be added for every subsequent State admitted. This, however, was repealed in 1818, when the original number of stripes were established, the stars continuing to increase as new States were admitted. In designing a flag the field should be one-third the length and cover the width of seven stripes. Of the colors, red represents courage, white, integrity, and blue steadfastness, faith and love.

INDIA, BROWN, AND YELLOW INKS.

BLACKBERRY STATION, Ill.

Please give a recipe for making India ink, also recipes for making yellow and brown inks.

ELMER WEYANT.

Answer.—Pure India ink, or sepia, is made only in China, but a good imitation and common substitute is made as follows: Ivory black, ground to an impalpable powder, is made into a paste with weak gum arabic water, perfumed with a few drops of essence of musk and half as much essence of ambergris. This is pressed into cakes, ready for use. Brown ink may be made with a strong decoction of catechu. The shade can be varied by cautiously adding a little weak solution of bichromate of potash. A yellow ink may be made with a strong decoction of yellow dyeing ingredient with alum and gum arabic.

ONE OF OUR NEW BRIGADIER GENERAL.

CHICAGO.

Please give a short sketch of General Mackenzie, lately appointed Brigadier General in the regular army.

M. J. FOREMAN.

Answer.—Ranal S. Mackenzie was born in New York in August, 1840. Graduating from West Point in 1862, he was made Second Lieutenant of Engineers. He immediately entered active service in the Ninth Corps, and was wounded at the second battle of Bull Run. When Lee, in 1863, advanced into Maryland, Mackenzie was very busily employed in constructing bridges for the Union forces which followed in the rear of the rebel army. He took part in the various battles of the Army of the Potomac in Maryland and in West Virginia, and in May, 1864, had charge of a company before Richmond. He passed through the battle of the Wilderness, and in June was wounded before Petersburg. For his gallantry he was appointed Brigadier General of Volunteers. Resuming the command of his company, he continued his efforts against Petersburg. At the battle of Five Forks he commanded a division of cavalry with so much skill that he was brevetted Major General. After the close of the war he retained the command of a company in his old corps. In March, 1867, he was promoted to the Colonelcy, and in 1870 he was transferred to the cavalry and sent to the Mexican frontier. In quelling the depredations on the Texas border and in putting down the Indian insurrections in New Mexico and Arizona he has since displayed considerable military ability. Previous to his present promotion he had charge of the army in New Mexico, Santa Fe being his headquarters.

SOUND AND SENSE.

WYOMING, Ill.

Can sound be produced with no ear to hear?

WILLIAM E. WHITE.

Answer.—The word sound is used in different senses. In the sense defined in the first definition given by Webster and Worcester, the answer to your question is “no;” but in the sense of his second definition, it is “yes.” This second definition, as given in the last edition of his Unabridged Dictionary, is as follows: “Sound—The occasion of sound: the impulse or vibration which would occasion sound to a percipient if present with unimpaired organs.” This use of the word is strikingly illustrated in the expression “inaudible sounds,” i.e., such as can only be heard by the help of instruments.

GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE.

MONTICELLO, Ill.

Please give a biographical sketch of the late rebel General, Robert E. Lee.

JACOB A. RHOADS.

Answer.—The Commander-in-chief of the rebel forces was born at Westmoreland, Va., Jan. 19, 1807. At the age of 18 he entered West Point, from which he graduated, the second in his class, in 1829. Receiving an appointment of Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, he spent his time at various places, engaged in the government surveys, until the breaking out of the Mexican war. During the greater portion of the war he served under General Scott, who considered him a very capable officer. For his excellent services he was brevetted major, then lieutenant colonel, and soon afterwards he was made colonel. At Chapultepec, he was wounded, but not seriously enough to prevent his entering the City of Mexico. After the war he was engaged on the Atlantic coast until his appointment in 1852 to the superintendency of the Military Academy. In 1855 he was made Lieutenant Colonel of the Second Cavalry, and was transferred to the Texas border. While on leave of absence in Washington in 1859, he was placed in charge of the troops which quelled the raid at Harper’s Ferry. In March, 1861, he was made colonel, but when he learned of Virginia’s secession he resigned and accepted an appointment in the insurrectionary forces of his native State. Repairing to Richmond he was made commander-in-chief of the forces of Virginia, with the title of Major General. Soon after, by an act of the Confederate Congress, he was made third in rank of the entire rebel forces, Samuel Cooper and A. S. Johnston being his superiors. Because of his inactivity before Rosecrans he was transferred in December to North and South Carolina, where he remained until March, 1862, when he returned to accept the position of commander-in-chief of all the Confederate forces. In June he defeated McClellan and began his northward march, routing the forces of Pope and invading the State of Maryland. The bloody battle of Antietam was claimed as a victory by both sides, but Lee thought best immediately to retire into Virginia. Until his next invasion and defeat at Gettysburg in July, 1863, he remained on the defensive. His subsequent retreat, his generalship in the battle of the Wilderness and other engagements following it disclosed great tact and prudence. The ability which he displayed in the defense of Richmond excites the admiration of every impartial reader of history, and does great credit to his military genius. This genius was more than matched at last by that of General Grant, sustained by the greater resources of the North, and he was compelled to surrender his sword at Appomattox Court House. Subsequently he became President of Washington and Lee College, located at Lexington, Va., where he died Oct. 12, 1870.

VARIATIONS OF THE COMPASS.

KENSETT, Iowa.

It is said that the companions of Christopher Columbus were greatly alarmed when the variations of the compass was first remarked. Please explain why the needle of a compass points north, and also give the amount of its variation for different places.

C. E. LOCKE.

Answer.—Why the magnetic needle points northward is not positively determined. There are several theories but none of them explain all the phenomena of the needle. That which perplexes scientists most is that in every place the needle is subject to variations. By observations at Paris it was found that in 1681 the magnetic needle varied 2 deg. 30 min. to the west, in 1865 18 deg. 44 min. to the west. At London between 1580 and 1692 the needle varied from 10 deg. 15 min. E. to 6 deg. W. In Dakota Territory the average variation is 12 deg. 30 min. east, in Minnesota 11 deg. east, while in Montana it is 20 deg. east. S. V. Clevenger, United States Deputy Surveyor, says in a work on government surveys: “The needle does not point due north, except in a few localities, and at no place does it continue to point with a given angular distance from the north, for any stated length of time. It changes secularly, annually, diurnally, and hourly, and is further subject to fluctuations reducible to no method of tabulation. In the vicinity of iron in any shape, or magnetic sands, the needle is deflected toward the material attracting it. This perturbation is known as local attraction. The author has known the needle to vary 5 deg. in a distance of one mile, and 1 deg. 30 min. during two hours when stationed at one place.” The variation in the magnetic needle of Columbus’ compass was probably caused by some local attraction of which he knew nothing.

DISCOURAGEMENTS TO ANTARCTIC EXPLORATIONS.

PALESTINE, Ind.

Why is the north pole the object of more research than the south pole?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—Soon after the discovery of America European navigators began to search the arctic zone for a passage to Asiatic countries which would be less dangerous and circuitous than that usually traveled. Although the object of polar expeditions has changed somewhat, yet one of the reasons which actuated them influences the explorers of the present time. The nearness of this pole has rendered it of greater interest than its southern counterpart. Expeditions are fitted out more easily for the shorter voyage. Relief can be procured with less delay. Other reasons are that from the closer neighborhood of the continents, and from the action of the Gulf Stream on the one side and the Japan current on the other, and from the fact that the earth is in perihelion during the winter season of the Northern hemisphere, and in aphelion during the winter of the Southern hemisphere, the Arctic Sea is more free from ice, which in the Antarctic region is an impregnable barrier in the way of discovery.

WAGES IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa.

Give a comparison of the wages of the United States with those of England.

O. P. L.

Answer.—The following is a comparison of the wages paid per week in Chicago and Great Britain to various artisans:

Chicago. Great Britain.

Bakers $8.00 to $12.00 $6.50 to $6.60 Blacksmiths 9.00 to 12.00 7.04 to 8.12 Bookbinders 9.00 to 20.00 6.50 to 7.83 Bricklayers 6.00 to 10.50 7.58 to 9.63 Cabinetmakers 7.00 to 15.00 7.70 to 8.48 Carpenters 7.50 to 12.00 7.33 to 8.25 Farm laborers 3.40 to 4.25 Laborers, porters, etc 5.50 to 9.00 4.50 to 5.00 Painters 6.00 to 12.00 7.25 to 8.16 Plasterers 9.00 to 15.00 7.68 to 10.13 Plumbers 12.00 to 20.00 7.13 to 8.46 Printers 12.00 to 18.00 7.52 to 7.75 Shoemakers 9.00 to 18.00 7.35 Tailors 6.00 to 18.00 5.00 to 7.30 Tinsmiths 9.00 to 12.00 6.00 to 7.30

THE BANKERS’ CLEARING HOUSE, LONDON.

DAVENPORT, Iowa.

Tell us something of the purpose of the great Clearing House of London, and the amount of business done through it.

J. BROWN.

Answer.—The Bankers’ Clearing House, London, is the medium through which bankers collect the checks and bills in their hands against other banks. Instead of presenting these checks and bills at each bank to which they are addressed, and receiving cash and notes in payment, clearing bankers settle the whole amount delivered during the day at this establishment in Postoffice Court, Lombard street, by receiving or paying the difference in the totals for or against them by a single check on the Bank of England. Every bank in London and the country is represented by clearing bankers, and as their agents send through the Clearing House all drafts payable in the city and in the country, the amount passing through this establishment every year is enormous. The total amount for the year ending April 30, 1882, was £6,382,654,000, or nearly $32,000,000,000. The total clearings of the Bankers’ Clearing House, Chicago, in the year ending Dec. 31, 1882, amounted to $2,366,526,185. This represented only the transactions of banks doing business in Chicago. It is estimated that the new rule as to settlement applied during the past year has reduced the total clearings nearly 25 per cent below what they would have been under the old rule. London is the center of exchange for the world, and the volume of its bank clearings must necessarily be enormously greater than that of any other city. The totals of bills, checks, and drafts passed through the London Clearing House, between 1869 and 1881 inclusive, foot up £68,010,643,000, or over three hundred and forty billion dollars. The rise and fall in trade not only in England, but in large degree the world over is mirrored in the annual records of these clearings for the period mentioned. Whereas in 1869 the total clearings were but 3,626,396,000 pounds sterling, they increased each year until 1873, when they amounted to £6,070,948,000. Then, in consequence of the widespread commercial depression the total trade transactions fell off, and the London bank clearings fell to £5,936,772,000 in 1874, £5,685,793,000 in 1875, and £4,963,480,000 in 1876, the lowest point touched. Not until 1880 did the clearings rise to nearly six billions again. In 1881, for the first time, did they reach and pass the total in 1873, indicating general business prosperity throughout the world.

CHICAGO AND MILWAUKEE COMPARED.

SHOSHONE AGENCY, W. T.

How does Milwaukee compare with Chicago in the amount of grain handled in one year?

WM. H. ROME.

Answer.—The following are the statistics of receipts and shipments at Milwaukee for 1882:

Receipts, bu. | Shipments, bu. | Wheat 7,816,471 | Wheat 1,788,479 Oats 2,581,808 | Oats 1,600,916 Barley 4,653,192 | Barley 2,927,273 Rye 491,006 | Rye 440,369 Corn 2,037,680 | Corn 1,454,144 Flour (brls) 3,340,854 | Flour, (brls) 4,248,050 —————————— | —————————— Total in bu 32,613,994 | Total in bu 27,327,405

The statistics of Chicago during the same period are:

Receipts, bu. | Shipments, bu. | Wheat 22,326,680 | Wheat 19,905,319 Oats 26,975,137 | Oats 23,975,177 Barley 2,066,636 | Barley 4,130,069 Rye 2,052,214 | Rye 1,928,874 Corn 49,224,522 | Corn 49,264,167 Flour (brls) 4,378,864 | Flour (brls) 3,995,532 —————————— | —————————— Total in bu 122,350,074 | Total in bu 117,182,590

AMERICAN AND ENGLISH SHIP-BUILDING.

VAN WERT, Ohio.

How does American ship-building compare with the ship-building of Great Britain?

J. W. NICODEMUS.

Answer.—During the year 1880 there were constructed in the United States for ocean traffic 412 sailing vessels, having a tonnage of 53,610, and 166 steam vessels, having a tonnage of 40,617. In addition to this, for the service of the lakes and rivers, were constructed forty-eight sailing vessels, with a tonnage of 5,447 and 182 steamers, with a tonnage of 38,237. In the same period Great Britain constructed 353 sailing vessels, with a tonnage of 57,534, and 474 steamers, with a tonnage of 346,361. The total number of American vessels plying the ocean was, at that time, 17,932, with a tonnage of 2,803,923, while Great Britain boasted of 25,185 vessels and a tonnage of 6,574,513. Including the shipping upon the inland lakes and rivers, the total shipping of the United States was 21,547 vessels, having a tonnage of 3,577,816. The reason for this enormous difference between the two countries is due partly to the greater cost of labor and material in the United States; partly to many more ways of employing capital profitably in the United States than there are in other countries; partly to the subsidies paid by the British Government to encourage the establishment and maintenance of British ocean lines of transportation; partly to the vastness of the British Empire and the exemption of British vessels and British goods carried in their vessels from heavy port dues and duties in trading to British ports; and partly from the American law forbidding the granting of the American flag to vessels built in other countries, even when owned by American citizens, and forbidding the restoration of our flag to American-built vessels after they have once gone under other colors, whatever the cause. American-built vessels compare in all other respects, except cost, favorably with the same classes of British vessels, and in many particulars American builders have done much to improve all classes of sea-going craft.

CELEBRATED PAINTINGS.

RAVANNA, Mo.

What and where are some of the most celebrated paintings?

A READER.

Answer.—By general agreement among art critics, Michael Angelo and Raphael stand at the head of the line of master painters. Conspicuous among the great paintings of the former are “The Last Judgment,” “The Conversion of St. Paul,” and “The Crucifixion of St. Peter;” and among those of the latter, “The Dispute Concerning the Sacrament,” the “Madonna di Foligno,” and the “Madonna del Pesce, or Virgin of the Fish.” The “Last Judgment” is a large fresco painting, sixty feet high by thirty feet wide, occupying the wall opposite the entrance of the Sistine Chapel, in the Vatican Palace at Rome. Over 300 figures are represented in “the most violent attitudes and most admired disorder.” “The Conversion of St. Paul” is another large fresco painting in the Vatican. “The Crucifixion of Peter,” also in the Vatican, is one of the last from the hands of Angelo. “The Dispute Concerning the Sacrament” is a fresco representing, above, a convocation of the saints around the Almighty, the Savior, and the Virgin, enveloped in heavenly glory, while beneath the ceremony of the consecration of the sacrament is depicted. This is found in the Camera della Segnatura of the Vatican, Rome. “The Madonna di Foligno,” in the Vatican gallery, derives its name from the city of Foligno, which is represented in the back-ground. The “Madonna del Pesce,” now in the gallery at Madrid, Spain, represents the Virgin and Child enthroned, with St. Jerome on one side and on the other an archangel with the young Tobit, who carries a fish, from which circumstance the name is derived. “The Madonna di San Sisto” is considered by many critics the best of Raphael’s works. It is located in the gallery of Dresden, Germany, and represents the Madonna standing upon the clouds surrounded with glory, holding in her arms the eternal Son. Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara kneel at the sides. It was originally painted on wood, but has been transferred to canvas. The painting of “The Last Supper,” by Leonardo da Vinci, is recognized as one of the masterpieces. It was originally painted by order of the Duke of Milan on the walls of the refectory in the Dominican Convent of the Madonna delle Grazie. The picture is now in a state of decay, but several very fine copies have been made; one of them, at the Royal Academy, London, is considered almost, if not quite, as good as the original. Rubens’ paintings of the “Descent from the Cross” and “Elevation of the Cross,” at Antwerp, rank high as masterpieces. The “Adoration of the Trinity,” by Albert Durer, at Vienna, and his two pictures containing life-size figures of Peter and John, Mark and Paul, presented to the Council of Nuremberg, Germany, are also very famous. All of the above and many others, the productions of painters barely less noted, are classed as works of the great masters; and artists and amateurs are constantly going on pilgrimages to the temples and art galleries which are so favored as to enshrine them.

THE SCOTTISH POET, WM. KNOX.

HALSTEAD, Kan.

Please give a short biographical sketch of William Knox.

LINNIE REED.

Answer.—William Knox, a Scottish poet, familiar to the readers of “Scott’s Diary,” was born at Roxburgh in 1789. Very little has been recorded concerning his life, which terminated at the comparatively early age of 36. He was very industrious, and in addition to his published volumes contributed to the Literary Gazette and to various other magazines. In 1818 he published a collection of poems under the title of “The Lonely Heath,” and in the succeeding year wrote “Mariomne,” “A Visit to Dublin,” “Songs of Israel,” and “The Harp of Zion.”

THE PLANETS IN FEBRUARY.

WYANETT, Ill.

In or near what constellations are the planets at present?

C. A. H.

Answer.—During the month of February, 1883, Mercury will be a morning star after the 10th, and will be found in Capricornus until near the end of the month, when it will enter Aquarius. Venus will also be a morning star while in Sagittarius. Mars can be observed near the sun in Capricornus; Jupiter nearly stationary between Taurus and Gemini, and Saturn nearly stationary between Aries and Taurus.

JOHN PHŒNIX.

ABINGDON, Ill.

Will you please give a short sketch of “John Phœnix,” the humorous California writer of twenty years ago.

C. SNYDER.

Answer.—This noted humorist was an officer in the regular army. His real name was George Henry Derby. He was born in Massachusetts; was appointed to the military academy from that State, and graduated a second lieutenant of ordnance in 1846; same year was transferred to the Topographical Engineer Corps, a branch of the army since abolished. Lieutenant Derby was brevetted for gallantry at Cerro Gordo, Mexico, being wounded in the action. He was the author, over the nom de plume of John Phœnix, of “Phœnixiana” (’56), and the “Squibob Papers.” Many of his most popular productions were written while he was on the staff of the commanding general of the Military Department of the Pacific, engaged on the improvement of the harbor of San Diego, Cal., which accounts for his being referred to as a Californian writer. Captain Derby died May 15, 1861, in New York City, aged only 38.

ORIGIN OF THE WHIG PARTY.

DURAND, Ill.

Why is J. Quincy Adams classed with the Whig Presidents when the Whig party was not organized until 1836.

E. S. CAPRON.

Answer.—The National Republicans, to whom J. Quincy Adams belonged, dropped that name and took the name of Whigs in 1832. Adams, who was one of the Whig leaders from the first, is usually classed as the first of the Whig Presidents, because the National policy he represented and maintained when President was substantially the policy advocated by the Whigs of 1832. In 1834 there was a State convention held in New York City, which gave organized form to the Whig party in that State, and this organization became National in 1836, when Wm. H. Harrison was first nominated by the Whigs for the Presidency. A still higher degree of organization was effected at the first delegate National convention of the Whig party, held in Harrisburg, Pa., Dec. 4, 1839, when Harrison was nominated for the great campaign of 1840, in which he was elected.

EARLY AMERICAN COINAGE.

DES MOINES, Iowa.

Name the earliest American coins.

E. WILSON.

Answer.—The earliest coinage that can be called American, in the sense of Anglo-American, was ordered by the original Virginia Company, only five years after the founding of Jamestown. The coin were minted at Somers Islands, now known as the Bermudas. For a long while the standard currency of Virginia was tobacco, as in many of the early settlements of the Northwest it was beaver skins, and other pelts reckoned as worth such a fraction of a beaver skin or so many beaver skins. The accounts of the fur traders and pioneers in their dealings with the Indians were kept in beaver skins instead of coin until some years after the opening of this century, and in some parts of the Dominion of Canada they are still kept so. In 1645 the Assembly of the Virginia Colony, after a preamble reciting that, “It had maturely weighed and considered how advantageous a quoine would be to this colony, and the great wants and miseries which do daily happen unto it by the sole dependency upon tobacco,” provided for the issue of copper coins of the denominations of twopence, threepence, sixpence, and ninepence; but this law was never carried into effect, so the first colonial coinage of this country was that struck off by Massachusetts under the order of the General Court of that colony, passed May 27, 1652, creating a “mint howse” at Boston, and providing for the mintage of “12 pence, 6 pence, and 3 pence pieces, which shall be for forme flatt, and stamped on the one side with N. E., and on the other side with XIId., VId., and IIId., according to the value of each peece.” In 1662, from this same mint appeared the famous “pine tree shillings,” which were two-penny pieces. This mint was maintained for thirty-four years. In the reign of William and Mary copper coins were struck in England for New England and Carolina. Lord Baltimore had silver shillings, sixpences, and fourpences made in England to supply the demands of his province of Maryland. Vermont and Connecticut established mints in 1785 for the issue of copper coin. New Jersey followed a year later. But Congress had the establishment of a mint for the confederated States under advisement, and in this same year agreed upon a plan submitted by Thomas Jefferson, and the act went into operation on a small scale in 1787. After the adoption of the Constitution of the United States in 1789 all the State mints were closed, as the Constitution specifically places the sole power of coining money in the Federal Government.

DIFFERENCE OF TIME.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What is the difference of time between Chicago and the principal cities of the world?

E. A. JORDAN.

Answer.—The difference in time between Chicago and Washington is 42 minutes. Keeping this in mind, the reader can easily determine the difference of time between Chicago and other cities named in the following table, which shows the difference of time between Washington City and some of the chief cities of the globe, as calculated at the United States Naval Observatory, Washington:

Time Table.

At 12 o’clock noon, Saturday, at Washington it is—

12:12 p. m. Saturday at New York, U. S. 12:24 p. m. Saturday at Boston, U. S. 4:31 p. m. Saturday at Lisbon, Portugal 4:55 p. m. Saturday at Edinburgh, Scotland. 5:07 p. m. Saturday at London, England. 5:17 p. m. Saturday at Paris, France. 5:58 p. m. Saturday at Rome, Italy. 6:02 p. m. Saturday at Berlin, Prussia. 6:14 p. m. Saturday at Vienna, Austria. 6:22 p. m. Saturday at Cape Town, Africa. 7:04 p. m. Saturday at Constantinople. 11:01 p. m. Saturday at Calcutta, India. 12:54 a. m. Sunday at Pekin, China. 2:48 a. m. Sunday at Melbourne, Australia. 4:51 a. m. Sunday at Auckland, New Zealand. 8:58 a. m. Saturday at San Francisco, U. S. 9:40 a. m. Saturday at Salt Lake, U. S. 11:08 a. m. Saturday at New Orleans, U. S. 11:18 a. m. Saturday at Chicago, U. S. 12 noon Saturday at Lima, Peru.

VALUE OF RARE AMERICAN COINS.

DES MOINES, Iowa.

Is it true that coin collectors sometimes pay as high as $12 for a single American silver dollar? If so, why?

E. WILSON.

Answer.—It is true that United States silver dollars of certain issues command very high premiums. The silver dollar of 1794, on which the image of Liberty has flowing hair, is quoted at $12.50; the “flying eagle dollars” of 1838 and 1839 are quoted at $15 each; so are the dollars of 1851 and 1852 with “Liberty seated;” so is that of 1858, with the same figure; while the excessively rare silver dollars of 1804 are quoted at $200 each. The half-dollar of 1796, with a filleted head and fifteen stars, commands $15; and that of the next year, with sixteen stars, commands $16. The value depends entirely on the rarity of these coins, since while the dollar of 1804 is quoted at $200, the “spread-eagle dollar” of 1803 is worth but $1.25. The fifteen and sixteen-star dollars belong to the period when it was the law that an additional stripe should be added to the United States flag whenever a new State was admitted. In the mintage they undertook to add a star for each State, but the flag was restored to the established rule of thirteen stripes, and the Goddess of Liberty on the dollars was relieved of the burden of carrying a star for each new State.

THE VISIBLE ZONES OF THE SUN.

BUSHNELL, Ill.

Which zone of the sun is presented to our view, the polar or equatorial?

G. W. PORTER.

Answer.—The sun’s equator is almost coincident with the plane of the ecliptic, the inclination being only about seven degrees, in consequence of which the equatorial zone of the sun is continually presented to the view of terrestrial observers, and they may see every part of the sun’s surface in the course of each year.

BUTTERINE.

GIRARD, Ill.

What are the ingredients used in the manufacture of butterine?

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—This substitute for butter is made from tallow or lard, as the chief component, with cocoanut, olive, and palm oils to give it the necessary flavor and consistency; salt and a little annatto for coloring. If this recipe were always followed and the compound called by its right name it would not be objectionable; but manufacturers do not hesitate to add other ingredients that are unwholesome and injurious, and palm the stuff off for butter.

FINENESS OF UNITED STATES COIN.

MOUNMOUTH, Ill.

What are the proportions of pure metal in the coins of the United States?

READER.

Answer.—The gold coins are nine-tenths fine; the silver coins, nine-tenths fine; the copper-nickel coins, such as the 5-cent piece and 3-cent piece, are one-fourth nickel and three-fourths copper; the bronze coins are 95 per cent copper and 5 per cent tin and zinc. The alloy in the gold coins is silver and copper; in the silver coins, copper.

NATIONAL DESCENT OF THE PRESIDENTS.

HARTLEY, Iowa.

Please give the parentage of each of the Presidents of the United States.

W. WILLIAMS.

Answer.—The parents of Washington and Adams were of English origin; those of Jefferson, Welsh; those of Madison, Monroe, and J. Q. Adams, English; those of Jackson, Scotch-Irish; of Van Buren, Dutch; of Harrison and Tyler, English; of Polk, Scotch-Irish; of Taylor, Fillmore, and Pierce, English; of Buchanan, Irish; of Lincoln, English; of Johnson, probably English; of Grant, English; of Hayes, Scotch; of Garfield, English, though his mother was of Huguenot descent; of Arthur, Irish. It seems hardly worth while to give the names of parents on both sides, as few of our readers care particularly for the names of grandfathers and grandmothers of great men unless such ancestors were something more than ordinary.

THE ORDER OF DUMAS’ WORKS.

CHICAGO, Ill.

It is said that the novels written by Alexander Dumas should be read in a particular order, each one being a continuation, as it were, or in some respects a sequel, to those preceding it. Is this so, and if so, in what order should they be read?

INQUIRER.

Answer.—Each of the following works is in one sense complete in itself, yet they also constitute several series, so related that the reader better take them up in the following order: The “Three Guardsmen” series—“The Three Guardsmen,” “Twenty Years After,” “Bragelone,” “The Iron Mask,” “Louise Lavaliere;” the “Memoirs of a Physician” series—“The Memoirs of a Physician,” “The Queen’s Necklace,” “Six Years Later, or The Taking of the Bastile,” “The Countess De Charnay,” “Andre de Travernay,” “The Chevalier.”

BUCHANAN’S CABINET.

CHEROKEE, Kan.

Who were Buchanan’s Cabinet officers?

WILLIS SWANK.

Answer.—The Secretaries of State during the administration of James Buchanan were Lewis Cass and Jeremiah S. Black; Secretaries of the Treasury, Howell Cobb, Philip F. Thomas, and John A. Dix; Secretaries of War, John B. Floyd and Joseph Holt; Secretary of the Navy, Isaac Toucey; Secretary of the Interior, Jacob Thompson: Postmasters General, Aaron V. Brown, Joseph Holt, and Horatio King; Attorneys General, Jeremiah S. Black and Edwin M. Stanton.

GOVERNOR COLES, OF ILLINOIS.

ASKFORT, N. Y.

Please give a brief sketch of Colonel Coles.

MYRON HURLBUT.

Answer.—Edward Coles, an early Governor of Illinois, was born in Albemarle County, Va., the home of Jefferson, in December, 1786. He in his youth became prominent in our country’s politics, and in 1810 was appointed private secretary of President Madison. He served as Minister to Russia in 1817, and, returning the following year, liberated his slaves. From 1823 to 1826 he was Governor of Illinois, which position he filled with considerable executive ability. His death occurred in Philadelphia, July 7, 1868.

WHY WATER FREEZES SOFT.

SHANK, D. T.

What is the reason hard water becomes soft by freezing?

MARTIN SHANK.

Answer.—By freezing the mineral substances are precipitated and the water becomes soft, in the same manner as by boiling. For like reason filthy water will produce comparatively clear ice.

HIGHEST RANK IN U. S. ARMY.

PLATTVILLE, Ill.

What is the order of rank of generals in the United States Army? What changes have been made in the rank of the highest army officers since the war of the Revolution?

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—The highest army officer in the active service of the United States is General; the next inferior, Lieutenant General; then Major General, and finally Brigadier General. Until George Washington was made Lieutenant General, in July, 1798, the highest office was Major General. After his death, in 1797, the title of the chief army officer continued to be Major General until 1864, when Grant was appointed Lieutenant General. In July, 1866, the office of General was created.

THE FATAL HOMERIAN RIDDLE.

OAKLAND, Cal.

What was the answer Homer gave to the fisherman who gave him a riddle to solve?

JENNIE SMEDLEY.

Answer.—The story is that one day Homer, meeting a number of fishermen, asked them: “Fishermen, sprung of Arcadia, have we aught?” And they answered: “What we caught we left behind. What we caught not we bear with us.” Homer could not explain it. He then remembered that the oracle had said “beware of riddles.” In despair he wrote his own epitaph and died within three days. This story comes from a lost work of Aristotle, so it is said, but it is decidedly fishy, and is classed with the numerous other fictions regarding the blind poet.

TABLE FOR MEASURING AN ACRE.

WILTON, Iowa.

Please give an easy rule for measuring an acre when the length of one side is known.

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—To measure an acre in rectangular form is a simple question in arithmetic. One has only to divide the total number of square yards in an acre, 4,840, by the number of yards in the known side or breadth to find the unknown side in yards. By this process it appears that a rectangular strip of ground—

5 yards wide by 968 yards long is 1 acre. 10 yards wide by 484 yards long is 1 acre. 20 yards wide by 242 yards long is 1 acre. 40 yards wide by 121 yards long is 1 acre. 80 yards wide by 60½ yards long is 1 acre. 70 yards wide by 69½ yards long is 1 acre. 60 yards wide by 80⅜ yards long is 1 acre.

NUMBER OF EURO-AMERICAN CABLES.

FAIRMOUNT, Ind.

How many submarine cables connect Europe with America?

MILTON C. COX.

Answer.—There are three Anglo-American cables, with an aggregate length of 6,450 miles; also, the old French cable, which is 3,329 miles long; the direct United States cable from Ireland, 2,360 miles; the new French cables, 3,461 miles, and the Brazilian cable, extending from Portugal to Brazil.

DISCOVERY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT.

STEWARTSVILLE, Mo.

Who first produced electric light?

J. C. ADAMS.

Answer.—It is uncertain when electric light was first produced by artificial agencies. The first successful display occurred in 1810, when Sir Humphrey Davy with a battery of 2,000 elements entertained the Royal Institution by producing an electric light with an arc three inches long between carbon points.

ALTITUDES OF WESTERN CITIES.

EVERGREEN, Neb.

What are the altitudes of Buffalo, Chicago, Des Moines, St. Paul, Yankton, Omaha, and Fort Kearney?

MANY WESTERN READERS.

Answer.—The city of Buffalo, N. Y., is elevated above the sea level about 580 feet; Chicago about 690 feet. The average altitude of the State of Iowa is about 1,000 feet, varying from 445 feet at the mouth of the Des Moines River to 1,650 feet at Spirit Lake. The average elevation of Minnesota is about 1,000 feet. The eastern part of Dakota is 1,000 feet above the sea level, the central and northern parts are about 2,500 feet, while in the Black Hills the mountains reach the height of 7,000 feet. Omaha is 1,046 feet above the sea level, and Fort Kearney 1,247 feet.

DESCENDANTS OF POCAHONTAS.

SILOAM, Ark.

Name some of the descendants of Pocahontas.

A READER.

Answer.—Among them are the Randolphs and Bollands, of Virginia; John Randolph, of Roanoke, the associate of Thomas Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Adams, and other fathers of the Republic was the most distinguished of these.

366 REVOLUTIONS IN A YEAR.

LAKEVILLE, Ind.

How many rotations does the earth make in a year?

C. A. B.

Answer.—The earth makes 366 rotations in the 365 days composing the year. This is a necessary condition of its making one complete revolution around the sun in a year.

WHEN THE FOUR GOSPELS WERE WRITTEN.

EXIRA, Iowa.

When were the four gospels written?

J. A. HALLOCK.

Answer.—The time when each of the gospels was written is not positively known. Matthew and Luke are generally conceded to have been written between A. D. 58 and A. D. 60. Mark was written after A. D. 62. It is thought that John was written about A. D. 78; but Biblical critics are not agreed on these matters.

A RAILROAD COMPROMISE.

LOCKPORT, N.Y.

Is it true, as reported, that the Northern Pacific Railroad has secured control of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railroad by the purchase of the latter’s stock?

W. T. RANSOM.

Answer.—No. The two roads recently came to an agreement not to encroach on what they are pleased to call each other’s territory. They also purchased of each other such branch lines as they had begun which seemed to be at variance with this understanding as to territory.

ORIGIN OF THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT.

MARION, Ind.

Please give a brief history of the temperance movements in this country.

SAMUEL C. ZOMBRO.

Answer.—The total abstinence societies of to-day are the outgrowth of the old temperate or moderate drinking societies of England and America. About 400 years ago an association was formed, the members of which pledged themselves not to drink more than a specified quantity of alcoholic liquors each day. A society somewhat similar was inaugurated in Germany in 1600 called “The Order of Temperance,” whose members were pledged never to become intoxicated and to that end never to imbibe more than fourteen cups of wine per day. In America, also, there were moderate drinkers’ organizations. In 1820 a society was formed in New Jersey, the members of which agreed never to drink more than one-half pint of rum or whisky per day. The first total abstinence movement of any importance in this country began in Saratoga County, New York, prompted by the Temperance Society of Moreau and Northumberland.

Forty-three persons signed an agreement not to drink “rum, gin, whisky, wine, or any distilled spirits or compositions of the same, or any of them, except by the advice of a physician, or in case of actual disease, also excepting wine at public dinners, under penalty of 25 cents.” In 1813, The Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemperance was formed, but owing to the laxity of its rules it was not very efficient. The American Society for the Promotion of Temperance was inaugurated in Boston in February, 1826, and rapidly grew into an extensive organization, having increased in three years to 11 State associations and 1,000 local societies. About this time the name tee-total came into use, having originated from the vain attempt of a stuttering reformed Englishman to pronounce the word “total.” In 1840 the Washingtonian Society was formed by six drunkards in the city of Baltimore, who resolved to avoid their cups and reform their associates. In five years its pledge had been signed by 650,000 persons, most of whom had been tipplers or downright drunkards. Other societies were soon formed; the Sons of Temperance in New York, in 1842; the Order of Templars of Honor and Temperance in 1845; and the Good Templars in 1851. Since the war many local societies have been formed, and the Murphy movement has extended all over the country.

NEW YORK ELEVATED RAILWAYS.

TAOPI, Minn.

Please give a short description of the New York elevated railroads.

M. H. MILLER.

Answer.—The demand of the people living in the outskirts of New York City for more rapid transit than that furnished by the horse cars began to be answered in 1868, when an elevated railway extending a half-mile was constructed on Greenwich street as an experiment. Three years later the West Side Elevated Railroad Company obtained a charter, but before much could be accomplished it sold its rights to the New York Elevated Railroad Company, in 1872. The new organization proceeded rapidly to erect its roads, extending from the heart of the city to the suburbs. In December, 1879, its rolling stock consisted of 131 locomotives, 292 passenger cars, and 8 service cars. The road was leased to the Manhattan Railway Company in May, 1879. The Metropolitan Elevated Railroad was first called the Gilbert Elevated Railroad, in honor of its projector, Dr. Rufus H. Gilbert. Although the company obtained its charter in 1872, work was not commenced until March, 1876. In two years it expended $10.-300,000 in constructing its lines. In 1879 the road with its rolling stock, consisting of fifty-six locomotives, 180 passenger cars, and two freight cars, was leased to the Manhattan Elevated Railroad Company, which now has a complete monopoly of the elevated railroads of New York. The tracks of the Metropolitan are supported on two rows of columns connected with each other at the top by strong lattice-girders. The rails weigh fifty-six pounds per yard, and rest upon yellow-pine cross-ties, 6 x 7 inches by 8⅜ feet long, separated two feet apart. The engines weigh fifteen tons, and are capable of a speed of forty miles an hour. The stations are about one-half mile apart. The New York Elevated Railroad consists of a single row of columns, supporting a lighter tramway than the Metropolitan. Although at first this system of railways met with considerable opposition, the people of New York now recognize that its convenience far outbalances its unsightliness, noise, and other disagreeable concomitants.

PAUL PRY.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Who was the author of Paul Pry and who was the original of the character?

INQUIRER.

Answer.—The author was John Poole, an English dramatist, born in 1785. He was remarkably successful in the production of light drama, including some roaring farces, of which the most conspicuous was “Paul Pry;” “Hamlet Travestie,” with burlesque annotations; “Deaf as a Post;” “Turning the Tables,” and “The Wife’s Stratagem,” adapted from Shirley. It was long believed that Thomas Hill, the eccentric editor of the Dramatic Mirror, was the original of Poole’s Paul Pry, but Poole himself contradicts this notion in a biographical sketch of himself that appeared a few years before his death, which occurred in London, Feb. 5, 1872. In this sketch he says: “The character of Paul Pry was suggested by the following anecdote, related to me several years ago by a beloved friend: An idle old lady, living in a narrow street, had passed so much of her time in watching the affairs of her neighbors that she at length knew the sound of each particular knocker within hearing, and could tell to which house it belonged. It happened that she fell ill, and was for several days confined to her bed. Unable to observe in person what was going on outside, she stationed her maid at the window as her substitute for the performance of that task. But Betty soon grew weary of the occupation; she became careless in her reports, impatient and tetchy when reprimanded for her negligence. ‘Betty, what are you thinking about? Don’t you hear a double knock at No. 9? Who is it?’ ‘The first floor lodger, ma’am.’ ‘Betty! Betty! I declare I must give you warning. Why don’t you tell me what that knock is at No. 24?’ ‘Why, Lord, ma’am, it is only the baker with pies.’ ‘Pies! Betty? What can they want with pies at No. 24? They had pies yesterday!’ Of this very point I have availed myself. Let me add that Paul Pry was never intended as the representative of any one individual, but of a class. Like the melancholy of Jacques, he ‘is compounded of many samples,’ and I could mention five or six who were unconscious contributors to the character. That it should have been so often, though erroneously, supposed to have been drawn after some particular person is perhaps complimentary to the general truth of the delineation. With respect to the play generally, I may say that it is original; it is original in structure, plot, character, and dialogue—such as they are. The only imitation I am aware of is to be found in part of the business in which Mrs. Subtle is engaged; while writing those scenes I had strongly in my recollection Collin d’Harleville’s ‘Vieux Celibataire.’ But even the little I have adopted is considerably altered and modified by the necessity of adapting it to the exigencies of a different plot.”

THE VOTE LAST NOVEMBER.

BELOIT, Wis.

What was the number of votes cast for the different parties in each of the States in the November election?

W. W. LLOYD.

Answer.—The following table, though liable to a few changes, is substantially correct:

————————————————+——————————+——————————+—————————+—————————— | Rep. | Dem. | Gbk. | Scat’g. ————————————————+——————————+——————————+—————————+—————————— California | 67,173 | 90,695 | | Colorado | 27,552 | 29,897 | | Connecticut | 54,853 | 59,014 | 697 | [1]1,034 Delaware | 10,098 | 12,053 | | Florida | 20,139 | 24,067 | | [5]3,553 Illinois | 254,551 | 249,067 | 15,520 | [1]16,344 Indiana | 210,234 | 220,918 | 13,520 | Iowa | 149,051 | 112,180 | 30,817 | Kansas | 75,158 | 83,237 | 20,933 | Louisiana | 33,953 | 49,892 | | Maryland | 74,515 | 80,725 | 1,833 | Massachusetts | 119,997 | 133,946 | | [1]2,137 Michigan | 149,697 | 154,259 | 5,854 | [1]1,114 Minnesota | 92,802 | 46,653 | 3,781 | [1]1,545 Mississippi | 20,553 | 48,159 | | [5]9,729 Missouri | 128,239 | 198,620 | 33,407 | Nebraska | 43,495 | 28,562 | 16,991 | Nevada | 6,462 | 7,720 | | New Hampshire | 41,111 | 36,091 | | New Jersey | 97,869 | 99,962 | 6,063 | [1]943 New York | 342,464 | 535,318 | 11,974 | [1]25,783 North Carolina | | 111,763 | |[2]111,320 Pennsylvania | 315,589 | 355,791 | 23,996 |[3]43,743 South Carolina | | 67,158 | 17,719 | Tennessee | 91,693 | 119,297 | 9,538 | [4]4,632 Texas | 27,625 | 164,087 | 41,126 |[5]12,160 Virginia | 4,342 | 94,184 | |[6]99,992 Wisconsin | 94,606 | 103,630 | 2,496 |[1]13,800 +——————————+——————————+—————————+—————————— Total |2,553,821 |3,315,955 | 256,265 | ————————————————+——————————+——————————+—————————+——————————

To obtain a correct estimate of the Prohibition vote there should be added to the above amounts the Republican vote of Kansas, 4,398 votes cast in favor of a prohibition amendment in North Carolina, and 5,196 votes for prohibition candidates in Pennsylvania, which would swell the number to 141,328.

NATIVITIES OF CHICAGOANS AND NEW YORKERS.

ROCKFORD, Ill.

Which has the larger ratio of foreign population, Chicago or New York, and of what elements is the foreign population of these cities composed?

AN OLD SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—The foreign population of New York City, according to the last census, constituted a little over 38 per cent of the whole; the foreign population of Chicago was 40 per cent of the whole. Of the foreign population of New York 198,595 were natives of Ireland, 153,482 of Germany, 23,767 of England, 8,683 of Scotland, and 929 of Wales, 12,223 of Italy, 9,910 of France, 9,020 of Poland. 8,093 of Bohemia, 7,024 of British America, 4,743 of Austria, 4,551 of Russia, 4,545 of Switzerland, 4,101 of Hungary, 3,194 of Sweden, 1,860 of Holland, 1,644 of Cuba, 87 of Africa, 119 of Asia, 175 of Australia, 556 of Belgium, 747 of China. 1,096 of Denmark, 69 of Greece, 7 of Greenland, 20 of Japan, 100, of Luxemburg, 132 of Mexico, 893 of Norway, 66 of Portugal, 59 of Sandwich Islands, 427 of South American Islands, 667 of Spain, 77 of Turkey, 814 of West Indies, exclusive of Cuba; 17 of Central America, 35 of Atlantic Islands, 62 of Europe, nationality not given; 93 born at sea. Of the foreign population of Chicago, 44,411 were natives of Ireland, 32,919 of Prussia, 29,249 of other German States, 13,265 of Canada, 13,045 of England, 12,930 of Sweden, 11,887 of Bohemia, 9,783 of Norway, 5,536 of Poland, 4,152 of Scotland, 2,626 of Bavaria, 2,556 of Denmark, 2,145 of Baden, 2,045 of Holland, 1,356 of Austria, 1,590 of France, 1,919 of Hanover, 1,357 of Italy, 1,923 of Mechlenburg, 1,612 of Saxony, 1,459 of Switzerland, 1,408 of Wurtemburg, 484 of Belgium, 408 of Hamburg, 739 of Hessen, 300 of Hungary, 358 of Luxemburg, 235 of New Brunswick, 243 of Nova Scotia, 722 of Wales, 921 of Russia, 110 of Nassau, 258 of China, 107 of Australasia, 48 born at sea, 41 of South America, 61 of Spain, 59 of West Indies, 87 of Newfoundland, 81 of Oldenburg, 44 of Brunswick, 44 of Great Britain, what part not stated; 330 of countries not specified.

SLAVERY IN CUBA.

GRAPELAND, Texas.

What is the condition of slavery in Cuba, and in what time will emancipation be complete?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—According to a Cuban law, passed by the Spanish Cortes in 1870, all persons who should be born after June 23, 1870, and all who should attain the age of 60, should be free after June 23, 1870. This enactment, however, was evaded to a considerable extent. The plantations were supplied not only with negro but also with Chinese coolies, who were subjected to even greater servitude. In November, 1879, a new bill was passed by the Spanish Cortes, which provided that all slaves from 55 upward should become free; that slaves from 50 to 55 should be liberated Sept. 17, 1880; from 45 to 50, September, 1882; from 40 to 45, in 1884; from 35 to 40, in 1886; from 30 to 35, in 1888, and those under 30 in 1890. The bill also provided that the sum of 100,000 piastres should be set apart annually for defraying the expenses of the emancipation, the owner to receive 350 piastres for each slave. This bill has gone into effect and is being generally observed, although there is still some complaint of its violation.

WASHINGTON TERRITORY.

MANSON, Iowa.

Please give a few facts concerning the climate, soil, and products of Washington Territory.

W. CLEVELAND.

Answer.—The Cascade range of mountains extends north and south through Washington Territory, dividing it into two unequal parts, which differ somewhat as to their climate and soil. West of the mountains the climate is very moderate. The inhabitants do not suffer either from extreme heat or extreme cold, the annual range of the thermometer being from zero to 85 degrees. The rainy season lasts three months in winter, during which the inhabitants suffer no great discomfort. The soil on the river bottoms is a very rich alluvium. The uplands have a clay loam, but considerable tracts are sandy soil. About Puget Sound forests of fir and cedar extend up to the summits of the mountains, while in the river bottoms may be found the vine-maple, alder, and crab tree. Grain of all kinds, nutritious grasses, hops, fruit, and vegetables grow abundantly. East of the Cascades the climate is a little drier, and the summer and winter heat a little more extreme. The soil is whiter than that of the Mississippi Valley, being highly charged with alkaline deposits. Herding now is the chief occupation of the settlers, though it is expected that when the Northern Pacific Railway is completed agriculture will become more prominent. Fruitful orchards, surrounded by fields of wheat, oats, barley, and rye are not at all uncommon.

SACRAMENTO AND SAN JOAQUIN VALLEYS.

EDGINGTON, Ill.

Please give a description of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys of California.

A READER.

Answer.—Between the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada lie the beautiful valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, named from the rivers which drain them. The climate of the country is very uniform, the mean summer temperature of San Francisco, on the bay into which these rivers empty, being 60 degrees, and that of winter 51 degrees. The rainy season commences in November and continues until April, during which period, however, but little inconvenience is occasioned. The dry season is such that crops readily mature and may be harvested, threshed, and sent to market without being placed under shelter. The soil is very productive, and, unless the rain fails in its season, yields abundantly. The grasses are numerous and nutritious. Wheat, oats, corn, and other cereals are grown quite extensively. But in many portions of the valley the most lucrative business is the cultivation of orchards and vineyards. Grapes, apples, pears, plums, and in the southern part apricots, oranges, and other tropical fruits grow in abundance. On the verdant slopes of the mountains sheep-grazing is carried on on a large scale. Although these valleys offer many inducements to settlers, land may still be obtained in some places at moderate prices.

EX-GOVERNOR THROOP, OF NEW YORK.

BUCKLIN, Mo.

Please give a sketch of the late ex-Governor Throop, of New York.

F. M. BEERS.

Answer.—Enos Thompson Throop, at one time very prominent in politics, was born at Johnstown, N. Y., Aug. 21, 1784. Choosing law as his profession, he was admitted to the bar in 1806 and began practice at Auburn. He early established an enviable reputation, and in 1814 was chosen to represent his district in Congress. He was afterward appointed by Governor Yates Circuit Judge of the Seventh District. In 1828 he was elected Lieutenant Governor, along with Governor Van Buren, and when the latter accepted a position in Jackson’s Cabinet he succeeded him. In 1830 he was re-elected, but in 1832 declined a third term. He soon after removed to Michigan, where he again became prominent in political affairs. As age, however, came upon him his health failed and he returned again to his native State. He died in his 91st year at Willow Brook, N.Y., on the shore of Owasco Lake.

CLOCKS AND NOON-MARKS.

DANVERS, Ill.

How many correct noon-marks can be made during a year?

H. M. VALENTINE.

Answer.—Four correct “noon-marks” are made in a year, on the following days: Dec. 24, April 15, June 14, and Sept. 1. Owing to the inclination of the earth’s axis and its unequal movement in its orbit, solar days vary in their length. The average solar day corresponds to the twenty-four hours of our clocks, which keep what is called mean time. If a clock were so constructed as to give the real solar time for all periods of the year, it would be observed that sometimes when the solar clock pointed at noon, the ordinary clock, keeping mean time, would be pointing at figures between 11:45 and 12, or at other times between 12 and 12:15. Four times each year, however, upon the days mentioned, the two clocks would coincide, and the shadow of a dial, or noon-mark, would point due south at noon by the clock.

THE FATHER OF THE HUMANE SOCIETY.

BEDFORD, Iowa.

Please give a short sketch of Henry Bergh, so long the President of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

FRANK ATKINSON.

Answer.—Henry Bergh, the philanthropist, was born in New York, in 1823. He received his education at Columbia College, where he manifested a considerable love for literature. He afterward obtained some notoriety as an author by writing a drama entitled “Love’s Attractions,” a poem entitled “Married Off,” and several tales and sketches. In 1863 he was made Secretary of the United States Legation to Russia, and subsequently Vice Consul. Returning to this country, he founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which was incorporated in 1866. This association has grown into considerable magnitude, having branches in most of the States and receiving the support of the best citizens. The society endeavors to prevent cruelty to all kinds of animals by securing the passage and enforcement of laws to accomplish that object. It also takes into consideration things which pertain to the health of the people, such as purity of meat, milk, etc. As a minor illustration of its good work, a few years ago sportsmen were accustomed to shoot pigeons at shooting matches; but by an effort of the Humane Society glass balls have been substituted. Mr. Bergh continues to preside over the association.

WEATHER SIGNS.

AURORA, Ill.

Now that Vennor and the Signal Service, or “Old Probabilities,” are engrossing so much of the public attention, we are in danger of forgetting the old weather proverbs. Cannot Our Curiosity Shop call to mind a few of these, and let its readers test them alongside of the prognostications of Tice, Vennor & Co.

CONSTANT READER.

Answer.—The editor of Our Curiosity Shop is neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet. The best he can do to meet this demand is to give the following quotations from a lecture on “Weather Prognostics”, delivered by Mr. William Marriott, before the Meteorological Society of England:

When round the moon there is a brugh (halo), The weather will be cold and rough.

When the sun goes pale to bed, ’Twill rain to-morrow, it is said.

When the clouds are upon the hills, They come down by the mills.

Mackerel sky and mares’ tails Make lofty ships carry low sails.

When the wind veers against the sun, Trust it not, for back it will run.

When the wind is in the south, It is in the rain’s mouth.

When the mist creeps up the hill, Fisher, out and try your skill.

If larks fly high and sing long, expect fine weather.

When sea-birds fly out early and far to seaward, moderate winds and fair weather may be expected.

If rooks go far abroad, it will be fine.

Cranes soaring along and quietly in the air foreshow fair weather.

If kites fly high, fine weather is at hand.

Wild geese, wild geese, ganging out to sea, Good weather it will be.

When owls whoop much at night, expect fair weather.

Bats or flying mice, coming out of their holes quickly after sunset, and sporting themselves in the open air, premonstrate fair and calm weather.

Chickweed expands its leaves boldly and fully when fine weather is to follow.

White mist in winter indicates frost.

When fires burn faster than usual and with a blue flame, frosty weather may be expected.

In winter, when the sound of the breakers on the shore is unusually distinct, frost is indicated.

Clear moon, Frost soon.

In winter, when the moon’s horns are sharp and well-defined, frost is expected.

If the wind is northeast three days without rain Eight days will pass before south wind again.

If wind follow sun’s course, expect fair weather.

All the above prognostics, it may be remarked, are in strict accordance with scientific observation.

FIRST MICHIGAN STATE ELECTION.

GREENVILLE, Wis.

When did the first State election occur in Michigan?

J. H. STANLEY.

Answer.—In the year 1835 Michigan adopted a State constitution and chose Stevens T. Mason, the Territorial Governor, as its first State Governor. It then demanded of Congress a recognition as a State and the rights of representation. This request Congress agreed to grant, providing the petitioning State would accept the boundary line claimed by Ohio. Not until January, 1837, would Michigan accept such terms, and then only on condition that it should receive, in lieu of the disputed strip on the south, the territory on Lake Superior now known as the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Immediately after this the State was formally admitted. By special permission the State was allowed to cast three electoral votes in the Presidential contest of 1836-7. In the same year in which it was admitted, Mr. Mason was re-elected to the position of Governor, which office he continued to hold until 1839.

THE LONGEST THROWS, LEAPS, AND RUNS.

CAMBRIDGE, Iowa.

What is the longest throw on record with a base ball? What is the longest single standing jump? What is the fastest time ever made by man running 100 yards? What is the fastest mile ever made by a horse?

A. APLIN.

Answer.—The longest throw with a base ball for the year 1882 was 132 yards 1 foot, made by E. N. Williamson, the third baseman of the Chicago league nine. The longest standing jump with artificial aid was made by G. W. Hamilton, at Romeo, Mich., Oct. 3, 1879. With 22 pound weights he jumped 14 feet 5½ inches. The longest standing jump without artificial aid was performed by J. J. Tickle, Sept. 2, 1871, at Manchester, England, who cleared 10 feet 5 inches. The fastest run of 100 yards was made by George Seward, an American, at Hammersmith, England, Sept. 30, 1844, who accomplished the feat in 9¼ seconds. The fastest recorded time ever made by a horse for one mile was 1 minute 39¾ seconds, which was accomplished by Ten Broeck, a running horse, at Louisville, Ky., May 24, 1877. The fastest mile in heat racing was performed by Ada Glenn, in 1 minute 41¼ seconds, running, at Sheepshead Bay, L. I., Sept. 21, 1880.

BOLIVAR, THE LIBERATOR.

ORANGE GROVE, Miss.

Give a short historical sketch or the life of General Bolivar.

FRANK.

Answer.—Bolivar y Ponte, surnamed The Liberator, was a South American patriot, who in July, 1783, was born in Caracas, a town in the then Spanish province of Venezuela. His father, having obtained considerable wealth, like many of the early adventurers, sent his son to Madrid to pursue the study of law. When Venezuela in 1810 endeavored to throw off the yoke of Spanish oppression, Bolivar joined the cause of the patriots and began service under Miranda. Soon his own ability eclipsed that of his senior officer and he was given a separate command. Defeating the Spaniards in August, 1813, he entered Caracas at the head of his victorious army in triumph. He was immediately appointed dictator; but his enjoyment of that office was suddenly terminated by the reappearance of the Spaniards, who in 1814 defeated and drove him from the province. His defeat, however, did not discourage him. In 1817 he led the patriots in a battle against Morillo and again found himself a conqueror. Venezuela chose him to be her President, and in 1819 New Granada did him like honor, the two States uniting to form Colombia. In 1823 his love for liberty and hatred of Spain caused him to lend assistance to the revolting Peruvians. The latter were successful, and as a reward for the excellent service of the Liberator, Bolivia, named in his honor, was erected into a separate State, and Bolivar was made its President for life. For a few years he remained President of both Colombia and Bolivia. He died in December, 1830.

ENGLISH SOVEREIGNS.

HUNTINGDON, Pa.

Who have been sovereigns of England since the reign of King John?

W. S. C.

Answer.—The following, beginning with John, the grantor of Magna Charta, have been sovereigns of England:

John—Sixth son of Henry II.

Henry III.—Eldest son of John.

Edward I.—Eldest son of Henry III.

Edward II.—Eldest surviving son of Edward I.

Edward III.—Eldest son of Edward II.

Richard II.—Son of the Black Prince, eldest son of Edward III.

Henry IV.—Son of John of Gaunt, fourth son of Edward III.

Henry V.—Eldest son of Henry IV.

Henry VI.—Only son of Henry V.

Edward IV.—Grandson of Richard, son of Edmund, son of Edward III.

Edward V.—Eldest son of Edward IV.

Richard III.—Younger brother of Edward IV.

Henry VII.—Son of Edmund, eldest son of Owen Tudor by Katharine, widow of Henry V.

Henry VIII.-Only surviving son of Henry VII.

Edward VI.—Son of Henry VIII. by Jane Seymour.

Mary I.—Daughter of Henry VIII. by Katherine of Arragon.

Elizabeth—Daughter of Henry VIII. by Anne Boleyn.

James I.—Son of Mary Queen of Scots, granddaughter of James IV. and Margaret, daughter of Henry VII.

Charles I.—Only surviving son of James I.

Commonwealth—{ Oliver Cromwell. { Richard Cromwell.

Charles II.—Eldest son of Charles I.

James II.—Second son of Charles I.

William III. { Son of William Prince of Orange and { by Mary, daughter of Charles I. Mary II. { Eldest daughter of James II.

Anne—Second daughter of James II.

George I.—Grandson of Elizabeth, daughter of James I.

George II.—Only son of George I.

George III.—Grandson of George II.

George IV.—Eldest son of George III.

William IV.—Third son of George III.

Victoria—Daughter of Edward, fourth son of George III.

WHO MADE MAXIMILIAN EMPEROR OF MEXICO?

TAYLOR, Ill.

What part did France take in placing Maximilian on the throne of Mexico?

M. M. ALDIL.

Answer.—Taking advantage of the war which occupied the attention of the United States, Napoleon III., planned the conquest of Mexico. With but little difficulty his army succeeded in this enterprise and occupied the City of Mexico in 1863. He soon discovered the barren nature of his conquest and the certainty of final failure. To rid himself of the consequences of what had proved a most costly enterprise, before he should be forced to a humiliating abandonment of the country, he tempted Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, to accent the crown of Mexico. To give eclat to the affair and the color of popular approval, he ordered an election. This was dominated by French troops and Napoleon’s Mexican accomplices, and the result was an apparent popular vote to adopt an imperial form of government and invite Maximilian to accept the throne. In 1864 he was received with festivities and other marks of distinction planned by the French and their Mexican supporters. The Mexican patriots, however, still maintained an organization. When driven out of the capital President Juarez retired to San Luis Potosi, then to Monterey, and finally to Chihuahua, and with his Cabinet still maintained the form of a central, national head of the republic. The French availed of the excuse that Maximilian was in possession of the government to return to France, and leave him to his own resources. The guerrilla bands of patriots which had kept up the harassment of the imperial troops with more or less persistency from the first, gathered strength, and at last, deserted by Napoleon, attacked on all sides by the rallying militia of the republic, the unhappy Emperor undertook to escape from the country, was captured, and finally executed at Queretaro, June 19, 1867. The French were wholly responsible for placing Maximilian in Mexico and for abandoning him to his unhappy fate.

TRADES UNIONS.

JACKSONVILLE, Ill.

Please give us information as to the origin, object, and extent of trades unions.

W. A. LEWIS.

Answer.—The various trade societies are the outgrowth of the old English guilds, which originated in the beginning of the eleventh century, and had for their prime object the relief or support of infirm guild-brothers, the burial of the dead with proper religious services, etc. In time, however, these organizations became better classified and more exclusive. One guild was confined to the merchants, another to the woolen manufacturers, another to the cutlery manufacturers, etc.: the objects, at the same time, becoming more comprehensive. In order to secure skilled workmen and prevent competition with the inexperienced, the craftsmen secured the passage of apprenticeship laws. In the case of woolen and several other trades apprentices were required to serve manufacturers seven years. Employers and employes were then united in these efforts, but, finally, as the manufacturing industries became more profitable and improved, and machinery was introduced, the rich masters withdrew from the craftguilds, and began to hire children and men who had not served a complete apprenticeship. This action on the part of the employers caused the first “trade society” to be formed, in 1796, called the Institution, which had for its object the protection of its members against the encroachments of capitalists, and to secure the passage of stricter apprenticeship laws. Since that time the trades unions have increased in number and membership, until they include nearly all the craftsmen of England, and from protective associations they have grown into societies for the general improvement of the laboring classes. To its efforts mainly are due the passage of the eight-hour law of Great Britain and the statute granting the Saturday half-holiday. In the United States similar organizations are found, to which, especially in large cities, nearly all the workmen belong.

THE RED SEA.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Is it generally believed by Bible scholars that the Red Sea was so called because of the destruction of Pharaoh and the Egyptian army?

ANN HALLIDAY.

Answer.—The drowning of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea had nothing to do with its name. It takes this from a peculiar reddish color remarked at certain seasons of the year in parts of this sea, due to marine plants, or to reddish animalculæ, called by sailors “whale feed,” which float on it like a scum; or to the reefs of red coral which abound in many parts of it; or, possibly, to the fact that its upper coast was one of the boundaries of Edom, “the red.” No Biblical scholar of any repute has ever asserted that the sea took its name from the overthrow of Pharaoh.

DESCRIPTION OF A CREAMERY.

FORT DODGE, Iowa.

The farmers of this section of the country need to know what a good creamery is. Tell us what the inside of a really good creamery looks like.

MANY READERS.

Answer.—A Chicago inquirer says: “Oblige butter and cheese consumers with a description of a first-class creamery. Some of us have a very vague notion of such an establishment.—E. D. Smith.” Another inquiry comes from Neligh, Neb. So some care has been taken to obtain a description of a thoroughly well-constructed factory of this kind. This is the more important as the dairy business of the West is growing with wonderful rapidity, and nothing has done more to develop this industry than the recent introduction of creameries. The term creamery was formerly applied to an establishment fitted up expressly for the purpose of manufacturing butter, but now the name is given to factories where both butter and cheese are made. Milk is brought in spring wagons from dairy-farms for a distance of six miles or less, and cream is gathered anywhere within a radius of fifteen miles to be manufactured into butter and cheese. This product thus handled in larger quantities, in a scientific manner, with effective labor-saving machinery and proper surroundings, makes it possible to obtain the best results, and such product is always marketable at prices much higher than dairy butter. The factory of the Aurora Creamery Company, built at Aurora, Ill., about a year ago is generally regarded as a model establishment, and will furnish an example for this description. To operate a creamery successfully two things are absolutely necessary, viz., a good spring of living water of low temperature, say 50 to 54 deg., and good drainage; without these features there is no prospect of permanent success in the undertaking. The factory named has a spring located about 200 feet off which discharges, both winter and summer, 750 gallons of pure water per hour, temperature 52 deg., with 5 feet 9 inches fall, while drainage is supplied by a 2-foot square stone sewer which empties into the river, through which a slough is drained, and into which there is a 5-foot fall from the factory. The main building is of brick with a 12-inch wall: size, 32 × 70, 20 feet high; right wing, 20 × 24; left wing, 18 × 24, and rear extension, 18 × 26. The room in which the cheese is manufactured is 30 × 40. It contains a fine upright 9-horse-power engine, a Wir’s self-agitating rotary cheese vat with a capacity for 12,000 pounds of milk and a gang cheese press. The butter room, 30 × 30 feet, contains one churn with a capacity of 400 gallons, and one with a capacity of 150 gallons, a power butter worker, sink with steam pipes to scald, and revolving brush for washing cans, 3 cream vats 300 gallons each, a receiving vat into which the milk is strained, and from which it is drawn into deep pails, or sets, which are placed in three cemented water vats of capacity sufficient to cool 20,000 pounds of milk daily. The left wing of the factory contains a 16-horse power boiler, which furnishes steam to run the machinery and heat the building; a seventy-barrel water tank, which is placed over the boiler; a Davidson steam pump and coal bin which will store fifty tons of coal. An improvement which, it is claimed, is found in no other factory, is an elevated “whey vat” placed over the boiler-room, into which the whey is raised by a rotary pump, and from which the farmers draw their supply of whey to be carried into the country. When all that is wanted has been drawn out a gate is opened, and the balance is run into the river, after which the tank is scalded out and kept sweet and clean. This is a vast improvement over the pestilence breeding arrangement which is sunk in the ground, and is located near the butter and cheese rooms of most other factories. The right wing of the factory contains a driveway, a receiving-room, weighing platform, and stairway to office. The extension holds 150 tons of ice, and contains a refrigerator with a capacity of 30,000 pounds of butter. In the second story is a neat office, store-rooms, and curing room, to which the cheese are raised by an elevator. The lower floors are made of 2 × 6 joists, dressed and matched and imbedded in cement; under which is a four-inch coating of grout, so that there is no possible chance for the milk to leak through the floor and produce the sickening stench which is so common in many factories. Special attention has been given to ventilation in every part of the building and the whole establishment has the appearance in neatness of a tidy farmhouse kitchen. The sum of $10,000 was expended in real estate, buildings, and fixtures of this factory, but a good creamery with a comfortable outfit of medium capacity could be put up for much less money. The machinery for churning and working the butter is as simple as it is ingenious. The churn is a great square chest revolving on an axis running through its longest diameter; the butter-workers are fluted wooden cones running around a circular disk inclined at an angle to the horizon, so that the buttermilk runs off as fast as it is expressed. The apparatus for stirring the cheese curd and pressing the cheese, and a score of other nicely contrived instruments, operate with the uniformity and precision of clock work.

SPEED OF RAILWAY TRAINS.

WAUKEGAN, Ill.

How does the speed of railroad trains in this country compare with that of trains in Europe?

C. D. ADAMS.

Answer.—The fastest recorded railroad speed in the United States is given in the New York Clipper Almanac, as follows: The train which left West Philadelphia for Jersey City over the Pennsylvania Railroad at 7:35 a. m., Sept. 4, 1879 (Edward Osborn, engineer), made 1 mile in 50¼ seconds; 3 miles in 2 m. 36¼ sec., and 5 miles in 4 m. 50 sec. A train on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad made the run from Hamburg to Buffalo, N. Y., 10 miles, in 8 minutes. The locomotive Hamilton Davis and six cars, on the New York Central Railroad in 1855, made 14 miles in 11 minutes. A new Fontaine engine and two coaches, carrying W. H. Vanderbilt and party, ran from Amherstburg to St. Thomas, Can., over the Canada Southern Railroad, 111 miles, in 98 minutes—no stop. Probably the fastest run ever made for any considerable distance in England was that of the special train carrying the Duke of Wellington from Paddington to Slough, 18 miles, in 15 minutes. But these are exceptional runs; what is of more importance is to compare regular time-table speed. The London Engineer says, commenting on a series of articles on this subject which have appeared in the German journal, Die Verkehrszeitung, in the American Railroad Gazette, and in other papers, “it appears that railroad speeds in Great Britain, on the Continent, and in the United States are much slower than most people suppose. If we take for instance, the run from London to Edinburgh, a distance of 397 miles via York, this is made in 9 hours by great Northern trains, the average speed being 44.1 miles per hour. From Euston the distance is 401 miles, and London and Northwestern trains make the run in 10 hours, or 40.1 miles an hour. By the Midland Railway the distance is 404 miles, and the time 10 h. 5 min., or very nearly the same speed. Some of the fastest trains in the world are those run between Leeds and London. From King’s Cross the distance by the Great Northern is 186½ miles. From St. Pancras by the Midland is 196 miles. The fastest train on the Great Northern makes the run in 4 h. 5 min., or an average speed of 45.4 miles an hour. The Midland trains traverse the distance in 4 h. 30 min., giving an average velocity of 43.5 miles an hour. The fastest train in the world is the Flying Dutchman, broad gauge, which makes the run to Swindon at 53½ miles an hour. The Great Northern trains run from London to York, 188 miles, at 48 miles an hour, and at least one train runs to Peterborough at 51 miles an hour. The run from London to Grantham has been made repeatedly at 51 miles an hour. On the United States railways the quickest run appears to be that made between Jersey City and Philadelphia, 89 miles, made at the rate of 47⅔ miles an hour. There is not in the world a train timed to run 60 miles an hour, although it is, of course, certain that that velocity is often exceeded. If a speed of 60 miles an hour could be maintained continually between London and Edinburgh, the journey would occupy only 6 hours and 36 minutes; and allowing for three stops of 10 minutes each on the route, the time would be under 7¼ hours, instead of 10 hours. So far as the machinery of a railway is concerned—by which we mean the road, the rolling stock, and the signals—there is nothing to prevent an average speed of 60 miles an hour being maintained. That it is not attained is certain.”

THE UNITED STATES CIVIL LIST.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa.

What officers are included under the civil service?

L. A. H.

Answer.—The civil officers of the United States are those employed by the several departments. In 1876, in reply to an inquiry made by order of Congress, the following official statement was made: Department of State, 430; Treasury, 12,482; War Department, 1,489; Navy Department, 131; Postoffice Department, 44,897; Interior, 2,475; Department of Justice, 528. Total number of civil officers, 62,427.

GREAT FIRES.

JOLIET, Ill.

Which was the greatest fire, that of London, Moscow, or Chicago?

AN INQUIRER.

Answer.—The great fire of London, which occurred in 1666, destroyed about two-thirds of the city; but there is no estimate of the value of the property. The burning of Moscow, in September, 1812, destroyed property which has been valued at $150,000,000. The great Chicago fire of 1871 consumed $192,000,000 worth of property. The area burnt over in the Chicago fire was greater than that covered by either the London or Moscow fire.

PRESIDENT JACKSON’S DOUBLE MARRIAGE.

OWENSVILLE, Ark.

Who was the first husband of Andrew Jackson’s wife, and what was the cause of the separation?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—Mrs. Jackson was formerly the wife of Mr. Lewis Robards, of Kentucky. While Mr. Robards and his wife were residing at the home of Mrs. Donelson, the mother of Mrs. Robards, Andrew Jackson became a boarder, and consequently quite intimate with the family. In time, Mr. Robards became intensely jealous of his wife, which culminated in his charging her with adultery and suing for divorce. This charge, however, was neither proven nor generally believed. Through the influence of Jackson, the Legislature in 1791 passed an act legalizing the separation of Mr. and Mrs. Robards, but the legal divorce from the courts was not obtained until 1793. After the act of the Legislature, Jackson married Mrs. Robards, supposing that she was lawfully divorced; but after the decision of the court, in order to remove everything questionable, he was remarried.

THE BUNKER HILL FLAG.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What flag, if any, did the provincials use in the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775? What was the first flag used by the revolutionary army?

H. J. H.

Answer.—Reference to that standard work, “The Origin and Progress of the Flag of the United States of America,” by George Henry Preble, U. S. N., and other sources of information, shows that it is uncertain what flag, if any, was displayed by the Americans at Bunker Hill, in the famous fight of June 17, 1775. The flag raised on Prospect Hill by General Putnam, a month later, July 18, 1775, was red, with the motto, Qui Transtulit Sustinet, (who transplanted still sustains) on one side, and “An Appeal to Heaven” on the other. This latter motto was emblazoned on the white flag with a green pine tree carried by the privateers commissioned by Massachusetts, soon after this. The first cruisers commissioned by Washington also bore “the pine tree flag.” Before the battle of Bunker Hill, indeed, immediately after the battle of Lexington, on the 19th of the preceding April, the provincial troops of Connecticut carried a standard bearing the arms of that colony and the Latin motto above cited. As General Putnam and his Connecticut troops took a prominent part in the battle of Bunker Hill, it is presumable that this flag was displayed in that action, and by parity of reasoning it may be inferred that the colonial flags of Massachusetts and New Hampshire were carried into the action by the militia of those colonies. Precisely what these were it is almost or quite impossible to determine with certainty. Indeed, there seem to have been several different flags. The “union-flags” so frequently mentioned in the accounts left us of the revolutionary movements of 1774 and the early part of 1775 were, in most instances, the English red ensign, with such mottoes as “Liberty and Union,” “Liberty and Property,” or simply “Liberty.” Peculiar devices were employed by the patriots of different neighborhoods. Not until Jan. 2, 1776, was the first common standard raised. This was the “Great Union,” as it was christened, adopted by General Washington, and first displayed at his headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., on the date above given. It consisted of thirteen stripes, alternately white and red, with the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew in the union where the stars now glitter.

ORIGIN OF PORTERHOUSE STEAK.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Can Our Curiosity Shop tell us why steaks cut from the small end of the sirloin are called porterhouse steaks?

EPICURE.

Answer.—Colonel Thomas F. De Voe, a New York butcher, author of “The Market Book,” “The Market Assistant,” and other works of similar nature, gives the following account of this now popular cut of beef: Martin Morrison kept a favorite porterhouse at No. 327 Pearl street, New York, near the old Walton House. It was a popular resort with many of the New York pilots, because here they were always sure of a pot of ale or porter and “a hot bite,” including one or two substantial dishes. On one occasion, in 1814, Morrison had enjoyed an unusual number of calls for steaks, and when an old pilot, who dropped in at a late hour, called for something substantial to eat, he was forced to cut from a sirloin roasting piece which he had got for the next day’s family dinner. The old pilot relished his steak amazingly and called for another. This disposed of, “he squared himself in front of his host and vociferated, ‘Look ye here, messmate, arter this I want my steaks off the roasting piece! Do you hear that? So mind your weather eye, old boy!’” The old pilot’s companions soon learned to appreciate these cuts, and it was not long before they were all insisting on having them. Accordingly, Morrison’s butcher, Thomas Gibbons, of the Fly Market, asked him why he had ceased to order the large sirloin steaks. Morrison explained that he had found that cuts from the small end of the sirloin of the beef suited his single customers best, both in size and quality, and directed that thereafter, instead of sending him the sirloin roasts uncut, he have them cut into chops or steaks, as he should direct. Gibbons’ daily order, “Cut steaks for the porterhouse,” soon gave these the name of “porterhouse steaks,” by which they became known all through the Fly Market, particularly as this excellent cut rapidly became popular in all the public houses of the city. The name is now familiar to housekeepers on both sides of the Atlantic, at least wherever the English language is spoken.

SOLDIERS’ HOMESTEADS.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa.

Is a soldier who served more than three years in the army during the late rebellion, and who almost immediately afterwards took up a homestead claim of 120 acres of land, whereon he is now living, entitled to enter forty acres more in another place?

A. N. WILSON.

Answer.—The following letter from Commissioner McFarland, in answer to a similar inquiry from Mr. A. H. Field, of Indian River, Mich., answers this question officially. Observe that the answer turns upon the important fact that Mr. Field entered his homestead of only eighty acres after the passage of the act approved June 22, 1874, hence the Commissioner holds that he is not entitled to the benefits of the act, whereas if he had made final proof of his claim before June 22, 1874, he would be entitled to an additional eighty acres.

“WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 14, 1883.—A. H. Field, Esq., Indian River, Mich.—Sir: I am in receipt of your letter of the 31st ult., in which you state that you served four years in the army during the late civil war, and that in 1878 you made a homestead entry of eighty acres—all that you could get in that locality—and have lived on the same ever since, and made final proof. You ask if you are not entitled to an additional entry of eighty acres. In reply, I have to state that you are not. The homestead act of June 8, 1872, provides that any soldier who served for ninety days in the army during the war of the rebellion, and was honorably discharged, who may have heretofore entered under the homestead laws a less quantity than 160 acres, shall be permitted to enter a sufficient quantity of land, which, added to that embraced in the original entry, shall not exceed 160 acres. Such provision was carried into the Revised Statutes of the United States (Sec. 2306), which statutes were approved June 22, 1874, and since that date if such a soldier elects to enter a less amount of land than 160 acres, he must abide by his election. Very respectfully,

“A. C. MCFARLAND, Commissioner.”

Mr. Field writes to THE INTER OCEAN, inclosing this letter from the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and complaining that this law inflicts a hardship on him and other soldiers in the late war, who, like himself, deferred their entries until after the passage of the above act. He says: “It seems that it is unfortunate for me, as an old soldier, that I did not locate my land previous to June, 1874. I ought to be entitled to eighty acres of land more as well as any other class of soldiers.” Whether this complaint is or is not well founded, the fact remains that the law is as above stated.

FINDING ONE’S POSITION AT SEA.

PLYMOUTH, Wis.

By what method do sailors at sea determine their exact position?

DOBS.

Answer.—The mariner determines his latitude by observing the meridian altitude of a celestial star whose declination or distance from the equator is known. In the northern hemisphere for an approximate answer the pole star is generally taken, the altitude of which is nearly the latitude of the place. If an observer were standing upon the equator and looking to the north he would see the pole star on the horizon, with no altitude. If he should move three degrees north the pole star would have an altitude corresponding. At Chicago it is above the horizon about 41 degrees 50 minutes, corresponding to the latitude of this city. Owing to the apparent revolution of the pole star about a central axis, which is the true pole of the heavens, the accurate latitude can only be obtained by observing its least and greatest altitude and taking one-half their sum. The longitude of any place computed from Greenwich, Washington, or other prime meridian, is easily determined by observing the Greenwich or Washington time when the sun passes the zenith meridian. In other words, knowing the difference in time between Greenwich and the place of observation, the longitude of the place may be readily computed. A difference of time amounting to one hour represents 15 degrees of longitude east or west, as the case may be. The difference in time between Chicago and Washington is forty-three minutes, which makes the longitude of Chicago 10 degrees 45 minutes, reckoning from the legal prime meridian of the United States, which is that of Washington. Every ship carries a marine chronometer, which is a time-keeper of the most careful construction, whose accuracy has been tested with the utmost precision—which is plainly a matter of the utmost importance to a vessel when it is remembered that an error of four seconds of time represents about one and one-tenth statute miles, enough to wreck a ship on a lee shore when the captain, following the chronometer, supposed himself at a safe distance from the shoal or shore.

YEARS FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

STREATOR, Ill.

Is there any easy rule for finding the years on which Presidential elections have been held or are to be held?

A. C.

Answer.—Every year divisible by four, without exception, is the year for the election of President and Vice President of the United States.

U. S. BONDED DEBT—WHEN PAYABLE.

BARTON, Wis.

When and in what sums does the bonded debt of the United States fall due?

W. MUNGER.

Answer.—Several of the later issues of bonds are payable at the pleasure of the government, but the following cannot be redeemed except by purchase in the market until specified dates. Four per cents payable July 1, 1907, $738,829,600; 4½ per cents payable Sept. 1, 1891, $250,000,000; Pacific Railway 6’s payable Sept. 1, 1895, $3,002,000; Pacific Railway 6’s payable Sept. 1, 1896, $8,000,000; Pacific Railway 6’s payable Sept 1, 1897, $9,712,000; Pacific Railway 6’s payable Sept. 1, 1898, $29,383,000; Pacific Railway 6’s payable Sept. 1, 1899, $14,526,512.

THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC.

GENEVA, N. Y.

Who first devised the signs of the zodiac, and for what purpose?

CHAS. W. SMITH.

Answer.—Representations of the zodiacal signs are found among the ancient writings of the Hindoos, Persians, and Chinese, and among the carvings on the ruins of Egyptian temples. There is such a degree of similarity in the characters that a common origin must be supposed. The signs of the zodiac embrace the twelve important constellations, which, owing to the motions of the earth, appear to revolve through the heavens within a belt extending nine degrees on each side of the sun’s apparent annual path, and within or near which all the planets revolve. Since the sun appears successively in each of these twelve constellations during the year, the zodiac was divided into twelve equal parts, corresponding to the months. These signs and their subdivisions were used in measuring time and as the basis of astronomical and astrological calculations and predictions. Astronomers now, for convenience, use the same signs, giving to each constellation an extent of thirty degrees, although the constellations vary in size. These signs are Aries representing the ram; Taurus, the bull; Gemini, the twins; Cancer, the crab; Leo, the lion; Virgo, the virgin; Libra, the balance; Scorpio, the scorpion; Sagittarius, the archer; Capricornus, the goat; Aquarius, the water-bearer; and Pisces, the fishes. On the 20th of March the sun enters Aries, and at midnight Virgo, the opposite constellation, will be overhead. During the month of April the sun will pass into Taurus, and at midnight Libra will be overhead. The early astronomers were astrologers, and claimed to be able to predict the future careers of individuals and nations by observing the positions and movements of the planets, and condition of the weather, at the most important periods of men’s lives. A man born when the sun was in the constellation Scorpio was believed to be naturally bent toward excessive indulgence of the animal passions; one born when the sun was in Aries was destined to be a great scholar or ruler; one born when the sun was in Pisces was predestined to grovel or be a servant, and so on. All this is regarded now as exploded superstition, except by fortune-tellers and their dupes.

AREAS OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND.

HOUGHTON, Mich.

What are the areas of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales? Also, what is the area of the county of Cornwall?

W. J. UREN.

Answer.—England has an area of 50,914 square miles, or 32,584,735 acres; Ireland, 32,524 square miles, or 20,815,460 acres; Scotland, 30,462 square miles, or 19,496,132 acres; Wales, 7,397 square miles, or 4,734,486 acres. The county of Cornwall contains 1,390 square miles, or an acreage of 869,898.

TO SELECT HOUDAN FOWLS.

CLINTON, Iowa.

By what marks can I tell Houdan fowls I am about to purchase a pair, if they are what they are represented to be—of pure breed.

J. ALLEN.

Answer.—Houdans stand and walk erectly; the males weigh from eight to nine pounds; the hens from five to seven pounds. They are lumpy in shape, are evenly speckled white and brown, with large comb, crest, and beard. Refuse any that have not pink-white feet, black and white plumage, and good crests.

THE FIRST CABLE MESSAGE.

FAIRPOINT, Minn.

What was the first message sent on the Atlantic cable?

FRANK PALMER.

Answer.—The first message on the Atlantic cable of 1858, which soon proved a failure, was a congratulatory dispatch from Queen Victoria to President Buchanan. The first message on the successful cable completed in 1866 was the announcement of the treaty of peace between Prussia and Austria.

PRINCE NAPOLEON.

AURORA, Ill.

Will Our Curiosity Shop tell us what relation the Prince Jerome Bonaparte, lately arrested in France for issuing an insurrectionary proclamation, bears to Napoleon I. and oblige many readers?

T.

Answer.—Jerome Bonaparte, the father of this Prince Jerome, was the youngest brother of Napoleon I. In 1803, when he was only 18 years of age, he married Miss Elizabeth Patterson, of Baltimore. This act was displeasing to Napoleon, who passed a decree annulling the marriage on the ground that his brother was not of age and the bans were not published in France. Soon after the return of Jerome to his native country he was made King of Westphalia, and at the suggestion of Napoleon, married Catherine, daughter of the King of Wurtemburg. Of this marriage three children were born—Jerome Napoleon, in 1814, who died in 1847; Napoleon Joseph Charles Paul, the subject of this sketch, in 1822, who afterward took his elder brother’s name, and the Princess Mathilde. The Prince first came into prominence by his denunciation of the government of Louis Philippe and his sympathy with the revolutionists, which caused his banishment in 1845. But, in 1848, he returned and participated in the revolution. In 1852 he took his seat in the Senate and Council of State, receiving the title of Prince and being declared by decree of the Senate the heir of his cousin, Napoleon III., in case the latter should die without issue. He took part in the Crimean war, commanding a reserve force at Alma and at Inkerman. Before the close of the war he was recalled, ostensibly on account of his health, and soon entered upon the duties of several important civil offices. In 1859 he was married to Princess Clothilde, daughter of the late Victor Emanuel, King of Italy, by whom he has three children. In 1861 he visited the United States, and, with his suite and the French Minister, accompanied the Army of the Potomac, pushing as far South as Richmond. After his return he sympathized to a certain extent with the democratic feeling arising in France. For this seeming absurdity he was given the name Plon-Plon. In 1876 he was returned to the French Assembly from Corsica, but in the year following he was rejected. On the death of the Prince Imperial, as the son of Napoleon III. is called, in Zululand, in 1879, Jerome became the head of the Bonaparte family. He was not popular with a majority of the leading Bonapartists, many of whom refused to acknowledge him as their chief, and urged the proclamation of the elder of Jerome’s two sons as the heir of Napoleon III. Of late, however, there has been a reconciliation between the ex-Empress Eugenie and Jerome, and the Bonapartists generally seem disposed to acquiesce; so that, in case of the Bonaparte’s coming to the front once more, his title of Prince may become something more than an empty sound.

THE CORN CROP ESTIMATES FOR 1882.

DUNLAP, Iowa.

How much corn was produced in 1882? Are there any reliable statistics on the subject?

W. H. DEDRICK.

Answer.—According to the report of the Department of Agriculture the corn crop of 1882 amounted to 1,624,917,800 bushels. These figures have been questioned, but they are based on the estimates of about 1,500 agricultural observers and reporters employed by the bureau, and they are generally conceded to be a fair estimate. Of course, all our crop statistics are only estimates.

CEDAR COUNTY, NEBRASKA.

MELON, Iowa.

Please give a short description of Cedar County Nebraska.

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—This county lies on the northern boundary of the State, being washed by the Missouri River and drained by the several branches of the Bow and Beaver Creeks. In many portions the land is very rich and yields abundantly wheat, corn, and other cereals. In 1879 the corn crop of Cedar County amounted to 2,826,259 bushels, or 40 bushels per acre, which was the largest yield of any county in the State. Orchards of choice fruit trees have been set out and thrive well. The climate is like that of Southern Dakota and Northwestern Iowa, very warm in summer and cold in winter, which latter, from the dryness of the climate, is rendered more endurable than a higher temperature in some of the more Eastern States. The population in 1880 was 2,899. St. Helena, the county seat, is a thriving little town of 300 inhabitants.

THE SITE OF EDEN.

WESTFIELD, Wis.

In Our Curiosity Shop of Jan. 11, C. A. Sharp asks for the location of the Garden of Eden. The Bible tells us that “a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted and became into four heads.” It then proceeds to give them in the order of distance above the mouth of the Euphrates. But one of these rivers is now known by its original name, and that is the Euphrates. Let us, therefore, go down that and see if we can find the other three tributary to it that will agree with the narrative. The first is a large stream from the north. We at once recognize it as the Hiddekel. This is the third river, and its head is far to the north, as is also that of the Euphrates. The text says, “it goeth toward the east of Assyria.” The marginal reading, I think, will be found to explain this. It says “it goeth east to Assyria,” and the great Assyrian Empire was upon it. As we go down these united rivers we find a considerable stream from the northeast, the head of which is in the mountains toward the Caspian Sea. If this is the second river, the Gihon, the text says it “compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.” This expression has doubtless led to much confusion, as the mind has been turned to Ethiopia, in Africa, and which seemed irreconcilable with the text. But turn to the passage and we find the marginal reading to be Cush, and Cush, or Cutha, was a country east of the Hiddekel, through which this stream flows. We turn again to the narrative and it says the first river is the Pison, and that it compasseth the land of Havilah, where there is gold and precious stones. After leaving the mouth of the second river, the Gihon, we find a stream having its head in the mountains east of the Persian Gulf, and also a place called Havilah. The country abounds in precious stones and valuable minerals, and this, with the other three rivers, seems to fill the conditions of the text. We will now hastily review the above to see more clearly its coincidence with the account as given by Moses 2,500 years afterward, in the second chapter of Genesis. A river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted into four heads. The name of the first is Pison, etc.; this we find in the stream coming from Persia, which fulfills its conditions. The second is the Gihon; it too coming from the land of Cush agrees with the text. The third, the Hiddekel, all admit to be the modern Tigris and its connections with Assyria agree well with the record. The fourth is the Euphrates, which flows as of old. But was there a place called Eden from which these streams flowed? Turn to Isa. xxxvii., 12, in the blasphemous letter sent to King Hezekiah by the commander of the Assyrian army, and among the nations he has destroyed is Eden, which from its connections with the other nations is supposed to have been near the junction of the third and fourth rivers. And in the list of nations trading with Tyre we find Eden connected with the nations in the same vicinity. See Ezekiel xxiii., 23. Here then, at no great distance above the Persian Gulf, near 30 degrees north latitude, in a mild climate on a noble river, we may look for the home of the progenitors of our race.

E. H. FISHER.

OVER 2,700 COUNTIES.

TOPEKA, Kan.

I have just read a statement in a newspaper that there are 2,400 counties in the United States, which is doubted. We therefore ask THE INTER OCEAN to give us the facts.

R. E. HINCKLEY.

Answer.—This is an understatement, since in 1880, according to the census, there were 2,671 counties in the United States, including the fifty-nine in Louisiana, locally called parishes. Here is the full list of States and Territories:

No. of States. Counties

Alabama 66 Arkansas 75 California 53 Colorado 32 Connecticut 8 Delaware 3 Florida 45 Georgia 137 Illinois 102 Indiana 92 Iowa 99 Kansas 113 Kentucky 117 Louisiana 59 Maine 16 Maryland 24 Massachusetts 14 Michigan 82 Minnesota 86 Mississippi 75 Missouri 117 Nebraska 80 Nevada 17 New Hampshire 10 New Jersey 21 New York 60 North Carolina 94 Ohio 88 Oregon 26 Pennsylvania 67 Rhode Island 5 South Carolina 33 Tennessee 94 Texas 232 Vermont 14 Virginia 99 West Virginia 54 Wisconsin 63 ————— 2,472

Territories.

Arizona 7 Dakota 94 Idaho 13 Montana 11 New Mexico 14 Utah 27 Washington 25 Wyoming 7 Dis. of Columbia 1 ————— Total 2,671

There have been a number of new counties organized since the census year, particularly in Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, and other States and Territories where the settlement of the country is proceeding most rapidly. There are now about 2,730 counties in the United States.

CARDINAL WOLSEY.

Colfax, Ind.

Please give a short biography of Cardinal Wolsey.

SAMUEL SMITH.

Answer.—Thomas Wolsey, the wily, skillful statesman and ambitious Cardinal, whose life was so intimately associated with that of the profligate king, Henry VIII., studied theology at Oxford, and in 1500, at the age of 29, took holy orders and became the rector at Lymington. He was introduced into the royal court of Henry VII. as chaplain, in which office he obtained the confidence of the king, and was often consulted in important state affairs. His successful diplomacy at the court of the Emperor Maximilian secured for him, as a reward, the deanery of Lincoln. When Henry VIII. ascended the throne he employed Wolsey as his almoner. With the talents of a skillful diplomat, the ambitious priest obtained an influence over this monarch even greater than he had previously held over his royal father. In 1514 he was appointed Archbishop of York, and in the following year became Lord Chancellor of England. The Pope was not unmindful of his able supporter, who in the same year that he became Chancellor was clothed in the resplendent robes of a cardinal. Four years after he became legate. In the height of his power he was the virtual sovereign of the kingdom, and in addition he exercised throughout England and its dependencies, and to some extent beyond these boundaries, nearly all the prerogatives of the sovereign pontiff. His income was scarcely surpassed by that of the king himself. Princes and even monarchs were among the suppliants for his favor and influential offices. He aspired to sit on the papal throne, and twice it seemed as if he would realize this aspiration, but he was defeated through the intrigues and power of Charles V., whose elevation to the imperial throne, left vacant by the death of the Emperor Maximilian, he had opposed in behalf of Henry VIII. His almost regal power continued until Henry desired to put away his wife, Catharine, aunt of Charles V., when Wolsey’s dilatoriness in securing the divorce exasperated the king, and upon his refusing to sanction Henry’s marriage with Anne Boleyn, he was soon dismissed in disgrace. He was stripped of all his honors and estates, but was suffered to retain his episcopal see of Winchester until the following year, 1530, when a conspiracy against the king’s life having been discovered, Wolsey was arrested us an abettor. He was on his way to London to undergo trial on a charge of treason, when he fell ill and died Nov. 29, 1530, at the Monastery of Leicester. Among his last words were the following addressed to the Lord Lieutenant of the Tower: “Master Kyngston, if I had served my God as diligently as I have done the king, He would not have given me over in my gray hairs.” As paraphrased by Shakespeare, these last words of the fallen Cardinal are now immortal.

ALASKA.

ROCK ISLAND, Ill.

How does Alaska compare in size with New York State or Illinois; and what are its principal natural characteristics?

A. N. BROWN.

Answer.—Alaska, according to the report of Ivan Petroff, special agent of the census of 1880, contains 531,400 square miles. This is as large as all New England, together with New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the following seven grand States west of the Alleghanies: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Tennessee. It is a vast region, 2,200 miles in length from east to west (measuring to the farthest of the Aleutian Islands), and 1,400 miles broad. It has a remarkable coast line of 25,000 miles in extent, which is about two and a half times as much as the sea coast of all the rest of the United States. The islands of Alaska alone, according to the estimate quoted by Dr. Jackson, comprise an area of over 31,000 miles, or twice as much as the total area of Maine. The highest mountains in the United States are in Alaska: Mount Fairweather, 15,500; Mount Crillon, 15,900: Mount Cook, 16,000, and Mount St. Elias, 19,500. It is remarkable for the number and stupendous proportions of its glaciers. Says Dr. Jackson: “From Bute Inlet to Unimak Pass nearly every gulch has its glacier, some of which are vastly greater and grander than any glacier in the Alps.” Hot and mineral springs abound. The Yukon River is one of the largest in the United States, being for the first 1,000 miles from one to five miles wide with five mouths, forming a delta seventy miles across. According to Mr. Robert Campbell, of the Hudson’s Bay Fur Company, including its chief tributary, the Pelly, it is navigable at certain seasons for nearly 3,000 miles.

Nearly all the sealskins used in the markets of the world come from two little islands belonging to Alaska. The skins of the sea otter are also very valuable, and there are many choice land fur-bearing animals. The waters are wonderfully rich in fish. Besides cod, “Alaska can supply the world,” says Dr. Jackson, “with salmon, herring, and halibut of the best quality.” It is also “the great reserve lumber region of the United States.” There are “thousands of square miles of yellow cedar, white spruce, hemlock, and balsam fir that densely cover the southeastern section of Alaska.” Gold and silver mines of considerable importance have been opened, and there are indications that the Territory is rich not only in the precious metals, but in other minerals, especially in iron, copper, and coal. In the interior the climate along the Yukon is not unlike that of Dakota. At Fort Yukon the thermometer often rises above 100 degrees in summer, and indicates from 50 degrees to 70 degrees below zero in winter. Along the immense southern coast and islands the climate is moist and warm. At Sitka, according to records kept for forty-five years, the mean spring temperature is 41.2 degrees; summer, 54.6 degrees; autumn, 44.9 degrees; winter, 32.5 degrees; for the whole year, 43.3 degrees. “The surprising fact is brought to light,” adds Dr. Jackson, who takes the above figures from the Alaska Coast Pilot, “that the winter climate of Southern Alaska for forty-five years past has been the average winter climate of Kentucky and West Virginia, and the average summer climate of Minnesota.” The mild climate of this region is due to the warm Japan current of the Pacific, the Kuro-Siwo. Generally of Alaska, Mr. William H. Dale, of the Smithsonian Institution, says: “I come back convinced, from personal inspection, that Alaska is a far better country than much of Great Britain and Norway, and even part of Prussia.” The total population in 1880 is given at 33,426, of whom 430 were white, 1,756 Creole or mixed races, and the rest Indians—Innuits, 17,617; Aleuts, 2,145; Thlinkets, 6,763; Hyda, 788, distributed as follows: The whites and creoles are nearly all in Southeastern Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and Kadiak, which is the division including the south coast of the Alaska Peninsula down to Zakharof Bay, with the adjacent islands, the Kadiah group, the coast and islands of Cook’s Inlet, the Kenai Peninsula, the coast of Prince William’s Sound, and valleys of rivers running into the waters of these coasts. Since the census was taken the white population has been greatly increased by the influx of gold miners and speculators. This Territory is still without a regularly constituted civil government. The laws of the United States “relating to customs, lumber, and navigation” are extended over it, and the Collector and Deputy Collectors have authority to arrest persons violating these laws and send them to Oregon or California to be tried in United States courts. Otherwise the government is mainly a provisional one, organized by the people and enforced by general consent. It is high time that this state of things was ended.

THE AGE OF BENEDICT ARNOLD.

OGDENSBURG, N. Y.

What was the true age of Benedict Arnold? No doubt you are aware that authors do not agree as to the time of the birth of General Arnold. Will you please give us light?

R. W. J.

Answer.—It is true that authors differ as to the age of Benedict Arnold. Appleton’s Cyclopedia says he was born Jan. 3, 1740. Lossing’s Cyclopedia of History gives the time as Jan. 3, 1741, and other authorities do not agree. We prefer to adopt the facts given by the Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, of this city, who has just written and published what there is good reason to believe is the most carefully prepared and impartial history of the American arch traitor of Revolutionary times that has ever appeared. This historian fixes Arnold’s birth on Jan. 14, 1741, and his death on June 14, 1801, in London.

METROPOLITAN POLICE.

WARSAW, Ind.

In what respect do metropolitan police differ from city police?

A. B.

Answer.—Metropolitan police are appointed and supported by the State or central government, while city police receive their appointments from the city magistrates. The city of London is guarded by 11,667 metropolitan policemen and 842 city policemen. At one time the city of New York was protected by metropolitan police, but for various reasons, one of which was because it restricted the free exercise of the spoils system so common with city governments, the act authorizing the appointment of such police was repealed.

WAS CHRIST BORN IN B. C. 4.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Is it certain that Christ was born four years before the Christian era?

CHICAGO.

Answer.—All investigations prove conclusively that it is impossible to determine to the satisfaction of chronologists in general either the day, month, or year of Christ’s birth. It is almost universally admitted that this event preceded the commencement of the Christian era as now reckoned. St. Clement, the earliest of the “church fathers,” fixes it on Nov. 18 in the twenty-eighth year of the Emperor Augustus, a little more than two years before the beginning of our era. Since the death of Herod the Great, according to Josephus, must have occurred before Easter of B. C. 4, modern scholars are generally agreed that Christ’s birth could not have been later than B. C. 4; and there is strong reason to believe that it was in B. C. 6 or 7. See McClintock and Strong’s “Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature,” under “Jesus Christ.” As to the day and month of Christ’s birth the differences are still more difficult to overcome. Modern investigation is strongly against Christmas, or any day in mid-winter, as unseasonable either for the shepherds to be watching their flocks in the fields, or for the congregating of the people from all parts of the kingdom to be registered and taxed, which was the occasion of Mary and Joseph’s being at Bethlehem. These two arguments are used, along with others, by the Biblical scholars who hold severally to the opinions that the nativity was not earlier in the year than March, and, one party says, in March, another in April or May, another in June, and still others in July or August.

GROWTH OF ENGLISH INTEMPERANCE.

RANTOUL, Ill.

Is it true that drunkenness continues to increase in England, notwithstanding the wonderful success of English and American temperance reformers and the large number of total abstainers enrolled by the Salvation Army?

A TEETOTALER.

Answer.—Whatever the explanation, and whether or not it constitutes an additional argument for the temperance movement, it is declared to be a fact that the number of persons charged with drunkenness in 1881 was 1,622 more than the number charged in 1880, being 174,481 to 172,859. Furthermore, according to the excise reports there was 7½ per cent more beer drunk in 1881 than in 1880, the total quantity being 970,785,564 gallons in a population of 26,000,000, or about 31 gallons for each man, woman, and child. The increase in the population during the decade of 1871-1881 was 3,256,020, which is about 1.43 per cent a year, while the increase in drunkenness was nearly 1 per cent in the last year.

TEMPERANCE IN COMMON SCHOOLS.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What is the text of the bill recently proposed in the Illinois state Legislature to require teachers to give instruction in temperance? Who introduced it? What are the arguments used in its favor?

A TEACHER.

Answer.—The following is the bill introduced Jan. 31 in the General Assembly of this State, by the Hon. Jesse D. Jennings, of Fayette County: “Be it enacted,” etc., “that they (the directors) shall direct that elementary instruction be given in physiology and hygiene, which shall give special prominence to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants and narcotics upon the human system. The certificate of qualification held by any person who desires to teach shall show that satisfactory examination has been passed upon the effect of alcoholic drinks, stimulants, and narcotics upon the human system.” The advocates of the bill maintain that, in view of the admitted evils of intemperance, and particularly the moral and physical injuries to individuals and society resulting from the use of alcoholic drinks, stimulants, and narcotics, it is of the highest practical importance that the youth of the public schools be properly instructed as to the effects of these insanity engendering poisons. They say that since the State, for purposes of revenue, and also professedly with the desire of preventing abuses, has authorized men and women to publicly offer these poisons for sale, it is morally bound to warn the youth of the land not to use them except as medicine, or in the arts, as other poisons are sometimes used. They hold that those who admit the iniquities of intemperance, but are opposed to sumptuary legislation, cannot reasonably oppose this recourse to educational remedies for these appalling evils. If the law requires road commissioners, when repairing the highways, to hang out danger lights wherever they open cess-pools and sewers, or make other perilous chasms in the road, the advocates of this bill argue that it is the duty of the State licensing the opening of liquor shops to throw enough light on the traffic to prevent young people from falling into drunkenness in the dark.

CANADIAN DENOMINATIONAL STATISTICS.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Herewith I hand you the denominational statistics of Canada, as given in the government returns for 1881. Those recently given in Our Curiosity Shop, on the authority of Rand, McNally & Co.’s Atlas of the World, are out of date:

Roman Catholics 1,791,982 Methodists 742,981 Presbyterians 676,155 Church of England 574,818 Baptists 275,291 Congregationalists 26,900 All other denominations 236,683 ————————— Total 4,324,810

K.

TWO INDIANA TEMPERANCE RESOLUTIONS.

OREGON, Ill.

Please give us the temperance planks in the platforms of the Indiana Democracy and Indiana Republicans, as adopted in their conventions of last summer.

A PROHIBITIONIST.

Answer.—The Indiana Democracy met in convention last August: after wrestling with the few prohibition delegates for a brief moment, they adopted the following resolution:

“The Democratic party is now, as it has always been, opposed to all sumptuary legislation, and it is especially opposed to the proposed amendment to the constitution of Indiana known as the prohibitory amendment, and we are in favor of the submission of the proposed amendment, as well as other proposed amendments, to the people, according to the provisions of the constitution for its own amendment: and the people have the right to oppose or favor the adoption of any or all the amendments at all stages of their consideration, and any submission of constitutional amendment to a vote of the people should be at a time and under circumstances most favorable to a full vote, and therefore should be at a general election.” The Republicans, several days later, on Aug. 9, adopted this resolution: “The Republican party resolves that reposing trust in the people as the fountain of power, we demand that the pending amendments to the constitution shall be agreed to and submitted by the next Legislature to the voters of the State for their decision thereon. These amendments were not partisan in their origin, and are not so in character, and should not be made so in voting upon them. Recognising the fact that the people are divided in sentiment in regard to the propriety of their adoption or rejection, and cherishing the right of private judgment, we favor the submission of these amendments to a special election, so that there may be an intelligent decision thereon, uninfluenced by partisan issues.”

PASSION PLAYS.

BERLIN, Wis.

What is the origin and history of the “Passion Play,” of which we hear so much lately?

F. PECK.

Answer.—This recent dramatical representation of the passion of Christ claims its origin and justification in sentiments akin to those which it is said inspired the old religious dramas, known as “Moralities,” or “Miracle Plays.” The first composition of this nature is ascribed to Ezekiel, a Jew, who, in the third century, adapted the story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt to the Grecian stage. His object was to arouse the patriotism of his exiled and despondent countrymen and excite in them a hope for the re-establishment of their kingdom in Palestine. In the fourth century, St. Gregory Nazianzen, the Bishop of Constantinople, having noticed the effect of the Grecian drama upon the people, concluded that the readiest method of extending the church of Christ was the dramatic presentation of the sufferings of its author, which he accomplished in the drama entitled “The Passion of Christ.” When the barbarians made their inroads into Southern Europe, and the church began to extend its influence northward into the lands of the Germans, Normans, and Saxons, it found great difficulty in coping with the fascination which the heathen festivals and performances exercised over the uneducated minds of the people. In order to obviate this trouble, miracle plays were introduced. Adapting the drama to the surrounding circumstances, many of the heathen characters, slightly changed, were retained. The play was supplied with humor by the artful caprices of the impersonated devil. In one representation “Judas, assisted by the devil, who sits upon the scaffold, hangs himself. When the hanging is complete both slide down to hell on a slanting rope.” Soon after the Reformation the miracle plays began to decline, and now they are performed in only a few places, mostly in Southern Bavaria and the Tyrol. The passion play of Oberammergau is famed the world over, and attracts an immense concourse of visitors from all lands whenever it is presented. In 1633 the flax in that neighborhood became diseased and unfit for the spindle. To prevent the recurrence of any such calamity the Oberammergau peasants made a vow to God that every ten years they would present the sufferings of Christ upon the stage in this way. This vow was kept until the beginning of the present century, when the further performance of the play was prohibited. Thereupon the peasants appealed to King Maximilian, who granted them permission to continue their celebrations, providing certain objectionable features were removed. This was agreed to, and in 1811 the drama, written by Pastor Weise, was first presented devoid of the devil and comic personages. The gospel story commences with Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and closes with a scene previous to the ascension. In a practical manner, the plot is developed. The money changers are driven from the temple in anger. Judas smarts under the rebuke which he received at the home of Lazarus. They meet and plan the betrayal resulting in the crucifixion. The part of Christ is impersonated by a peasant. The ignorant inhabitants still regard these plays as the most impressive and effective method of teaching the gospel and various moralities. The claim that the passion play now occupying so much of the public attention was inspired by religious motives is rejected by the public generally, and is ridiculed by the press. There is an all but unanimous feeling of opposition in England and in this country to having the passion of the Savior, the solemn tragedy of Calvary, mimicked on the stage by ordinary stage performers. This feeling led the late Mayor Grace, of New York City, to refuse to license the presentation of the play in that city, and his successor, Mayor Edson, has taken the same stand. Salmi Morse, the manager, threatens to test the legality of this interdiction. Such is the attitude of this matter at present.

RATIO OF BEEF TO LIVE WEIGHT.

ROGERS PARK, Ill.

What is the proportion of good meat in a well-fed beef animal compared with its live weight?

A CONSUMER.

Answer.—Sixty pounds of dressed beef for each 100 pounds of live weight is considered a fair average, and indicates that the animal was of good stock in first-rate marketable condition. Of course the choice cuts, consisting of the ribs, sirloin and rump steak, constitute only about half of this. So that an animal which weighs 1,000 pounds live weight will produce but about 600 pounds of dressed meat, of which the choice cuts will amount to about 310 pounds and the “coarse meat” to 290 pounds.

NAMES OF CERTAIN BLOOD RELATIVES.

GROVE CITY, Ill.

What relation are children of first cousins? What relation is a child to its parents’ first cousin?

V. T. HOUSTON.

Answer.—The children of first cousins are second cousins. A’s child is “first cousin removed” to A’s first cousin, while he is second cousin to the son or daughter of A’s first cousin.

FINDING LATITUDE AT SEA.

GARRISON, Iowa.

Referring to the explanation of the method of determining latitude by observations on the pole star, given in a recent issue of Our Curiosity Shop, I venture to submit the following indication of the common method by which sailors ascertain their latitude at sea. It is true that latitude may be determined by means of a carefully observed altitude of the polar star, providing the apparent time of observation can be ascertained within a few minutes. This method might frequently be used at sea when the horizon is well defined if the star were of the first magnitude; but being only of the second or third it is difficult to determine the altitude with certainty. For this reason the usual method of finding the latitude at sea is by taking the altitude of the sun when on the meridian. The latitude of a place, being its distance from the equator, is measured by the arc of the meridian contained between the zenith and the equator; hence, if the distance of the sun from the zenith when on the meridian and the declination be given the latitude is easily determined.

B. F. HUSSEY.

AUTHORS, EDITORS, AND MANUSCRIPTS.

MT. HOPE, Kan.

Kindly explain the editorial rules governing the receipt and treatment of manuscript offered for publication, whether intended for newspapers, periodicals, or books. Suppose, too, that an author should send the manuscript of a book to a publisher on the promise that it would be returned if not accepted, how long ought it to be before he should be notified of its receipt and acceptance or rejection?

W. S. W.

Answer.—There is no definite general rule for these matters beyond the common understanding that the editor must attend first of all to the regular routine of his office, and manuscript must wait, until he has time to read it. In the case of contributions to a periodical, it is understood unless contributors specifically request the return of their contributions and inclose postage stamps for this purpose, that the editor, if he does not use them, is at liberty to consign them to the waste basket. It is not unusual for contributions to literary magazines and standard reviews to lie on the editors’ tables for a month or six weeks before the verdict “accepted” or “rejected” is pronounced. A glance at a contribution, even the mere subject, indicates to the editor whether the article is likely to suffer by delay. Stories and many other contributions will keep; current news and kindred matters will not. These manuscripts must be read at once; those must wait; and how long, only the editor is in the position to determine. Even after articles are accepted the same law prevails, and the circumstances of each particular issue determine what is to be used and what “held over.” It frequently happens that editorials which have cost the editor serious labor, and are actually in type, are crowded out by unexpected events which must take precedence, and are held back by a succession of such events until too stale to be used, and the writer is forced to write “kill” over against the children of his own heart and brain. Many a disgusted contributor would feel less mortified and indignant at the rejection of his offering if he could understand all the circumstances of the case. The contribution rejected to-day might have been gladly accepted had it come a day sooner. An article accepted yesterday and paid for, perhaps never appears; why, only the editor can explain. Even champagne tastes flat after it has stood a few moments; witticisms are still-born if not ushered in at the right instant. The book-publisher is subject to similar influences, but not in the same degree as the editor of a newspaper or review. But many a book manuscript has been rejected because out of season. Many another has been rejected because the writer was impatient and the editor, rather than keep him in such a mood and unwilling to take the responsibility of publishing what he had not read with critical care, has relieved himself by returning it “with thanks.” It is no slight matter for an editor to read and so digest a book, in which the publisher is asked to invest from $1,000 to $5,000, as to enable him to pronounce a favorable judgment with confidence. Of course long and carefully prepared manuscripts, especially books, are entitled to more consideration than ordinary newspaper contributions; and should never be destroyed until the authors have been courteously notified that they are not wanted, and have had ample time to send for them. In the supposed case of the above question, acknowledgment of receipt of the book manuscript should have been mailed as soon as it came to hand, unless it was received by express or as registered mail matter, and from thirty to sixty days, according to the length and nature of the book would not be too long to grant the editor or publisher before expecting a decision. Except in special cases, editors of newspapers do not receipt by mail for contributions sent to them.

RAILROAD MILEAGE.

OSHKOSH, Wis.

Please give a few statistics in reference to railroad construction in the United States and in the more important foreign countries.

W. L. FROST.

Answer.—The number of miles of railroad in the world constructed prior to Jan. 1, 1881, was 226,442, of which sum 93,671 miles were within the United States. Germany had built 21,037 miles; Great Britain and Ireland, 17,696; France, 15,287; Russia, 13,571; Austria-Hungary, 11,471; British India, 8,615; Canada, 6,891; Italy, 4,999, and Spain, 4,264. During the year 1881 the railway mileage of this country increased to 104,813 miles, to which the year 1882 added 10,821 miles, making a grand total of 115,634 miles. To build these great highways and properly equip them about $5,750,000,000 have been expended. Iowa during the past year took the lead, having constructed 953.37 miles, and Texas followed close after with 817 miles of new road.

A FEW AMERICAN WORTHIES.

MANSON, Iowa.

Please name five or more of the greatest of the following classes of Americans: Orators, poets, historians, inventors.

GEORGE BELL.

Answer.—Any answer to such a question is largely a matter of personal opinion. Among political orators Patrick Henry, James Otis, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Thomas Pike, Sergeant Smith Prentiss, John C. Calhoun stand among the most illustrious. As to pulpit orators, it would be invidious to name one without designating at least fifty who are evidently of the same rank. Our great poets have not been many. First among them have been and still are, as regards fame, William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, George Denison Prentice, and Nathaniel P. Willis. Whittier, T. Buchanan Read, Holmes. Lowell, Miller, Holland, Saxe, Morris, Mrs. Sigourney, are poets not soon to be forgotten. Irving, Sparks, Prescott, Bancroft, are among our most eminent historians. Fulton, inventor of the steamboat; Morse, inventor of the first practical electric telegraph; Whitney, inventor of the cotton-gin, and Howe, inventor of the first successful sewing machine, are among the first of the ten thousand American inventors who have done the world noteworthy service. Edison and several hundred other inventors, who have improved upon the inventions of their predecessors until they have doubled, trebled, and in some instances quadrupled their value to the world, are quite as worthy to be remembered.

RAILROAD LAND GRANTS.

OSHKOSH, Wis.

Give us the total amount of public lands granted by the United States to aid in the construction of railways, and oblige a subscriber.

W. L. FROST.

Answer.—The table below shows the total land grants made by the United States down to 1880, as given in “The West in 1880.”

States and Acres Acres Corporations. Granted. Certified.

Illinois 2,595,053 2,595,053 Missouri 2,985,160 1,828,005 Iowa 6,795,527 3,940,270 Michigan 4,712,480 3,328,987 Wisconsin 4,808,486 2,672,803 Minnesota 9,992,041 6,925,351 Kansas 9,370,000 3,851,536 Pacific Railroad 159,486,766 8,831,687 ——————————— —————————— Total 215,203,807 42,847,403

These grants, amounting in the aggregate to 215,203,807 acres, or over 355,000 square miles, are only about 6,000 miles less in area than all the original thirteen States of the Union taken together, and is more than 60 per cent greater than the total area of the German Empire. Fortunately for the country, a number of these grants have been forfeited; yet, as above shown, 42,847,403 acres, or more than the total area of England and Wales together, had been actually certified to the States and roads named before June 30, 1879; and many acres have been certified since that time. The exact amount down to date is not yet published. To avoid taxation, the railroads entitled to public lands delay taking their certificates until the settlement of the country and opportunity for selling make it to their interest to do so. A large amount of the land covered by the above grants will be certified to the grantees on demand.

POPULATION OF THE GLOBE.

UNIONVILLE, Iowa.

Please state in Our Curiosity Shop the estimated present population of the world. Also, the population of the United States according to the revised census of 1880.

A. J. R.

Answer.—The population of the entire globe is still far from being definitely determined. Hardly two original investigators agree. In this country the estimates of Drs. Behm and Wagner are generally accepted as the most reliable, yet their latest figures differ from those of two years before by upward of 22,000,000. Then they stated the population of the entire globe at 1,455,923,500, whereas now they state it at 1,433,887,500, distributed as follows:

Europe 327,743,400 Asia 795,591,000 Africa 205,823,200 America 100,415,400 Australia and Polynesia 4,232,000 Polar regions 82,500

One might infer from this that instead of increasing, as would be naturally expected, the human race is dying out: but closer inspection shows that the estimate of the population of China has been reduced about 55,000,000. Accepting this and all the other estimates, there seems to be an increase in other countries of about 33,000,000; part of which is due to the fact that the geographers had the benefit of the census takers in different countries in 1880 and 1881, showing the growth of five to ten years. The total population of the United States in 1880, according to the revised census, is 50,155,783.

DRINKING FROM SKULLS.

BURLINGTON, Iowa.

What is the origin of the expression “A soldier’s drinking cup,” as applied to a human skull?

WM. A. T.

Answer.—Thomas Middleton was a dramatic writer who flourished in the early part of the seventeenth century. In “The Witch,” one of his most celebrated plays, when “the Duke” takes a bowl and is told that it is a skull, he exclaims:

“Call it a soldier’s cup; Our Duchess, I know, will pledge us, tho’ the cup Was once her father’s head, which, as a trophy, We’ll keep till death.”

The barbarous custom of converting the skulls of enemies into drinking cups was a common one in ancient times among the fierce tribes of Northern Europe; and was not unknown to the more civilized regions of the South. The Italian poet, Marino, makes a conclave of friends in Pandemonium quaff wine from the skull of Minerva. In his “Wonder of a Kingdom,” Torrent makes Dakker say:

“Would I had ten thousand soldiers’ heads, Their skulls set all in silver, to drink healths To his confusion who first invented war.”

The old Scandinavian sagas represent as among the delights of the immortals the felicity of feasting and drinking to drunkenness from the skulls of the foes they had vanquished on earth. Mandeville goes further, and represents the Guebres as exposing the dead bodies of their parents to the fowls of the air until nothing but the skeletons remained, and preserving the skulls to be used in a spirit of devotion as drinking cups.

GENERAL WILLIAM W. AVERELL.

ETNA, Mo.

Give a short sketch of General Averell.

M. M. SHANES.

Answer.—General William W. Averell was born in the State of New York in 1830. At the age of 25 he graduated at West Point, and began his military career as Lieutenant of mounted riflemen on the Western frontier. In the rebellion he took an active part in the battles of Bull Run, Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Kelly’s Ford, Opequan, Fisher’s Hill, and various other engagements in West Virginia, Tennessee, and the Shenandoah Valley, at the same time being successively brevetted Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier General, and Major General, U. S. A. In 1865 he resigned, and in the following year represented the United States as Consul General in Canada. Afterward he retired to accept the Presidency of a manufacturing company in New York.

PRINCE GORTSCHAKOFF AND THE UNION.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What was the action of the late Prince Gortschakoff during our civil war that is alluded to in the recent obituary notices of that diplomat as a reason for the gratitude of Americans?

O. N. ADAMS.

Answer.—Prince Alexander M. Gortschakoff, who was at that time the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, when invited, at a critical time in the history of our civil war, to associate Russia with England and France in their unfriendly attitude toward the United States, involving, among other things, a proposition to recognize the independence of the Southern Confederacy, positively declined. The following extract from one of his state papers at that juncture shows his disposition toward this country, which he quickly emphasized by dispatching a Russian fleet to New York as a proof of his friendship and sincerity; an act which greatly alarmed and disconcerted both England and France, since many of their politicians jumped to the inference that there was a secret treaty of alliance between the two countries, and that in case of a rupture Russia would openly take sides with the United States. These are the words of the dispatch alluded to, and Americans should not soon forget them:

“The North American Republic not only presents itself to us as an indispensable element of the international balance of power, but, besides that, it is a Nation toward which our most august Emperor and the whole of Russia have always had a most friendly disposition, because both countries are in the ascendant period of their development, and seemed called to a natural unity of interests and sympathies, proofs of which have already been given on both sides.”

WOOD USED AS FUEL.

MOLINE, Ill.

How does the amount of wood used as fuel in Illinois compare with the quantity used in Pennsylvania, New York State, Iowa, and Kansas? State the average for each inhabitant, and tell the average price of such fuel in each of these States, so far as the market prices can be ascertained.

D. MORGAN.

Answer.—The extent to which wood is used as fuel in the United States, and the estimated value of the same, are among the subjects investigated by the present Census Bureau. The special agent in charge of this investigation estimates that there were 32,375,000 persons in the United States in 1880 using wood as fuel for domestic purposes, consuming 140,537,439 cords, valued at $306,950,040. Besides this, there were about five and a quarter million cords consumed for other purposes, making a total of nearly three hundred and twenty-two million cords, as follows:

Uses. Cords. Value. Domestic use 140,537,439 $306,950,040 Railroads 1,971,813 5,126,714 Steamboats 787,862 1,872,083 In mining and amalgamating precious metal 358,074 2,874,593 Other mining operations 266,771 673,692 Manufacture of brick and tile 1,157,522 3,978,331 Manufacture of salt 540,448 421,681 Manufacture of wool 158,208 425,239 ——————————— ———————————— Grand total 145,778,137 $321,962,273

The amount of wood used for domestic purposes is given by States as follows:

States. Cords. Value.

Alabama 6,076,754 $8,727,377 Arizona 170,017 724,572 Arkansas 3,922,400 5,095,821 California 1,748,062 7,693,731 Colorado 426,719 1,638,783 Connecticut 525,639 2,371,532 Dakota 422,948 2,028,300 Delaware 177,306 751,311 District of Columbia 26,902 80,706 Florida 609,046 1,230,412 Georgia 5,910,045 8,279,245 Idaho 09,910 383,689 Illinois 5,200,104 14,136,662 Indiana 7,059,874 13,334,729 Iowa 4,090,649 14,611,280 Kansas 2,095,438 7,328,723 Kentucky 7,994,813 13,313,220 Louisiana 1,944,858 4,607,415 Maine 1,215,881 4,078,137 Maryland 1,152,910 3,170,941 Massachusetts 890,041 4,613,263 Michigan 7,838,904 13,197,240 Minnesota 1,669,568 5,873,421 Mississippi 5,090,758 7,145,116 Missouri 4,016,373 8,633,465 Montana 119,947 460,638 Nebraska 908,188 3,859,843 Nevada 155,276 972,712 New Hampshire 567,719 1,964,669 New Jersey 642,598 2,787,216 New Mexico 169,946 1,063,360 New York 11,290,975 37,599,364 North Carolina 7,434,690 9,019,569 Ohio 8,191,543 16,492,574 Oregon 482,254 1,254,511 Pennsylvania 7,361,962 15,067,651 Rhode Island 154,953 706,011 South Carolina 3,670,959 11,505,997 Tennessee 8,084,611 10,674,722 Texas 4,883,852 10,177,311 Utah 171,923 418,289 Vermont 782,338 2,509,189 Virginia 5,416,112 10,404,134 Washington 184,226 499,904 West Virginia 2,241,069 3,374,701 Wisconsin 7,206,126 11,863,739 Wyoming 40,218 224,848

From the above data we have prepared the following table showing the average number of cords consumed for domestic purposes only (stated in cords and hundredths of a cord), the average price per cord, and total consumption for each man, woman, and child in each of the States named in the above question:

Cords Value Cost per per per States. capita. cord. capita.

In Pennsylvania 1.72 $2.05 $3.52 In New York 2.22 3.32 7.37 In Illinois 1.70 2.27 4.90 In Iowa 2.45 3.57 8.75 In Kansas 2.14 3.50 7.49

According to this exhibit the effect of the marvelous coal fields of Pennsylvania and Illinois on the consumption and price of wood is very apparent and significant. The above does not include the wood converted into charcoal, of which there were 74,008,972 bushels, valued at $5,276,736, consumed in the production of iron and the precious metals in the twenty largest cities of the Union; which does not cover probably half the entire amount used in this country.

LARGEST AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES.

KEOKUK, Iowa.

What is the weight of the largest locomotive engine; and what is the number of its drive wheels?

READER.

Answer.—This question was referred to Messrs. Burnham, Parry, Williams & Co., of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, and their reply in full is subjoined:

“Replying to your favor of the 8th inst., we may say that there has been considerable activity of late in the construction of very large locomotives, the most approved railroad practice having changed materially within the past few years with respect to the weight of the engines employed. We have recently built some very heavy locomotives for the Northern Pacific Railroad, which weigh, in working order, exclusive of the tender, about 115,000 pounds. The tenders with coal and water weigh about 65,000 pounds each, additional, making the total weight of engine and tender some ninety net tons. These engines have cylinders 20x24 inches.

The Central Pacific Railroad Company have recently built in their Sacramento shops some very heavy locomotives with four pairs of driving wheels coupled and a leading four-wheeled truck, which weigh in working order, exclusive of the tender, about 123,000 pounds. The weight of the tender, with coal and water, is about 65,000 pounds, making the total net weight of the engine and tender some ninety-three net tons. These engines have cylinders nineteen inches in diameter and thirty inches stroke, and are probably at this time the heaviest engines in use in this country.”

BUTTER PRODUCT OF A GOOD COW.

PEORIA, Ill.

1. What may be fairly regarded as the average annual butter product of a good class of dairy cows? 2. Is not $50 an exorbitant price to pay for an average cow?

YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER.

Answer.—Of course the butter product depends on the kind of stock, the pasturage and winter feed, the care of the cattle, and the skill and industry of the butter-maker. The following statement of Mr. Wm. Guinter, of Twin Grove, Wis., shows the average annual product of butter realized by him from six cows, together with the average value of this product: “I have kept a strict account for one year of the income from six cows. I have sold 1,185 pounds of butter, and counting four pounds a week of cream and butter for family use of four persons, increases the total product to 1,393 pounds. The highest price received per pound was 38 cents, and the lowest was 16 cents, making an average of 26 cents. The whole amount realized, then, was $362.18, or $60.36 a cow. I have my cows come in fresh in the fall on account of making a better quality of butter and getting a better price. I keep them in good condition all winter: feed chopped corn and oats and all the clover hay they want. Feed about three quarts of chop twice a day to each cow. My cows are only the common grade. I have clover pastures, but never turn cattle in till the first or middle of May, so as to let it get a good start, and then the pasture will be good all summer. Some of my neighbors ask: ‘Do you think it pays?’ I do it whether it pays or not: but I think it does. You can’t expect a great yield of milk from straw and dry cornstalks. What stock you keep, keep well. It will pay.” 2. Obviously the value of a good milch cow depends somewhat on the locality. A cow is worth more in the immediate neighborhood of a good market than in a region remote from such a market. With the above average product of a good cow, in pounds, to guide one, every intelligent person can form a judgment as to whether it will be profitable for him, taking the price of butter and feed in his own market, to pay $50, or more or less, for a good cow.

VACCINATING IMMIGRANTS.

WASHINGTON, Ill.

Is it true that there are government physicians who examine all immigrants from Europe and compel them to submit to revaccination before they allow them to pass certain stations? If so, by what authority is this done?

A DOUBTER.

Answer.—The best answer to these questions is contained in the reports of the supervising inspectors of the National Board of Health, under whose authority, conferred by an act of Congress, the examination, or inspection, of immigrants entering the United States and traveling therein is conducted. The report of the Supervising Inspector of the Western District, Dr. John H. Rauch, Springfield, Ill., dated Nov. 10, 1882, shows that in this district there were 94,839 immigrants inspected between June 1 and Oct. 31, 1882, of whom 17,195, with or without their consent, were vaccinated, as the case seemed in the judgment of the assistant inspectors to call for:

Number Number Stations. inspected. vaccinated. Pitts. Ft. W. & Chi. R. R. 17,347 2,539 Lake S. & M. S. R. R. 14,011 2,285 Mich. C. R. R. 22,330 6,145 Grand Trunk R. R. 9,356 1,875 Balt. & Ohio R. R. 10,688 2,348 Indianapolis 13,746 1,635 St. Louis 7,361 368 —————— —————— Total 94,839 17,195

Cases of small-pox found on the trains by the inspectors are removed to small-pox hospitals. There were seven such cases in October, 1882, in the Western District.

BRIDGES AND RHYTHMIC VIBRATION.

ST. PAUL., Minn.

Does music weaken metallic or other bridges? If so, please explain why.

A. M. G.

Answer.—Measured vibrations are more trying to any kind of bridges, and particularly to suspension bridges, than irregular agitation. Music alone would not strain a bridge enough to injure it materially; but a regiment of troops keeping step to music when crossing a suspension bridge would subject it to a very severe strain. Consequently it is customary to stop the music before troops reach the bridge, and let the men break step, and march more or less irregularly. The reason of all this is obvious. The structure will naturally suffer least strain when at rest. When in uniform motion the bridge acquires a momentum equal to its entire suspended weight multiplied by the velocity of the motion. It is manifest that, in the case of a heavy structure, a uniform downward vibration, be it ever so small, would develop a momentum of many tons in the direction of a breaking strain. The same disturbing forces acting irregularly, so as to counteract one another, would be far less trying to the structure.

THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR.

VANDALIA, Ill.

Please give us the principal dates in the Franco-Prussian War.

T. M. K.

Answer.—The Franco-Prussian war was formally declared, on the part of France, July 19, 1870. The South German States, since then incorporated with Prussia and the other North German States in what is now called the German Empire, soon took sides and the Franco-Prussian war became the Franco-German war. On Sept. 1 the Emperor Napoleon surrendered his sword at Sedan. The war was protracted through the winter by the obstinate resistance of Paris, but the German army entered the city on Feb. 28, 1871, and ratifications of the preliminary treaty of peace were exchanged March 3. The severest fighting was over, and France was virtually at the mercy of Germany at the end of the first four months.

NATIONAL DEBTS OF FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Which is the greater, the present national debt of France or that of Great Britain?

J. C. C.

Answer.—The present national debt of France is considerably larger than the national debt of Great Britain. On Jan. 1, 1879, the former was £794,481,439, and it has increased since then. On March 31, 1881, the latter was £768,703,692.

THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA.

CHICAGO, Ill.

In what city is the great belfry spoken of as “the leaning tower?” When was it built; and was it purposely constructed to lean as it does?

S. L.

Answer.—You probably refer to what is known as “the leaning tower of Pisa,” in one of the oldest and most famous cities of Italy. It is a campanile, or bell tower, commenced in 1174, by Bonannus of Pisa, and William of Innsbruck. It is cylindrical in shape, 50 feet in diameter, 179 feet high, and leans about 13 feet out of perpendicular. It is divided into eight stories, each having an exterior colonnade, or gallery. The top is reached by 330 steps. It was not purposely built to lean. The foundation settled more on one side than on the other until it reached the present inclination, which it has maintained with scarcely any perceptible increase for hundreds of years. The defect in the foundation was discovered before its completion, and the upper part of the structure was built in a manner to counteract in part the inclination; and the grand chime of bells, seven in number, of which the largest alone weighs 12,000 pounds, is mounted with reference to counteract this fault still further. This magnificent tower is justly regarded as one of the wonders of the world.

VIRGINIA STATE DEBT.

OXFORD, Iowa.

What proportion of the State debt of Virginia do the “Readjusters” intend to repudiate? What part of it was created during the late civil war? Is the State really unable to pay its creditors? Give a few of the chief features of this Virginia debt controversy.

F. G. A.

Answer.—The whole of the Virginia State debt was contracted before the war, for railroads, canals, turnpikes, and public buildings, including penal and charitable institutions. Of course any debts made in aid of the rebellion were wiped out by section 4 of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States. On Jan. 1, 1861, the State owed $33,248,141.63. On Jan. 1, 1870, owing to non-payment of interest during the intervening ten years, the debt had accumulated to $45,660,348. The constitutions of Virginia and West Virginia (the latter of which had been constructed out of Virginia during the war) both provided for an equitable apportionment of this joint indebtedness; but the two States have never agreed on a division. In March, 1871, the State of Virginia passed an act to set aside one-third of the debt to West Virginia, which contained about one-fifth of the population and one-third of the territory of the original State and a trifling proportion of the public improvements for which the debt was created, and to give the bondholders new bonds payable in thirty-four years with 6 per cent interest annually, and certificates promising that the payment of the remaining one-third would be provided for in accordance with such settlement as should thereafter be made with West Virginia. This left as the debt of the present State of Virginia $29,614,793 (report of Second Auditor, 1881). The State’s creditors hastened to exchange old evidences of indebtedness for the new bonds, which went forward rapidly until about two-thirds of the whole were refunded, when, a majority of Readjusters having been elected to the Legislature, the process of refunding was stopped. The old bonds left outstanding by this sudden change of policy constitute what is known as the “Peeler debt.” The interest coupons on the new bonds were “receivable for taxes and all dues and demands against the State,” and have been honored, but the interest on the Peeler debt has been paid only in part. In 1879 the creditors proposed the exchange of the bonds then outstanding for new bonds bearing 3 per cent interest for ten years, 4 per cent for twenty years, and 5 per cent for ten years, making an average of 4 per cent. The total principal of the debt at this time was $29,367,958.06. Accordingly the “McCulloch bill” was passed, binding the State to this settlement: and bonds to the amount of $8,000,000 were issued under this law. Senator Johnston, in an article in the North American Review setting forth the above facts, claims that, had the law been faithfully executed, the surplus revenue of 1879, after paying interest on all the State’s indebtedness and all State expenses of the government and the public schools, would have been more than $400,000, which would have gone to pay off so much of the principal.

Senator Riddleberger, in his reply to Mr. Johnston, in the North American Review for April, 1882, declares that instead of there being any surplus in the State Treasury at the close of 1879, the Readjusters found, on their accession to power, Jan. 1, 1880, “a great mass of the proposed McCulloch tax-receivable certificates ready for issue. They were forced to borrow money to run the government. Half a million of money, due by defaulting treasurers, was uncollected and unsued for. Over $1,500,000 had been diverted from the schools. The charitable institutions of the State were on the verge of bankruptcy.” Nevertheless, the boast of the Virginia press, that the mining, manufacturing, and agricultural resources of the State are developing more rapidly than before the war, is generally believed to be true; the crops of the six principal cereals and potatoes, tobacco, and hay in 1881 amounted to $44,280,690, and the live stock to $33,538,877; the taxable value of property, real and personal, even at the low assessment prevailing, is given at $308,455,135: facts which lead the world to believe that Virginia is perfectly able to pay her debt. Taking the total debt under the McCulloch bill at what Senator Mahone placed it at the time of the passage of the bill, the annual interest would have amounted to not quite $990,000, which, added to $565,000 for public schools and arrearages, and $765,000 for current expenses of the State Government, would make but $2,320,000. That same year the net revenue, if faithfully collected, would have amounted to $2,606,425.36, so that there would have been a remainder of $286,500 to apply as a sinking fund. Since then the Riddleberger bill has become a law, and the debt has been scaled down to about $20,000,000, instead of about $33,000,000, which is nearly what it would be had the McCulloch law been carried out. As there is no provision for the payment of the $15,239,370 set over to West Virginia, and which the latter repudiates on the ground that she has offsets to all her proportion of the original debt, it appears that the total loss to the State’s creditors, adding the accrued interest on the latter amount, is over $36,000,000, or fully 80 per cent of the amount conceded by the act of 1871 to be the total sum then due them.

POINTS OF A GOOD SHOT-GUN.

FOURCHE, D. T.

What are the essentials of a good shot-gun? Name several prime quality guns.

H. M. EASTMAN.

Answer.—The following, in the opinion of skilled manufacturers and practiced sportsmen of this city, are essentials of a first-class shot-gun. The barrel should be of laminated or Damascus steel or stub-twist (the former being generally preferred), and full choke or modified choke bore. A taper bore is also highly esteemed. Length of barrel, 28 to 32 inches; bore, 10 to 12 gauge. The gun should be a breech-loader, with rebounding lock and extension rib. Pistol grip, patent fore-end are points insisted on by some, although they are hardly to be classed as essentials. The front action or bar lock is a feature of many of the best guns. Among English guns the Greener and Scott stand very high; among Belgian, Charles Daly; among American, Parker, Colt, Remington, Nichols & Lefevre, and Baker; and in the Northwest, the Abby gun, manufactured in this city, is a favorite. Good English guns range from $350 to $400. Good American guns with English barrels may be had at prices ranging from $200 to $300.

WEALTH OF THE UNITED STATES PER CAPITA.

WOODLAWN, Mo.

Please give the wealth of each State, together with the wealth per capita.

READER.

Answer.—The following statistics represent the amount of taxable property, real and personal in each State and Territory, and also the amount per capita.

Total. Per capita.

Maine $235,978,716 362.09 New Hampshire 164,755,181 474.81 Vermont 86,806,755 261.24 Massachusetts 1,584,756,802 888.77 Rhode Island 252,536,673 913.23 Connecticut 327,177,385 525.41 New York 2,651,940,000 521.74 New Jersey 572,518,361 506.06 Pennsylvania 1,683,459,016 393.08 Delaware 59,951,643 408.92 Maryland 497,307,675 533.07 District of Columbia 99,401,787 845.08 Virginia 308,455,135 203.92 West Virginia 139,622,705 225.75 North Carolina 156,100,202 111.52 South Carolina 153,560,135 154.24 Georgia 239,472,599 155.82 Florida 30,938,309 114.80 Alabama 122,867,228 97.32 Mississippi 110,628,129 97.76 Louisiana 160,162,439 170.39 Texas 320,364,515 201.26 Arkansas 86,409,364 176.71 Kentucky 350,563,971 212.63 Tennessee 211,778,538 137.30 Ohio 1,534,360,508 479.77 Indiana 727,815,131 367.89 Illinois 786,616,394 255.24 Michigan 517,666,359 316.23 Wisconsin 438,971,751 333.69 Iowa 398,671,251 245.39 Minnesota 258,028,687 330.48 Missouri 532,795,801 245.72 Kansas 160,891,689 161.52 Nebraska 90,585,782 200.23 Colorado 74,471,693 383.22 Nevada 29,291,459 470.40 Oregon 52,522,084 300.52 California 584,578,036 676.05 Arizona 9,270,214 229.23 Dakota 20,321,530 150.33 Idaho 6,440,876 197.51 Montana 18,609,802 475.23 New Mexico 11,363,406 95.04 Utah 24,775,279 172.09 Washington 23,810,603 316.98 Wyoming 13,621,829 655.24 ——————————————— —————— Total $16,902,993,543 337.00

THE OLDEST HISTORIANS.

FOURCHE, D. T.

Were there historians before Berosus, Manetho, and Herodotus, whose works have come down to us in Greek, Latin, or other European languages?

H. M. EASTMAN.

Answer.—Herodotus is the oldest of the Greek historians. He was born 484 B. C. He is generally recognized as the father of history. Berosus was an educated priest of Babylon, who lived about 260 B. C., and wrote in Greek three books of Babylonian-Chaldean history, the materials for which he declares he found in the ancient archives of Babylon. Manetho was an Egyptian historian, of the priestly order, who lived in the reign of Ptolemy Soter, in the beginning of the third century B. C. He, too, obtained the materials for his works from the temple records at his command, from which he wrote two works, one on the religion and the other on the history of Egypt. Only fragments of the writings of Berosus and Manetho remain—preserved in the works of Josephus, Eusebius, and other later writers. There are historical records on the ancient monuments of Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria which date back to earlier days, but except the historical books of the Old Testament, beginning with those of Moses (who was born 1738 B. C.), and some of the writings of Confucius (born 551 B. C.), there is nothing antedating the writings of Herodotus that is regarded as history.

FORMS OF LEAD CRYSTALS.

BURLINGAME, Kan.

Why is east and west lead ore always in cubes, while it is not always so with lead found in north and south lodes?

C. A. DAMON.

Answer.—The primitive form of galena, or sulphate of lead, crystals is the cube. Whenever left free to crystallize, subject to no extraneous force or pressure, this ore takes that form. At cross veins it takes modified forms, the angles and edges of the cubes being replaced by faces, so as in many cases to form octahedral crystals. Now just why lead seems to have been more free to take its simple primitive form when crystallizing in east and west veins or lodes than in veins running in other directions is still largely a matter of theory or conjecture. Some theorists think that the north and south magnetic currents, to which the polarity of the magnetic needle is attributed, have something to do with this phenomenon, but a great many other wise people think nobody knows.

NATIONS OF THE GLOBE.

SILVER LAKE, Ind.

How many nations are there on the globe? Has each of them a flag?

J. F. CLYMER.

Answer.—The following is a full list of the nations of the world, each of which has its own distinctive national colors or flag: The United States of America, Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, San Salvador, Costa Rica, the United States of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chili, Argentine Confederation, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Venezuela, Hayti, and San Domingo, which are all the independent nationalities of North and South America and the West India Islands; Great Britain and her dependencies in both hemispheres, France and her dependencies in Asia, Africa, and Oceanica, the German Empire, Austro-Hungary, Russia, Italy, Spain and her dependencies in both hemispheres; Portugal and her dependencies in Asia and Africa, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands and her dependencies in both hemispheres, Denmark and her colonial possessions, Sweden and Norway, Greece, Roumania, Servia, Montenegro, Turkey or the Ottoman Empire, Andorra, San Marino, and Monaco; the only independent States of Africa (except those wholly savage), Liberia, Orange River Free State, Transvaal Republic, Morocco, and Abyssinia; the only independent nationalities of all Asia—Persia, Burmah, Afghanistan, Beloochistan, Siam, China, and Japan; finally the Sandwich Islands. This makes a total of fifty-seven nations universally recognized and diplomatically treated as such, although several of them, like Afghanistan and Burmah, are little more than nominally independent, and two of them—Monaco, with an area of only 5¾ square miles, or less than a Congressional township in this country, and a population less than 6,000, and San Marino, with an area of barely 23-8/10 square miles and less than 8,000 inhabitants—are so insignificant in comparison with their great neighbors that it seems a mockery of the name to call them nations. Indian tribes, Esquimaux, tribes of Africa, Asia, and Australia, although taken into treaty relations as independent or quasi independent peoples, are never correctly spoken of as nations in the sense in which the term is used in international law.

ENTERING LAND IN DAKOTA.

HUSTON, D. T.

Nine-tenths of the persons who have inquired of me about Dakota land entries since my brief note in THE INTER OCEAN did not inclose stamps or postal cards for replies. I have answered all that did observe this plain business rule. I am no land agent, nor have I land to sell, so I ask you to publish the following notes, which will answer nearly all the questions asked me. [A person should not invite a general correspondence through a paper like THE INTER OCEAN, “whose parish is the world,” unless he is prepared to employ one or two stenographic correspondence clerks. In almost every instance that we have published contributors’ invitations to Farm and Home readers to write to them, these rash friends have sent us word that they were deluged with correspondence.—ED]. Of course, in the beginning all the government land in Douglas County, D. T., was subject to entry under the pre-emption and homestead or timber-culture acts. But at present there are not more than three hundred vacant quarters in the county, and, since the timber-culture act only allows one such claim in each section, these unentered quarters can be taken only under the homestead and pre-emption acts. A timber-culture claimant is required to plant ten acres of trees and protect and cultivate them for eight years. As no settlement is required, these claims are in good demand, the relinquishments selling for from $200 to $400, owing to location. Under the pre-emption law the settler pays $2 to file his claim. After he has lived upon the land six months final proof can be made by paying $1.25 per acre. Under this entry the claimant is allowed thirty-three months in which to prove up, at the end of which time, if he has not complied with this requirement, the land is again open for settlement. Under the homestead law the settler pays $14 to enter. He has then six months in which to begin his residence on the land, after which time, if he has not complied with the law, it can be contested on the ground of abandonment. Where a settler is unable to begin his residence and settlement within the time allowed by law, he can dispose of the claim by relinquishing to the government and allowing some one else to enter. Nearly all the land throughout the central part of the county has been taken; and what government land there is remaining is mostly in the western part and around the borders of the county. Relinquishments range in price from $50 to $300, owing to location and quality of the land.

H. S. BROWN.

RECORDS OF THE BRITISH CELTS.

DUNLAP, Iowa.

Had the Celts, at the time of the invasion by Julius Cæsar of what is now England and Wales, any records by which their origin could be traced?

J. H. G. ROGERS.

Answer.—That they had any written records there is great reason to doubt, although there are inscriptions on certain rude stone monuments in parts of Wales, as in the southeastern counties of Munster, Ireland, consisting of long and short lines, known as Ogamic characters, the antiquity of which is not well determined. As far as deciphered, these inscriptions throw no direct light upon the origin of the Celtic race. Their spoken language, reduced to writing after the introduction of Christianity, is the only key of any importance to their origin. This language plainly marks them as an early offshoot of the Aryan family, the common Asiatic stock from which all the ruling races of Europe have descended. The descriptions left by the Romans of the aborigines of Britain at the time of the Roman conquest represent them as fierce, cruel barbarians. Neither Cæsar’s Commentaries nor the writings of Tacitus and other historians of the period of the Roman domination convey evidence that the Britons had any knowledge of letters until the Roman and Greek characters were taught them. Neither do these historians preserve any oral traditions of the British bards or druids calculated to shed much light upon the early history of the Celtic race.

REPUDIATING STATES.

BEMENT, Ill.

Name the States which have repudiated their debts, in whole or in part, and tell what party was responsible for the act in every case.

J. C. MILLER.

Answer.—Virginia, W. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota have each of them, at one time or another, repudiated a part of their State debts. Illinois repented almost immediately in sackcloth and ashes, and settled with her creditors. Indiana has settled everything but about twenty old internal-improvement bonds, which will no doubt soon be liquidated. Minnesota has recently determined to settle with her creditors, although the railroads, in aid of which the repudiated bonds were issued, were not constructed in conformity with the law, and the bonds are badly tainted with fraud. In every case but that of Minnesota and South Carolina repudiation came in under Democratic regimes.

THE CAPITAL OF LOUISIANA.

ALDEN, Iowa.

What is the present capital of Louisiana? Some geographies say New Orleans, and others Baton Rouge. Please explain this discrepancy.

TEACHER.

Answer.—The capital of the first colonial government of Louisiana was fixed at Biloxi, in 1699. It was transferred to New Orleans in 1723. New Orleans was the capital of the Territory of Orleans, organized in 1804 out of a part of the vast Louisiana purchase. In 1812 the State of Louisiana was formed with New Orleans as the capital. In 1847 Baton Rouge was made the seat of the State government, and it remained so until after it came into possession of the Union army during the late war. A provisional government was established at New Orleans in 1864, and the State constitution of 1868 made that city the capital; but by the new constitution of Dec. 2, 1879, the honor of being the seat of the State government was restored to Baton Rouge, where it was established in 1880.

ANGORA AND CASHMERE FLEECES.

SEDAN, Kan.

What are the distinctive differences between the “staples” of Angora and Cashmere goats? Which staple is the more valuable? What are the present prices of the same in the markets of this country? Give a few chief facts as to these two breeds of goats.

T. S. R.

Answer.—The Angora goat takes its name from the Turkish city and village of Angora, in the interior, mountainous region of Asia Minor (about 220 miles E. S. E. of Constantinople), which exports 2,000,000 lbs of mohair annually. The animals are highly prized, and command from $250 to $1,250 for the finest males and $200 to $900 for females, there being several varieties. The Cashmere goat is named from Cashmere, a province between India proper and Thibet. The animals are most numerous in Thibet, but most of the wool—or mohair, as it is technically termed—is manufactured in Cashmere, the 16,000 or more looms of which turn out about 30,000 shawls every year, worth in London from £100 to £450. There are marked differences in the “staples” of these two species of goats. They both have two coats. In the case of the Angoras there is a coarse, short hair close to the skin, and a long, curly, outer covering of the nature of wool, very soft and silky and, in good varieties, from seven to nine inches long. This is the more bulky and valuable part of the fleece. The Cashmere goat, on the contrary, has a coarse, outer coat of different shades from gray to black and a fine undergrowth of beautifully soft, silky texture, almost downy. It is perfectly straight, of a uniformly grayish color and glossy luster, and is fully double the length of the Angora staple, the best grades measuring eighteen inches. This is combed out of the animal’s coat in the spring, when it begins to be shed, and the product is so light that it has been said that the average yield is but three ounces per goat, which would require the product of ten goats for the manufacture of a shawl a yard and a half square. It is certain, however, that the yield of the finer animals ranges from seven to nine ounces. The value of this mohair in Cashmere is from 30 to 40 cents a pound. It is not exported to this country to such a degree as to establish a market quotation. There is some of the Angora mohair imported for manufacture in our Eastern States, at prices ranging, according to quality, from 60 cents to $1 a pound. The Angora goat has been successfully introduced into the British colonies of South Africa. Cape Colony alone exported in 1878 the sum of 1,300,585 pounds, valued at £105,313, or about 32 cents a pound. It is believed that it can be raised with profit in the mountainous parts of Georgia and Alabama, and still farther north; and in the mountainous districts of California and Oregon.

AN EARLY CALIFORNIAN COIN.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Please give the origin of the $20 gold piece of 1853, marked on one side, “San Francisco;” on the other, “Moffat & Co.” Is it worth anything above its face value?

J. A. BLOSS.

Answer.—It being impossible to find any quotation of the value of the coin referred to, Messrs. Stevens & Co., well-known numismatists of this city, were asked to answer the above questions. The following is their reply: “The $20 gold piece here designated gives a good deal of trouble to curiosity hunters and coin collectors in general; very much as is the case with the silver dollar of 1878 with eight feathers in the eagle’s tail. There is no premium on either of them. There is no certain history of the Moffat & Co. pieces. They were a private coinage and issued under miner’s law; and all ’49 Californians know the potency or persuasive powers of that law. The quality or fineness of the pieces is below standard and their value much below our current $20 piece. The San Francisco mint was established in July, 1852, and very soon after that all private coinages ceased. Most of these pieces find their way into the brokers’ offices and are sold only at bullion prices.”

MOCHA COFFEE.

MAYVILLE, D. T.

Where does Mocha coffee come from, and what makes it so much higher priced than other coffee?

EDWARD PALMER.

Answer.—The genuine Mocha coffee is produced in the province of Yemen, South Arabia. It takes its name from Mokha, the chief port of exportation, on the Red Sea. Very little of it, and that of inferior quality, is ever seen west of Constantinople. Mr. W. G. Palgrave, the Arabian traveler, says: “Arabia itself, Syria, and Egypt consume fully two-thirds of the annual crop, and the remainder is almost exclusively absorbed by Turkish and Armenian esophagi. Nor do these last get for their share the best or the purest. Before reaching the harbors of Alexandria, Jaffa, Beyrout, etc., for exportation beyond there, the northern bales have been sifted and resifted, grain by grain, and whatever they may have contained of the hard, rounded, half transparent, greenish-brown berry, the only one really worth roasting and pounding, has been carefully picked out by experienced fingers, and it is the less generous residue of flattened, opaque, and whitish grains which almost alone goes on the shipping. So constant is this selecting process that a gradation regular as the degrees in a map may be observed in the quality of Mokha, that is Yemen, coffee, even within the limits of Arabia itself in proportion as one approaches to or recedes from, Wadi Nejran and the neighborhood of Mecca, the first stages of the radiating mart.” About 10,000 pounds of this coffee are exported annually through the port of Mokha, says another authority; but this seems to be consumed, as Mr. Palgrave says, mainly in Africa and Turkey.

The Mocha sold in the markets of Western Europe and America is from the East Indies. Some of it even never crossed the Atlantic, being produced in the West Indies or Central or South America. The really exquisite flavor of this choice, small berried coffee, together with the almost fanatical prejudice of the Turks for it, because it is raised in Arabia, and the limited production, sufficiently account for the high price it commands.

INDEX OF PERIODICAL LITERATURE.

CHICAGO, Ill.

A party of ladies studying Shakespeare are deeply interested in the Baconian theory. We find very little concerning it in books. Can you tell us if there are any valuable magazine articles on this subject, and where they may be found? What guide is there to periodical literature?

MRS. M. B. W.

Answer.—Happily we do now know where to direct not only this correspondent but other inquirers where to find a complete index of all periodical literature in the English language of any importance, whether upon the above-named subject or any other. It is in “An Index to Periodical Literature,” by William Frederick Poole, LL. D., Librarian of the Chicago Public Library: published by James R. Osgood & Co., Boston. This is the only work of the kind, except Dr. Poole’s first and second indexes, published the one in 1848, and the other in 1853, both of which are out of print and were mere pamphlets in comparison with this noble volume, a royal octavo of 1,442 pages. Fresh from the press, it is brought down to a very recent date. The answers to the above questions and another, from two correspondents who wish to read up on the protective tariff and free trade controversy, may serve to illustrate the advantages of this invaluable index. Under William Shakespeare there are eight and a half columns of references by title to articles in American and English reviews and magazines on Shakespeare and his works, all of which are alphabetically arranged. Running along the “A” column we come to “Authorship of” (Shakespeare), “and Lord Bacon. (Delia Bacon) Putnam, 7:1.—Frazer, 90:164. Same art, Liv. Age, 123:131.—Chamb, J., 18:87—Nat. R. 5:72—Canad. Mo. 16:76—(A. Morgan) Appleton, 21:112, 481. 23:481. 24:14—(M. B. Benton) Appleton 21:336.-Blackw, 80:616.—(C. C. Shackford) No. Am. 85:493.—(A. G. Sedgwick) No. Am. 104:276.—(N. Hawthorne) Astan. 11:43.—(E. O. Vaile) Scrib. 9:743.—(J. F. Clarke) No. Am. 132:163.—(W. H. Smith) Liv. Age, 51:481.—Harper, 34:263.—Nation, 2:402.—Scrib., 9:392.” This answers Mrs. M. B. W.’s question as to where she and her Shakspearean Club are to look for periodical literature on the Baconian theory of the authorship of Shakespeare.

Now turn to “Tariff,” and there are nearly two columns of titles of articles on this subject and where to find them; among them being the following, arranged under the head of “Protective Tariff.”

“Protective, (J. C. Pray) Hunt, 2:119.—(H. J. Burton) Hunt, 11:254.—(M. D. L. Rodet) Hunt, 11:299.—(E. Everett) No. Am., 19:223.—(A. H. Everett) No. Am., 03:160; 32:127.—No. Am., 35:265.—(F. Bowen) No. Am., 73:90.—(H. Greeley) Am. Whig R. 2:111; 4:215; 5:201; 14:81. Ed. R., 72:321. Dem. R., 7:341; 9:329; 10:357; 14:291, 447; 19:163.—Am. Q., 10:444; 11:345.—So. R., 2:582; 6:206; 8:213.—Niles R., 17:87; 19:331; 20:306, 354; 21:121, 147; 22:2, 292; 23:40, 118; 24:99, 116.—So. Lit. Mess., 8:421.”

Turning to the introduction of the book we find all the above abbreviations clearly explained, and the place of publication of each of the several periodicals referred to. For example: “Putnam, 7:1,” stands for Putnam’s Magazine, number 7, page 1; “Blackw. 80:616,” signifies Blackwood’s Magazine, number 80, page 616, and so on. Every public library in the land—city, village, college, high school, whatever its name—needs such a guide as this to periodical literature, and it is easy to see that no private library of any pretensions can do without it.

WHY 1900 WILL NOT BE A LEAP YEAR.

TIPTON, Iowa.

Will the year 1900 be a leap year? Robinson’s Arithmetic says that 1896 will be a leap year but 1900 will not be. If this is true, please explain why.

STUDENT.

Answer.—The old Roman year contained but 355 days, divided into twelve lunar months, with an intercalary month thrown in at certain intervals, as became necessary, to atone for the fact that it requires more than twelve precise lunar months to make a year. This arrangement led to great confusion, and Julius Cæsar, in the year B. C. 46, remedied the trouble in large degree by the introduction of what is known as the Julian calendar, which regarded the year as composed of 365¼ days. This was a great improvement, but as a matter of fact the natural year contains 11 minutes 10 seconds less than 365¼ days, which difference amounts in a hundred years to 18 hours 36 minutes 40 seconds, or a little more than three-fourths of a day. As a consequence, between the year A. D. 325—when the Council of Nice established the rule for the determination of Easter Sunday—and the year 1582 there was found to be an accumulated error of ten days. Whereas the sun had crossed the equator at the vernal equinox of A. D. 325 on March 21, it crossed it in 1582, according to the Julian calendar, on March 11. Pope Gregory XIII., resolved on ending the confusion attendant upon this imperfection of the generally accepted calendar, ordained that what according to this mode of reckoning would have been Oct. 5, 1582, be reckoned as Oct. 15; and to prevent a repetition of the error he further ordained that every hundredth year should not be a leap year, excepting the year 2000 and every four hundredth year thereafter. Manifestly the omission of an entire day every four hundredth year would be too much by about one day, since, as above shown, the error in the Julian mode of reckoning amounts only to 18h. 36 min. 40 sec. in a hundred years, or about three days in four hundred years. This correction the Gregorian amendment effects by the rule above stated, which took the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 out of the list of leap years, and left the year 2,000 in that list. This leaves but the small difference of 36 min. and 40 sec. in a hundred years between the civil and natural years: which amounts to no more than twenty-two seconds a year, or about six hours in 1,000 years. In England the change from the old style of reckoning to this new style was not ordered until 1751, by which time the error that was but ten days in Gregory’s time had grown to eleven days. The order took effect in England and the Colonies as regarded all official dates and reckoning, in September, 1752, when eleven days were left out of the calendar by reckoning Sept. 3 as Sept. 14. This explains apparent discrepancies between authors who wrote in the latter half of the last and the early part of this century. For example, some early biographies of Washington say that he was born Feb. 11, others that he was born Feb. 11, O. S., or Feb. 22, N. S. Some biographical sketches of John Adams, Washington’s successor, declare that he was born Oct. 19, 1735, without indicating that this was according to the old reckoning, while others state that he was born Oct. 30.

LEGISLATION FOR THE PEOPLE.

DENVER, Col.

Enumerate the acts passed since the Republicans have been in power which have served to benefit the people generally, and not some corporation or monopoly only. An elderly Democrat declares that the Republican party has never passed any such laws.

C. S. HOLLEY.

Answer.—It is useless to waste words on men so ignorant or politically mendacious as “elderly Democrat.” The following memorandum is for the benefit of younger and fairer minded men. First of all there is the series of acts ending in the preservation of the Union and the emancipation of 4,000,000 men who were so far from being “monopolists” or holders of corporation shares that they were slaves; as they would be to-day had the Democrats remained in power. It would take columns to enumerate the laws brought forward by Republicans and enacted since they came into power which have immensely benefited the people at large, and not “only monopolies,” as you express it. Among these are the laws which have brought cheap postage and rapid postal transportation; the homestead and timber culture acts; the establishment of the only thoroughly secure national paper currency and general banking system this country has ever enjoyed; the resumption of specie payments in the face of Democratic and Greenbacker opposition; the maintenance of the public credit against rebellion in the South and the Democracy in the North, re-enforced subsequently by the Greenback party, both clamoring for total or partial repudiation; the abolition of all duties on tea and coffee; the establishment of State schools of agriculture and industrial science, endowed by government land grants; the promotion of American inventions, manufactures, and mining, until it is considered that this country leads the world in useful inventions, and the capital invested in its factories is nearly three times as great as it was in 1860, when the Republicans came into power—the number of hands employed being 2,738,885, or more than double as many; the amount paid in wages, more than two and a half times as much; the value of farms, forest, mine and other materials consumed (nearly all American) about three and a third times as much; and the value of the product almost three times as great. As some of the consequences of the above industrial legislation, the public lands are passing into the hands of the people in homesteads and timber culture claims alone at the rate of 8,000,000 acres a year; and the twenty years from 1860 to 1880 added as many farms to the cultivated domain of the country as all its previous history. Gold, notwithstanding all the products of our fields and mines, not only stopped flowing out of the country, as it had done during all our former history, but began to pour in from other lands, millions on millions. While throughout all the vast interior of the country, notwithstanding the marvelous multiplication of farms, farm products are higher than in 1860, and nearly all manufactured goods that enter into general consumption are lower. In the same brief period the assessed taxes on real estate and personal property have mounted from $12,084,560,005 to $16,902,993,543.

EARTHQUAKES.

LAY, Col.

Please tell us the cause of earthquakes. Are they due to internal convulsions of the earth or to atmospheric disturbances?

JACOB SLONEKER.

Answer.—According to that eminent physicist, F. W. Rudler (see his contribution to the Encyclopedia Britannica on “Earthquakes”), “even at the present day, after all that has been written on the subject, but little is known as to the origin of earthquakes.” The general opinion of investigators is that these agitations proceed from within outward, and are not of atmospheric or other external origin. True, Professor Alexis Perry, of Dijon, France, thought he had discovered relations between the ages of the moon and these recurrences, which seemed to sustain the theory of Zantedeschi, that the liquid nucleus of the earth responds to the moon’s attraction in tides, somewhat as the ocean does: but the theory that the earth has a liquid nucleus covered with only a thin, solid crust, is losing adherents continually. The theory of vibration communicated by meteoric impact has been advanced as accounting for some earthquakes. Another theory is that earthquakes are caused in some instances by steam from water rushing into the bowels of volcanoes, or from explosions of pent-up gases, generated by chemical decomposition of minerals. Others believe that many of these phenomena are due to magnetic disturbances, following eruptions in the sun. The prevailing opinion still is that whatever their origin, whether of one cause, or various causes, the vibrations of every earthquake can be traced to a focus within the earth, and that this lies directly beneath the point of greatest disturbance on the earth’s surface. After the great shock at Naples in 1857, Mr. Mallet, aided by the Royal Society, by determining the wave paths of the shock at twenty-six different stations, was able to locate the focal depth of the earthquake at about five and a half miles; and Dr. Oldham, by observations on the wave effects of the earthquake which occurred at Cachar, India, on Jan. 10, 1869, found that the focus of disturbance must have been about thirty miles below the surface. This is very near the maximum depth at which any earthquake is likely to originate, if we accept the reasoning of that most eminent of all investigators of this class of phenomena, Mr. Mallet, of Dublin, Ireland. There are credible records of between 6,000 and 7,000 earthquakes between 1606 B. C. and 1842 A. D. Professor Fuch’s more careful observations of recent years show that there were probably many times that number of unrecorded ones, since he registered ninety-seven during the year 1875 and 104 during 1876. In view of this fact this subject appears to be one of the most interesting problems of nature and is attracting growing attention, which, it is hoped, will presently lead to definite, satisfactory conclusions.

SOUTHEASTERN DAKOTA.

PLANKINGTON, D. T.

Having seen questions in THE INTER OCEAN inquiring about Dakota, and seeing no answers from this county, I concluded to write and tell what I know of it. Aurora is the fourth county from the eastern boundary and the third from the southern. It is considered by all who have traveled over it as one of the finest in Southern Dakota. The county is forty-eight miles long and twenty-four miles wide. In the northwestern portion are situated the “Wessington Hills.” These extend from northeast to southwest as far as the Missouri. Among them are beautiful broad valleys and lakes of clear water. The climate is all that can be desired. Last summer the days were warm and the nights invariably cool, so that after a hard day’s work you could lie down and rest sweetly. The past winter here, as in all other parts of the Northern States, has been very cold and stormy. One month, however, would take in all of the very cold weather. One foot would cover all the snow that we have had this winter. The soil is a black loam, varying in depth from one to six feet. The shallowest we have found on our land is eighteen inches, and the deepest four feet. It is very productive. Last year the crops yielded as follows: Corn from 25 to 60 bushels per acre, wheat from 20 to 40 bushels, oats from 50 to 80 bushels, barley from 30 to 60 bushels, rye from 40 to 60 bushels, flax from 7 to 22 bushels, buckwheat from 10 to 30 bushels, potatoes from 100 to 300 bushels, and all other vegetables yielded enormously. The way this county is filling up is wonderful. One year ago last fall there were only about 150 people in the county, and to-day there are between 450 and 500, and scores more coming on every train. If emigrants continue coming as they have done for the last eighteen months, this county will soon be filled up. Spring has already opened out with us, and farmers are putting in their wheat and barley. Plankington, our county seat, which hardly had a name eighteen months ago, is to-day a fine little village of over 700 inhabitants. With early and deep planting this country will grow almost anything.

THOMAS JACKA.

INCOME OF THE CZAR.

FORT WAYNE, Ind.

Will you inform us through Our Curiosity Shop from what source the Emperor of Russia receives his income of $25,000 a day?

S. S. COLEMAN.

Answer.—The annual income of the Czar of all the Russias probably averages a great deal more than $25,000 a day. The crown domains comprise more than a million square miles, covering an area exceeding that of all our New England, Middle, and Southern States. These include cultivated lands, pastures, and forests in different parts of this vast empire, which embraces in its despotic arms more than one-sixth the entire land surface of our globe. Besides the revenue from the above estates, the Czar derives a large income from gold, silver, copper, and other mines in Siberia. The actual total of his immense revenue from all these sources is not stated in the government budgets or finance accounts, the crown domains being considered the private property of the imperial family. In a British consular report of 1867 the total income of the imperial family is estimated at £2,450,000 sterling, which is an average of about $33,500 a day. The imperial contributions to charities, schools, theaters, etc., are estimated by the same authority at about £450,000, leaving a net sum of £2,000,000 a year to “keep the family.”

GETTYSBURG AND WATERLOO.

RED OAK, Iowa.

What was the most destructive battle of the late civil war; and how did it compare with the battle of Waterloo as to numbers engaged and loss of life?

INQUIRER.

Answer.—The heaviest losses suffered by either side in any single battle of the late war were at Gettysburg. The numbers engaged and the losses are stated differently by different writers. Before the Committee on the Conduct of the War, General Meade, the Union commander, said: “Including all arms of the service, my strength was a little under 100,000—about 95,000.” Understanding this to include General French’s 7,000 men, who were by a blunder kept idle at Frederick, and about 4,000 more of French’s force, who had been detailed for special service—none of whom were brought into this battle—it would appear that Meade’s force at Gettysburg was about 84,000 men of all arms. This corresponds very nearly with General Humphrey’s statement that the Army of the Potomac in this action comprised 70,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry, with an artillery force of 300 guns. Of the Confederate forces, General Humphrey says that General Lee entered Pennsylvania with 85,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry, and a due proportion of artillery. Greeley’s “American Conflict” says: “Lee’s army, carefully counted by two Union men independently, as it marched through Hagerstown, numbered 91,000 infantry, with 280 guns and 6,000 cavalry, while not less than 5,000 cavalry under Stuart advanced into Pennsylvania without passing through Hagerstown.” The Union loss was 23,190, of whom 2,834 were killed, 13,713 wounded, and 6,643 missing. The Confederate loss is not officially stated. It is estimated by one writer (in the American Cyclopedia) at 5,000 killed, 23,000 wounded, and 8,000 unwounded prisoners—a total of 36,000, which is evidently an exaggeration. Greeley’s “American Conflict” estimates Lee’s loss at 28,000, of whom 18,000 were killed and wounded, and 10,000 were unwounded prisoners; while J. Watts de Peyster, in Johnson’s Cyclopedia, estimates Lee’s loss at 31,600—18,000 killed and wounded, and 13,600 missing, which includes the unwounded prisoners in our hands. In the battle of Waterloo, the French army under Napoleon I. (according to P. Nicholas, in Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates) numbered 71,947 men and 246 guns, and the allies 133,661 men of all arms and 260 guns—English, under Wellington, 67,661; Prussians, 66,000 men. The loss of the allies was 22,976: of whom 4,206 were killed, 14,539 wounded, and 4,231 missing. The French loss was 18,500 killed and wounded, and 7,800 prisoners, total 26,300; but other accounts, including some French writers, make their loss about 30,000, the figures given in most English and American cyclopedias.

FRAUDULENT HOMESTEAD AND TIMBER CLAIMS.

LACROSSE, Wis.

Is it not the intention of the pre-emption, homestead, and timber-culture laws to encourage actual settlement and improvement of the country, and are not these laws constantly used to encourage fraudulent speculation, to the disadvantage of bona fide settlers?

CITIZEN.

Answer.—Undoubtedly the laws mentioned were enacted for the benefit of actual settlers, and not for the enrichment of speculators. The following communication from Samuel Huckins, Esq., of Hartford, D. T., just received, may be taken as an expose of the actual use made of the laws in thousands of instances: “I have been a reader of your worthy paper from the first year of its publication, and as I live away out here in the far West I take a great interest in the doings of Congress in regard to the public lands, of which THE INTER OCEAN has so much to say. Now my theory and belief is, and always has been, that the public lands should be given to those who will cultivate and improve them—actual settlers who will make for themselves and their descendants a home—and not throw this munificent gift of the National domain into the hands of land-sharks and speculators. Every person taking a claim, and those now holding claims under any of the different acts of Congress, should occupy and cultivate such lands according to the spirit and intent of the laws granting them the same. I think Congress made a very grave error in giving persons who had filed their entries of land under the homestead act the privilege to pay $1.25 per acre for it instead of residing on the land five years, thus giving those who never occupied the land, and probably never will, a great advantage over the first settlers on homestead land, who, in order to hold their claims, had to make the required improvements and have an actual residence. I believe from my personal knowledge that three-fourths of the land acquired under the above act passed into the hands of capitalists and speculators. The bogus homesteader would go to some money lender and get enough money to prove up on his land—say $200 for 160 acres and $50 or $100 besides—giving a deed or mortgage on the same as security. In this way the poor, honest home-seeker is cheated out of the land. There are a great many claims out here, especially timber claims, held by persons who have not fulfilled the requirements of the law, but as the law is now administered they can hold them with impunity. A great share of the land now covered by timber-culture claims on file is in reality far more effectually covered with rank weeds than with growing timber. Under the present system this law is of little value, and keeps off the sincere home-seeker, who would improve the land and help to build up schools and churches, and make for himself and family a much needed home.”

ASSASSINATED ON GOOD FRIDAY.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Please decide whether President Lincoln was assassinated on Good Friday, and settle a dispute.

CONTESTANT.

Answer.—President Lincoln was assassinated on Friday, April 14, 1865, which was Good Friday.

THE DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.

CRAB ORCHARD, Ill.

Who discovered Mexico?

FELIX M. BURDETT.

Answer.—The first knowledge of Mexico that reached the Spaniards otherwise than by vague and uncertain stories of natives of the West Indies came through two expeditions fitted out by Diego Velasquez, who made the first European settlements in Cuba. The first of these, under the command of Cordova, sailed from St. Jago de Cuba, Feb. 8, 1517, and landed on the shores of Yucatan and Campeachy. The second, commanded by Grijalvo, landed at various places on the coast, but returned without penetrating into the interior or making a settlement. It carried back such reports of the high civilization and great wealth of Mexico, learned through the natives, as served to intensify the determination of Velasquez to explore, and, if possible, conquer the country. He fitted up a fleet of eleven small vessels and placed them in command of Fernando Cortez, who set sail from Cuba, Feb. 10, 1519; landed near the present city of Vera Cruz, on March 4, and became the first actual explorer of the country, and the founder of the Spanish dominion in Mexico.

TITLE OF PRINCE OF WALES.

HEBRON, Neb.

1. What is the origin of the title of the Prince of Wales? 2. Who pays the cost of the dinners given at the White House, and what is the annual expense on this account?

JAMES KNOX.

Answer.—1. On the conquest of Wales by Henry III. of England, he bestowed the principality of Wales and earldom of Chester on his son, afterward Edward I., as an office of trust and government. In 1343 Edward III. invested his son Edward, the “Black Prince,” with the principality, and from that time the eldest son of the reigning King has borne the title of Prince of Wales. 2. The President pays the expenses of entertainments given at the Executive Mansion out of his annual allowances, and the amount so expended is a private matter.

J. C. CALHOUN—WHIG PARTY.

VOLGA CITY, Iowa.

1. Why did John C. Calhoun resign the office of Vice President? 2. Who was his successor? 3. What caused the death of the Whig party?

H. C. DAVIS.

Answer.—1. Calhoun aspired to the Presidency at the end of President Jackson’s first term. This led to a personal alienation and final violent rupture between the two. Calhoun was elected Vice President along with Jackson in 1828, but he resigned the office in 1831 for the above reason, and in order to accept the United States Senatorship vacated by Mr. Hayne when the latter was elected Governor of South Carolina. 2. Martin Van Buren, of New York, succeeded Mr. Calhoun. 3. The growth of the Free Soil and Abolition parties in the North killed the old Whig party.

GREAT FIRES OF HISTORY.

FREDONIA, N. Y.

How did the loss of lives and property in the great fire in Chicago compare with the losses in what are distinguished as the great fires of London and Moscow? Give a list also of the other principal fires recorded in history, and oblige

A CONSTANT READER.

Answer.—The loss of life and property in the willful destruction by fire and sword of the principal cities of ancient history—Nineveh, Babylon, Persepolis, Carthage, Palmyra, and many others—is largely a matter of conjecture. The following is a memorandum of the chief conflagrations of the current era:

In 64, A. D., during the reign of Nero, a terrible fire raged in Rome for eight days, destroying ten of the fourteen wards. The loss of life and destruction of property is not known.

In 70, A. D., Jerusalem was taken by the Romans and a large part of it given to the torch, entailing an enormous destruction of life and property.

In 1106 Venice, then a city of immense opulence, was almost wholly consumed by a fire, originating in accident or incendiarism.

In 1212 the greater part of London was burned.

In 1666 what is known as the Great Fire of London raged in the city from Sept. 2 to 6, consuming 13,200 houses, with St. Paul’s Church, 86 parish churches, 6 chapels, the Guild Hall, the Royal Exchange, the Custom House, 52 companies’ halls, many hospitals, libraries, and other public edifices. The total destruction of property was estimated at $53,652,500. Six lives were lost, and 436 acres burnt over.

In 1679 a fire in Boston burned all the warehouses, eighty dwellings, and vessels in the dock-yards; loss estimated at $1,000,000.

In 1700 a large part of Edinburgh was burned; loss unknown.

In 1728 Copenhagen was nearly destroyed; 1,650 houses burned.

In 1736 a fire in St. Petersburg burned 2,000 houses.

In 1729 a fire in Constantinople destroyed 12,000 houses, and 7,000 people perished. The same city suffered a conflagration in 1745, lasting five days; and in 1750 a series of three appalling fires: one in January, consuming 10,000 houses; another in April destroying property to the value of $5,000,000, according to one historian, and according to another, $15,000,000; and in the latter part of the year another, sweeping fully 10,000 houses more out of existence. It seemed as if Constantinople was doomed to utter annihilation.

In 1751 a fire in Stockholm destroyed 1,000 houses; and another fire in the same city in 1759 burned 250 houses with a loss of $2,420,000.

In 1752 a fire in Moscow swept away 18,000 houses, involving an immense loss.

In 1758 Christiana suffered a loss of $1,250,000, by conflagration.

In 1760 the Portsmouth (Eng.) dock-yards were burned, with a loss of $2,000,000.

In 1764 a fire in Konigsburg, Prussia, consumed the public buildings, with a loss of $3,000,000; and in 1769 the city was almost totally destroyed.

In 1763 a fire in Smyrna destroyed 2,600 houses, with a loss of $1,000,000; in 1772 a fire in the same city carried off 3,000 dwellings, and 3,000 to 4,000 shops, entailing a loss of $20,000,000; and in 1796 there were 4,000 shops, mosques, magazines, etc., burned.

In 1776, six days after the British seized the city, a fire swept off all the west side of New York city, from Broadway to the river.

In 1771 a fire in Constantinople burned 2,500 houses; another in 1778 burned 2,000 houses; in 1782 there were 600 houses burned in February, 7,000 in June, and on Aug. 12, during a conflagration that lasted three days, 10,000 houses, 50 mosques, and 100 corn-mills, with a loss of 100 lives. Two years later a fire, on March 13, destroyed two-thirds of Pera, the loveliest suburb of Constantinople, and on Aug. 5 a fire in the main city, lasting twenty-six hours, burned 10,000 houses. In this same fire-scourged city, in 1791, between March and July, there were 32,000 houses burned, and about as many more in 1795; and in 1799 Pera was again swept with fire, with a loss of 13,000 houses, including many buildings of great magnificence.

In 1784 a fire and explosion in the dock-yards, Brest, caused a loss of $5,000,000.

But the greatest destruction of life and property by conflagrations, of which the world has anything like accurate records, must be looked for within the current century. Of these the following is a partial list of instances in which the loss of property amounted to $3,000,000 and upward:

Property Dates. Cities. destroyed.

1802 Liverpool $5,000,000 1803 Bombay 3,000,000 1805 St. Thomas 30,000,000 1808 Spanish Town 7,500.000 1812 Moscow, burned five days; 30,800 houses destroyed 50,000,000 1816 Constantinople, 12,000 dwellings, 3,000 shops ..... 1820 Savannah 4,000,000 1822 Canton nearly destroyed ..... 1828 Havana, 350 houses ..... 1835 New York (“Great Fire”) 15,000,000 1837 St. Johns. N. B. 5,000,000 1838 Charleston, 1,158 buildings 3,000,000 1841 Smyrna, 12,000 houses ..... 1842 Hamburg, 4,219 buildings, 100 lives lost 35,000,000 1845 New York, 35 persons killed 7,500,000 1845 Pittsburg, 1,100 buildings 10,000,000 1845 Quebec, May 28, 1,650 dwellings 3,750,000 1845 Quebec, June 28, 1,300 dwellings ..... 1846 St Johns, Newfoundland 5,000,000 1848 Constantinople, 2,500 buildings 15,000,000 1848 Albany, N. Y., 600 houses 3,000,000 1849 St. Louis 3,000,000 1851 St. Louis, 2,500 buildings 11,000,000 1851 St. Louis, 500 buildings 3,000,000 1851 San Francisco, May 4 and 5, many lives lost 10,000,000 1851 San Francisco, June 3,000,000 1852 Montreal, 1,200 buildings 5,000,000 1861 Mendoza destroyed by earthquake and fire, 10,000 lives lost .... 1862 St. Petersburg 5,000,000 1862 Troy, N. Y., nearly destroyed 1862 Valparaiso, almost destroyed 1864 Novgorod, immense destruction of property ..... 1865 Constantinople, 2,800 buildings burned ..... 1866 Yokohama, nearly destroyed 1865 Carlstadt, Sweden, all consumed but Bishop’s residence, hospital, and jail; 10 lives lost ..... 1866 Portland, Me., half the city 11,000,000 1866 Quebec, 2,500 dwellings and 17 churches ...... 1870 Constantinople, Pera suburb 26,000,000 1871 Chicago, 250 lives lost, 17,430 buildings burned, on 2,124 acres 192,000,000 1871 Paris, fired by the Commune 160,000,000 1872 Boston 75,000,000 1873 Yeddo, 10,000 houses ...... 1877 Pittsburg, caused by riot 3,260,000 1877 St. Johns, N. B., 1,650 dwellings, 18 lives lost 12,500,000

From the above it appears that the five greatest fires on record, reckoned by destruction of property, are:

Chicago fire, of Oct. 8 and 9, 1871 $192,000,000 Paris fires, of May, 1871 160,000,000 Moscow fire, of Sept. 14-19, 1812 150,000,000 Boston fire, Nov. 9-10, 1872 75,000,000 London fire, Sept. 2-6, 1666 53,652,500 Hamburg fire, May 5-7, 1842 35,000,000

Taking into account, with the fires of Paris and Chicago, the great Wisconsin and Michigan forest fires of 1871, in which it is estimated that 1,000 human beings perished and property to the amount of over $3,000,000 was consumed, it is plain that in the annals of conflagrations that year stands forth in gloomy preeminence.

LOSS OF THE LADY ELGIN.

CRETE, Ill.

When was the Lady Elgin lost, on Lake Michigan and how many persons were lost, and saved?

JOHN MILLER.

Answer.—The steamer Lady Elgin was cut to the water’s edge by a sailing vessel named the Augusta, heavily loaded with lumber, which struck her amidships, during the night, Sept. 8, 1860. She sunk almost immediately. Carrying an excursion party from Chicago to Milwaukee at the time, she had about 400 passengers on board. The disaster occurred about twenty-two miles north of Chicago, nearly off Glencoe. Many of the passengers and crew got on rafts and portions of the wreck, and drifted toward the land. Some of these came ashore between Glencoe and Evanston; but the most of them, after getting within hail of the beach, despite the best efforts of citizens and students of Evanston and Winnetka to assist them, were swallowed up in the breakers and carried out into the lake by the terrible undertow. Men with ropes around their chests plunged into the breakers, seized exhausted, drowning men and women, and were dragged in by main strength of men at the lines. Conspicuous among these noble men was Mr. Edward W. Spencer, of Rock Island, Ill., then a student at Garrett Biblical Institute, who saved fourteen or fifteen passengers, persisting until he was utterly exhausted; an example of heroism which was suitably commemorated afterwards by the presentation of a memorial watch and chain, given him by citizens of Chicago and Evanston. Of the total list of passengers only about one-fourth were rescued; 297 perished.

AUSTRALIA.

COLMAR, Ill.

What are the area and principal natural features of Australia, and the nationalities and chief occupations of its population?

CHARLES L. BRICKWELL.

Answer.—Australia, often spoken of as an island, is about ten times the size of Borneo, the largest island of the world properly so called, and is nearly half the size of South America. To be more specific, it measures about 2,500 miles from east to west, and 1,950 from north to south, containing an estimated area of 3,000,000 miles. This is about the same as the entire extent of the United States, exclusive of Alaska. Along the east and west coasts the country is broken, rising at no great distance from the sea into a succession of mountain ranges; but the vast interior is almost as level as a gently undulating ocean-bed, which it evidently was at no very distant period—geologically speaking. It seems to be for the most part a great sandstone basin, rising toward the coast in nearly every direction. The mountain range in the southeast, known as the Australian Alps, rises to a height of 7,000 feet; the granite and syenitic mountains on the west coast range from 800 to 3,000 feet in elevation, and those along the coast of Queensland, and along the greater part of the north coast, from 1,000 to 4,000 feet. There are immense quantities of coal in Eastern Australia, rich gold mines, some silver, and an abundance of iron, copper, and tin. The broken and much of the mountainous regions are well wooded, but the interior is comparatively naked, and much of it wears a parched look, like the dry, treeless plains of Eastern Wyoming and Colorado, which are available for flocks and herds the most of the year, but not cultivable with profit without artificial irrigation. There are millions of acres of fine agricultural and grazing lands without entering this interior basis to any great distance; and the governments of the several provinces are offering liberal inducements to settlers. Few of the rivers of this vast country are navigable to any great distance, although several of them may be made so for a large part of the year by slight improvements of the channels. Conspicuous among the latter are Murray River, 1,100 miles long; the Roper and the Victoria. The regions beyond the seaboard are not likely to develop rapidly until means of transportation are extended. The railroad mileage of Australia is only a little over 4,042 miles, or about the same as that of Minnesota, which is thirty-six times smaller in area and began to be settled much later. The telegraph lines measure over 30,000 miles. The climate of the Southern half of Australia is quite similar to that of Southern Brazil or Cuba, and that of the greater part of the rest of the continent is a good counterpart of that of Southern Europe. The total population of the five provinces of Australia, by the census of 1881, is as follows:

New South Wales 751,468 Queensland 213,525 South Australia 279,865 Victoria 862,346 Western Australia 29,708 ————————— Total 2,136,912

The above does not include aborigines, estimated to number 80,000. The increase by immigration is not rapid. The population is mostly of British origin, but it embraces also nearly 10,000 Polynesians and 25,000 Chinese. The chief occupations are agriculture, grazing, mining, building, and commerce. Manufactures do not flourish, the colonies being dependent almost entirely upon the United Kingdom for manufactured goods. The chief exports are wool, hides, preserved meats, copper, lead, coal, and gold. The total quantity of gold mined in Victoria alone, from the discovery in 1851 to the end of 1880, amounted to 49,500,000 oz., valued at $990,000,000. The government of the several provinces is similar to that of the provinces of the present Dominion of Canada before their union.

ALDERNEYS AND JERSEYS.

SCOTT, Ind.

What is the difference between Alderney cattle and Jerseys, if any? Where did the breeds originate? Your answer will settle a dispute.

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—Alderney, Jersey, and Guernsey are small islands in the British Channel, just off the coast of Normandy, France; from which the first, an isle of about four square miles in area, is separated by only a very narrow strait. Jersey, about sixteen miles off the coast, is a much larger and more fertile island, being about eleven times the size of Alderney. While the cattle of the three islands are all believed to have come from one common Norman stock, and pass under the common name of the Alderney breed, the Jersey cattle have been greatly improved by careful in-breeding, and are better milkers as to quantity, though not as to quality, than the native cattle of Alderney. Few cattle are exported from the latter island, while a considerable number of Jersey cattle are exported to England and this country, where nearly all the representatives of what is known as the Alderney breed are Jerseys. It would not be correct to speak of Alderneys and Jerseys as distinct breeds.

LOTTERY MATTER UNMAILABLE.

SHELL ROCK, Iowa.

Is it unlawful to send letters to lottery companies and lottery agents through the mails?

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—Postal regulation 674 declares “No letter or circular concerning lotteries, so-called gift concerts, or similar enterprises, offering prizes,” etc., “shall be carried in the mail. Any person who shall knowingly deposit or send anything to be conveyed by mail in violation of this section shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500 nor less than $100, with costs of prosecution.” Section 674 instructs postmasters and employes of the railway mail service to withdraw letters and third class matter addressed to lottery companies or agents from the mails and refer them to the proper officers for prosecution of the person mailing the same.

THE HIGH SEAS.

UNION GROVE, Wis.

1. What is meant by the “high seas” in article 1, section 8, of the Constitution of the United States? 2. Are the Great Lakes regarded as high seas? 3. If a crime were committed on any of the Great Lakes, where would the criminal be tried—in what court? 4. What persons are meant in the first clause of the ninth section of article 1 of the Constitution?

ROBERT ROBERTS.

Answer.—1. By the “high seas” is meant the open sea: that is the waters outside of the civil jurisdiction of any country, which the law of nations limits to one marine league, or three geographical miles from shore. 2. The Great Lakes are regarded, beyond the limits above designated, as high seas. 3. In the event of crimes committed on the high seas, parties charged therewith are subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal or United States courts in the district which the vessel first enters after the commission of the crime, or in the district where the offender is found. The courts of States bordering on the great lakes have jurisdiction concurrent with that of the United States courts where it can be shown that the crime was committed within their limits, which extend to the central line of the lakes bounding them. 4. In the clause of the Constitution which reads: “The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808,” etc. The word “persons” was understood to mean African slaves. This form was adopted to avoid the use of the word slave in the Constitution, the very thought of which was repugnant to Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and other fathers of that instrument, whether from North or South. The slave trade, in conformity with the above clause of the Constitution, was promptly abolished in 1808.

UNIMPROVED LANDS—IMMIGRATION.

GANGES, Mich.

What proportion of the areas of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska is still unimproved Also, please state the number of immigrants arriving in this country in 1882.

H. H. H.

Answer.—1. The census of 1880 gives the following statistics of improved lands embraced in farms in the several States above named, opposite which we place the total area of each State in acres:

No. of Improved Total States. farms. acres. acres.

Ohio 247,189 18,081,091 26,278,400 Michigan 154,008 8,296,862 37,705,600 Indiana 194,013 13,933,738 23,264,000 Illinois 255,741 26,115,154 36,256,000 Iowa 185,351 19,866,541 35,856,000 Nebraska 63,387 5,504,702 49,187,200

From this it appears that nearly one-third of Ohio, more than three-fourths of Michigan, about two-fifths of Indiana, a little more than one-fourth of Illinois, about three-sevenths of Iowa, and almost nine-tenths of Nebraska remained unimproved as farm property at the time of the last census. In settled States, the number of acres included in cities, towns, and villages, in roads, lakes, and navigable streams, will reduce the proportion of “unimproved acres” by about 2 per cent of the total area. The statistician of Indiana computes that there were in 1879, 249,686 acres, or 1⅛ per cent of the total State area, embraced in roads outside of cities and incorporated towns. 2. The total immigration into the United States in 1882 numbered 788,992.

LAW AGAINST CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

ROSCOE, Ill.

Please publish in Our Curiosity Shop in condensed form the law of this State to punish cruelty to animals. A person in this neighborhood, remonstrated with for cruelly beating his horse with a pitchfork, retorts that “a man has a right to pound his own horse.” Let us know the law for such cases.

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—Chapter 38, section 50, of the Revised Statutes of Illinois says: “Whoever shall be guilty of cruelty to any animal in any of the ways mentioned in this section shall be fined not less than $3 nor more than $200, viz.: By overloading, overdriving, cruelly beating, tormenting, mutilating, or cruelly killing any animal; by cruelly working any old, maimed, infirm, sick, or disabled animal; by failing to provide any animal in his charge or custody with proper food, drink, and shelter; by abandoning any old, maimed, infirm, sick, or disabled animal; or by causing or knowingly allowing the same to be done.”

EMANCIPATION IN JAMAICA.

SHULLSBURG, Wis.

In what year and by whom were the slaves of Jamaica emancipated? Also state the circumstances under which they gained their freedom.

RICHARD IVEY, M. D.

Answer.—In 1807 the British Government abolished the slave trade in all British vessels and in British waters. The agitation against slavery was kept up in Parliament from that time, growing more and more irresistible every year, and spreading out into the farthest provinces, until in 1832 the negroes of Jamaica revolted, under the belief that emancipation had actually been decreed and that their masters were holding them in slavery against law as well as against natural right. The atrocities to be expected in a servile insurrection ensued; hundreds of lives and millions of property were destroyed. When the terrible tidings reached England it added new fuel to the emancipation agitation, already at white heat, and in 1833 the famous English emancipation act was passed. The government apportioned £6,161,927 among the owners of the slave population, of 309,338 persons; and after four years apprenticeship all of these former slaves became absolutely free.

BARNBURNERS AND HUNKERS.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.

How and when did the political nicknames “Hunker” and “Barnburner” originate in the State of New York?

J. H. P.

Answer.—The Democratic party within New York State became badly divided soon after the inauguration of Mr. Polk, in 1845, owing to the slights put on Governor Silas Wright, of that State, to whose immense popularity Polk really owed his election. Wright could not carry all his friends over to Polk, as is shown by the fact that he was elected Governor by 10,030 majority, while Polk carried the State by 5,106. This, however, decided the electoral count in his favor. Polk was really a weak man, and showed it in nothing more than in his jealousy of Wright and annoyance at the general ascription, of his election by the organs of both parties, to Wright’s influence. He tendered Wright the choice of places in his Cabinet under constraint of the general wish of the party, and knowing that this statesman felt bound to retain the high office to which the people of New York had exalted him. Wright declined, but asked that Azariah C. Flagg, of New York, be made Secretary of the Treasury, and he understood the President to promise this; yet afterward the latter declined to make the appointment, and gave the portfolio of Secretary of State to ex-Governor Wm. L. Marcy, of New York, who was by no means friendly to Wright. The Collectorship of New York, it was understood, would be given as Governor Wright and ex-President Van Buren should request, but here again the President disappointed them. All this reminds us forcibly of the divisions in the Republican ranks in the same State, due to the Garfield-Conkling feud. The trouble rankled, and the Democratic party became divided into two pronounced factions before the election of delegates to the next gubernatorial convention. There were the administration Democrats, calling themselves Conservatives, and the “sore-heads” of those days, stigmatized as Radicals, because, among other things, they were affected with anti-slavery, or “free-soil” sentiments; whereas the administration party was strongly pro-slavery. In the Democratic State Convention, held at Syracuse early in 1847, the latter faction, by political manipulation, secured the organization of that body, and decided nearly all the contested seats in their own favor and made the State ticket and the State Committee to suit themselves; in other words, “carried off the hunk,” and fairly won the nickname of “Hunkers.” The other faction, led on by Governor Wright’s friends, Mr. Van Buren, Colonel Samuel Young, Michael Hoffman, and others, refused to support the ticket, and as a consequence the Whigs carried the State by over 30,000 majority in the gubernatorial election. One of the Hunker orators likened the Wright and Van Buren faction to the Dutch farmer who burned his barn to rid himself of the rats, and thenceforward the name Barnburners was fastened on them, and the two nicknames, Hunker and Barnburner, were bandied back and forth until after the latter joined with the Liberty party, in 1852, to support Mr. Van Buren as the Free Soil candidate for the Presidency. There is no difference of opinion as to the origin of the term Barnburner as above given, but Webster’s dictionary defines hunkerism as hostility to progress: “Bartlett’s Americanisms” defines “Hunkers” as a name given to a faction of the Democratic party because of devotion to old principles, from the Dutch “honk, place, post, home;” while others insist that the term grew out of the triumph of the administration faction at the Syracuse convention referred to above, which led them to imagine that they were “all hunk,” as the New York boys exclaim in certain games when they have reached their goal or “home” without being intercepted by the contestants on the other side of the game. Hunk, in this sense, is evidently a corruption of the Dutch “honk” or “home,” handed down by the Dutch children. As the Hankers did “carry off the hunk at Syracuse, did imagine themselves all hunk,” and were “hostile to progress,” either or all of the above explanations may be accepted without doing violence to history, whatever the consequences to philology.

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE.

CLINTON, Mich.

What is meant when it is said “the House went into committee of the whole?” Please explain the whole subject.

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—Messages from the President and other matters of great importance are usually referred to a committee of the whole House, where general principles are digested in the form of resolutions, which are debated and amended until they get into a shape that meets the approbation of a majority. These resolutions, after being reported and confirmed by the House, are then referred to one or more select committees, where they are reduced into the form of bills or joint resolutions. It is found that the sense of the House is better learned in committee, because in all committees everyone speaks as often as he pleases. No gag law can be applied in committee by moving the previous question. The form for going from the House into the committee of the whole is for the Speaker, on motion, to put the question that the House do now resolve itself into a committee of the whole to take into consideration such a matter, naming it; to which the deliberations of the committee must be confined. If determined in the affirmative, he leaves the chair and takes a seat elsewhere, as any other member, and the person appointed chairman seats himself at the clerk’s table. The Speaker usually appoints a chairman, but the committee has full power to set him aside and select its own chairman. In case of the committee’s getting into violent disorder the Speaker, who is clothed with authority to call in the Sergeant-at-arms, if necessary, to enforce order, may take his chair, and at the tap of his gavel every member is required to take his proper seat, such action having the effect to dissolve the committee. Cases of this kind are rare. Usually when the committee is ready to rise the chairman rises, the Speaker immediately resuming the chair; if the business is unfinished, the chairman of the committee reports progress and asks permission for the committee to sit again, which the House may or may not consent to. If the business is finished the chairman tenders his report.

SAMUEL ADAMS, THE GREAT ORGANIZER.

CARBONDALE, Ill.

Give a short biographical sketch of Samuel Adams, of revolutionary times.

CHARLES L. H.

Answer.—Samuel Adams was one of the very first who organized measures of resistance against the encroachments of Great Britain on the rights of the colonies. He drew up the famous petition of the General Court of Boston to the King, in 1764, against taxation on trade. He was elected a Representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1765, was chosen Clerk, and served in that body ten years. It is said that he was the first to suggest the congress of colonial delegates that assembled in New York in 1765, and was the father of the non-importation agreement of 1789, intended to check the use of British manufactures and other foreign imports and foster home manufactures and, still more, a spirit of independence. He was Chairman of the committee that waited on the Royal Governor and Council in 1770, on the day after the Boston riot and massacre, and demanded the removal of the troops. He was one of the signers of the declaration of independence: was one of those who matured the plan of the Continental Congress, to which he was a delegate from Massachusetts from 1774 to 1782, and signed the articles of confederation, which were the constitution of the country until replaced by the present Federal Constitution. He was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 1789 to 1794, and Governor from 1794 to 1797. He was born in Boston Sept. 27, 1722, graduated at Harvard in 1740, and died in Boston Oct. 2, 1803.

ORIGIN OF THE CAUCUS.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Can you tell us the origin of the American caucus?

JOHN ALLEN.

Answer.—The origin of the term “caucus” is traced back to the Caucus Club, Boston, of revolutionary days. This club was composed mainly of persons engaged in ship-building. It was one of the most radical opponents of British oppression. It and the Merchants’ Club of the same period, used to meet before elections and agree on candidates for town and provincial offices. “Caucus” is believed to be a corruption of “caulkers.”

THE YORK SHILLING.

CHICAGO, Ill.

To settle a dispute please inform us through Our Curiosity Shop whether the United States ever issued a coin called the “York shilling?” Was there not a coin of some kind called a York shilling?

READER.

Answer.—The United States certainly never did mint any such coin. Neither did New York itself before the adoption of our present Constitution, under which individual States are not permitted to coin money. Most of the original thirteen States had issued bills of credit during colonial times, which had depreciated in the several colonies in different degrees, according to provisions made for their redemption and other incidents. In New England, after the adoption of the Federal decimal system, the pound in paper currency was worth only $3.33⅓ and the shilling 16⅔ cents, equal to six shillings to the dollar. This standard prevailed also in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. In New York the paper currency pound was worth only $2.50, and so the shilling was reckoned but 12½ cents, equal to eight shillings to the dollar. This last is the “York shilling,” a money of account. The only coin that ever passed by that name is the Spanish real, known along the Ohio and Lower Mississippi as “a bit,” which, until a few years ago, was current through the country at 12½ cents, the value, as above shown, of the New York paper currency shilling of the olden times. In Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland the pound was worth $2.70, making the shilling worth 13½ cents, or 7s. 6d. to the $1. In Georgia and South Carolina the pound was worth $4.20, and the shilling 21-3/7 cents, or 4s. 8d. to the dollar. Such was the force of habit that, long after the old colonial paper money passed out of use, people continued to buy and sell and keep accounts in pounds and shillings; and schoolboys were required to familiarize themselves with the rules for reducing the several State currencies to Federal currency.

THE GREAT NAPOLEON’S DEFEATS.

CHICAGO, Ill.

1. Was Bonaparte repulsed at Acre? 2. Was he forced to leave Egypt? 3. Did he make a disastrous retreat from Moscow? 4. Did the Duke of Wellington suffer defeats parallel to those endured by Napoleon Bonaparte?

THOMAS WILSON.

Answer.—1. In 1799, after laying siege to the stronghold of Acre, Syria, for sixty-one days, Napoleon Bonaparte resolved to raise the siege and return to Egypt, where his presence was demanded by the threatening state of affairs, which culminated at last in the great battle of Aboukir, in which he defeated Murad Bey, for the second time, with great slaughter. There is no doubt that, although victorious over the Ottoman and Egyptian armies, the almost utter annihilation of the French fleet by the English and Turks in the famous naval battle of the Nile, some months before this, and the menacing state of affairs in France, made it prudent for Napoleon to take advantage of the prestige of this victory to retire from Egypt, leaving the government of the country he had conquered to General Kleber, who soon after this totally defeated the Ottoman army, 70,000 strong, before Heliopolis. Not until after Kleber was assassinated and months of the unwise administration of his successor, General Menou, did the insurrection fomented by the English, and finally assisted by an English naval and land force, compel the French under Menou, to withdraw from Egypt, nearly two years after Bonaparte himself had returned to France. Taken all in all the French expedition into Egypt, planned by Napoleon Bonaparte, although distinguished by several brilliant exploits, must be regarded from a political and military standpoint as a failure. 3. So was the expedition to Moscow, which, after a succession of victories, ended in a disastrous retreat in midwinter, forced upon the French, not by arms, but by threatening starvation and other results of the burning of Moscow. 4. The Duke of Wellington, although several times compelled to retreat before French armies during campaigns in the Netherlands and in Spain, never suffered any disasters comparable with those inflicted on Napoleon; neither did he ever exhibit, even at Waterloo, where, with the allies, he had double the strength of the French army, such marvelous generalship as made Napoleon Bonaparte for many years more than a match for all the powers of Europe combined, the arbiter of all their thrones.

FUNDED AND FLOATING DEBT DEFINED.

IROQUOIS, D. T.

Explain the terms “floating debt,” “funded debt,” and “sinking fund.”

QUERIST.

Answer..—“Funded debt” is government or corporation indebtedness in the form of bonds or other evidences of money stipulated to be paid at stated intervals, and usually bearing interest payable annually or oftener. “Floating debt” is indebtedness, such as unsettled accounts, scrip in the nature of due bills, etc. not funded. A sinking fund is money set apart out of taxes, earnings, or other income, for the redemption of government or corporation bonds or other specific tokens of indebtedness.

ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION.

FAYETTE, Iowa.

I am very anxious to learn how to make an incubator, or have one made, for hatching chickens by artificial means. Will you oblige myself and other readers by giving such minute directions that a carpenter can make one by following them?

E. J. ALLCOTT.

Answer..—Similar requests are made by C. A. Brace, Esq., of Persia, Iowa; L. R. S., Cameron, Neb.; Q., of Elk Grove, Wis., and several others, some of whom desire to know what success has attended experiments in artificial incubation with modern apparatus. Conflicting reports as to this latter question, together with the fraudulent methods taken by some persons engaged in vending pamphlets that cost the publishers not to exceed 8 cents a copy, containing directions for making apparatus of this sort, at the extortionate price of $2, and selling ready-made incubators at exorbitant prices, has made caution advisable in treating this subject. Reports received within the past six weeks from twenty different persons, who have experimented with incubators, indicate that in about twelve cases out of twenty the average success is encouraging, and in the cases of the others the average results are quite discouraging. It is very certain that in a climate incident to such sudden and extreme changes as ours success demands skill and constant attention. None but absolutely fresh eggs must be selected, a temperature hardly varying from 103 deg., and a proper degree of moisture must be maintained, with sleepless vigilance. Let the eggs be chilled even for a few minutes and the consequences are disastrous. For a comparatively inexpensive incubator make a box 4 feet long, 3 feet wide, 6 inches deep, outside measurement, with a tight board lid and a zinc bottom; using boards 1¼ inches thick, nailed or screwed together. This is the heater. Of the same kind of boards make an egg-drawer 4 feet long, 2 feet 11½ inches wide, 5 inches high, outside measure, and 4 inches deep on the inside, with slats nailed in crosswise, instead of a board for the bottom. The slats better be of inch-thick lumber, not more than 1 inch wide, and set one inch apart. Over these slats on the inside tack a piece of coarse sack the full length and width of the box. Draw it tight and tack it securely to the slats and the ends of the box. Next make a frame 3 feet 7 inches long and 32 inches wide, using inch-square strips for the end pieces and inch-wide strips of half-inch thickness for the sides. Strain stout muslin over this frame and tack it firmly. Lay this, muslin side down, on the coarse cloth in the egg drawer. This is to support the eggs. Next bore twenty half-inch holes in each side of the egg drawer, 1¾ inches apart, and as close to the frame with the muslin bottom as can be done and yet allow this frame to slide easily underneath twenty slats a half-inch square each, which must be run through the box from hole to hole, to keep the eggs in position. Arrange the eggs between these slats, resting on the muslin of the muslin frame. It will be seen that by moving this frame about two inches backward or forward the eggs can be turned half over. Make a box of precisely the same length and breadth as the heater, but eight inches deep instead of six. Nail on a tight bottom of inch flooring stuff; bore twelve half-inch holes in this bottom, into which insert as many tin tubes of the same diameter, seven inches long, for ventilators. Fill all the space between the pipes with sawdust to within about an inch of their tops. Next set the egg drawer on top of this ventilator box, and set the heater, the first box described, on the top of the egg drawer. Take common inch-boards, one foot wide, and nail one on each side and across one end of this pile of boxes, driving the nails along the lower edge of each board into the ventilator box, and along the upper edge into the heater box; raising the latter off of the egg-drawer barely enough to let the latter slide easily back and forth between the heater and ventilator.

As the incubator stands now, the egg-drawer is protected from the cold, underneath, by the ventilator box with about six inches of sawdust: but it must be similarly protected on the sides and top. Set this nest of boxes, as now arranged, on a couple of trestles made of pieces of scantling, four feet eight or ten inches long, with short legs eight inches long, and build another box 27 inches high (outside) around them, long enough and wide enough to form a sawdust chamber 8 inches wide along both sides and the back end of the incubator, and rising 8 inches higher than the top of the heater. Next get two tin pipes, 12 or 13 inches long and about 2½ inches in diameter, seamed together, as solder melts; also get two such pipes about 6 inches long, and two elbows. Bore a 2½-inch hole through the sawdust-box and the heater-box entering the latter about 9 inches from the front and 2 inches below the lid, and slide one of the longer pipes through these holes. Attach one of the elbows and one of the 6-inch pipes outside. Put the other pipe into the heater from the opposite side, about 9 inches from the back end of the heater. Two kerosene lamps, set on brackets, on the outside of the sawdust box, with their chimneys thrust up into the short pipes, will supply all the heat that is required for hatching the eggs. If the lamps smoke, drop them low enough to admit a little air to enter between the chimneys and the inside of the pipes. Opposite where each of these tin flues enters the heater, bore three three-quarter-inch holes through the top of the heater, nine or ten inches apart, in a line about three inches from the side. Slide six tin tubes of the same diameter, fifteen or sixteen inches long, through these holes to within a half-inch of the zinc bottom of the heater. Now fill the sawdust chamber around the incubator and on top, putting earth instead of sawdust just around the hot-air flues, to avoid fire. As the zinc directly under where the hot-air flues enter the heater is apt to get overheated, it is best before covering the heater with sawdust to lay a piece of zinc or tin, about a foot square, on the zinc bottom as an equalizer of the temperature. Keep a thermometer in the egg drawer to test the temperature. This drawer will hold about 250 eggs.

This is the incubator; directions for using it will be given hereafter.

M. A. Bevard, Derby, Iowa—General Hull took part in the revolutionary battles of White Plains, Trenton, Stillwater, Princeton, Saratoga, and Monmouth. 2. Aaron Burr died on Staten Island.

INTEREST ON NOTES.

WASHBURN, Wis.

1. Will a promissory note draw interest if it is not so specified in the note? 2. Will a note made payable one year after date, with interest at 7 per cent, draw interest after the note becomes due?

A. E. R.

Answer..—1. Such a note will not draw interest until after due and payment has been demanded. It will draw legal interest from date of such demand. 2. Such a note will continue to draw interest at the same rate if payment is demanded at maturity and payment is withheld.

NEW YORK IMMIGRATION COMMISSION.

BARNARD, Ill.

Who was the first to propose Castle Garden for the benefit of foreign immigrants? Is the board of management a National or a State organization? How did it originate?

ANNA SIERLE.

Answer.—The pitiable condition in which immigrants were landed in New York, the cruelties inflicted upon them in many cases in overcrowded emigrant ships, the extortions and downright frauds practiced upon them when they were put ashore like so many cattle, and left to shift for themselves in a strange city, without language to make their wants known, began to attract the attention of humane public officers and merchants of that city at an early day. The outrages multiplied, and the importance of providing some remedy grew with the rapid increase of foreign immigration, which swelled from 22,633 for the whole United States in 1831, to 104,565 in 1842. The Legislature of New York State was appealed to, and on May 5, 1847—in which year the rate of foreign immigration more than doubled upon that of 1842, the total number received rising to 234,968—it created the present Board of Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New York, which has been in successful operation ever since, and has proved one of the most beneficent institutions of the land. It consists of nine members, six of whom are appointed by the Governor with consent of the Senate, while the other three are the Mayor of the city and the Presidents of the German Society and the Irish Emigration Society. All of these serve without compensation. The law makes it their duty to provide suitable quarters for the reception of alien passengers arriving at New York; to care for the sick and helpless among them; to protect them from extortion, fraud, and impositions of any kind; to aid those who wish transfer to the railways and other transportation routes to the interior of the country; to assist such as wish to remain in the city to obtain work, and, in general, to give them trustworthy information and advice, and guard their interests. For this purpose they were authorized to collect of vessel owners $2.50 for each passenger, until 1871, when it was reduced to $1.50.

In 1855 the city of New York leased Castle Garden to the Commissioners for an immigrant landing depot, and it was opened for this purpose in August of that year. It occupies the extreme southern point of the city at the junction of the North River, or Hudson, with the East River. A more convenient, healthy, an every way desirable station could not have been selected. The immigrants are brought here directly from immigrant vessels, in tugs or barges, and received into rooms properly heated, lighted, and ventilated. Bath-rooms, lunch counters, with provisions at reasonable prices, suitable sleeping quarters, and other conveniences are all found within the building, and are conducted under strict superintendence. The names of such as have money, letters, or friends awaiting them are called out. Clerks stand ready to write letters for them in any European language. There are railway offices where tickets are sold them by thoroughly responsible clerks, who can talk with them in their native tongues. Responsible brokers exchange their foreign coin and currency at par market value. There is an employment bureau to find work for those who do not care to go any farther. A physician is in attendance, and the sick are properly cared for in a temporary hospital until they are transported to the immigrant hospitals on Ward’s Island.

In view of the fact that about two-thirds of all the foreign immigration to the United States land at New York, it is, indeed, a noble institution that meets these strangers with such generous provisions for their wants. According to an article in “The American Cyclopedia,” of the 5,033,392 immigrants arriving at New York between May 5, 1847, and Jan. 1, 1873, for whom commutation money was paid by the vessel-owners, “all of whom received protection, advice, and information from the commissions, 1,465,579 were provided and cared for out of the immigrant fund, for a greater or less period during the five years subsequent to their arrival; 398,643 received treatment and care in the institutions of the commissioners; 449,275 were temporarily supplied with board and lodging and money relief in the city of New York; 349,936 were provided with employment through the labor bureau at Castle Garden; 53,083 were forwarded from Castle Garden to their destination in the United States, or returned to Europe at their own request; and 214,642 were relieved and provided for in various parts of the State of New York,” all out of this immigrant fund. In 1872-3 bills were introduced into Congress to supersede this New York Emigration Commission by a National bureau, but the movement excited great opposition, not only in New York, but in other quarters, and it ended in failure.

DERIVATION OF SIRLOIN.

GALENA, Ill.

Is it true that an English king knighted a roast of beef as Sir Loin, and that this was the origin of the name sirloin for a certain cut of meat?

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—It is true that the great lexicographer, Dr. Johnson, gave credence and currency to this etymological nonsense, and that subsequent lexicographers, down to Webster and Worcester, parrot-like repeated it. But both of our distinguished lexicographers rejected this popular tradition of a silly freak or pun of James I. or Charles II. as of no etymological value, and agree that sirloin, which appears in Johnson’s dictionary for the first time with this orthography, is derived from the French surlonge, that is, “upper loin.” In the old English dictionaries, such as Ainsworth’s and Cotgrave’s, the English word was spelled surloin, and both Webster and Worcester, while giving sirloin as the usual orthography, recommend surloin, and authorize it as the preferable spelling. Skeats’ Etymological Dictionary, Oxford, 1882, vocabulates this word thus: “Sirloin, an inferior spelling of surloin, q. v.;” and under surloin says: “Frequently spelled sirloin, owing to a fable that the loin of beef was knighted by one of our kings in a fit of good humor.” The king was naturally imagined to be the merry monarch Charles II., though Richardson says (on no authority) that it was so entitled by King James I. Both stories are discredited by the use of the original French surlonge in the fourteenth century. Indeed, Wedgewood actually cites ‘a surloyn of beef’ from an account of expenses of Henry VI. But Richardson had the authority of Dean Swift for referring the pun on surloin to James I. In “Polite Conversation” Swift says: “But, pray, why is it called a sirloin? Why, you must know that our King James I., who loved good eating, being invited to dinner by one of his nobles, and seeing a large loin of beef at his table, he drew out his sword and in a frolic knighted it.” Which Swift, in all probability, intended to be taken as a legend, and nothing more.

NORTH CAROLINA GOLD MINES.

Give us some information in regard to the extent of mining for the precious metals in North Carolina.

MALCOLM MCMANUS.

Answer.—There was a time when gold mining in North Carolina was an important industry. The earliest record at the United States mint of gold produced in this country was in 1804. In that year a deposit was made at the mint of gold found in North Carolina. Small amounts, not exceeding an annual average of $2,500, were received from 1804 to 1823, after which there was a steady increase, as follows: In 1824, total amount received at mint, $5,000; in 1825, $17,000; in 1826, $20,000; in 1827, $21,000; in 1828, $46,000; in 1829, $134,000. During this last year $2,500 was received from Virginia and $3,500 from South Carolina. A Southern “gold fever” set in, and hundreds of people went to prospecting all along the Appalachian Mountains, so that in the next year, 1830, the mint received $212,000 from Georgia, $204,000 from North Carolina, $26,000 from South Carolina, $24,000 from Virginia, and $2,000 from Tennessee and Alabama. The total amounts of precious metals from the mines of the South, deposited at the United States mint from 1804 to 1881, was as follows:

From Virginia $ 1,689,797.00 From North Carolina 10,750,468.64 From South Carolina 1,429,751.55 From Georgia 7,869,282.60 From Alabama 220,892.25 From Tennessee 86,511.61 —————————————— Total $22,046,703.65

Various causes conduced to the decrease of mining in the South before the discovery of gold in California, but this latter event drew away the best miners and most experienced, most enterprising capitalists engaged in the business, so that the gold product of this region became insignificant. A revival of mining has set in in North Carolina, yet the products of the Carolinas and Georgia in 1881 was only about $275,000.

MEERSCHAUM—SEA FOAM.

GILMAN, Ill.

Is meerschaum a product of sea foam, as some persons declare?

W. C. DUCKHAM.

Answer.—Meerschaum is a German word, compounded from meer, sea, and schaum, foam. It is the name of a fine clay composed of magnesia, silica, and water in equal parts. When fresh from the pit it is soft and makes a lather like soap, which gave rise to its name. After being molded into pipes, these are boiled in oil or wax and baked until hard.

STATE GOVERNORS.

ZANESVILLE, Ohio.

Please give the names and politics of all State and Territorial Governors. Also, their salaries and dates of expiration of their terms.

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—The following is a full list of Governors of the several States and Territories, with their salaries and the times when their terms end. The politics of Governors is indicated by running the names of Republicans in Roman, and of Democrats and Fusionists in italics:

———————————————+———————————————————————————+————————————————+——————— STATE. | Governor. | End of term. |Salary. ———————————————+———————————————————————————+————————————————+——————— Alabama | Edw. A. O’Neal | Dec. 1, 1884 | $3,000 Arkansas | James H. Berry | Jan. 2, 1885 | 3,000 California | George Stoneman | Jan. 4, 1887 | 6,000 Colorado | James B. Grant | Jan. 9, 1885 | 5,000 Connecticut | Thos. M. Waller | Jan. 3, 1885 | 2,000 Delaware | Chas. C. Stockley | Jan. 31, 1887 | 2,000 Florida | Wm. D. Bloxham | Jan. 6, 1885 | 3,500 Georgia | H. D. McDaniel | Nov. 3, 1885 | 3,000 Illinois | John M. Hamilton | Jan. 12, 1885 | 6,000 Indiana | Albert G. Porter | Jan. 12, 1885 | 5,000 Iowa | B. R. Sherman | Jan. 14, 1884 | 3,000 Kansas | George W. Glick[7] | Jan. 9, 1885 | 3,000 Kentucky | L. P. Blackburn | Sept. 5, 1883 | 5,000 Louisiana | S. D. McEnery | May 19, 1884 | 4,000 Maine | Frederick Robie | Jan. 7, 1885 | 2,000 Maryland | W. T. Hamilton | Jan. 2, 1884 | 4,500 Massachusetts | Benj. F. Butler[8] | Jan. 2, 1884 | 4,000 Michigan | Josiah W. Begole[9] | Jan. 1, 1885 | 1,000 Minnesota | L. F. Hubbard | Jan. 7, 1884 | 3,800 Mississippi | Robert Lowry | Jan. 5, 1886 | 4,000 Missouri | T. T. Crittenden | Jan. 12, 1885 | 5,000 Nebraska | James W. Dawes | Jan. 8, 1885 | 2,500 Nevada | Jewett D. Adams | Jan. 2, 1887 | 6,000 N. Hampshire | Samuel W. Hale | June 3, 1885 | 1,000 New Jersey | Geo. C. Ludlow | Jan. 15, 1884 | 5,000 New York | Grover Cleveland | Jan. 1, 1886 | 10,000 No. Carolina | Thomas J. Jarvis | Jan. 1, 1885 | 3,000 Ohio | Charles Foster | Jan. 14, 1884 | 4,000 Oregon | Zenas F. Moody | Jan. 1, 1887 | 1,500 Pennsylvania | R. E. Pattison | Jan. 18, 1887 | 10,000 Rhode Island | A. H. Littlefield[10] | May 29, 1883 | 1,000 So. Carolina | H. S. Thompson | Dec. 30, 1884 | 3,500 Tennessee | Wm. B. Bate | Jan. 15, 1885 | 4,000 Texas | John Ireland | Jan. 15, 1885 | 4,000 Vermont | John L. Barstow | Oct. 4, 1884 | 1,000 Virginia | W. E. Cameron[11] | Jan. 1, 1886 | 5,000 West Virginia | Jacob B. Jackson | March 4, 1885 | 3,700 Wisconsin | J. M. Rusk | Jan. 5, 1885 | 5,000 | | | Territories— | | | Arizona | Frederick Tritle | Feb. 6, 1886 | 2,600 Dakota | Neh. G. Ordway | May 22, 1884 | 2,600 Idaho | John B. Neil | July 12, 1884 | 2,600 Montana | J. S. Crosby | Aug. 4, 1886 | 2,600 New Mexico | Lionel A. Sheldon | May 5, 1885 | 2,600 Utah | Eli H. Murray | Jan. 27, 1884 | 2,600 Washington | Wm. A. Newell | April 26, 1884 | 2,600 Wyoming | William Hale | Aug. 3, 1886 | 2,600 ———————————————+———————————————————————————+————————————————+———————

FIRST FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW.

CEDAR FALLS.

Tell us who brought forward the first fugitive slave law.

P. G. KLOCK.

Answer.—In the constitutional convention of 1787 Mr. Pierce Butler, a delegate from South Carolina, moved the adoption of clause 3, section 2, article 4 of the Constitution, which reads: “No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.” The first law to give effect to this constitutional provision was prepared by a committee of the Senate appointed in November, 1792. This committee was composed of Mr. Johnston, of North Carolina; Mr. Cabot, of Massachusetts, and Mr. Read, of Delaware. In December Mr. Johnston reported a bill which was not entirely satisfactory. Mr. Taylor, of Virginia, and Mr. Sherman, of Connecticut, were added to the committee. On Jan. 3, 1793, Mr. Johnston reported a bill, which, after several days’ consideration, was passed without a single dissenting voice. On the 4th of February following, this bill passed the House by a vote of 48 to 7. We cannot give the text of it, but it gave slave-masters and their agents summary power to seize, hold, and return fugitives from slavery to their former bondage, whatever laws the States in which they were found might pass to the contrary, the matter being one under jurisdiction of the United States courts.

THE WORLD’S PRINCIPAL TIN MINES.

ALTONA, Ill.

Where are the principal tin mines, and of what is this metal composed?

JONATHAN TREXLAR.

Answer.—Pure tin is an elementary metal, as much so as lead, iron, silver, or gold. The principal tin-producing country is England. The Phœnicians traded with England for tin 1,100 years before the Christian era. There is reason to believe that they got tin from Spain also; but England was depended on for nearly all the tin used in Europe until this ore was discovered in Germany in 1240. It was discovered in Northern Africa, in the Barbary States, in 1640; in India in 1740; in New Spain in 1782. Tin was mined in Mexico before the Spanish conquest, and used in T shaped pieces for money, and in a bronze composition for sharp tools; the principal mines being at Tasco. Peru has valuable mines of this metal, so have New South Wales, Australia, and Banca, and Malacca in the Malay peninsula. Tin has been discovered in Pennsylvania, Missouri, California, and other States of the Union, but not in quantities to tempt capital to engage in mining it. The chief tin-producing countries are the following, arranged in the order of importance: England, about 10,000 tons a year; Malacca, about 8,500 tons; Australia, about 6,000 tons; Banca, about 4,000 tons, and Billiton, about 3,000 tons. Both of these last-named places are islands of the Dutch East Indies.

THE ZERO POINT OF THERMOMETERS.

O’KANE, Neb.

Why was not zero on thermometers placed at the freezing point instead of 32 degrees below?

M.

Answer.—Zero is placed at freezing point on some thermometers, although this is not the case on the Fahrenheit scale, the one in common use in England and the United States. When Fahrenheit graded his thermometer he supposed that there was no greater degree of cold than had been observed in Iceland, or discovered by experimenting with freezing mixtures. This point he marked zero; i. e., empty or nought, as denoting the absence of all heat. It is 32 degrees below freezing, and corresponds to the cold produced by a freezing mixture composed of snow and salt, or sal-ammoniac; from which it has been inferred that this was the test used by Fahrenheit, the instrument-maker of Amsterdam, who introduced this scale into common use, and after whom it is named, but who never actually divulged the secret of his process. It is now known that this is an arbitrary point, far above the lowest temperature in the polar regions and several hundred degrees above the greatest cold produced by artificial methods. In the Reaumer thermometer, generally used in Germany, and the Centigrade thermometer, commonly used in France and by scientists of all nations, zero marks the freezing point of distilled water at the sea level, or under an atmospheric pressure of 14.73 pounds to the square inch. To reduce Fahrenheit to Centigrade, subtract 32 and multiply by 100/180, or 5/9. Conversely, to reduce Centigrade to Fahrenheit, multiply by 9/5 and add 32.

THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

RIVERSIDE, Cal.

I noticed in the Century for December, 1882, page 172, that Chief Justice Rutledge was “President of South Carolina from 1776 to 1778.” What form of government had South Carolina at that time?

J. M. BAHER.

Answer.—In 1776 South Carolina, in a Constitutional State Convention, of which John Rutledge was a member, took on the form of an independent republic, and soon after Rutledge was made President and Commander-in-chief of the State forces. He held this office until 1778, when he was succeeded by Rawlins Lownds. The constitution was modified March 19, 1778, and thereafter the chief State executives were known as Governors.

OLD-TIME FALCONRY—HAWK’S BELLS.

PANA, Ill.

In Barnes’ History of the United States, in the narrative of the discovery of Cuba, it is stated the natives bartered their valuables for “hawk’s bells.” Please explain the term “hawk’s bells.”

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—Falconry, or hawking, was a favorite sport with the nobility and gentry of Europe down to the first half of the seventeenth century, when the introduction of fowling pieces of a light and elegant pattern and the art of shooting flying gradually replaced it. Hawks were trained to mount and pursue game and bring it to their masters and mistresses, coming and going at the call of the latter with marvelous docility. The hawks were tricked out with gay hoods and held until ordered to pursue “the quarry,” or game, by leathern straps fastened with rings of leather around each leg, just above the talons, and silken cords called “jesses.” To each of these leathern straps, or “bewets,” was attached a small bell, shaped in most cases like the nearly closed sleigh bells of the present time. In a flight of hawks it was often so arranged that the different bells made “a consort of sweet sounds.” Bells of this description, but of the cheapest kind, were among the most popular trinkets used by the early explorers and traders in bartering with the natives of America.

SOURCES OF BRITISH REVENUE.

SYCAMORE, Ill.

As England receives little or nothing from a tariff, where does the money come from to pay the expenses of the government? Who are taxed and who are not?

R. A. S.

Answer.—It is a mistake to suppose that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland derives “little or no revenue from tariff” or custom dues. The following table shows the sources of the national revenue for the year ending March 31, 1882:

Customs £19,287,000 Excise 27,240,000 Stamps 12,260,000 Land and house tax 2,725,000 Income tax 9,945,000 Postoffice 7,000,000 Telegraphs 1,630,000 Crown lands 380,000 Interest on advances and Suez Canal shares 1,219,262 Miscellaneous 4,136,019 ——————————— Total £85,822,281

Here is the sum of £19,287,000, or almost $100,000,000, received from customs, as against $220,410,730.25 collected from the same source in the United States. 2, The inland revenue, composed of “excise, stamps, and taxes,” is so distributed as to touch pretty much everybody.

KANSAS GOVERNORS AND SENATORS.

SHERMAN CITY, Kan.

Please give the names of all the Territorial and State Governors of Kansas, and the names of Senators from the first.

INQUIRER.

Answer.—The Territorial Governors of Kansas were A. H. Reeder, 1855; (John L. Dawson, appointed but declined), Wilson Shannon, 1857; John W. Geary, 1856; R. J. Walker, 1857; J. W. Denver, 1858; Samuel Medary, 1858. The following is a full list of the State Governors:

Charles Robinson 1861 Thomas Carney 1861-1864 S. J. Crawford 1864-1869 James M. Harvey 1869-1873 Thomas A. Osborne 1873-1877 George T. Anthony 1877-1879 John P. St. John 1879-1883 George W. Glick 1883-1885

The several Senators in Congress have been or are:

James H. Lane 1861-1866 Samuel C. Pomeroy 1861-1873 E. G. Ross 1866-1871 Alexander Caldwell 1871-1873 Robert Crozier 1873-1874 John J. Ingalls 1873-1885 James M. Harvey 1874-1877 Preston B. Plumb 1877-1883

Senator Caldwell resigned March 24, 1874, during investigation for bribery, in securing his election, and was followed by Robert Crozier, appointed by the Governor to fill the vacancy. Senator Crozier was succeeded by James M. Harvey, elected by the Legislature for the remainder of Mr. Caldwell’s full term.

REPUBLICS AND PRESIDENTS.

BARNARD, Ill.

Is President the title of the highest officer in every republican government?

ANNA SIERLE.

Answer.—Yes, unless we take into account the pigmy republics, or semi-republics, of San Marino and Andorra, the former a rough, craggy mountain among the Appenines, with a total area of 21 square miles and a total population of 7,816 persons, and the latter an isolated valley in the Eastern Pyrenees, shut in between the two great, jealous powers, France and Spain, with an area of about 300 square miles, and a population variously estimated at from 4,000 to 12,000. Andorra is governed by “the Sovereign Council” of twenty-four members, which elects one of its members to be Syndic for life, the chief executive of the State. San Marino is governed by “the Sovereign Grand Council,” composed of sixty members, of whom one-third are nobles. There are two heads of this mammoth republic, called, “Captains Regent,” one chosen from the nobles and the other from the “bourgeoisie,” or common people, each holding office for only six months.

THE TAY BRIDGE HORROR.

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa.

Were there ever any bodies found after the disaster of the great bridge over the Frith of Tay? How long had the bridge been built, what were its dimensions, cost, and particulars of the calamity?

C. N. WARREN.

Answer.—The enormous but ill-constructed bridge across the Tay at Dundee, Scotland, was authorized by an act passed in 1870. Work was begun in June, 1871. It was much injured by a gale Feb. 4, 1877, but was pushed forward and declared to be completed Aug. 30, 1877. It was tried on the 25th of the following month, and opened for business on May 31, 1878. Twenty lives were lost in its construction, and it cost £350,000, or about $1,750,000. It was 10,612 feet long, and rested on 85 spans, some of which were 90 feet above low tide. At about 7:15 p. m. on Dec. 28, 1879, less than seventeen months after it was first opened to traffic—while a North British mail train was crossing in the midst of a fierce gale—the structure gave way, leaving a gap of 3,000 feet. The train plunged into the surging sea, and not one of the ill-fated passengers escaped. There were between 75 and 90 persons on board; exactly how many was never ascertained. Forty-six bodies were recovered up to April 27, 1880. After the official inquiry Mr. H. C. Rothery declared that “the bridge had been badly planned, badly constructed, and badly maintained.” A new bridge, of a much more substantial character, is now in process of construction.

CAN A SOLDIER ENTER A HOMESTEAD.

FORT PEMBINA, D. T.

Can a soldier in the regular army take up a homestead or pre-emption claim, and get some other person to make the improvements required by law on either of said claims? By answering this question you will settle a dispute and greatly oblige,

HENRY BROWN, Serg’t Co. B, Fifteenth Inf.

Answer.—Soldiers now in the regular army may perform certain preliminary acts relating to homestead entries, but they cannot perfect title to such land until their terms of service have expired. See instructions in “Copp’s Land Owner,” vol. 2, p. 133, and case of Charles Harris, “Land Owner,” vol. 6, p. 190. The soldier or his family must reside on the land at least one year, under any circumstances, before he can acquire title.

POPULATION OF PEKING.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Please state what is the population of Peking, China, and settle a dispute.

DAVID MCGOWAN.

Answer.—According to the “American Almanac,” which in turn refers to the famous “Bevolkerung der Erde,” of Gotha, edited by Messrs. Behm & Wagner, the population of Peking in 1880 was 500,000. Until within a comparatively recent date the estimates of the population of that city never ranged below 1,000,000. Cyclopedias generally estimated it at 1,500,000, and some of them as high as 2,000,000. Messrs. Behm & Wagner have carefully revised their former statistics of China, and have reduced their estimate of the total population of the country fully 55,000,000. The Almanach de Gotha gives the population of Pekin as uncertain, estimates varying between 500,000 and 1,650,000.

HEBREW NOT A LIVING LANGUAGE.

RAPID CITY, D. T.

A Jewish gentleman and myself have had an argument, he asserting that Hebrew is a spoken language at the present time. I am of the impression that Hebrew ceased to be a spoken language during the seventy years’ captivity in Babylon, while he declares that he has seen a Jew, directly from Jerusalem, who could talk nothing but Hebrew. Can you give us any light on this subject?

H. H. J.

Answer.—Hebrew, like Latin and classic Greek, is a literary, and not a colloquial language. The precise time when Hebrew ceased to be the living, vernacular language of the Jews is not known. Some learned Hebraists maintain that they lost the living use of the Hebrew during the Babylonish captivity, but the weight of argument is in favor of the belief that they retained the partial use of it for some time after their return to Palestine, and lost it by degrees. No decisive evidence, however, shows exactly when it became a virtually dead language; although there are satisfactory reasons for declaring that it gave place to a corrupted form of the Aramaic language, a mixture of Syrian and Chaldean or Babylonish speech called the Syro-Chaldaic dialect, several hundred years before the Christian era, and that more than a century before this era it ceased to be used even as a written language and was thenceforth studied only as the language of the sacred books, by the learned.

ABANDONMENT OF HOMESTEAD.

OWATONNA, Minn.

To settle a dispute, please state whether a person who has “filed” on a quarter section of public land, under the homestead laws, and has let it go back to the government, can make another homestead entry?

OLD SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—According to “Copp’s Public Land Laws,” as the law allows but one homestead privilege, “a settler relinquishing or abandoning his claim cannot thereafter make a second entry; but where an entry is canceled as invalid for some reason other than abandonment, and not the wilful act of the party, he is not thereby debarred from entering again, if in other respects entitled, and may be allowed credit for fees and commissions already paid, on a new homestead entry.” Such a claimant must be prepared to show that he did not voluntarily abandon his first entry.

PHARMACY LAWS AND TRAINED DRUGGISTS.

HODGES PARK, Ill.

What States have pharmacy laws, and what is the proportion of trained druggists in this country?

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—Probably all the States have pharmacy laws; that is, laws regulating the compounding and sale of drugs, but these are loosely administered in most States, the laws themselves being radically defective. Most prescription clerks pick up their knowledge of pharmacy between errands and “by practice,” as it is called, without even an elementary knowledge of chemistry or any systematic course of training. There are in all fourteen schools of pharmacy in the United States; 1 in San Francisco, 1 in Chicago, 1 in Louisville, 1 in New Orleans, 1 in Baltimore, 1 in Boston, 1 in Ann Arbor, Mich., 1 in St. Louis, 2 in New York City, 1 in Cincinnati, 1 in Philadelphia, 1 in Pittsburg, 1 in Nashville, and 1 in Washington. All told, they had only 1,347 students in 1880, of whom they graduated but 186. There are 284 retail drug stores in Chicago, and it is estimated that there are more than 1,600 in the State and about 25,600 such stores in the United States with twice that number of persons compounding medicines; so that it is a clear case that comparatively few druggists and prescription clerks are properly educated for their duties.

AGNOSTICISM.

ARTHUR, Ill.

Be so good as to define the word “agnosticism,” as used in theological or religio-scientific discourses. I have examined several dictionaries and one encyclopedia, and have failed to find the word.

E. J. A.

Answer.—Agnosticism is a sort of supernatural knownothingism. It is true that this word is not defined in either Webster’s or Worcester’s unabridged dictionaries, except in the supplements to the latest editions, and does not appear in the regular order of subjects in the popular encyclopedias. It is derived from a Greek word that signifies “to know not.” Agnosticism then, as used by Herbert Spencer and his disciples, is the doctrine that, professing ignorance of the supernatural, neither asserts nor denies the existence of a personal Deity, and claims that such doctrine can be neither proved nor disapproved, because of the insufficiency of the evidence furnished by rational and material nature to warrant a positive conclusion: or, as others say, because of the necessary limits of the human mind. Agnosticism is opposed both to the positive assertion of the skeptic, who denies the existence of a personal God, and the opposite declaration of the Christian church, or dogmatic theism, affirming such existence.

PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS.

Give a brief sketch of Ptolemy Philadelphus, a celebrated King of Egypt, often referred to in books and lectures.

F. F. SLOAT.

Answer.—He was the son of that able general of Alexander the Great who, after the death of that monarch, became King of Egypt under the title of Ptolemy I. Ptolemy II., surnamed Philadelphus, was distinguished for his love of learning, patronage of men of letters and artists, and encouragement of trade and all the arts of peace. He founded the famous library of Alexandria, the greatest treasury of ancient learning, and through his efforts the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek by seventy eminent Hebrew scholars. This is what is known as the Septuagint version of the Holy Scriptures. He reigned from 285 to 247 B. C., a period in which the Egyptian Kingdom reached the highest point of military glory, prosperity, and wealth.

AN INCUBATOR SUCCESS.

VESPER, N. Y.

For the benefit of readers of THE INTER OCEAN I will give my experience with an incubator that I built last June, the materials of which cost $5.50. It holds 234 eggs at a hatching. It took me three days to build it. As a test trial, about the 15th of June I placed nine dozen of eggs in the incubator, and in due time I obtained 86 per cent of chicks as the result, which I considered extremely satisfactory. About the 10th of July I made another trial, using this time eleven dozen of eggs, and the result was 87 per cent of chicks. About 6 per cent of the eggs from these two trials which did not hatch were found on examination to be unfertile, leaving 7 per cent with dead chicks in the various stages of maturity. These two trials proved satisfactory, even beyond my most sanguine expectations. On the 15th of January I procured 204 eggs from the farmers, and placed them in the incubator for my third trial, but, owing to the extremely cold weather during the time the eggs were laid, they had become chilled before being gathered, and, as the result, I only succeeded in getting forty chicks, or a little less than 20 per cent. To avoid a second failure, I determined to wait until the cold weather was over before securing eggs for my next hatching.

D. A. ROWLAND.

NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY.

SANTA BARBARA, Cal.

How far west of St. Paul are the cars now running on the Northern Pacific Railroad? What is the name of the present western terminus? How many miles are completed from the west end? When is it expected to be completed?

E. S. SHEFFIELD.

Answer.—The company is now running trains with Pullman sleepers and dining-room cars to Livingston, 1,030 miles west of St. Paul. It is also running trains from Portland to Second Crossing, 527 miles. From Livingston to Second Crossing passengers are carried by stage as follows:

From Livingston to Bozeman, 25 miles, 4 hours.

From Bozeman to Helena, 108 miles, 18 hours.

From Helena to Missoula, 130 miles, 22 hours.

From Missoula to Second Crossing, 80 miles, 16 hours.

The total distance from St. Paul to Portland is 1,900 miles, and the time 180 hours. The fare from St. Paul to Missoula by rail and stage is $47.10. The road is to be completed this year.

AMERICAN LITERATI.

OCONTO, Mich.

What literary characters has our country produced during this past century?

CARRIE STROUD.

Answer.—There is space here to mention only a few of the most prominent American writers of this century. First in poetry stand Bryant, Prentice, Sigourney, Willis, Holmes, Longfellow, Whittier, Morris, and Miller. Among the most conspicuous historians are Irving, Sparks, Lossing, Bancroft, Cooper, Motley, Prescott, Parkman, Parton, Ramsay, and Greeley. Among novelists, Cooper, Irving, Hawthorne, Holland, and Mrs. Stowe hold the front rank, although there is a legion just behind them, some of whom press close upon them. In the field of essayists, literary, political, theological, and metaphysical, the catalogue of noted names is too long to admit of personal designation.

THE ASHTABULA HORROR.

COTTAGE, Iowa.

Was there anything in the death of Mr. P. P. Bliss in voluntarily remaining with his wife at the time of the railway accident at Ashtabula that justifies the charge that he committed suicide? Give particulars.

M. L. PERCIVAL.

Answer.—Mr. P. P. Bliss, the popular composer of sacred lyrics, and evangelistic vocalist, perished at Ashtabula, Ohio, in the terrible railroad disaster consequent on the fall of the Ashtabula bridge on the night of Dec. 29, 1876. Two engines and eleven cars, with about 160 passengers, were precipitated into the creek, seventy feet below. The wreck immediately took fire, and before help could reach the scene more than a hundred persons had perished through the fall or the flames, or were so badly injured that they afterward died. A terrible snowstorm and intense cold added to the sufferings of the survivors. In the midst of this scene of horror and distraction Mr. Bliss and his wife both lost their lives. It is by no means certain that Mr. Bliss could have escaped if he had abandoned his wife. If he could have done so, but perished in the effort to rescue her, such an act was heroic, and none but an idiot would class him with suicides.

STATESMEN AND MARTIAL HEROES.

OCONTO, Mich.

Name five of the greatest American statesmen of early times, and as many or more of their greatest successors; also name the principal military and naval heroes of our country, and oblige several readers.

CARRIE STROUD.

Answer.—Five of the greatest American statesmen concerned in the founding of this Republic were Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, and John Adams. Seven of the most distinguished successors of these grand men were DeWitt Clinton, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, William H. Seward, Abraham Lincoln, Thaddeus Stevens, and Charles Sumner. Twelve of the ablest generals this country can boast are Washington, Gates, and Green, of the revolutionary war; Jackson and Harrison, of the war of 1812; Scott and Taylor, of the Mexican war, and Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, and Meade, of the war for the Union. Ten of our greatest naval heroes are Paul Jones, of the revolutionary war; Perry, MacDonough, Porter, Decatur, Hull, Bainbridge, and Chauncey, of the war of 1812, and Farragut and Porter, of the last war.

PUBLIC LANDS IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY.

GLORIETA, N. M.

Is there any government land open to pre-emption or homestead in Washington Territory. If so, is any of it suitable for agricultural purposes?

MONTEZUMA.

Answer.—Out of an estimated area of 44,796,160 acres of public lands in Washington Territory in the beginning, only 17,757,033 acres, or about one-third, had been surveyed up to June 30, 1882, and a considerable part of this third is still open to purchase or entry under the general or special land laws. In Washington Territory, California, Oregon, and Nevada there are great areas of timber and stone lands for sale under the law of June 3, 1878, at $2.50 per acre. The “Desert Lands Act” of March 3, 1877, provides for the sale of certain lands which can be cultivated only by artificial irrigation, at 25 cents an acre. After deducting these tracts, mineral lands, coal lands, and saline lands, there are still millions of acres of lands in Washington Territory subject to pre-emption and entry under the homestead law, and much of this land is well adapted to agriculture and grazing.

OLDEST SETTLEMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES.

PARKERSBURG, Iowa.

1. What was the first European settlement made in the United States, and what was the name of the first child of European parents born in this country? 2. What is the length of the Niagara River, and what large islands are there in it?

HOMER L. FORBES.

Answer.—1. The oldest permanent European settlement within the present limits of the United States was made at Saint Augustine, Fla., in 1565. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, Captain Francisco de Coronado, and Don Antonio de Espejo, explorers of New Mexico, occupied, temporarily, various points in that region between the years 1540 and 1583. The latter of these took possession of a native pueblo, or town, called Tuoas, or Taos, in the latter year, or thereabouts, and named it La Ciudad de Santa Fe, which was identical in site with the present capital of New Mexico. Forts, colonies, and missions were established in various places in New Mexico by Juan de Ouate, who was sent there for that purpose between 1595 and 1590. The next at Jamestown, Va., in 1607, and the next at Albany, N. Y., in 1614. It is not known who was the first child of European parents born within the United States. 2. The Niagara River is thirty-three miles long. There are no large islands in it except Grand Island and Goat Island, but there are numerous smaller ones.

THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What was the seat of government during the revolutionary war? Who took the place of President, as head of the government?

JANE EVANS.

Answer..—There was no permanent seat of government. The articles of confederation provided that “Congress shall have power to adjourn at any time within the year and to any place within the United States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration than the space of six months.” When suffered to have its own way Congress sat, during the war, in Philadelphia, but the “red coats” were as keen to go to Congress as the average modern politician, and the patriots, to avoid a row over contested seats, adopted a sort of methodistic itinerancy, minus the method. Congress was in session at Philadelphia in December, 1776, when, seeing that the British were likely to force themselves upon the hospitality of that city, it adjourned to Baltimore. It returned to Philadelphia, but after the American defeat at Brandywine, Sept. 11, 1777, it adjourned to Lancaster, and then to York, Pa. From the first session to the last the Continental Congress met as follows: At Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1774, and May 10, 1775; at Baltimore, Dec. 20, 1776; at Philadelphia, March 4, 1777; at Lancaster, Pa., Sept. 27, 1777; at York, Pa., Sept. 30, 1777; at Philadelphia, July 2, 1778; at Princeton, N. J., June 30, 1783; at Annapolis, Md., Nov. 26, 1783; at Trenton, N. J., Nov. 1, 1784; at New York, Jan. 11, 1785, which continued to be the seat of Congress until the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. There was no executive head of the United States under the articles of confederation. These provided that Congress should have authority to appoint a “Committee of the States,” to consist of one delegate from each State, to sit in the recess of Congress. The President of Congress came the nearest to being an executive chief, but he and the above committee, the “Board of War,” and certain other special committees or boards were each charged with the execution of law according to specific provisions in the act itself. Of these Presidents of the Continental Congress the following shows the names and the time of their election:

Payton Randolph, of Virginia, elected Sept. 5, 1774.

Henry Middleton, of South Carolina, Oct. 22, 1774.

Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, May 10, 1775.

John Hancock, of Massachusetts, May 24, 1775.

Henry Laurens, of South Carolina, Nov. 1, 1777.

John Jay, of New York, Dec. 10, 1778.

Sam Huntington, of Connecticut, Sept. 28, 1779.

Thomas McKean, of Delaware, July 10, 1781.

John Hanson, of Maryland, Nov. 5, 1781.

Elias Boudinot, of New Jersey, Nov. 4, 1782.

Thomas Mifflin, of Pennsylvania, Nov. 3, 1783.

Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, Nov. 30, 1784.

Nathaniel Gorham, of Massachusetts, June 6, 1786.

Arthur St. Clair, of Pennsylvania, Feb. 2, 1787.

Cyrus Griffin, of Virginia, Jan. 22, 1788.

FIVE SUNDAYS IN FEBRUARY.

CHICAGO, Ill.

In 1880 February had five Sundays. When will this occur again? This question was asked in one of the Chicago dailies recently, and received several different answers, none of which were right, or I am in error.

INQUIRER.

Answer.—Usually this event occurs every twenty-eight years, or at the close of each solar cycle of twenty-eight years; but owing to the fact that the year 1900 will not be a leap year (for reasons explained in Our Curiosity Shop not many weeks ago), it will be forty years before February contains five Sundays, or not until the year 1920.

FORMING STATES OUT OF OTHER STATES.

FAIRFIELD, Ill.

Can a State be formed out of part of another State? If not, how was West Virginia organized within the original limits of Virginia?

BYRON.

Answer..—Article 4, section 1, clause 1, of the Constitution of the United States declares that “No new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.” The erecting of West Virginia into a State was an incident of the late war. While the convention in session at Richmond resolved to take Virginia out of the Union, the Unionists of West Virginia called a convention that assembled at Wheeling May 13, 1861, composed of delegates from twenty-five western counties of the State. This convention passed resolutions denouncing secession and providing for a convention of all the counties of Virginia adhering to the National Government. Delegates representing forty counties convened in Wheeling on June 11, repudiated the acts of the rebel convention, and on June 20 elected Francis H. Pierpont Governor of what they denominated the “reorganized State of Virginia.” A Legislature was elected, which met in Wheeling on July 2. This body elected two United States Senators to take the place of the Virginia Senators which had gone over to the Confederacy. It also provided for an election, to be held on the 24th of the following October, to decide upon the formation of a new State, the eastern part of the State being in possession of the rebels. The people, by a large majority, declared in favor of a new State, and, at the same time, chose delegates to a convention to meet at Wheeling Nov. 24, which convention framed a State Constitution, which was ratified by the people May 3, 1862. May 13 the Legislature—which claimed, it must be remembered, to represent the whole State of Virginia, as it certainly did represent all the loyal part—approved the formation of the new State under the name of West Virginia, and Dec. 31, 1862, provided for its admission to the Union. It was held by distinguished jurists that the government at Richmond having placed itself outside of the Constitution by the treasonable act of secession, the only legal legislative body within the State was the one in session at Wheeling, which consented to the organization of the new State, and that the terms of the Constitution contained in the clause above quoted had been met. When Virginia was reconstructed she was admitted on the understanding that West Virginia was a separate State.

A BRIBE-PROOF PATRIOT.

HAVANA, Mo.

Who was it who, when the British tried to bribe him, said: “Poor as I am, the King of England is not rich enough to buy me?”

FLORENCE WYATT.

Answer.—It was General Joseph Reed, a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress. When approached by one of three British commissioners, Governor Johnstone, with an offer of £10,000 and the most lucrative office in America, if he would use his influence to reunite the Colonies to Great Britain, he answered: “I am not worth purchasing, but, such as I am, the King of Great Britain is not rich enough to buy me!”

MASON AND DIXON’S LINE.

GRANGER, Mo.

What is Mason and Dixon’s line, and what were the provisions of the Missouri compromise? Who were responsible for its repeal?

R. E. GLOVER.

Answer.—Mason and Dixon’s line is the concurrent State line of Maryland and Pennsylvania. It is named after two eminent astronomers and mathematicians, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, who were sent out from England to run it. They completed the survey between 1763 and 1767, excepting thirty-six miles surveyed in 1782 by Colonel Alex. McLean and Joseph Neville. It is in the latitude of 39 deg. 43 min. 26.3 sec. Missouri was admitted to the Union only after a long protracted and violent discussion, growing out of a provision in the State constitution sanctioning slavery. A compromise was finally effected by which the new State was admitted with slavery, with a solemn agreement that there should be no more slave States formed out of territory north of the parallel of 36 deg. 30 min., the southern boundary of Missouri. In political discussions Mason and Dixon’s line was understood to mean both of the above lines and the Ohio River, or, in other words, the boundary between free and slave territory the country through. When Kansas was thrown open to settlement the Southerners were determined, despite the Missouri compromise, to try to make Kansas a slave State. Their Representatives in Congress, with the exception of a few Whigs, united in favor of a repeal of the compromise. With the help of the Douglas Democrats in the North and several pro-slavery Whigs, they carried their point. The consequence was the bloody struggles between the free-State and pro-slavery men in the early history of Kansas, which was practically the inauguration of the war of the rebellion, although the latter did not burst into full flame until after the election of President Lincoln and the secession of the Southern States.

RATES OF INTEREST COMPARED.

FREEPORT, Ill.

Please give your readers a comparison of the rates of interest in England and the United States for several years back.

A. BORROWER.

Answer.—Of course rates vary greatly in this country with locality. Where opportunities for profitable investment are in excess of capital, as in the Western States, rates are higher than at the great money centers. The following statement of the average rates of interest in New York City for each of the fiscal years from 1874 to 1882, inclusive, is taken from the report of the Comptroller of the Currency:

Call loans, Com’l paper, Years. per cent. per cent. 1874 3.8 6.4 1875 3.0 5.8 1876 3.3 5.3 1877 3.0 5.2 1878 4.4 5.1 1879 4.4 4.4 1880 4.9 5.3 1881 3.8 5.0 1882 4.4 5.4

The average rate of discount of the Bank of England for the same years was as follows:

Per cent. Year ending Dec. 31, 1874 3.69 Year ending Dec. 31, 1875 3.23 Year ending Dec. 31, 1876 2.61 Year ending Dec. 31, 1877 2.91 Year ending Dec. 31, 1878 3.78 Year ending Dec, 31, 1879 2.50 Year ending Dec. 31, 1880 2.76 Year ending Dec. 31, 1881 3.49 Fiscal year ending June 31, 1882 4.01

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa.

Are there any lady members of either House of Parliament? How many members are there in each House, and what are their titles?

J. A.

Answer.—There are seven peeresses in their own right entitled to seats in the English House of Peers. These are the Baroness Emma Harriet Tyrwhitt; the Baroness Augusta Mary Elizabeth Cavendish-Bentwick; the Baroness Angela Georgiana Burdett-Coutts; the Countess Anne S. Leveson-Gower (Duchess of Sutherland); the Baroness Mary Elizabeth Boscawan; the Baroness Susan North; the Baroness C. E. H. D. Willoughby. Besides the ladies the House of Peers contains in all 509 members, viz.: Six princes of the blood; 3 archbishops; 20 dukes; 18 marquises; 114 earls; 26 viscounts; 24 bishops; 225 barons; 16 Scottish representative peers, elected for each Parliament; 28 Irish representative peers, elected for life. There are also 10 minor peers, who will be entitled to seats when they attain their majority. The House of Commons is composed of 639 members, of which 489 are representatives of counties, universities and towns in England and Wales; 60 are Scottish and 103 Irish representatives. The title of honorable is given to members of the House. Some of them have titles in their own right, as Lord Elcho, Earl Bective, Viscount Galway, Right Honorable Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, and so on.

BONE DUST AS A FERTILIZER.

ALMOND, Wis.

How are bones treated before being used for fertilizing purposes? For what crops is bone-dust most used, and on what soils?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—First, they are generally boiled for the oil and glue or gelatine in them, which do not materially affect their value as fertilizers. They are then ground or crushed, without being previously burned. In this state this fertilizer is known as bone dust, and is sown broadcast at the rate of 50 to 100 pounds to the acre, as a rich manure for pasture, turnips, and small grain lands. In Cheshire, England, where the fine red sandstone loam had become comparatively sterile before the first of this century, through deficiency of phosphoric acid in the soil, caused by constant pasturage in dairy farming, they resorted to the use of calcined bone and bone dust, with the effect of doubling the product the first year. There they often lay on a half ton to a ton to an acre, which serves as a good dressing for sixteen to twenty years. The best way to ascertain whether a soil needs bone dust is to experiment for a year or two with a small plat of ground. The result will determine better than a chemical analysis whether a bone dust dressing will pay.

THE AGE OF SANTA FE.

ATCHISON, Kan.

Is Santa Fe the oldest of American cities, as the Santa Fe papers claim?

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—Cabez de Vaca, a Spanish adventurer, was in New Mexico with his shipwrecked party as early as 1535. General Coronado, with a large military expedition, conquered the Zuni and Moqui towns, or pueblos, in 1540-41, and kept a journal, still in existence, which identifies the regions he overran as undoubtedly a part of this Territory. Don Antonio Espejo left Zacatecas in 1581 according to some authorities, but late in 1582 according to others, and visited what is now Santa Fe County, New Mexico, in July of 1583. He gave a fuller report than had ever been given before of the pueblos of this region, in which he estimated the population of the province of Taos as 40,000. The principal pueblo in this province was Tanos, afterward known as Tegra, and still later as Santa Fe. As an Indian town Santa Fe may be older than any other town in the United States, but as a European settlement St. Augustine, Fla., still carries the palm of antiquity, having been founded in 1565.

JOAQUIN MILLER’S REAL NAME.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What is “Joaquin” Miller’s real name, and what were the real and assumed names of his divorced wife? The Chicago Herald says his name is Henry F. Miller, which I think is incorrect.

A. STEELE.

Answer.—The real name of “Joaquin” Miller, author of the “Songs of the Sierras,” is Cincinnatus Heine Miller. His divorced wife’s maiden name was Minnie Theresa Dyer, and her literary pseudonym was “Minnie Myrtle.” It is said that the name “Joaquin” was given to Mr. Miller by “the boys” in his early California experience, when he was “roughing it,” from a real or fancied resemblance to a noted Spanish highwayman, and he adopted it as a pseudonym.

THE BLACKHAWK WAR.

BATTLE CREEK, Mich.

Who was the commander in the Blackhawk war? State some of the chief facts as to that war.

V. H. LUCAS.

Answer.—By a treaty made with certain chiefs of the Sacs and Foxes at St. Louis in 1804, the Indians ceded all their lands in Illinois to the United States for the paltry annuity of $1,000 and goods to the value of $2,234.50. In a treaty made in 1822, covering various matters, a clause was introduced confirming the cession of 1804. Still the government did not demand actual possession of these lands. In 1830, Keokuk, Black Hawk’s rival, negotiated a treaty in which the government recognized him as the head chief of the Sacs and Foxes, and in which he clearly ceded all the lands in question. Black Hawk, who had always opposed any cession of territory to the whites, was not present at this convention, and he and his followers, constituting a minority of the tribe, but really representing the portion most concerned, the actual occupants of the great village at Rock Island, protested against the validity of this and the previous cessions. Black Hawk declared that the treaty of 1804 was made by only four chiefs, that they signed it under the influence of liquor, and had never been authorized by the tribe to cede lands. It was not so easy to explain away the clause in the treaty of 1822, but he characterized it also as a fraud, signed without full understanding of its intent. As to the convention of 1830, he denied the authority of Keokuk’s band to deed away the lands east of the Mississippi.

Returning in April, 1831, from the winter’s hunt in the North, Black Hawk’s band found that their chief’s former friend, an Indian fur-trader at Rock Island, had purchased of the government the ground on which this ancient village stood, in the forks of the Mississippi and Rock River, and with his associate speculators were preparing to cultivate the Indian field of some 700 acres adjoining the village. It seems marvelous that Black Hawk could so far restrain his people as to persuade them to submit to a compromise by which they yielded possession of half this field for the season to the speculators. But the latter were not satisfied, and both parties soon grew irritated. Governor Reynolds, of this State, was asked to interfere. Soon after the militia were called out. On the 7th of June General Gaines, of the regular army, commanding at Fort Armstrong, on Rock Island, summoned the Indians to a council, when he commanded them to leave the east side of the Mississippi. Black Hawk refused; but as the State militia, to the number of about 1,600, under command of General Joseph Duncan, drew near, he saw that his few hundred warriors would be overwhelmed, and on June 24, during the night, the Indians deserted their village, which the Americans a few days later utterly destroyed. On June 30, Black Hawk and his party signed a treaty by which for the first time he individually joined in the relinquishment of the lands in dispute. The next winter found him and his band in a destitute, starving condition, owing to their being driven from their cornfields at a season when it was too late to plant elsewhere. In the spring, in defiance of the treaty, he and 368 warriors with their families, crossed the Mississippi and passed up Rock River, to plant corn, as they said, in the Winnebago country, in Southern Wisconsin. General Atkinson, in command of the regular troops at Fort Armstrong, warned them to return. Governor Reynolds again called out the militia, and placed them under command of General Samuel Whiteside. Nothing serious occurred until the 14th of May, when the rash conduct of a party of 275 volunteers under Major Stillman provoked a fight with some sixty of Black Hawk’s warriors, near the mouth of the Kishwaukee a few miles south of Rockford. The whites were panicstricken and fled with the loss of eleven men. So slow had been the movement of the militia that already their time of enlistment had nearly expired, and, not liking this taste of Indian war, they became mutinous, and had to be discharged. General Atkinson could do little with his mere handful of regular troops, so he intrenched his company at Dixon and remained there, while Black Hawk’s followers, re-enforced by a few Winnebago, Ottawa and Pottawatomie braves, roamed over the country committing outrages on defenceless settlers, a number of whom were killed. Affairs grew serious. Governor Reynolds called for 2,000 militia. In July the regulars and militia, all under the chief command of General Atkinson, drove Black Hawk up Rock River and across to the Wisconsin River, where General James D. Henry, the chief hero of this war, in command of a brigade of Illinois militia, overtook him at Wisconsin Heights, and inflicted the first serious punishment the Indians had suffered. Over fifty warriors were killed, and the entire body of them was badly demoralized. Escaping across the Wisconsin with great loss, they fled, leaving their dead and dying, and abandoned articles along their trail. The whole army followed in hot pursuit, and on Aug. 2, General Henry again struck their main force and drove them into the Mississippi at the mouth of the Bad Axe. Here the regulars and the rest of the army joining in, soon cut them to pieces. General Winfield Scott took command five days later, on Aug. 7, 1831, and not long afterwards negotiated a treaty of peace. Black Hawk and two of his sons, with several of his principal warriors, were held as hostages for a time. After detention at Fortress Monroe until June 5 of the next year, he was released. During his captivity he was taken to all the principal cities, where his fate elicited a good deal of sympathy. After his return he lived peaceably with his tribe in Iowa until his death, Oct. 3, 1838, in the 70th year of his age. He was buried at Iowaville, Iowa.

THE BERMUDAS.

GENESEO, Ill.

Please give a concise history of the Bermuda Islands.

MRS. M. H. PIERCE.

Answer.—The Bermudas were discovered successively by Juan Bermudez, a Spaniard, in 1522; Henry May, an Englishman, in 1593: and Sir George Somers in 1609; the discovery in each case being due to the shipwreck of the discoverer. Sir George established the first settlement shortly before his death. In 1612 these islands were granted to 120 persons, an offshoot of the Virginia Company, sixty of whom, led by Henry More, and followed by fugitives from the civil war in England, commenced the cultivation of the soil, which soon yielded rich crops of tobacco. Later the salt lagoons furnished the chief article of commerce. The government consists of a Governor, appointed by the crown, and a privy council of nine members, appointed by the Governor. The House of Assembly is composed of thirty-six members, elected by the people. The acts are revised from time to time, being passed for a limited period.

LIVE QUESTIONS FOR DEBATE.

WEST PILOT, Iowa.

Will you please give some live questions for debate in a lyceum?

WILLIE G. SPRINGER.

Answer.—Should an international copyright system be established? Should the government establish postal savings banks? Should literary ability be acknowledged and encouraged in this country, as in England, by grants or pensions from the government? Should the election of President and Vice President be by direct popular vote, instead of through the electoral college?

GIVE FOWLS GOOD FOOD AND EXERCISE.

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb.

What is the matter with my fowls? They do not seem to be sick, but they are languid and do not lay or seem to have any ambition.

AMANDA.

Answer.—Perhaps it is because they are too closely cooped and have not sufficient exercise. Give them plenty of sunlight; keep them dry; bury a share of their grain in their dusting-place so that they will have to scratch for it; scatter the rest of their food so that they will have to exercise in order to get it and can not eat too fast; give them a variety of dry and cooked food, including cooked meat and vegetables in the morning and grain at night; and the probability is that you will see a marked improvement.

THE SULLIVAN-HANFORD MURDER.

CHICAGO, Ill.

When did Alexander Sullivan shoot Francis Hanford, the Chicago school principal? When did his trial take place and before what Judge? Was the Judge impeached for his course on that trial? Is it certainly so that this is the same Sullivan who is now at the head of the Irish National League of America? One friend says it is and another says that this latter Sullivan is a New Yorker.

INQUIRER.

ST. HELENA, Neb.

Is the Alexander Sullivan, of Chicago, elected President of the Irish National League, recently organized in Philadelphia, the same man who some years since killed Francis Hanford, the Chicago school principal? Why was that Sullivan acquitted?

JOHN MARTIN.

Answer.—Alexander Sullivan shot Francis Hanford, Principal of the North Side High School, Chicago, on Aug. 7, 1876, under the following circumstances: In an anonymous paper read that afternoon in the City Council it was charged that Mrs. Alexander Sullivan had procured the appointment of her husband, as Secretary of the Board of Public Works, through undue influence over Mayor Colvin. It was also charged that she was the moving spirit in a corrupt ring that dictated the management of the public schools. Mr. Sullivan was told that the author of this paper was Mr. Hanford. At 7 o’clock that same evening, himself, wife and a younger brother drove up in front of the Hanford residence as that gentleman was sprinkling his grass plat, while Mrs. Hanford sat on the door-step looking on. Sullivan demanded an immediate retraction; after a few words he knocked Mr. Hanford down. A scuffle ensued which ended in Sullivan’s drawing a revolver and shooting Mr. Hanford dead in the presence of his family. He afterward claimed that during the fracas, when Mrs. Sullivan came up to separate them Mr. Hanford had struck her. On the trial the prosecution claimed that if this were so, the blow was not directed or intended for Mrs. Sullivan, but came about in Mr. Hanford’s efforts to protect himself from Sullivan’s attack. The first trial of Sullivan began Oct. 17, 1876, and ended Oct. 27 in a disagreement of the jury. The public was greatly exasperated, and, believing that the disagreement of the jury was due to the rulings and charge of Judge McAllister, there was a loud call made by the most respectable citizens of all classes for his resignation. When the news reached the Board of Trade such a scene was witnessed as seldom occurs in such a place. By unanimous consent all business was suspended. In ten minutes a petition was prepared, asking Judge McAllister to resign at once. In half an hour it had received 500 signatures, and by night there were 1,200 names appended, all of members of the board. The Judge treated this petition and the unanimous condemnation of the press with silent contempt. Sullivan’s second trial opened Feb. 26, 1877, before the same judge, and closed March 9 with a verdict of acquittal. Judge McAllister was never impeached before any legal tribunal; but at the bar of public opinion he suffered the condemnation of the intelligent, order-loving element of the entire country. This Alexander Sullivan is now the President of the newly organized Irish National League of America.

SECURITY OF NATIONAL BANKS.

DOWNSVILLE, Wis.

Are the notes and deposits of the National Banks well secured? What is the rate of loss suffered through these banks?

S. S. C.

Answer.—The currency issued by National banks is amply secured by the deposit of registered bonds of the United States with the Treasurer of the United States. The Comptroller of the Currency makes frequent inspections of these institutions, and whenever the market value of the bonds thus deposited falls below the amount of the circulation issued for the same, he is authorized to demand additional security in United States bonds or money to the amount of such depreciation. National bank notes are all printed by the government, and furnished to the banks only in such quantities as they are authorized to circulate. As a consequence there can be no over issues. In case of the failure of a bank to redeem its circulating notes, the holders may present them for payment at the Treasury of the United States, where they will be redeemed. The government is protected against loss by holding a first lien on all the assets of such banks. Depositors in cases of failure do not always realize the full amount of their claims, but the history of banking shows no parallel to the excellence of this system in respect of the small proportion of loss suffered by depositors. The loss to all creditors of the United States National banks from the passage of the act of Feb. 25, 1863, to Nov. 1, 1882, amounted to only about $400,000 per annum on an average capital of $450,000,000, and annual deposits averaging $800,000,000, so that the average loss to depositors during a period of nearly twenty years was but one-twentieth of 1 per cent per annum.

GOVERNORS OF IOWA.

ANAMOSA, Iowa.

Please give a full list of the Governors of this State from the organization of Iowa Territory, with the years that they were in office.

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—The Territorial Governors of Iowa were:

Robert Lucas 1838-41 John Chambers 1841-46 James Clark 1846-46

Iowa was admitted into the Union as a State Dec. 28, 1846, since when its Governors have been:

Ansel Briggs 1846-50 Stephen Hempstead 1850-54 James W. Grimes 1854-58 Ralph P. Lowe 1858-60 Samuel J. Kirkwood 1860-64 William M. Stone 1864-68 Samuel M. Merrill 1868-72 Cyrus C. Carpenter 1872-76 Samuel J. Kirkwood 1876-78 John H. Gear 1878-82 Buren R. Sherman 1882-

The above does not give the names of the Governors of Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin Territories at the dates when what is now Iowa was attached to those Territories. After Missouri became a State, in 1821, Iowa was left without any civil government. From 1834 to 1836 it was attached to Michigan Territory, then embracing Wisconsin, Stevens T. Mason, Governor. In 1836 Wisconsin Territory was organized, including Iowa, and the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature was actually in session at Burlington, Iowa, when news came from Washington that Iowa had been constituted a separate Territory. Of course there was nothing left for the “Badgers” but to pack their carpet bags and decamp for their own Territory, which they did instanter. Henry Dodge was Governor of Wisconsin while Iowa was joined to it.

STEEL AND STEEL RAILS.

MARION, Ind.

Please explain how steel rails are made.

ALPHA.

Answer.—Steel is a carburet of iron, rendered as free as possible of all foreign matter, such as sulphur, phosphorus, etc. It may be produced by working pig iron, which contains 4 or 5 per cent of carbon, in a suitable furnace until the amount of carbon is reduced to about 1 per cent, the average carbon in good steel. This is a decarbonizing process. In the other process, which is directly opposite to this, iron bars, freed of carbon, are heated in contact with charcoal until they have absorbed the necessary per cent of carbon. The steel, in the form of ingots, is brought to a proper heat and welded together in proper quantity to make a rail of given length and weight. This is then rolled into proper shape by immense rollers, grooved so as to give the right shape to the rail. Bessemer steel rails can be cast in molds.

SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS.

BURLINGTON, Iowa.

When and by whom were the States of North and South Carolina settled?

AMERICUS.

Answer.—A company of Huguenots, many of them soldiers and men of rank, with Ribault as their leader, while on an exploring tour, entered a harbor, which they named Port Royal, and being much pleased with the country, thirty were chosen to begin a colony. Their object was to search for gold, but failing to discover any they built a rude ship and put to sea in it. In 1650 a settlement was started upon the Chowan River by emigrants from Virginia and England, which was afterward called Albemarle County Colony, and another settlement near Wilmington, made by planters from Barbadoes, was named Clarendon County Colony. In 1670 a colony settled upon the banks of the Ashley River, but ten years later it removed to the present site of Charleston, S. C. These three colonies were similar in origin and under the same Governor until 1729, when the two Carolinas were erected into distinct provinces.

THE GREATEST OF VALLEYS.

BRIGHTON, Cal.

Is there any valley in the world larger than the Mississippi Valley?

C. C. HARRIS.

Answer.—The Valley of the Amazon is larger than that of the Mississippi, the former river draining 2,330,000 square miles, the latter 1,244,600 square miles. The Amazon drains a greater area than any other river on the globe.

UNITED STATES MINTS AND ASSAY OFFICES.

FARRAGUT, Iowa.

How many mints are there in the United States, and where are they? What are assay offices, and where are they?

ADA A. HALL.

Answer.—This government has coinage mints in Philadelphia, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Carson City, and a mint at Denver used at present merely as an assay office. This last and the assay offices at Boise City, I. T., Helena, M. T., and Charlotte, N. C., are limited by law to melting and assaying gold and silver bullion and paying for the same from Treasury funds. There is an assay office at New York for the testing of foreign coin or bullion bought by the government to be coined or recoined. All the precious metal purchased for mintage is computed at the value given it at these assay offices. The single letters, O., S., C., etc., stamped under the eagle on American coin indicate where the pieces were minted.

POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENT TOWNSHIPS.

WINDSOR, Ill.

Is there any difference between political and “government” townships? If so, what is it?

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—1. A full township, according to the United States Government land survey, is six miles square and contains thirty-six sections. This is often called a “Congressional township,” sometimes a “government township.” Along the borders of large lakes and navigable rivers, and particularly next to State boundaries, fractional Congressional townships are common. For purposes of township government, fractional townships are in many cases united with adjoining townships, or two full townships may be joined under one town organization. In other cases three or more Congressional townships organize under one or two political town governments, according to the convenience and wishes of a majority of the inhabitants. 2. For an explanation of the United States Government Land Survey, including definition of base lines, ranges, and names and location of all the principal meridians, see Our Curiosity Shop of last year.

INTRODUCTION OF POSTAGE STAMPS.

HORTONVILLE, Wis.

When were postage stamps first used, and by what Nation?

P. G. M.

Answer.—The use of postage stamps, one of the great reforms advocated by Rowland Hill, was introduced into England through his efforts May 6, 1840. They began to be used in this country in 1847.

TIMES THAT TRY MEN’S SOULS.

ROCKFORD, Ill.

Who was the author of the expression, “These are times that try men’s souls?”

E. D. H.

Answer.—Thomas Paine, who professed to believe that men had no souls. During the Revolutionary war, soon after the British captured Philadelphia, and when the cause of independence was shrouded in gloom, Paine, who was certainly one of the most spirited, brilliant, and effective knights of the pen that championed independence, wrote in “The American Crisis,” “These are times that try men’s souls.”

WHO BURNED MOSCOW?

ALMA, Wis.

Did Napoleon burn Moscow, or was it burned by the Russians on his approach?

INQUIRER.

Answer.—It is not certain that Moscow was set on fire by official order. If so, it was by command of Count Rostoptchin, who claimed that honor after he saw the result, the forced evacuation of the city by Napoleon and the French army, which had taken possession of it on Sept. 14 and 15. Some say that it was fired by Russian fanatics when they knew that Napoleon had taken up his headquarters in the Kremlin, which they regarded as sacred. The French endeavored to extinguish the conflagration, which was ruinous to them, as it was their reliance for winter quarters.

GRADES OF BARLEY.

OOSTBURGH, Wis.

1. What constitutes the difference in grades of barley? 2. Wherein does the color of barley affect the quality of the grain? 3. How, except to gouge the farmer, did the custom of making fifty pounds of barley for the bushel originate, the legal standard being forty-eight pounds? 4. Are farmers under obligation to conform to board of trade rules, contrary to law?

QUIZ.

Answer.—1. The following are the rules governing the State inspection of barley in Chicago: “No. 1 barley shall be plump, bright, clean, and free from other grain. No. 2 barley shall be sound, of healthy color, bright or but slightly stained, not plump enough for No. 1, reasonably clean, and reasonably free from other grain. No. 3 barley shall include slightly shrunken and otherwise slightly damaged barley, not good enough for No. 2. No. 4 barley shall include all barley fit for malting purposes, not good enough for No. 3. No. 5 barley shall include all barley which is badly damaged, or for any cause unfit for malting purposes, except that barley which has been chemically heated shall not be graded at all.” 2. The color of barley is an indication of its age and condition in several respects. 3. The legal bushel by weight is different in different States. In California and Nevada it is 50 pounds; in Wisconsin and most other States it is 48; in Pennsylvania, 47; in Oregon, 46; in Louisiana it is only 32. Boards of trade make rules for themselves, one object being uniformity for the whole country. 4. As a rule, statutes fixing the weight per bushel of various commodities specify that this is to apply only in cases where contracts fail to specify the weight to be given. When grain is sold on ’Change the rules of the board determine the weight to be delivered. Since seller and purchaser are presumed to be acquainted with these rules, it is hard to imagine how either can justly complain of being “gouged.”

HERODOTUS.

CROMWELL, Iowa.

Please give a short sketch of Herodotus, the father of history.

FRANK SMITH.

Answer.—Herodotus, called the “Father of History,” was born at Halicarnassus, a Dorian city of Asia Minor, B. C. 484. In his youth he became disgusted with the tyrannical rule of Lygdamis, and abandoned his home for the island of Samos, upon which he acquired the Ionic dialect, which he used in writing his history. After remaining there some time he began his famous travels, visiting Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Babylon, and Northern Africa. Returning to his old home he assisted in the expulsion of Lygdamis and the establishment of a new ruler. The latter, however, became nearly as tyrannical as the former, so that Herodotus again looked abroad for a home. Hearing that a colony was about to leave Athens for Italy, he joined it and settled, B. C. 443, at Thurrii in that peninsula. At that place he lived the remainder of his life, writing the history which has been a lasting monument to his name. It is not known in what year he died; but it is supposed that he lived to be a very old man.

A PENSION QUERY.

IOLA, Ill.

Please answer the following: A soldier applies for a pension because of a disease contracted while in the service, but dies of said disease before action is taken by the department, leaving no wife but one child, a daughter, under 16 years of age, who dies before the claim is allowed; who, if anybody, is entitled to the pension?

J. ROBINSON.

Answer.—Section 4,718 of the Revised Statutes of the United States reads as follows: “If any pensioner has died or shall hereafter die; or if any person entitled to a pension, having an application therefor pending, has died or shall hereafter die, his widow, or if there is no widow, the child or children of such person under the age of 16 years shall be entitled to receive the accrued pension to the date of the death of such person. Such accrued pension shall not be considered as a part of the assets of the estate of deceased nor liable to be applied to the payment of the debts of the said estate in any case whatever, but shall inure to the sole and exclusive benefit of the widow or children; and if no widow or child survive no payment whatsoever of accrued pension shall be allowed, except so much as may be necessary to reimburse the person who bore the expenses of the last sickness and burial of the decedent in cases where he did not have sufficient assets to meet such expenses.” According to Section 4,707 pensions may be granted to relatives who were dependent upon the disabled soldier, but these are limited to the mother, father, or orphan brothers and sisters under 16 years of age, named in the order of precedence.

SPORTING FEATS.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.

Please answer the following questions: 1. What is the fastest time in which dashes of 100, 150, and 200 yards and one mile have been made by athletes? 2. What is the greatest record for running long and running high jumps without weights or spring-boards? 3. What is the longest base-ball throw on record? 4. What is the longest foot-ball kick?

S.

Answer.—The fastest time for a dash of 100 yards was made by George Seward, an American, at Hammersmith, England, Sept. 30, 1844, say 9¼ seconds; the fastest 150 yards was run by George Forbes, at Providence, R. I., Dec. 20, 1869, say 15 seconds; the fastest 220-yard dash was run by L. E. Myers, at New York City, Sept. 15, 1881, say 22½ seconds. The fastest mile run on record was made by William Cummings, at Preston, England, May 14, 1881, say 4 minutes 16⅕ seconds. The fastest mile run in this country was made by W. G. George, at New York City, Nov. 11, 1882. 2. The longest running long jump, without artificial aid, was made by J. Lane, at Dublin, Ireland, June 10, 1874, say 23 feet 1½ inches; the greatest running high jump in Great Britain, 6 feet 3¾ inches, was made by P. Davin, at Carrick-on-Suir, Ireland; the greatest in America, 5 feet 11 inches, was made by E. W. Johnston, Belleville, Ont. 3. The longest base ball throw on record was made by John Hatfield, at Brooklyn, N. Y., Oct. 18, 1872, say 133 yards 1 foot 7½ inches. 4. The longest foot-ball “place kick,” with a run, is 187 feet 10 inches, made by R. Young, at Glasgow, Scotland, July 2, 1881.

THE COLOSSEUM.

LAMONI, Iowa.

When was the Colosseum at Rome built, and for what purpose? What were its dimensions; what is its present use, and who owns it?

E. B. T.

Answer.—The Colosseum, or Coliseum, as it is sometimes spelled, was a colossal amphitheater constructed by the Emperors Vespasian and Titus. It was in the form of an oval, the longer diameter being 612 feet, the shorter diameter 515 feet, and the height of the walls from 160 to 180 feet. It contained seats for 87,000 persons, and standing room for 15,000 more. The arena, or oval in the center, where the gladiators fought and the deadly conflicts with wild beasts took place, was 281 feet by 176. The walls were of marble, the external face consisting of four stages, or offsets, adorned with engaged columns of the three orders of Grecian architecture, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The lowest three were arcaded, having each eighty columns and as many arches. Statues, sculptures, figures of chariots, metal shields, and other embellishments adorned the niches and salient points. What was the internal structure of this vast building is not fully understood. The tiers of seats above referred to only rose to one-half the height of the stupendous walls. Whether there were hanging galleries above these marble seats is now only a matter of conjecture. Over 2,000 wild beasts were killed in the dedicatory service. There were means by which, when the combats were ended, the immense arena could be filled with water for the exhibition of sea fights. During the various persecutions of the early Christians, many of these were thrown to the wild beasts in this amphitheater. One of the first of these was St. Ignatius, who was torn to pieces by lions. In the sixth century, when Christianity gained the ascendency, the church put an end to the use of the Colosseum. It still stood entire in the eighth century, but subsequently large quantities of the marble was used in the construction of public and private buildings. Pope Benedict XIV., in commemoration of the martyrs who had suffered within its walls, consecrated the Colosseum as a monument to them, erected crosses and oratorios within it, and so put an end to the process of destruction. Ever since it has been regarded as sacred to the martyrs and subject to the church.

WARMING ARCTIC DWELLINGS.

JOHNSONVILLE, Ill.

Do inhabitants of the Arctic regions use fire as a means of heating their ice or snow-block houses, and for cooking? If so, what kind of fuel do they use?

H. E. T.

Answer.—The ordinary means of lighting and warming Esquimaux igloos, or winter huts, is a large basin of oil furnished with moss wick. These basins are scolloped from soapstone or similar material. The oil is the product of the whale, seal, or other fish, or of the white bear, but usually the former. Igloos are huts usually a half or more underground, and finished above ground with stones, bones, turf, and moss, and finally with ice and snow. Sometimes they are constructed of blocks of ice and compact snow, with transparent ice windows. The igloo is reached by a long tunnel-like entrance, is unventilated, and soon after the great lamp is lit the heat from this and the warmth from the bodies of the inmates render the mephitic air almost suffocating. These people, generally, eat their food raw or but half cooked.

GOTHAM.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Why is New York City called “Gotham?” What is the origin and meaning of Gotham?

J. C. STARR.

Answer.—In “Salmagundi,” a humorous work written by Washington Irving, his brother William, and James K. Paulding, this name is applied to New York, to suit the purpose of the authors in representing the inhabitants as given to undue pretensions to wisdom. Of course, the allusion is to the inhabitants of Gotham, a parish in Nottinghamshire, England, who were as remarkable for their stupidity as for their conceit. All the follies of English wiseacres were attributed to them. Fuller says: “The proverb of ‘as wise as a man of Gotham’ passeth publicly for the periphrasis of a fool; and a hundred fopperies are forged and fathered on the townsfolk of Gotham.” It was said that when King John was about to pass through Gotham toward Nottingham he was prevented by the inhabitants, who thought that the ground over which a king passed became forever a public road. When the King sent to punish them they resorted to an expedient to avert their sovereign’s wrath. According to this, when the avengers arrived they found the people each engaged in some foolish occupation or other, so that the King’s messengers returned to court and reported that Gotham was a village of fools. In time a book appeared, entitled “Certain Merry Tales of the Mad Men of Gotham,” compiled in the reign of Henry VIII., by Andrew Borde, a sort of traveling quack, from whom the occupation of the “Merry Andrew” is said to be derived. Among these tales is the story of “The Three Wise Men of Gotham,” who went to sea in a bowl. The book had a wonderful sale. Walpole attributed it to Lucas de Heere, a Flemish painter, resident in England in the time of Queen Elizabeth, but the weight of evidence is in favor of Borde’s being the author, or compiler, it being mostly a compilation of popular legends even then from four to five hundred years old.

ST. PETER’S AND COLOGNE CATHEDRAL.

FOX LAKE, Wis.

Which is larger, St. Peter’s Cathedral or the cathedral at Cologne? Please give the dimensions of both.

ELLA LYLE.

Answer.—The dimensions of St. Peter’s at Rome, the largest cathedral in the world, are as follows: Length of the interior, 613½ English feet; of transept, 446½ feet; height of nave, 152½ feet; and the diameter of cupola, 193 feet. The height of the dome from the pavement to the top of the cross is 448 feet. Cologne cathedral is 511 feet long, and 231 feet broad. The towers are 511 feet high. This famous building, founded by Archbishop Conrad, designed by Architect Gerhard von Riehl, and commenced Aug. 15, 1248, was not completed until Aug. 14, 1880. It was solemnly opened with august ceremonies, Oct. 15, of the same year.

ORIGIN OF CHESS.

FARMINGTON, Minn.

Please state the origin of the game of chess.

O. H. BAKER.

Answer.—Chess is such an ancient game that its origin is unknown. Many of the most learned Oriental scholars have written upon the subject, appealing to history and philology to support their theories. It has been ascribed to a Chinese mandarin by the name of Han-Sing, who, it is said, invented it as an amusement for his soldiers when in winter quarters, about 174 B. C. They call it “the play of the science of war.” Sir William Jones, the great Sanscrit scholar, claimed that Hindu traditions, the names of the pieces, and other particulars indicate that chess was played in India in the earliest times. He writes that a learned Brahmin assured him that it was mentioned in several of the oldest books of India, where it was declared that it was invented by the wife of one of the most ancient kings of Ceylon to amuse that monarch while Rama was besieging his metropolis. This, by their reckoning, was 2,000 to 3,000 years before the commencement of our era. On the other hand, several later scholars of Sanscrit think it was invented in India by Buddhists some time between the third and ninth centuries, A. D., a theory inconsistent with the unwarlike nature of Buddhism and the fact that the Hindu name of the game, “chaturanga,” is a military name, signifying the game of armies, corresponding with the Chinese name for chess, given above. Others have ascribed this game to the Babylonians, Persians, Scythians, Egyptians, Jews, Greeks, or Romans, according to their several theories, but the weight of evidence is in favor of its being of Indian or Chinese origin, and this is now the generally accepted belief.

STATE SECRETARIES.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Oblige us with a list of the names of Secretaries of State for the principal Western States.

B.

Answer.—Since the names of the Secretaries of State for Texas, Oregon, and Washington Territory are called for by another correspondent, and such information is not within convenient reach of most persons, we give below a full list of Secretaries of all the States and Territories. Persons wishing information in regard to State inducements to immigration, State resources, taxation, etc., can usually obtain it by writing to the Secretary of State, who will transmit the question to the proper officer for the reply called for.

Alabama—Ellis Phelan. Arkansas—Jacob Frolich. California—T. L. Thompson. Colorado—Melvin Edwards. Connecticut—D. Ward Northrop. Delaware—William F. Cansey. Florida—John L. Crawford. Georgia—N. C. Barrett. Illinois—Henry D. Dement. Indiana—William R. Meyers. Iowa—John A. T. Hull. Kansas—James Smith. Kentucky—James Blackburn. Louisiana—William A. Strong. Maine—Joseph O. Smith. Maryland—James T. Briscoe. Massachusetts—Henry B. Pierce. Michigan—Henry A. Conant. Minnesota—F. Von Baumbach. Mississippi—Henry C. Meyers. Missouri—Michael K. McGrath. Nebraska—Edward P. Roggen. Nevada—J. M. Dormer. New Hampshire—A. B. Thompson. New Jersey—Henry C. Kelsey. New York—Joseph B. Carr. North Carolina—Wm. L. Saunders. Ohio—Sames W. Newman. Oregon—R. P. Earhart. Pennsylvania—Wm. S. Stenger. Rhode Island—J. M. Addeman. South Carolina—R. M. Sims. Tennessee— ——. Texas—Thomas H. Bowman. Vermont—George Nichols. Virginia—Wm. C. Elam. West Virginia—Randolph Stalkner, Jr. Wisconsin—Ernst G. Trimme. Arizona—George H. Hand. Idaho—Thomas F. Singiser. Montana—L. D. McCutcheon. New Mexico—Wm. G. Ritch. Utah—Arthur L. Thomas. Washington—N. H. Owings. Wyoming—Elliott S. N. Morgan.

CONGRESSMEN-AT-LARGE.

NEWTON, Iowa.

Explain what is to be understood by “Congressmen-at-large.”

INQUIRER.

Answer.—The act of Congress of February, 1882, provided for a reapportionment of the membership of the House of Representatives, based on the census of 1880, provided that in the cases of States entitled under this apportionment to additional representation, the additional members in the Forty-eighth Congress might be elected on a general State ticket; also, that in all cases where the number of representatives was reduced, as in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, the whole number for such State should be elected at large, “unless the Legislatures of said States have provided or shall provide before the time fixed by law for the next election of Representatives therein.” Kansas, for example, which is entitled by this act to four additional representatives, did not redistrict before the last Congressional election, and so she elected four Congressmen at large, viz., Edmund W. Morrill, Lewis Hanback, Samuel R. Peters, and Bishop W. Perkins. Maine did not redistrict, so all her representatives were elected at large, instead of by districts.

CONTESTANTS OF SEATS IN CONGRESS.

BLOOMINGTON, Iowa.

To settle a dispute between me and a Greenbacker, who claims that when a seat is contested in Congress the contestant doesn’t draw any pay if he fails to get the seat, except his expenses, while I contend that both draw pay until the contest is decided, state which is right.

JOHN TAYLOR.

Answer.—Section 2 of chapter 182 of “Supplement to the Revised Statutes of the United States,” par. 15, says: “That hereafter no contestee or contestant for a seat in the House of Representatives shall be paid exceeding $2,000 for expenses in election contests; and before any sum whatever shall be paid to a contestant or contestee for expenses of election contests he shall file with the clerk of the Committee on Elections a full and detailed account of his expenses, accompanied by the vouchers and receipts of each item, which shall be sworn to by the party presenting the same.” Nevertheless it is customary for Congress to vote compensation to contestants by appropriations in the nature of “relief bills,” where each case is presumed to stand on its own merits.

BALLOONS AND THEIR PERFORMANCES.

AUBURN, D. T.

Please give some facts as to the capacity of balloons; what is used to fill them, and what are some of the greatest balloon performances?

L. J. SWARTZ.

Answer.—The buoyancy of a balloon depends on the weight of the gas with which it is inflated compared with the weight of common air, bulk for bulk. Hydrogen is the lightest of all known substances. A cubic foot of atmospheric air at a temperature of 34 degrees weighs 527.04 troy grains, while a cubic foot of hydrogen is about fourteen and a half times lighter than this. Coal gas is about two and a half times lighter than air. If a balloon would contain 1,000 pounds of atmospheric air at temperature of 34 degrees Fahrenheit, but filled with coal gas would weigh, all told—covering, gas, and appendages—600 pounds, it would rise with a force equal to the difference of these two numbers, or 400 pounds. Mr. Glaisher, not long since, constructed a balloon containing 90,000 cubic feet of coal gas, that carried 600 pounds, and rose to the unsurpassed height of 7½ miles, where the barometer, which stands at about 30 at sea level, sank to only 7 inches, showing an atmosphere of only about 22 per cent of the weight at sea level. The longest balloon trip on record is that of the late Professor J. Wise and Mr. La Mountain. Starting from St. Louis for New York City, they traveled 1,150 miles in a little less than twenty hours, when, being caught in a contrary current, they were compelled to desist. Mr. Lowe’s mammoth balloon was said to contain 700,000 cubic feet of coal gas and have a lifting power of 22½ tons; but it was badly constructed and accomplished nothing remarkable. In some 10,000 recorded ascents made since the Montgolfiers invented their famous balloons, just 100 years ago this year, there have been but fifteen deaths among 1,500 aeronauts; which indicates less danger in this business than is generally supposed.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

FERRY, Mich.

1. Give a short biography of Jefferson Davis.

G. F. PAGE.

Answer.—Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky in 1808; first became prominent in politics as a member of the House of Representatives, and later as Senator from Mississippi. He served in the Mexican war, having been educated at West Point. During President Pierce’s administration Davis was Secretary of War, and was said to rule both President and Cabinet. In 1857 he was returned to the Senate, where he remained until chosen President of the Confederacy in 1861. This office he held for four years. In 1865, after the fall of Richmond, Davis was captured and imprisoned in Fortress Monroe for two years; was released on bail in 1867, and finally liberated by the general amnesty, Dec. 25, 1868. He is still disqualified from holding any office of honor or emolument under the General Government.

GOVERNMENT PUBLIC LAND SALES.

SHELDON, Iowa.

I have heard on good authority of the sale, by officers of public land offices, of timber claims at public auction to the highest bidder for cash. Is there any authority of law for such a proceeding?

C. H. COTTLE.

Answer.—Where large bodies of land are to be sold, a proclamation is issued in the name of the President, describing the tracts, and specifying the time and place of sale. When only a few isolated tracts of land, not embraced in the regular proclamations, are to be disposed of, notice is given in a local newspaper. The land is then sold to the highest bidder for cash only. Purchasers are not compelled to reside on or cultivate such lands. As the present policy of the government is to encourage pre-emption and homestead settlement and timber culture there are now few public land sales. Lands that have been offered at public sale but not sold may be bought at any time thereafter at the local land office if not withdrawn from market. This is called a private sale or entry.

MAGGIE MITCHELL.

VICKSBURG, Mich.

Please give a short biography of Maggie Mitchell. What is her present age?

S. C. VAN ANTWERP.

Answer.—Maggie Mitchell, one of the best-known of American actresses, was born in New York City in 1832 of Scotch parents, in very humble circumstances. When very young she was employed in simple child parts in the old Bowery Theater, for a pittance, which went to help support the family. When not more than 19 years of age, she had advanced to playing parts of some importance, and about this time, 1851, she made her first appearance at Burton’s Theater as Julia, in the “Soldier’s Daughter,” which was her first capital success. Soon after this she went on a “starring tour” that proved profitable and widely extended her reputation. She made her first appearance in Philadelphia at the Chestnut Street Theater on March 20, 1854, as Constance in “The Love Chase.” Up to 1862 Miss Mitchell was content to appear in amusing characters, earning the reputation of a clever comedienne, but about this time she got hold of a clumsy, heavy dramatization of George Sand’s popular novelette, “La Petite Fadette.” She applied herself to the animating and popularizing of this play, and the result is her now famous drama “Fanchon,” many of the most charming and pathetic parts being entirely of her own creation. Since June 9, 1862, when she first produced “Fanchon” on the stage at Laura Keene’s Theater, New York, it has maintained a living interest which never fails to draw a house. Other plays of her composition or dramatization have followed, including “Jane Eyre,” “The Pearl of Savoy,” and “Mignon,” a stage rendering of an episode in Goethe’s “Wilhelm Meister,” but none have equaled, in popular esteem, Fanchon. Miss Mitchell was married Oct. 15, 1868, to Henry Paddock, of Cleveland, her present popular stage manager. Although she is now 51 years of age, she impersonates the girlish characters of her repertory with all the sprightliness and youthful vivacity that won the hearts of her auditors twenty years ago.

ARCHBISHOP LAUD—WHY BEHEADED.

Please give an account of the life, character, and death of Archbishop Laud.

C. P. B.

Answer.—William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, the son of a Berkshire clothier, was born in 1573. He was ordained priest in 1601, and became vicar of Stanford in 1607. From this position he rose rapidly in power, by his executive ability and manifestation of hatred of Puritanism, until in 1628 he was appointed Bishop of London. Early in his career he had won the favor of the King, who thought he saw in him a powerful advocate of the doctrine of the divine right of kings, though Laud was really more interested in maintaining the divine right of Episcopacy. In 1617 he attempted, with the aid of King James, to establish the Episcopacy in Scotland, but in vain. In 1630 he was made Chancellor of Oxford, the center of high-church loyalty, and, according to the wish of his sovereign, attempted to repress Puritanism by slitting noses, clipping ears, fines, branding, and imprisonment. In the high-commission and star-chamber courts his power was almost absolute. But gradually he won the bitterest hatred of the English people, until in March, 1640, seven years after his appointment to the Archbishopric of Canterbury, he was imprisoned in the Tower by order of the House of Commons. He was brought to trial in the House of Lords, Nov. 13, 1693, on charge of treason and other crimes, of which they acquitted him; but they soon afterward gave their assent to the ordinance for his execution, passed by the Commons. He had lived until the Puritans, whom he had despised and persecuted, had come into power, he had made the Scots his implacable foes, and nothing less than his blood would satisfy them. Despite of a royal pardon, by an act of arbitrary power on the part of Parliament, overriding all constitutional precedents, he was beheaded Jan. 10, 1644.

VICTORIA’S CHILDREN AND CHILDREN-IN-LAW.

BATTLE CREEK, Mich.

Please name Queen Victoria’s children and their husbands and wives, and stations in life.

BELLE SHIPMAN.

Answer.—The eldest child of Queen Victoria is Victoria Adelaide Maria Louise, Princess Royal, married to the Crown Prince, Frederick William, of Germany, Jan. 25, 1858. Her eldest son, the second child, is the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, heir-apparent to the throne; married to the Princess Alexandra, eldest daughter of the King of Denmark, March 10, 1863. Her third child was Alice Maud Mary, married to Louis IV., Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, July 1, 1862; died Nov. 15, 1878. Her fourth child is Alfred Ernest Albert, Duke of Edinburgh, married Jan. 23, 1874, to the Grand Duchess Maria of Russia. Her fifth is Helena Augusta Victoria, married July 5, 1866, to Prince Frederick Christian, of Schleswig-Holstein. Her sixth is Louise Caroline Alberta, married March 21, 1871, to John, Marquis of Lorne, present Governor General of Canada. Her seventh is Arthur William Patrick Albert, Duke of Connaught, married March 13, 1879, to Princess Louise Margaret, daughter of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia. Her eighth is Leopold George Duncan Albert, Duke of Albany, married April 27, 1882, to the Princess Helen, daughter of the Prince of Waldeck. Her ninth is Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodora, still unmarried. We are not prepared to publish their pictures.

ROUTE TO SINALOA, MEXICO.

BALDWIN, La.

What is the route from here to Sinaloa, Mexico? Is the Northern part of that State good for the culture of sugar cane? To what market would one ship from there?

M. D. G.

Answer.—The most direct route from New Orleans would be via the Southern Pacific and Sonora Railways to Guaymas, 353 miles southwest of Benson, on the Southern Pacific, where one can take steamer about the 15th or 16th of each month for Mazatlan, the principal port of Sinaloa, on the Gulf of California. Sugar cane, oranges, figs, and other semi-tropical and tropical fruits flourish in Sinaloa; particularly in the Valley of the Rio del Fuerte. Mazatlan furnishes a market for the products of the country, or one can ship to San Francisco or New York direct, via the California and Panama steamers.

FUSIBILITY OF ALLOYS.

HUDSON, M. T.

Why does it takes a hotter fire to melt pewter than lead?

J. B. L.

Answer.—Pewter is an alloy, composed of tin and lead, sometimes with a little copper or antimony or bismuth, combined in different proportions, according to the purposes it is to serve. Plateware, which has a bright, silvery luster when polished, is composed of 100 parts of tin, 8 parts of antimony, 2 parts of bismuth, and 2 of copper. Brittannia ware is said to be an alloy of equal parts of brass, tin, antimony, and bismuth. Now it is characteristic of alloys that they are always more easily fusible than the least fusible metal entering into their composition, and some of them, strange to say, are more fusible than the least fusible of their constituents. For instance, although bismuth alone requires a heat of 476 degrees Fahrenheit to fuse it, lead 600 degrees, and tin 442 degrees, an alloy of these metals composed of five or eight parts of bismuth, two or five parts of lead, and three of tin, melts at 198 to 200 degrees; and an alloy of sodium composed of sodium and potassium in certain proportions melts at 80 degrees, although sodium alone requires 194 degrees and potassium 124 degrees to fuse them. The explanation is not fully determined, but it is to be found in the laws of chemical affinity. Different metals expand at different rates in the same degree of heat, which tends to separate the atoms; and electrical currents are produced which magnify the heat applied externally.

AUTHOR OF SCHONBERG-COTTA FAMILY.

LAKE CITY, Iowa.

Who is the author of “Schonberg-Cotta Family?” Give a short sketch of the same, and tell the correct pronunciation of Schonberg-Cotta.

AGGIE.

Answer.—The authoress of “Schonberg-Cotta Family” is Mrs. Elizabeth Rundle Charles, only child of the late Hon. John Rundle, member of Parliament for Tavistock. She was born about 1826; received a liberal English education; was encouraged in literary work by her father; and has written a number of works of fiction of high moral tone, including the two historical fictions “Schonberg-Cotta Family” and the “Diary of Kitty Trevylyan,” intended to recall the early struggles of the two great reformers, Luther and Wesley. Among her other works are “The Martyrs of Spain and Liberators of Holland.” It is almost impossible to denote the German pronunciation of “o” in Schonberg without oral illustrations. Webster says that to utter this sound one must place the organs in the position for o long and then try to utter the sound of e in met. All the other syllables in the compound word, Schonberg-Cotta, are to be pronounced nearly as in English, except that the e in berg is almost like a long.

GOLD AND SILVER IN THE SEA.

PEORIA, Ill.

Is the expression, “There is gold in the sea,” only a poetic fiction or is it true? As a friend says that there is gold and silver in some kinds of sea water?

A CONSTANT READER.

Answer.—Sea water is impregnated with certain chemical salts, including chlorides, sulphates, bromides, iodides, and carbonates, some of which have the power of dissolving gold and silver or holding them in solution. The chemist Sonstadt has recently shown that sea water contains nearly one grain of gold to the ton of water, held in solution by iodide of calcium; and it has been known for some years that the old copper stripped from the bottoms of ships is often so rich in silver taken from the sea that it pays a profit on the cost of smelting it. It is estimated that the ocean holds in solution at least 2,000,000 tons of silver. Assuming this to be the metric ton of 2,204.6 pounds, the above total is equivalent in weight to 77,448,000,000 American standard dollars—nearly seven times the total silver product of the world from the earliest times to the close of 1879, or $11,315,000, as estimated by that eminent statistician, the Russian councillor, Otreschkoff. A large discount might be made from these estimates, and yet there would be enough left, aside from all the treasures of sunken Spanish galleons and oriental argosies, to demonstrate that the saying, “There is gold in the sea,” is not merely a poetic fancy.

FRENCH POOLS—PARIS MUTUALS.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Kindly explain “French pools,” or “Paris mutuals,” as used in horse-racing circles.

R. L. K.

Answer.—“French pools” are sometimes called “Paris mutuals.” This system of betting consists of selling tickets on each horse at a certain price. On the race-courses of this country the “mutuals” are $5 each. When the race is started the tickets are all added up in one large pool, and those who hold tickets on the winning horse divide the total pool, less 5 per cent to the pool-seller. For example, in a Paris mutual, tickets in the pool were sold as follows:

Horse. Tickets. Price. Total. No. 1 10 $5 $50.00 No. 2 9 5 45.00 No. 3 4 5 20.00 No. 4 7 5 35.00 No. 5 8 5 40.00 ——————— Total $190.00 Less 5 per cent 9.50 ——————— Net amount for winners $180.50

Here there is a net amount of $180.50 to be divided equally between holders of tickets on the winning horse. In this case, if horse No. 3 wins, each of the four ticket-holders receives $45.12.

THE WIVES OF COLUMBUS.

CORTLAND, N. Y.

When was Columbus married and whom did he marry?

B. S.

Answer.—Christopher Columbus was twice married. His first wife was Felipa Munnis Perestrelle, daughter of an able Captain of Prince Henry of Portugal, called the “Navigator.” He married her in 1471. His father-in-law’s charts, globes, etc., helped to mature his plans of discovery. Diego, who accompanied his father on the occasion when they were reduced to such straits that Columbus begged at the monastery of La Rabida for bread and water for the child, was the only issue of this marriage. This wife died in 1483 or thereabout. He next married Beatriz Enriquez, at Cordova, in 1487. She was the mother of his second son, Fernando Columbus, who in time became his father’s biographer.

POSTAGE ON MANUSCRIPT.

COOKSVILLE, Wis.

What is the postage rate on manuscript for books or newspapers?

INQUIRER.

Answer.—Ruling 264, page 683 of the Postal Guide for 1883 says: “All manuscript matter designed for publication in books, magazines, periodicals, or newspapers is subject to letter postage, unless accompanied by proof-sheets or corrected proof-sheets of such manuscript, or of which such manuscript is a correction or addition.” Ruling 508, page 711, says: “‘Book manuscript’ is a term no longer used in the postal law. Manuscript accompanied by proof-sheets, and corrected proof-sheets relating to it, may pass in the mails as third-class matter in unsealed packages.” The rate for third-class matter is “1 cent for each two ounces or fractional part thereof.”

PERPETUAL ALMANACS.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.

Please give a rule for finding the day of the week on which any historical event occurred when only the day of the month is given.

CHRONOLOGIST.

Answer.—This is too much like a question in arithmetic for these columns, from which all arithmetical problems are ruled out. Several distinct classes of questions might come up under “Chronologist’s” query. One of the first considerations is to determine whether the historical date is given in “old style” reckoning or “new style,” as a separate rule must be applied in each of these cases. Another rule applies to dates before the Christian era. Leap years are taken into account in all these rules. Every example involves an arithmetical computation. There are “perpetual almanacs” that contain tables and rules for all such computations. There is a chart published in this city entitled “Almanac for All Time, Past and Future,” which answers all queries of this nature.

CHICAGO FLOWER MISSION.

CANTON, Ill.

What is the Flower Mission of Chicago? State the nature of its work, and how to reach it by letter or express.

MRS. J. D.

Answer.—The object of the Chicago Flower Mission is to collect and distribute flowers among the charitable institutions of the city; chiefly through the wards of hospitals. The influence of these cheery tokens of loving sympathy is believed to be most wholesome. The condition of the mind has, in most cases of disease, a great effect on the body. Nothing does more to recuperate the sick than a hopeful, cheerful spirit, and a lively love of life and earnest wish to recover. Flowers and their associations are delightful reminders of the world in its fairest phases, and woo the sick back to life with a tender eloquence akin to love. Letters or offerings of flowers addressed to the “President of the Chicago Flower Mission, Atheneum Building, Chicago,” will reach the mission.

LAND ENTRIES BY MARRIED WOMEN.

ROCHELLE, Ill.

Please tell whether a married woman can take up government land in place of her husband, and oblige at least one of your readers,

C. A. REYNOLDS.

Answer.—Under the pre-emption laws, which restrict the pre-emption privilege to heads of families, widows, or single persons over the age of 21, who are citizens of the United States or who have declared their intention to become such, it has been judicially decided: 1. That if a single woman marry after filing her declaratory statement, she thereby abandons her right as a pre-emptor, although it is not so in the case of timber-culture claim or homestead entry; 2. The “head of a family” means the actual, living head of a family; hence, that “a deserted wife or one whose husband is a confirmed drunkard may be the head of a family;” also, that “a married woman who has minor children and has been abandoned by her husband without cause and left to support and maintain herself and children, is the head of a family and entitled to pre-empt in her own name.” Under like circumstances married women may make homestead and timber-culture entries. Otherwise a married woman cannot pre-empt government land or make a homestead or timber-culture entry.

CASUALTIES OF THE CIVIL WAR.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Will you please settle a dispute by telling how many lives were lost in our civil war; and how many were so wounded as to seriously cripple them for life?

A READER.

Answer.—According to the Provost-Marshal General’s report, the casualties in the Union army from the commencement of the late civil war to its close, or say until Aug. 1, 1865, were as follows:

Killed— Volunteer officers, white 3,357 Volunteer enlisted men, white 54,350 Officers of colored troops 124 Enlisted men of colored troops 1,790 Regulars 1,355 —————— Total 60,976

Died of Wounds— Volunteer officers 1,595 Volunteer enlisted men 32,095 Officers of colored troops 46 Enlisted men of colored troops 1,037 Regulars 1,174 —————— Total 35,959

Died of Disease— Volunteer officers 2,141 Volunteer enlisted men 152,013 Officers of colored troops 90 Enlisted men of colored troops 26,211 Regulars 3,009 ——————— Total 183,467

Discharged for Disability— Volunteer officers 3,058 Volunteer enlisted men 209,102 Officers of colored troops 166 Enlisted men 6,889 Regulars 5,091 ——————— Total 224,306

The report of the Adjutant General of the army about five years later, Oct. 25, 1870, puts the total number of deaths in the Union army during the rebellion at 303,504, while the Surgeon General of the army reports the number at 282,955. The Adjutant General reports the total number killed in battle as 44,238; the Surgeon General reports 35,408; the former reports the total number who died of wounds as 33,993; and the latter as 49,205; the former reports the number who died of disease as 149,043; the latter as 186,216. The Quartermaster General reports the total number of graves under his supervision as 315,555; only 172,309 of which have been identified. Taking all things into consideration, the differences, according to these several reports from officers of different departments, are, in most instances, readily accounted for.

According to the only data at hand, the total Confederate losses in action are estimated as follows: Killed, 51,525; wounded, 227,871. The number who died of wounds and disease is not stated; according to a “partial statement” in the American Almanac for 1883, was 133,821. It is not clearly stated whether this includes those killed on the field.

To the above should be added the losses in the Union and Confederate navies, amounting in the case of the former to 4,030 killed and wounded in action; 2,532 died of disease; and 2,070 other casualties.

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa.

Will the Curiosity Shop please to give the origin of the Church of England, and an outline of its history?

H. N. BAKER.

Answer.—The history of the Church of England previous to the Reformation is closely connected with that of the Roman Catholic Church. Tradition states that some of the Apostles first carried Christianity to Britain, and the later work was carried on by Sts. Augustine, Aidan and Chad. From the eighth till the sixteenth century the English Church was subject to Rome, and the final separation was due to the extreme measures adopted at the Council of Trent. But for 200 years the seed sown by Wycliffe had been bearing fruit and preparing the people for the great work of Luther. From 1066 to 1356 there was a constant struggle between the civil and ecclesiastical powers. Then came Wycliffe’s translation into English of the Bible, and his continued war against some of the leading doctrines of the Romish Church, which led to the formation of a new sect called the Lollards, holding views similar to those of the present church. Despite persecution the new doctrines spread, encouraged by Cranmer, and later by Queen Elizabeth, until in 1562 the thirty-nine articles of faith were finally reviewed and adopted, and Protestantism was recognized as the religion of England. In 1801, by the “Act of Union,” the Episcopal churches in England and Ireland were united but the latter church was disestablished and disendowed in 1869.

WILLIAM WALLACE—ROBERT BRUCE.

VALLEY, Wis.

1. Will you please give a few of the principal facts in the life of Sir William Wallace? 2. Where and when did Robert Bruce die?

E. F. MARSHALL.

Answer.—1. Wallace was the younger son of a Scottish knight of good family in the southwest of Scotland. Neither the date nor the place of his birth is definitely known, but the former must have been about 1270. There is nothing certain known of his early life. He first comes into notice as the leader of an insurrectionary movement against Edward I. who had usurped the regal rights of John Baliol, King of Scotland, and held him a prisoner in the Tower of London. In 1297 the rebellion against Edward had become general, and Wallace, resolved to force the liberation of Baliol and the independence of Scotland, made preparations to invade England. On the 11th of September he defeated the English forces under the Earl of Surrey at Sterling Castle with great slaughter, and, pursuing them into Cumberland and Northumberland, ravaged that portion of England. On his return he was made Governor of Scotland, or Regent, in the name of the imprisoned monarch. This elevation of a man of comparatively humble birth over the nobility of Scotland excited fierce jealousy among the latter, which undoubtedly had much to do with the defeat of the Scots the subsequent year by the English King and an overwhelming army at Falkirk, July 22. The war was continued with varying fortunes for seven years, but in 1304 Edward compelled the Scots to submit, granting amnesty to all the insurgent nobles. Wallace, however, was excepted from amnesty, and, having been betrayed into the hands of Edward by his own countrymen, he was carried to London, where, after a mock trial on the charge of treason, and the endurance of barbarities of the most savage nature, he was executed Aug. 23, 1305. His name is held in reverence by all true Scots, who now concede to him the glory of having roused the Scotch love of country, and led the way to that sturdy resistance of English oppression which finally resulted in averting the fate that overtook Ireland. A monument to Wallace was erected at Abbey Craig, near Stirling, at a cost of £13,000, and inaugurated Aug. 27, 1869. 2. Robert Bruce, King of Scots, died at Cardross Castle, on the firth of Clyde, June 7, 1329.

ANNUAL EXPENDITURES OF THE UNITED STATES.

DIXON, Ill.

What has been the least expenditure of the United States Government in any single year since it was established; also what has been the greatest, and what has been the annual expenditure of each year since the war?

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—The gross expenditures of the United States Government in 1791 amounted to $3,797,436.78. This is the lowest sum, and the next lowest was in 1793, $6,479,977.97. The greatest amount any year before the great rebellion was in 1859, during Buchanan’s administration, when his Secretary of War was so busy arming the South, $83,678,642.92. The largest amount expended by the government in any single year was in 1865. Beginning with that year the table below shows the gross expenditures of the government year by year down to June 30, 1882:

1865 $1,906,443,331.37 1866 1,139,344,081.95 1867 1,093,079,655.27 1868 1,069,889,970.74 1869 584,777,996.11 1870 702,907,842.88 1871 691,680,858.90 1872 682,525,270.21 1873 524,044,597.91 1874 724,698,933.99 1875 682,000,885.32 1876 714,446,357.39 1877 565,299,898.91 1878 590,641,271.70 1879 966,393.692.69 1880 700,233,238.19 1881 425,865,222.64 1882 529,627,739.12

TRUMAN HENRY SAFFORD.

AURORA, Ill.

What has become of that wonderful mathematician, T. H. Safford? Does he still retain those remarkable powers which distinguished him as a boy? Oblige several readers with a few facts as to his life.

F. STRINGER.

Answer.—Truman Henry Safford, once widely noticed as “the remarkable boy mathematician,” was born at Royalton, Vt., Jan. 6, 1836, and graduated at Harvard in 1854. He compiled an almanac when he was 9 years old, making all the astronomical and other calculations. When he was but about 14 he calculated the elliptic elements of the first comet of 1849. He was appointed in 1863 Adjunct Observer in the Cambridge University, and two years later made Acting Director. While at this observatory he determined the right ascension of 1,700 stars and the declination of 450, and made 6,000 transit observations, besides completing Professor Bond’s report of discoveries in the constellation Orion. On Dec. 28, 1865, he accepted the post of director of the Chicago Observatory, where he remained until 1878, making many observations of similar nature to the last above named. He is now connected with Williams College.

HERO AND LEANDER.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Please tell the story of Hero and Leander, illustrated in the picture displayed in a window on State street, corner of Adams.

IGNORAMUS.

Answer.—Hero was a priestess of Venus. Leander was a youth of Abydos, a famous city on the Asiatic side of the strait of the Hellespont, nearly opposite the city of Sestos on the European coast, where he first saw Hero. It appears to have been a case of love at first sight, and an intensely ardent case at that. Hero’s office as priestess, and the resolute opposition of her parents stood in the way of their union, cold and strong as the swift current of the Hellespont, which at this its narrowest point, is swift and deep, and about one and a quarter miles wide. Undaunted by all these obstacles, Leander swam across the strait every night to visit his beloved, who directed his course by holding a torch from the upper window of a tower on the shore. After many delightful meetings, the dauntless lover was drowned one stormy night, and his body was washed ashore at the foot of the tower where Hero stood, expecting him. Heartbroken at the sight, she flung herself from the tower into the sea, and passed with her lover into the immortality of art and song.

XENOPHON AND GROTE.

PETERSBURG, Ill.

1. Please give a sketch of the lives of the historians, Xenophon and Grote. 2. Describe the scythed chariots of the Greeks and Persians.

CONSTANT READER.

Answer.—Xenophon, son of the Athenian, Gryllus, was born B. C. 445-4. He was a pupil of Socrates. He joined the expedition of Cyrus against Artaxerxes, King of Persia, and in the retreat of the ten thousand, following the battle of Cunaxa, became the leader of the Greeks, after the treacherous execution of their former generals. A full account of the expedition and retreat is given in his “Anabasis.” Being banished from Athens soon after his return, he joined the Spartan army, in which he fought against his own countrymen at Coronea. He lived at Scillus, in Elis, for more than twenty years (until driven thence by the Eleans), hunting, farming, and writing. It was there that he wrote the “Anabasis” and the “Hellenica.” The last years of his life were passed at Corinth, where he died about 356 B. C. George Grote, politician, historian, and philosopher, was born at Clay Hill, Beckenham, Kent, Eng., in 1794. As a statesman he was in sympathy with the leading reforms of his time, and made several effective speeches in their behalf. His first work as an author was upon parliamentary reform. The preparation of his history of Greece occupied thirteen years, and the last two volumes were published in 1856. In 1865 appeared his work on Plato. Thereafter he devoted himself to the study of Aristotle. 2. The scythed chariot was used by the Britons and Persians. It had two wheels connected by an axle, upon which rested, without springs, the body of the chariot, consisting of a floor with a semi-circular guard in front about three feet high. It had no seat, and was open at the back. In it stood the warrior and his charioteer. Attached to the rims of the wheels projecting on each side and bristling from the axle were scythes or blades of swords for cutting down those who came in the way.

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE.

ROBERTS, Ill.

Tell us something of the birth, education, and work of Florence Nightingale, the famous hospital nurse.

JAMES BOND.

Answer.—She was born at Florence, Italy, in 1823, being the daughter of William Shore Nightingale, Embly Park, Hampshire; she was educated with great care, and was rather notable for her brilliant accomplishments. Very early she showed great interest in all institutions for the alleviation of suffering, and later visited and inspected hospitals throughout Europe. She studied with Sisters of Charity in Paris their system of nursing in the hospitals of that city, and was trained also in the institution of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserwerthen, on the Rhine. Later she organized the Sanitarium for Governesses in London. Soon after the breaking out of the Crimean war she offered to organize a nursing department at Scutari, and with the consent of Lord Herbert left England Oct. 21, 1854, reaching Constantinople in time to take charge of the wounded from the battle of Inkerman. In 1855 she was prostrated by a fever, the result of overwork, but refused to rest, and remained in Scutari until the English evacuated Turkey, July 28, 1856. The British army almost idolized her. For some years Miss Nightingale has been an invalid, but she has never ceased to plan and work for the welfare of soldiers. At the close of the Crimean war a fund of $250,000 was subscribed to enable her to establish a school for the training of nurses, which is doing a noble work. She has published several books bearing upon the work to which her life has been devoted.

ARTIFICIAL POULTRY BROODERS.

WICHITA, Kan.

What is an “artificial mother” or chicken brooder? Please tell us what it looks like and how to use it?

AN OLD SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—There are two or three illustrations and descriptions of chicken brooders, but they are all essentially the same thing. Of course the nearer it comes to being a good substitute for the hen mother the better it will be. Make a box about three or four feet square and five or six inches deep, with a board top and a sheet-iron, or, still better, a zinc bottom. Some tack a lamb skin, drooping nearly to the bottom, to the top of this box and do not use artificial heat; but the generally approved plan is to use one lamp and tin flue like those used in the artificial incubator, hitherto described, for warming a brooder of this size. Bore several small auger holes through the top as escape flues for the heat; or, still better, arrange three or four tin escape pipes of an inch diameter, as was done in the “heater” of the incubator, dropping them down to within a couple of inches of the bottom of the box. Next cut a strip from some old blanket, or other coarse, soft woolen stuff, and tack it around the lower edge of the box so that it will hang down about four inches all round. Slash this at intervals of three or four inches, so that the chicks can push through it. Now set blocks two inches thick under two corners and three inches thick under the other two corners, and your brooder is ready for use. Keep the temperature up to 80 or 90 deg. Keep the box thoroughly clean, and move it from one dry place to another every day or so. Dust the chicks occasionally with sulphur or pyrethrum, to keep off vermin, and smear their feathers here and there with paraffine. On one side of the brooder there should be a “run” for the chicks to exercise in, which may be a box covered with laths on top and sides, but with space next the ground to allow them to run out. For protection against rats at night cover the whole brooder with a close box perforated with small auger-holes for ventilation.

RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF CHICAGO.

ROCKFORD, Ill.

What is the present number of churches in Chicago? Does the increase of churches and church membership keep pace with the increase of population?

MRS. W.

Answer..—Mr. E. F. Cragin, one of the officers of the Congregational Club of this city, has given some attention to this subject, and at the last meeting of the club presented the following figures, based on the census and the number of churches and church members, computed from the best data at hand:

Churches Ratio of and Members Year. Missions. Year. Population. to Pop.

1840 6 1840 4,479 1 to 747 1851 28 1850 28,269 1 to 1,009 1862 84 1860 109,260 1 to 1,301 1870 187 1870 298,977 1 to 1,599 1880 242 1880 503,185 1 to 2,079

These figures include Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, Jewish synagogues, two Mormon churches, several Spiritualists societies, and indeed, every society listed in our city directory as religious organizations. There are 188 of the 242 churches given for 1880, which are classed by Mr. Cragin as Evangelical Protestants, of which 38 have services conducted in foreign languages. The population between 6 and 21 years is given as 155,000, while the total membership of Sunday schools is but 81,289. By way of postscript Mr. Cragin remarks that the number of arrests in 1882 was over 33,000, or 1 to 18 of the population.

BRUNO, THE PANTHEIST.

NORTHWOOD, Iowa.

Who was “the Philosopher Bruno?”

L. O. HARMON.

Answer.—Giordano Bruno, the leader of the modern school of pantheistic philosophy, was born at Nola, Naples, about the middle of the sixteenth century. He joined the order of the Dominican Monks, but becoming dissatisfied with some of their doctrines, was expelled. He fled first to Geneva, thence to Paris, and finally to England, meeting with opposition and persecution. In 1585 he returned to Paris, and in the next year went to Germany, where he studied and taught. Becoming dissatisfied there, he settled in Padua, Italy, but was soon after arrested in Venice by officers of the Inquisition, and burned at Rome in 1600. 2. A sketch of Socrates has rarely been given. 3. The Credit Mobilier is also fully explained in the bound volume of “The Curiosity Shop” for 1880.

CITIZENS’ LEAGUE—TEMPERANCE ARGUMENTS.

MOUNT MORRIS, Ill.

Favor us with a statement of the precise objects and scope of the Citizens’ League of Illinois, and the chief provisions of its constitution and by-laws: as we may conclude to form a branch organization here.

W. P. J.

Answer.—The organization is called “The Citizens’ League of the State of Illinois.” Its objects are the suppression of the sale of liquors to minors and drunkards, and the enforcement of the liquor laws. These objects it aims to effect (1) by enforcing all existing laws and ordinances, prohibiting the selling or giving of intoxicating liquors to minors or drunkards, and prohibiting minors from playing games in places where liquors are sold, (2) by adopting from time to time such other means as may be deemed necessary, or as may in experience be found advisable for the accomplishment of the general purposes of the organization, which is the saving of our youth from habits of dissipation and vice, and, (3) by organizing and fostering, especially in every county seat in Illinois, local leagues, having the same object in view.

Any local league in Illinois, the name of which contains the words “The Citizens’ League” in addition to words of distinction, and the constitution of which is in harmony with the object of the above association, as expressed in section 2 of article 1 of its constitution, may become a constitutional branch of this league on the payment of $10 per annum, with power to send three delegates to each league meeting.

This organization was founded Nov. 25, 1877, immediately after the riots that were so prevalent throughout the country, commencing with the terrible outbreak at Pittsburg, Pa., in July of that year. Prominent citizens of Chicago observed that nearly all the actors in the gangs of rowdies and loafers that entered manufactories and other business places, commanding employes to stop work, were youths under 20 years of age. An investigation of the causes of juvenile depravity was instituted. They learned that of the 28,035 persons arrested for crime in Chicago in the year 1877 no less than 6,818 were under 20 years of age, and that 1,782 of these were committed to the Bridewell. They also learned that in that year the arrests of minors had increased 720, and the commitments of minors to the Bridewell had increased 200 over the number in the preceding year. With a view of verifying these figures and learning the causes of this wholesale demoralization of the young, they made extensive tours of observation through the city by day and by night, and they soon satisfied themselves that it was the liquor and beer saloons that were transforming the youth of Chicago into vagrants and desperadoes. They found scarcely a saloon in which there were no juvenile customers, while in one of them they found 78, in another 93, and in another 147 children, patronizing the bar like adults. Subsequently detectives were posted at the doors of six prominent concert saloons on the same evening, with instructions to count all the people who entered them between 7 p. m. and midnight. At one door there were counted 1,680 males, 290 females, total, 1,979; at another, 1,423 males, 58 females, total, 1,741; at another, 2,609 males, 254 females, total, 2,863; at another, 2,658 males, 148 females, total, 2,806; at another, 1,657 males, 163 females, total, 1,820, and at another, 1,591 males, 94 females, total, 1,685. It was found impracticable to make a separate count of the minors who entered these places on that evening, but it was plainly seen that of these 11,618 male and 1,007 female customers an astonishingly large proportion were boys and girls. And as there were at that time about 3,000 saloons in the city, it was estimated that not less than 30,000 of the children of Chicago were their regular patrons. The police confirmed this estimate and asserted that, in face of State laws and city ordinances positively prohibiting the sale of beer and liquor to minors, which were regarded as dead-letter laws, there were saloon keepers who made a practice of tempting children into saloons and making them drunk. The first overt act of the league was the arrest of one of these monsters named Baker Born, who had been guilty of enticing into his saloon nine little boys, who were on their way home from Sunday school, and making them drunk. He was arraigned before Justice Daniel Scully and promptly fined $25 and costs. The league drew great inspiration from the public indignation which Born’s crime excited, and from the promptness with which he was punished; and from that time to the present it has gone steadily forward, increasing every year in activity, influence and popularity. The following table contains a succinct statement of its operations (prosecutions and outlay) for the first four years of its existence;

—————————————————+——————+——————+——————+——————+—————— | 1878.| 1879.| 1880.| 1881.|Total. —————————————————+——————+——————+——————+——————+—————— Saloon-keepers | 241| 166| 96| 233| 736 To Grand Jury | 81| 90| 50| 60| 281 Fined by Justice | 83| 85| 13| 83| 264 Annual Outlay |$1,400|$1,600|$1,240|$1,542|$5,781 —————————————————+——————+——————+——————+——————+——————

During the first five months of 1882, 500 saloon-keepers were prosecuted. Of this number, 40 were sent to the Grand Jury, 294 were fined by justices, and 35 held for trial.

The effect of the operations of the league on the morals of the youth of Chicago was instantaneous and permanent. In 1876 the arrests of minors increased 960, and in 1877 they increased 720; but in 1878, the first year of the league’s existence, they decreased 1,418, and in 1879 they decreased 139. And although they have increased slightly in the last two years, the increase is amply accounted for by the policy of the city government and the increase of the population, which increased 204,208 in the last decade, against 188,004 in the previous decade. But notwithstanding both of these adverse influences, there have never been as many minors arrested in Chicago in any year since 1877 as there were in that year. The reduction in the commitments of minors to the Bridewell was even more marked. In 1876 these commitments increased 192, and in 1877 they increased 255. But ever since the league was organized they have constantly decreased. They decreased 211 in 1878; 324 in 1879; 23 in 1880; and 17 in 1881.

For a pamphlet containing an address detailing the origin, operations, and successes of this league, and a copy of its constitution and by-law, address the Citizens’ League of Illinois, 127 LaSalle street, Chicago.

HOW TO SECURE A COPYRIGHT.

CHICAGO, Ill.

I desire to copyright a play. How shall I proceed? What length of time will it require, and what will it cost? State any other particulars that are important.

U. R. AKERSTROM.

Answer.—Every applicant for a copyright must state distinctly the name and residence of the claimant, and whether right is claimed as author, designer, or proprietor. A printed copy of the title of the book, map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, engraving, cut, print, or photograph, or a description of the painting, drawing, chromo, statue, statuary, or model or design for work of the fine arts, for which copyright is desired, must be sent by mail or otherwise, prepaid, addressed, “Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.” This must be done before publication of the book or other article. Publication in this connection means the giving to the public or vending of the article. A fee of 50 cents for recording the title of the book, dramatic composition, or other article must be inclosed with the title and application, and 50 cents in addition for each certificate of copyright under seal of the Librarian of Congress, which will be transmitted by early mail. One certificate being all that is usually needed, $1 is the total necessary inclosure. Within ten days after publication of the book or other article, two complete copies must be sent prepaid to the Librarian of Congress, to perfect the copyright. Without the deposit of these copies, not only is the copyright void, but a penalty of $25 is incurred. No copyright is valid unless notice is given by inserting in every copy published the following words: “Entered according to act of Congress in the year 18—, by ——, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington;” or else the words: “Copyright, 18—, by ——.” The law imposes a penalty of $100 upon any person who inserts the above words or others of the same import, in or upon any book or other article before he has obtained copyright. Each copyright secures the exclusive right of publishing the book or article for twenty-eight years. Six months before the end of that time, the author or designer, or his widow or children, may secure a renewal for the further term of fourteen years.

NIHILISM.

ATHENS, Tenn.

What is the true meaning of Nihilism?

S. C. BRUNER.

Answer.—There is no authoritative definition of Nihilism. Certain of their leaders define it very differently from others. All of them seem to be pretty well agreed that society as now constituted is utterly wrong from foundation to turret, and most of them are in favor of overturning existing governments, casting to the winds the prevailing conceptions of individual, family, and social rights, and returning to a state of anarchy, if need be, to begin the work of reconstruction anew. Nihil is a Latin word signifying nothing, and the name Nihilists is applied to these radical revolutionists by the world at large as indicative of the tendency of their doctrines and political operations, including as they do the assassination of rulers, the springing of mines, and the firing of palaces, government offices, and even towns and cities, in the effort to annihilate all existing doctrines and systems of government. Communism and Socialism were defined in these columns but a week or two ago.

CLYDESDALES AND NORMANS.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa.

State the origin of the Clydesdale and Norman breeds of horses, and whether it is proper to call them thoroughbreds?

T. J. CASTO.

Answer.—The Norman horses are named from Normandy, France, and, although distinguished by different names, are probably all of one blood, the names only being of local origin. James M. Hiatt, in the “National Register of Norman Horses,” maintains that the Percherons are derived from the Boulonnais and the Breton horses, the former of Bourbourg, France, and the latter of Bretagne. The Clydesdale horse takes its name from a district on the Clyde, in Scotland, where it was introduced by one of the dukes of Hamilton, who crossed the native Lanark mares with fine heavy Flemish stallions. It is proper to speak of “thoroughbred Norman horses,” or “thoroughbred Clydesdales,” but when the term thoroughbred is used without any qualifying word it is understood to refer to horses bred for speed, with undisputed pedigree in the Stud-book.

DESERT LAND ACT.

RAPID CITY, D. T.

Is there a “Desert Land Act” under which our government disposes of public lands? If so, please explain it.

A. F. COFFEY.

Answer.—Desert lands are such as will not produce crops without artificial irrigation. The act of March 3, 1877, provides that persons may make entry of such lands in the States of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and the Territories. The applicant for such land must file a declaration that he is a citizen, that he intends within three years to reclaim the said tract of desert land by conducting water thereon. It must be shown by two witnesses, in writing, that the tract comes within the statutory description of desert lands. At the end of three years, on proof that the land has been reclaimed by irrigation, a patent will issue for it on payment of 25 cents an acre.

REDUCTION OF THE NATIONAL DEBT.

VALLEY CENTER, Kan.

At the present rate of reduction how long will it take to extinguish the public debt?

W. W. TURNER.

Answer.—There never has been any uniform rate of reduction of the National debt. It varies with the changes in the revenue laws, the business of the country, and appropriations from the Treasury for other purposes. The pension arrears act has already retarded the payment of the debt by over $100,000,000, and will continue to be a heavy drain for years to come. The recent reduction of the tariff and internal revenue taxes will reduce the National income greatly. The total debt at the highest point, Aug. 31, 1865, was $2,844,649,626; on Aug. 31, 1880, fifteen years later, it was $2,105,386,267. This shows an average reduction of nearly $50,000,000 a year. For the two years ending June 30, 1882, the reduction was $202,103,376, or over $101,000,000 per annum. With the recent reductions of the tariff and internal revenue and the heavy drafts for pensions it is not likely that this rate of debt reduction will be maintained, a rate which would extinguish the whole debt by the year 1900. It is proper to add that, deducting cash in the Treasury August 31, 1865, amounting to $88,218,055, the net debt at the highest point was $2,756,431,571.

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHING.

KANKAKEE, Ill.

When, where, and by whom was the first electric telegraphing done?

A. B. DALE.

Answer.—Professor Morse sent the first message by the electric telegraph, from Washington to Baltimore, May 27, 1844. The printing telegraph was suggested in 1837 by Alfred Vail, and a model was made by Wheatstone four years later, but this process of telegraphy has never gone into general use.

NORDENSKJOLD, THE DISCOVERER.

HOLLAND CITY, Mich.

Please give a short sketch of Professor Nordenskjold, giving date of his discoveries in the Arctic regions.

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—Adolph Eric Nordenskjold (born 1832), was educated at the University of Borgo, and afterward studied at Helsingfors, an important naval station on the Baltic. After teaching mathematics for two years, he was cashiered for his political opinions in 1855, but returned in the following year only to be again driven from the country. In 1858, however, he was appointed State Mineralogist at Stockholm, and in 1867 he married Countess Anna Mannerheim, a Finnish lady—an event that led him to seek an appointment to the chair of Mineralogy and Geology at Helsingfors, but the government again refused for political reasons. Nordenskjold now obtained naturalization papers as a Swedish citizen, and entered Swedish politics. He sailed in the Vega, to find a northeast passage, July 4, 1878, and reached Yokohama, via the discovered passage, in September, 1879.

COMMUNISM AND SOCIALISM.

ATHENS, Tenn.

What is the meaning of communism and socialism as used in the newspapers?

A READER.

Answer..—Communism is the doctrine that society should be reorganized on the basis of abolishing individual ownership of property and control of wages, and most of the now generally admitted rights of individuals in their private and domestic relations, and substituting therefor community ownership and control of every person and everything. Socialism is a sort of limited communism. It would not entirely abolish individual rights of property and personal self-control, but seeks to force a more equitable distribution of property, and level the present extreme distinctions between men of various classes. To effect their purpose radical socialists have rendered themselves obnoxious to many who would accept most of the principles laid down by their great leader, Saint Simon, by advocating resort to revolutionary methods of the most reprehensible kinds, including in some places the use of dynamite and the assassin’s dagger.

BISHOP FALLOWS.

EARLVILLE, Ill.

Please give a brief outline of the life of Bishop Fallows.

S. C. HILTON.

Answer.—Samuel Fallows, D. D., born in England in 1835, was in 1859 ordained to the ministry of the M. E. Church. During the civil war he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. He was for seven years Regent of Wisconsin University; later President of Illinois Wesleyan University, and, while editor of the Appeal, was chosen Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church, July 1, 1876, of which he is now recognized as one of the ablest prelates and most eloquent orators.

MUSHROOM AND TOADSTOOL.

RAVANNA, Mo.

What is a mushroom, and what is the difference between it and a frogstool? Give a description of each.

A READER.

Answer.—A mushroom is a genus of fungi, including many species, edible and poisonous. It grows in marshy places during the warm months. Often the name is restricted to the species used as food, which is regularly convex, fleshy, dry, and white, with a tinge of brown or yellow. It is smooth or scaly on the upper surface, never warty; on the under side the gills are pink when young, and later turn brown. Toward the top of the fleshy stem is a white, membraneous ring. The plant is best for food when young, being then in the form of a ball, covered with a thin membrane. The toadstool (“frogstool”) resembles the mushroom, but the top is shiny, white, or dark red, and the gills are perpendicular. This species is poisonous.

STATE SECURITY FOR UNITED STATES LOANS.

MOULTRIE, Ohio.

Was there a time in the history of our General Government when its credit was so low that it was necessary for one or more States to go security for a loan made by it?

S. R. ROOSE.

Answer.—There has been no such time since the adoption of the present Constitution. The nearest the Federal Government ever came to such a humiliation was in 1860, when, through the cutting down of the tariff in 1857 and the outrageous expenditures during President Buchanan’s administration, the National debt had swelled to over $64,000,000, and money could not be raised on United States Treasury notes at less than 10, 11, and finally 12 per cent interest. Then John A. Dix, who succeeded Cobb as Secretary of the Treasury, about the close of 1860, found the public credit so low that, in desperation, he recommended to the Committee of Ways and Means that the States be asked to secure the repayment of money which the government should borrow, by pledging the repayment for this purpose of the public deposits received by them in the distribution of the surplus in the United States Treasury in 1836. However, Congress did not adopt this recommendation.

During the revolutionary times, before and under the old Articles of Confederation, Congress had no authority to levy and collect taxes and customs dues, as it has now. Various plans for raising money were discussed, all dependent on the sanction of the several colonial or State Legislatures. The first plan resorted to for using the credit of the General Government was to issue paper money. Three modes of doing this were considered: First, “That every colony should strike for itself the sum apportioned by the Continental Congress; secondly, that the Continental Congress should strike the whole sum necessary, and each colony become bound to sink its proportionable part; thirdly, that the Continental Congress should strike the whole sum, and apportion the several shares to the different Colonies,” every Colony becoming bound to discharge its own particular part, and all the Colonies to discharge the portion which any particular Colony should be unable to pay. The views of the delegates were widely divergent, but Congress decided, June 22, 1775—more than a year before the Declaration of Independence—to issue bills of credit, not exceeding 2,000,000 Spanish milled dollars, pledging the faith of the twelve Confederate Colonies for their redemption. The sum was subsequently increased to $3,000,000, and apportioned, on the basis of population, among the Colonies that had joined the confederation—not then including Georgia—as follows:

Colonies. Amount.

New Hampshire $124,069.50 Massachusetts Bay 434,244.00 Rhode Island 71,959.50 Connecticut 48,139.00 New York 245,139.00 New Jersey 161,290.50 Pennsylvania 372,208.50 Delaware 37,219.50 Maryland 310,174.50 Virginia 496,278.00 North Carolina 248,139.00 South Carolina 248,139.00

Each Colony was to pay its respective quota in four equal annual installments, commencing on the last day of November, 1779; and for this purpose each was to levy and collect taxes. But, though from first to last the States insisted upon retaining the power to tax, and Congress was obliged to trust wholly to them for funds raised in this manner, they did not tax themselves, as they were in duty bound to do, and neither contributed as they should have done to sustain the National Government, nor raised much to sustain their own organizations, civil and military. “Throughout the entire period from 1774 to 1789,” says Bolles, “only very small sums flowed into the general treasury from the State treasuries.”

In the spring of 1780 Congress resolved, after a great many whereases, “to receive silver and gold in payment of the quotas assigned to the States, at the rate of one Spanish milled dollar in lieu of $40 of the bills then in circulation.” Subsequent loans were made, and the debt apportioned among the several States; but the latter paid but a trifling part of their assessments, as shown by the following table, giving the assessment on each State on account of the requisition of Congress for $8,000,000 in November, 1781, and the amount actually paid to the end of 1783, as given in “Bolles’ Financial History of the United States,” vol. I.:

State. Assessment. Am’t paid.

New Hampshire $373,598 $3,000.00 Massachusetts 1,307,596 247,676.66 Rhode Island 216,684 67,847.95 Connecticut 747,196 131,577.83 New York 373,598 39,064.01 New Jersey 485,679 102,004.95 Pennsylvania 1,120,794 346,632.98 Delaware 112,085 ......... Maryland 993,996 89,302.11 Virginia 1,307,594 116,103.53 North Carolina 622,677 ......... South Carolina 373,598 344,301.57 Georgia 24,905 ......... —————————— ————————————— $8,000,000 $1,486,154.71

On the other hand, in justice to the “Fathers,” it should be stated that the several States expended large sums on their individual accounts, for sustaining the common cause against Great Britain, aggregating, it was estimated, about $25,000,000; $18,271,786,47 of which Congress assumed in 1790, after the States had surrendered to the Federal Government the right to levy and collect all tariffs on foreign imports. The indebtedness incurred by the States for the Revolutionary cause and thus assumed by the United States is shown in the following table:

New Hampshire $282,595.51 Rhode Island 200,000.00 Massachusetts 3,981,733.05 Connecticut 1,600,000.00 New York 1,183,716.69 New Jersey 695,202.70 Pennsylvania 777,983.48 Delaware 59,161.65 Maryland 517,491.08 Virginia, including Kentucky 2,934,416.00 North Carolina 1,793,803.85 South Carolina 3,999,651.73 Georgia 246,030.73 —————————————— $18,271,786.47

The foreign loans made by the United States during the revolutionary war pledged the faith of all the States. These amounted in toto to $150,000 from the Spanish Government; about 8,000,000 guilders by subscription in Holland, and 18,000,000 livres from the French Government, besides the free gifts of the French King, “forming an object,” wrote Franklin, “of at least 12,000,000 livres, from which no returns but that of gratitude and friendship are expected. These, I hope, may be everlasting.”

ORIGIN OF JOURNALISM.

PARIS, Texas.

1. Were any newspapers or periodicals published before the invention of printing? 2. Give a short sketch of the advancement of journalism.

FRANK LEE.

Answer.—1. At a very early period daily news letters were circulated, concerning public and official acts, in Rome, Venice, and China. 2. The first printed newspaper was the Gazette, published in Nuremberg in 1457, and the oldest paper extant is the Neue Zeitung aus Hispanien und Italien, printed in the same city in 1534. Other countries followed Germany in issuing printed newspapers in the following order: England in 1622; France, 1631; Sweden, 1644; Holland, 1656; Russia, 1703; Turkey, 1827. The progress of journalism has been most rapid in America. The first American newspaper consisting of three pages of two columns each and a blank page, was published in Boston, Sept. 25, 1690, under the name of “Publick Occurences, both Foreign and Domestic,” but it was immediately suppressed. In 1704 the Boston News Letter appeared, printed on one sheet of foolscap paper. It flourished for seventy-two years. The following data will show the advancement in the United States:

First printing office in 1639. First newspaper in 1690. First political newspaper in 1733. First daily paper in 1784. First penny paper in 1833. First illustrated paper in 1853.

In 1880 there were published in America (United States and Canada) 10,131 newspapers and periodicals—899 dailies, 8,428 weeklies, tri-weeklies and semi-weeklies, and 804 monthlies and semi-monthlies. More than 6,000 of this number belong to the United States, and the annual circulation is about 1,500,000,000.

WHO VOTE IN GREAT BRITAIN.

GLENVILLE, Minn.

What class of persons are allowed to vote for members of Parliament in Great Britain?

T. W.

Answer.—The “Commons of England” consists of the representatives of shires or counties, representatives of cities, and representatives of boroughs. For representatives of boroughs every man is entitled to vote who is of full age and not subject to any legal incapacity, provided he is on the last day of July in any year, and has during the whole of the preceding twelve months been an “inhabitant occupier,” as owner or tenant, of any dwelling-house within the borough; has during the time of such occupation been rated (or taxed) “as an ordinary occupier in respect of the premises so occupied by him within the borough to all rates made for the relief of the poor in respect of such premises,” and has paid the said rate; or has occupied as a lodger in the same borough separately, and as sole tenant for the time above designated, “a part of one and the same dwelling house, of a clear yearly value, if let unfurnished, of £10 or upward.” For representatives of counties any man may be registered as a voter who is of full age, and not subject to any legal incapacity, who shall be in possession at law or in equity of any lands or tenements, of copyhold, or any other tenure whatever, except freehold, for his own lifetime or for the life of another or for any larger estate of the clear yearly value of not less than £5 over and above all rents and charges, who is on the last day of July of any year (and has been during the preceding twelve months) the occupier as owner or tenant of lands or tenements within the county of the ratable value of £12 or upward, and has paid all poor rates rated to him. The qualifications of city electors are not materially different from those above given. Of the 487 members for England and Wales, 187 represent counties, 295 cities and boroughs, and 5 represent the three universities.

The qualifications of electors in Scotland and Ireland are somewhat different. In Scotland, the burgher franchise is given to every man of full age who has been for twelve months an occupier, as owner or tenant, of any dwelling, and has paid his poor rates, and not been in receipt of parochial relief during that time. The lodger franchise consists in the permission of any lodger to vote who has occupied in the same burgh separately, and as sole tenant for twelve months, a lodging worth £10. In the counties the ownership franchise requires the property to be worth an annual net rental of £5, and a residential qualification of six months. In Ireland the borough franchise requires a lodging of the value of £4, where in England it must be at least £10, the other qualifications being similar to those required in England.

TYPE-WRITERS.

CHAPIN, Iowa.

What are the advantages gained by the use of type-writers? By whom were they invented, and where?

G. W. ADAMS.

Answer.—Perhaps the earliest form of a type-writer is a rude machine invented in England in 1714, without any practical fruits. M. Foucault, sent to the Paris Exposition of 1855 a writing machine for the blind; but the first of what are now popularly known as type-writers was patented in 1868, by C. L. Sholes, of Wisconsin. This has been improved until now it is possible to attain a speed of seventy-five to eighty words a minute in writing with this machine, which is fast enough for reporting speeches. The principal advantages gained are rapidity of execution and legibility. A type-writer can write with both hands and several fingers in instant succession, every letter being made with a single light touch instead of requiring from three to seven distinct strokes and dots, as in ordinary script.

NOT ONE CENT FOR TRIBUTE.

EAU CLAIRE, Wis.

By whom and when was the remark used: “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute”?

JOHN J. MAGINNIS.

Answer..—An ill-feeling grew up between the United States and France soon after the breaking out of the great French revolution, near the close of the last century. France seemed determined that our government should take active part with it in hostilities against Great Britain. Washington and the Federal party insisted on strict neutrality. The French Minister, Citizen Genet, encouraged by the strong French sympathies of the Republicans of those days and the almost universal ill-feeling toward Great Britain, undertook to set President Washington’s proclamation of neutrality at defiance by an appeal to the people, encouraged the organization of secret political societies opposed to the administration, and even instituted recruiting for the French army on American soil. His course became so obnoxious that Washington demanded his recall. M. Fauchet was sent to succeed him, but the ill-feeling rather increased than diminished. In 1796 Charles C. Pinckney, of South Carolina, one of our revolutionary heroes, was sent to France as United States Minister, charged, among other matters, to negotiate a settlement of all differences, on the basis of American neutrality. The French Directory treated him with an incivility almost unbearable, and finally ordered him to quit the country. He withdrew to Amsterdam for a time, but, on some change of affairs in France, returned in the early part of 1797, when Talleyrand, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, declined to treat further until his government had received a payment from the United States in the nature of a present or tribute, and threatened war as the consequence of a refusal. Thereupon Pinckney gave utterance to the patriotic exclamation, “War be it then; millions for defense, sir, but not a cent for tribute.” These words were caught up by the administration party at home and echoed and re-echoed throughout the land until, in 1798, Congress was nerved to provide a strong naval armament. Later Washington, who had been succeeded in the Presidency by John Adams, was called to the chief command of the army, several French vessels were captured in reprisal for damages inflicted on American citizens, and an open declaration of war was daily looked for, when Napoleon I. came into power, and France, satisfied that the United States was in stern earnest, made overtures for reconciliation, which resulted in the treaty of 1800, honorable to all concerned.

RAINFALL OF THE UNITED STATES.

MASON, Ill.

Please give the rainfall in different portions of the United States.

T. M. TRIPLETT.

Answer.—There is a small circle in Central Florida where the annual rainfall ranges from sixty to seventy inches. There is a belt covering Western Alabama, Eastern Mississippi, also Southern Louisiana for fifty to sixty miles on either side of the Mississippi River, where it measures from sixty to sixty-four inches. But the heaviest rainfall in the United States is in Alaska, where it is over eighty inches, and along the western coast of Oregon and Washington Territory, between the Cascade Range and the Pacific, increasing from sixty-eight inches south of the Columbia River to eighty inches on Puget Sound. In Central Georgia and South Carolina it is fifty-two to forty-eight; in Central North Carolina and Virginia, diminishing northward, it is forty-eight to thirty-six. Along the Atlantic coast, for about seventy-five miles inward, it ranges from forty-four inches at Savannah to forty in Connecticut, and thence increases to forty-four in Northern Maine. Along both flanks of the Alleghanies and Blue Ridge it is nearly uniform at 40. In most of the region south of the Ohio and Missouri, from Eastern Tennessee to Eastern Texas, it ranges from 48 inches in the south to 44 in the north, and the latter is about the average for Southern Indiana and Southwestern Ohio. The average for Illinois and Northern Indiana and Pennsylvania is about 40. For Western New York, Northern Ohio, lower Michigan, Wisconsin, Southeastern Minnesota, and most of Iowa it ranges from 40 to 32, diminishing toward the great lakes. West of the Missouri it ranges from 30 inches in Eastern Kansas to 26 in Dakota, and diminishes toward the Rocky Mountains. In Southern Texas it ranges from 48 near the southeastern corner to 28 on the Rio Grande, and diminishes to 34 in the northeastern, and 29 in the northwestern corners. In California the rainfall ranges from 60 inches on the northern coast to 9 or 10 in the south, and diminishes inland to 8 or 10 in the mountain districts, and still less in the desert regions. As for the greater part of the region embracing all the Territories except Alaska, Washington, and Southeastern Dakota, all of Colorado and Nevada, the western parts of Kansas, Nebraska and Dakota, and the eastern portion of Oregon, the rainfall varies between 10 inches and 22. Here and there within this region there are districts almost rainless. This is most common in Northern Arizona and Utah.

PESTALOZZI AND FROEBEL.

DUNLAP, Iowa.

Please give a short sketch of the lives of the three noted educational reformers, Pestalozzi, F. Froebel, and Horace Mann.

JOHN KEITGES.

Answer.—Pestalozzi, the famous Swiss educator, was born at Zurich Jan. 12, 1746. In his youth he was evidently undecided as to what profession to follow. He was first a theological student and then a law student. Having purchased some waste land, he turned from the law to farming, where he became interested in the welfare of the masses and devoted himself, during the intervals of his work, to promoting their elevation. Convinced that a rational system of education would remedy many of the evils of society, he converted his own house into an orphan asylum, and strove, by judicious blending of industrial, intellectual, and moral training, to illustrate his theory of a sound system of national education. The great idea at the basis of his system of instruction was the necessity of teaching by object lessons. Objects themselves, and not lessons about objects, were the means that he used to develop the observing and reasoning powers. He gave special attention to the moral and religious training of children, as something distinct from mere instruction in morals and religion. For two years Froebel, the father of the kindergarten system, was his pupil and assistant teacher. He died at Brugg, Switzerland, in 1827. Friedrich Wilhelm A. Froebel, to whom reference has just been made, was born at Ober-Weissbach, Germany, April 21, 1782. When sent to school he was so dull that his father, growing discouraged, took him from study and sent him to work among the wood-cutters in the forest. Here he became a student of nature and advanced, as Pestalozzi, upon his farm, to the idea of teaching from nature. In 1799 he went to school again, but falling into debt, was imprisoned by his creditors. Soon after his release he became a pupil and assistant of Pestalozzi, remaining with this great master from 1807 to 1809. He then began the study of the natural sciences, but was interrupted by the German and French war of 1813, in which he enlisted for fatherland. On the restoration of peace he became curator of the Museum of Mineralogy, under Professor Weiss, at Berlin. A few years later he began his life as a teacher, which, in 1826, the year previous to the death of Pestalozzi, he varied by publishing a work entitled “The Education of Man.” In this book he declared that man’s life was a succession of stages, each of which should be progressive. He was especially impressed with the importance of the first years of childhood as the period in which to give shape to all their after development. In 1837 he established the first kindergarten school, at Blankenburg. Having noticed the restlessness of children, and tendency to finger everything, he took advantage of these traits to arouse in them a spirit of intelligent inquiry and investigation. Much of his time was given, in schools of Germany and Switzerland, to training primary teachers. In the latter part of his life he gave special attention to the training of young female teachers, believing them to be best calculated by nature for the care and management of young children. During the revolutionary period of 1848, at a time when, through the influence of the great Middendorff, who had become interested in his kindergarten work, he hoped to enlist the support of the German Parliament in his system of teaching, he and his brother Karl were charged with socialistic tendencies, and an edict was issued forbidding the establishment of schools “after Friedrich and Karl Froebel’s principles” in Prussia. This blow utterly disheartened the veteran educator, and he died in June, 1852, at Marienthal.

A sketch of the life of Horace Mann will be found in Our Curiosity Shop for 1882.

GENERALS A. S. AND JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON.

BLAINE, Iowa.

Please give a brief outline of the lives of General A. S. Johnston and Joseph E. Johnston.

READER.

Answer.—Albert Sydney Johnston served honorably in the United States army in Mexico and Utah, and at the outbreak of the civil war was appointed General in the Confederate army. He was killed in the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862, at the age of 59. His native State was Kentucky. General Joe Johnston was born in Virginia in 1807, and, after completing the course of study at West Point, fought in the Seminole and Mexican wars. Receiving the position of Major General in the Confederate army, he proved himself a dangerous foe in the Peninsular campaign, in Tennessee, and Carolina. He surrendered to General Sherman April 26, 1865.

COLD IN DAKOTA.

CHICAGO, Ill.

In the interview with Mr. Geo. B. Armstrong, Register of the Government land office at Huron, D. T., recently published in THE INTER OCEAN, he asserts, substantially, that it is colder in Chicago with the mercury 5 deg. below zero than it is in Huron with the mercury 35 to 38 deg. below. A number of us, who swear by the Curiosity Shop, have got into a dispute over this statement and all agree to leave it to the editor of “the shop” to decide the matter. The question is: Is it as cold in Huron, D. T., as in this city, on the average?

G. H.

Answer.—In one sense of the word, it is unquestionably colder in Huron than in Chicago. But Mr. Armstrong has not left our readers in doubt as to his meaning. He distinctly says: “With the mercury in the thermometer as low as 35 and 38 degrees below zero, we do not suffer so much as the people in Chicago with the thermometer at 5 degrees below zero. The air is dry and comfortable.” Here he clearly discriminates between the cold of the atmosphere and the sense of cold experienced by human beings. There is no ground for dispute as to the comparative average winter cold of the climate of Southern Dakota in and about Huron, and the same at Chicago. The thermometer shows that the former is several degrees greater than the latter. But taking cold in the second sense of the word, “the sensation produced by the escape of heat” from the body; “chilliness or chillness”—see Webster’s second definition—every one knows by actual experience that this depends to a considerable degree upon the dryness and stillness of the atmosphere and the state of the body. Exposed to a high wind in humid atmosphere not more than 5 or 6 degrees below zero, a person may freeze to death, when he would endure 35 or 40 degrees below zero in a dry, still air without serious suffering. Such air is classed among the poorest of all heat conductors; it belongs rather to non-conductors. The sensation of cold is due to the conduction of heat from the body more rapidly than the vital forces can replace it. Moist air in rapid motion carries off heat with great rapidity. When the skin pores are open a considerable part of the fluids of the body exudes through them, dampens the garments, and so renders them better conductors. The cold and wind evaporate this moisture in the garments. Evaporation is a cooling process; so when the pores are not kept almost sealed up by steady cold the body suffers loss of temperature both by increased conduction and evaporation. Observations of the United States Signal Service denote that the atmosphere of the region of Dakota under consideration is dryer, stiller, and less subject to extreme changes than that of Chicago; so that it is possible that, while in one sense of the word cold, it is certainly colder in Huron than it is in Chicago, in the other sense it may be no colder or not so cold there as here. This is plainly a question of personal experience, and the best that Our Curiosity Shop can do to settle this dispute is to give the above facts, and add that the testimony of many credible witnesses who have tried both climates is to the effect that, taking the winter through, one feels the cold there no more, or not so much as here. If a wager turns on our decision, taking the word cold in its first sense, the answer given above is definite and positive; taking it in the second sense, it is indecisive; a case for “a draw.”

ANCHOR ICE.

LAPORTE CITY, Iowa.—In the Curiosity Shop for June 14 I see a correspondent asks an explanation of ice forming at the bottom of rivers and remaining there. I saw this ice for the first time three years ago the past winter, at Waterloo, in this State, where business kept me most of the time. It excited my curiosity, and I studied it until satisfied of its origin. The Cedar River runs through the city, and a dam is built across it giving a power of about eight feet fall. A short distance below this is a bridge over 600 feet long. The space between the dam and the bridge is a rock-bottom rapids. Having occasion to cross the bridge frequently I noticed this ice attached to the rocks under water after the weather became cold, but not cold enough to form a solid sheet of ice on the pond. It disappeared and came again as the weather changed to warm or cold, but ceased to be formed after the pond was covered with a solid cake of ice, always forming at the beginning of cold weather. I concluded it was caused by the formation of fine crystals of ice on the pond not yet frozen together, which, as they were carried over the dam, were mixed in the surf below and driven against and stuck fast in the fine moss covering the rocks, always attached to the side of the rock facing the fall, the first crystals presenting points to catch the next, and so the mass, which appeared like water-soaked snow, grew under the water by accretion, the water being as cold as the ice itself could not thaw it. I think if the correspondent will examine he will find anchor ice is formed in rapids or at the foot of falls draining a smooth expanse of water before the water becomes covered with a solid sheet of ice, and always on the up-stream side of the rocks in the bottom.

T. A. KELLETT.

CHIEF RULERS OF THE WORLD.

WINDSOR, Ill.

Please give in “Our Curiosity Shop” the names of the principal rulers of the world, with the countries over which they rule.

M. J. S.

Answer.—The following table embraces the chief rulers of the world:

Crowned or Countries. Rulers. inaugurated

Great Britain Queen Victoria 1837 Germany Emperor William I 1871 France President Grevy 1879 Denmark Christian IX 1863 Sweden Oscar II 1872 Spain Alphonso XI 1875 Portugal Luis II 1861 Russia Alexander III 1881 Turkey Abdul Hamid 1876 Austria-Hungary Francis Joseph 1848 United States Chester A. Arthur 1881

PASSION FLOWER.

BURLINGTON, Iowa.

Why is the passion flower so called?

FLORA.

Answer.—It was called by this name by the Spanish settlers of the West Indies and South America, its native region, because they fancied it to be a representative of Christ’s passion or sacrificial death. According to this fancy, the leaf symbolizes the spear that pierced the Savior’s side; the anthers, the marks of the five wounds made by the spear; the tendrils, the cords or whips with which He was secured; the column of the ovary, the upright of the cross; the stamens, the hammers; the three styles, the nails; the filamentous processes, the crown of thorns; the calyx, the glory or halo; the white tinge, purity; the blue tint, heaven; and the fact that it remains open three days typifies his three years’ ministry.

ASBESTOS.

ABERDEEN, D. T.

What is asbestos, where is it found, and what valuable properties has it?

H. T. MCLANE.

Answer.—Asbestos is a fibrous, white, gray, or green mineral, not easily fusible. The most beautiful specimens come from Corsica and Savoy, though some are found in the Alps, Pyrenees, and Ural Mountains, and in North America and New South Wales, while commoner varieties, such as mountain cork and mountain wood, are found in Lanarkshire, Tyrol, Dauphiny and parts of Scotland. Its chief value is its infusibility, and though it possesses little consistency, it was by the ancients woven into garments, towels, and handkerchiefs, and has in later times become useful as fireproof roofing, flooring, and packing in safes, journal boxes, and around steam pipes. Paper has been made of it, but though at red heat the paper remains uninjured, the writing disappears. As cloth it is desirable, needing only to be thrown into the fire to be cleansed. It is said that Charlemagne had a table cloth of asbestos, which he was wont to throw into the fire at the close of the meal for the amusement of his guests.

HOW TO USE AN INCUBATOR.

ELK GROVE, Wis.

Our Curiosity Shop has explained how to make an artificial incubator; how do you use one after it is made?

“I.”

Answer.—Mrs. P. G. Gilman, Paola, Kan.; Mrs. L. R. Stanley, Cameron, Neb.; C. D., Kalamazoo, Mich., make substantially the same inquiry.

In the first place be sure to get fresh eggs, which have not been chilled to death in the nest, and sort out all unfertile ones. After the eggs have been in the incubator two, or at most three days, you can tell every egg that is not fertile. By placing the small end to the eye, looking toward the sun, and moving the head up and down, you will see a dark spot floating on the top of every fertile egg. Any egg that remains perfectly clear after being in the incubator until the fourth day may as well be taken out for use or for market, since it will never hatch. Some persons recommend the use of a cheap egg-tester, which can be got by writing to the Secretary of the National American Poultry Association, New Concord, Ohio, but others think this is not needed. The eggs must be kept at a regular heat of between 102 and 105 degs. After the third day take out the egg-drawer once a day and let the eggs cool down to about 70 or 80 degs., but not below 65 degs. Turn the eggs every four or five hours during the day, by moving the muslin frame on which the eggs rest backward or forward a couple of inches, as indicated in the instructions for making the incubator. It is all done in a trice; it will be well to do this once during the night, and see that the temperature is up to proper grade. Be careful that it does not rise above 105 degs., as there is even more danger of killing the eggs by over-heating than by letting the temperature run a little low. After the third day set two or more soup-plates or tin pie-pans on the sawdust in the ventilator, under the eggs to moisten them; and from the ninth to the twelfth day sprinkle a little tepid water on the eggs by hand, in addition to the evaporation from the water in the pans. From the twelfth to the fifteenth day hand-sprinkle them twice a day, and thereafter three times a day until they hatch. The water acts on the lime of the shells to make it brittle. Perhaps it is best not to have any fire in the incubator-room, which may be a cellar, wood shed, or unoccupied room in the house. A writer in the American Agriculturist says: “If any one doubts that pine sawdust in an incubator will kill his eggs let him try it.” There may be something in this warning, but it is doubtful. Study your lamps to learn about how high to turn the wicks, in order to keep the temperature just right, and observe the thermometers in the front and back of your egg drawer frequently. See that the escape pipes in the heater do not slip down so close to the zinc as to check the draft. Better keep them from one to two inches above the zinc. Keep the ventilators open.

When the eggs are hatched keep the chicks in the incubator till dried, anywhere from twelve to eighteen hours, but not longer. Put them in the brooder, or “artificial mother,” which will be described hereafter. Give them their first food when they are about 18 or 20 hours old. Use bread crumbs wet with milk, or corn meal thoroughly soaked, or hard-boiled eggs, and feed regularly at intervals of three or four hours from 5 o’clock a. m. to 9 o’clock p. m. Do not over-feed; give them only what they will eat clean. When old enough give them dry grain.

CERTAIN LUMBER GRADES.

DOWS, Iowa.

Please give the inspection rules for grading flooring, fence-boards, siding, and six-inch, half-round, live cedar posts.

H. H. OBERTON.

Answer.—There are different inspection rules at nearly all the great centers of the lumber trade. There are the “Albany Inspection,” governing the lumber product of Northern New York, the “Maine survey,” the “Boston inspection,” the “Saginaw inspection,” the “Chicago cargo inspection,” “Chicago yard grading,” “St. Louis inspection,” “Minneapolis inspection,” and several others. The differences at the several Western centers do not differ very greatly. The following grading is according to the rules of Chicago yard grading:

Flooring—A, or firsts, should have one face nearly clear, with but one or two small, sound knots; the other side may have more knots or sap. B, or seconds, may have two to four sound, medium knots, and bright sap equal to 1 or 1¼ inches width. C, or thirds, will allow of three to six small, sound knots, or 1½ to 2 inches of bright sap.

Fencing flooring is good common flooring from selected fence boards, and may have a large number of small, sound knots, but the general character of the piece must be such as to make a good, tight floor, practically free from “shake” and loose knots.

Fencing—No. 1, or common, contains sound knots only, not to weaken the piece, and may have considerable sap, bright, dull, or stained. No. 2 contains black sap, coarse knots, and boards shaky or otherwise defective, provided they are not unfit for coarse fencing.

Strips and Siding—First and second clear, No. 1, must be perfect in thickness, width, and quality, as clear lumber, free from knots and sap. No. 2 will admit of a narrow, bright sap on one side, or one or two knots. A, or first common, if free from knots, may have two or three small sound knots, or bright sap, one-half or three-quarters of an inch wide. B, or second common, may have three or four medium-sized sound knots, or bright sap of 1 to 1½ inches wide. C, or third common, may have two to six medium knots, 2 to 3 inches of sap, or both sap and knots to equal these. Six-inch half-round live cedar posts must be of trees alive when felled, free from rot or decay of any kind, and not less than six inches at small end.

The St. Louis inspection rules for white pine lumber are almost identical with those of Chicago. Minneapolis rules allow 1 inch sap and three small knots, but no other imperfections in first flooring; six small knots and 1½-inch sap in second flooring; 1-inch sap on thin edge, but no other imperfections in first siding, dressed; three small knots and 1-inch sap on either side in second siding. Grading in the Upper Mississippi River towns is influenced strongly by the Minneapolis rules.

HOMESTEAD RIGHTS OF WOMEN.

FORT COLLINS, Col.

1. Does the homestead law allow single men and women to leave their claims to earn their living? 2. If a woman holding land under the homestead and timber-culture laws marries a man holding land in the same way, does she forfeit her right to either claim?

M. SOPER.

Answer.—A single woman who makes a homestead or timber-culture entry, or both, does not forfeit her rights by marriage, provided the requirements as to residence and cultivation are complied with; but if a single woman marry after filing her declaratory statement under the pre-emption laws, she abandons her rights as a pre-emptor. A party, while having an actual residence on his or her claim, may work elsewhere for other people a few weeks at a time.

BLACK LETTER BOOKS.

PRECEPT, Neb.

1. I saw an account of a black letter Bible recently and should like to know the reason for its value. 2. Please explain the expression “court in banc.”

CONSTANT READER.

Answer.—The type commonly known in this country as black letter, or Gothic, was the first used in printing, being a copy of the letters used in Germany and the Netherlands during the fifteenth century. In the next century the Gothic style was superseded by the Roman. Books in black letter are highly prized because of their antiquity and rarity. 2. The meaning is that all of the judges of the court in question hear and decide the case: that is, occupy the “banc,” or bench, together.

BIBLE QUESTIONS.

CHICAGO, Ill.

1. How many days were the Israelites in gathering manna? 2. How many furlongs is Bethany from Jerusalem?

A. LEWIS.

Answer.—In Exodus, xvi., we read that for forty years the children of Israel gathered manna daily, excepting the seventh or Sabbath, a double allowance being granted on the sixth day. 2. The distance is three miles or twenty-four furlongs.

MRS. MARY ASHTON LIVERMORE.

OXFORD, Ind.

Please give a short biography of Mrs. Mary Livermore.

JOHN MORGAN.

Answer.—Mrs. Mary Ashton Livermore, the popular platform orator and reformer, is the daughter of Timothy Rice. Esq. She was born in Boston in 1821, educated in the Baptist Seminary for Girls at Charlestown, Mass., where she gave brilliant promise of a useful future. She married the Rev. D. P. Livermore, of the Universalist Church, and assisted him in editing a paper of this denomination in Chicago. She was in this city during the late civil war and took a prominent part in the various movements to ameliorate the sufferings of soldiers on the field, in hospitals and prisons. She was an ever active, devoted and most efficient worker in the cause of the U. S. Sanitary Commission, and was one of the ablest associates of that eminent philanthropist, Mrs. A. C. Hoge, in the organization and marvelous success of the Chicago Sanitary Fair near the close of the war. She is now undoubtedly one of the ablest leaders in the cause of woman, in the various movements of the times. An eloquent speaker, a brilliant and powerful writer, a remarkable organizer and parliamentarian, she never fails to command respect and carry a strong influence. She is one of the associate editors of the Boston Woman’s Journal, and is recognized as one of the most eloquent lecturers in the cause of temperance, woman suffrage, and other social reforms.

POINTS IN THE ROAD LAW.

SOMONAUK, Ill.

1. The law of Illinois says that any one who forbids or hinders a person while he is working on the public road shall be fined $2. I quote from memory. Who should make the complaint and before what court? 2. What rights, exclusively his own, has a man to one-half of the road adjoining his farm, and what rights have the public?

AMASA C. LORD.

Answer.—Section 33 of chapter on roads and bridges, Revised Statutes, says: “If any person, after appearing (to work on the roads), remain idle, or do not work faithfully, or hinder others from working, such offender shall, for every offense, forfeit to the town the sum of $2.” It is the duty of the overseer of highways to make the complaint, in case of a violation of this law, before a justice of the peace. 2. In case of the vacation of a road, the title to the land reverts to the original owner, his heirs, assigns, or grantees. If the roadway was condemned for highway purposes, and damages for public appropriation of the same paid to the owner, several nice legal questions would be likely to arise in case of vacation of the road. When land has been given or legally taken for a highway, the abutting owner has the right to insist that it shall be used for no other purpose. The tree-culture laws of most States give him the right to plant trees along it, subject, however, to State, county, and town regulations. These can hardly be called “exclusive rights;” it can scarcely be said that he has any such, so long as the land is used as a highway; but the public have no right to use it for any other purpose, or do anything therewith inconsistent with such use.

FIELD MARSHAL SCHWERIN.

FAIRMONT, Neb.

Who was “Field Marshal Schwerin”?

W. P. JACKS.

Answer.—He was a distinguished military commander, born in Swedish Pomerania, in 1684. His full designation is Count Kurt Christian von Schwerin. He entered the Dutch army as ensign when only 16 years of age, fought under the famous Prince Eugene and the great Marlborough against the French in the “War of the Spanish Succession,” and subsequently entered the service of Frederick the Great of Prussia. He won the decisive victory over the Austrians at Mollwitz in 1741 which resulted in the cession of Silesia to Prussia; and Frederick signalized his admiration of the great captain by conferring on him the title of Count and making him a Field Marshal. He fell in battle before Prague in 1757, during the Seven Years War, better known to Americans as the French and Indian war, which was a part of the same general war.

CANADIAN TARIFF ON BRITISH GOODS.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Does Canada collect import duties on goods that are received from England?

A CONSTANT READER.

Answer.—The Canadians did not wait long after securing their virtual commercial independence, through the establishment of the present Dominion Government, before resolving to foster home manufactures by means of a tariff which should serve the double purpose of public revenue and protection to home industry. This tariff by no means exempts goods of British manufacture; indeed, such goods pay much the larger share of the total duty, as is shown in the following table, stating the value of goods entered for consumption in the Dominion of Canada, that paid duty, the countries whence imported, and the amount of duty collected thereon during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882:

————————————————————+—————————————+—————————————+——————————————— | Dutiable | Free | Duty COUNTRIES. | goods. | goods. | collected. ————————————————————+—————————————+—————————————+——————————————— Great Britain | $41,459,730 | $9,137,611 | $10,011,811.00 Brit. W. Indies | 1,765,024 | 83,700 | 662,514.52 Brit. Guiana | 198,979 | 4,379 | 117,655.12 Brit. E. Indies | 61,403 | 12,279 | 24,774.20 Australia | 1,895 | 262 | 519.36 British Africa | | 204,745 | +—————————————+—————————————+——————————————— Total British | $43,487,031 | $9,442,916 | $10,817,274.20 United States | 32,941,061 | 15,347,991 | 7,073,912.49 France | 1,988,698 | 108,660 | 742,774.93 Germany | 1,331,271 | 148,733 | 338,691.39 Span. W. Indies | 2,122,373 | 13,795 | 943,791.41 Brazil | 1,068,876 | 259,440 | 491,556.26 All other countries | 2,818,123 | 1,569,959 | 1,292,016.95 +—————————————+—————————————+——————————————— Grand total | $85,757,133 | $26,891,494 | $21,700,027.63 ————————————————————+—————————————+—————————————+———————————————

From which it appears that Canada collects over a half more duties from British goods than she does from American goods, while the total value of her imports from the United States is over six millions greater than that of her British imports.

TELEPHONING.

ALEDO, Ill.

How is the telephone operated in the city of Chicago? Give an illustration of how messages are conveyed by telephone. Is electricity used on all telephone instruments? Does each person having an instrument have a separate wire at the central office?

S. GRADY.

Answer.—In telegraphy the wire between stations is a magnet only so long as the electrical current is passing over it, which is the case so long as the wire is connected with the battery. This connection is made or broken by means of a small lever under the finger of the operator at the transmitting station, known as the transmitting key. While the current is on and the wire is a magnet it attracts to itself a piece of soft iron at the receiving station, known in the Morse writing telegraph as the recording style. The instant the connection between the battery and the wire is broken the latter ceases to be a magnet, and the soft iron at the receiving station springs back to its old place. By this means every movement of the transmitting key is instantly repeated at the receiving station. In the telephone two thin metallic plates or diaphragms are substituted for the key and the soft iron recording style. The undulations of the air produced by the voice of the speaker cause the thin plate in the transmitting instrument to vibrate more or less violently, in harmony with the voice. This plate is so connected with the wires running between the battery and the receiving station that the electrical current over the circuit is entirely closed or broken, or varied in intensity, according to the degree of vibration, while the receiving plate, at the other end of the wire, vibrates in unison with the transmitting plate, reproducing undulations in the air at that end of the wire directly corresponding with the undulations made by the voice of the speaker—that is, reproducing the sounds of his voice. Electricity is used in all telephones of any practical value. In Chicago the main wires and the branches from the down-town offices center at a common office, known as the central station, where, by means of couplings made by the movement of certain keys, separate wires are instantly joined or disconnected. Any one wishing to communicate by telephone turns a small crank, which rings a bell at the central office. The operator at the latter place responds by signal. The person who wishes to communicate generally inquires, “Is this the central office?” Having received an affirmative reply, he requests to be put into communication with the number in the telephone register corresponding to the office or residence of the person with whom he wishes to speak. He may now sit down until signaled that some one at the place called for is ready to communicate with him, or the operator at the central office notifies him that he can get no response from the number called for. Besides the main central office there is a district center in each of the principal divisions of the city, North, West, and South, all under the control of the former. It is not necessary for a separate wire to run from each instrument in the city directly to one of these centers. Several individual wires may unite with one common wire before reaching either the central office or a district center.

THE ALHAMBRA—MUNICH.

MARENGO, Ill.

1. Will you please give me some information respecting the Alhambra? 2. For what is the city of Munich celebrated?

RAY.

Answer.—1. The Alhambra is the fortress of Grenada, within which is the ancient palace of the Moorish kings. The most of it was built between 1248 and 1354, and though defaced and ruined, the wonderful beauty and skill of its workmanship is still apparent. It is one of the finest examples of Moorish architecture, remarkable for peculiar grace and delicate elaboration. It stands on a terraced hill north of Grenada and overlooking the city, surrounded by a strong wall, nearly a mile in circumference, studded with towers. Passing through the Gate of Pomegranates and the neglected gardens, the visitor finds himself surrounded by beautiful arches and open courts, all leading to the chief object of attraction, the Moorish palace. Though severely plain upon the exterior, within it is exquisitely beautiful, with floors of the choicest marbles, “fretted ceilings, partitions colored and gilt, and filigree stuccos of veil-like transparency.” Slender columns support the galleries, and gracefully bending palm leaves of marble form the arches, while beautiful fountains are scattered here and there. Besides the halls, courts, reception rooms, and sleeping apartments, the building contains a whispering gallery, a labyrinth, and vaulted sepulchers. After the expulsion of the Moors from Spain their conquerors took pleasure in defacing and destroying their works of art, and the Alhambra was remodeled and partly blocked up. In 1812 the French blew up a portion of it, and in 1821 it was shaken by an earthquake. Attempts have been made to restore it, but the sums of money contributed have been too small to accomplish much. 2. Munich is noted for the variety and elegance of its architecture, for its schools of art and music, and for possessing a larger and more valuable collection of art treasures than any other city in Germany. Nearly all its magnificence in architectural splendor and elegance, sculpture, painting, and music, date from the reign of Ludwig I., who ascended the throne in 1825 and during his reign spent nearly 7,000,000 thalers in the embellishment of his capital.

NAVY STATISTICS OF 1865.

WAUKEGAN, Ill.

1. What was the increase of the United States navy during the civil war? 2. How many naval officers deserted to the Confederate cause?

CONSTANT READER.

Answer.—1. According to the annual report of the Secretary of the Navy, for 1865, there were at the outbreak of the war 7,600 men in the United States navy, and at its close there were 51,500. The force in the navy yards increased from 3,844 to 16,880. This latter was exclusive of about an equal number employed in private ship yards under contracts with the government. During the war 208 vessels were commenced for the navy and most of them completed; and 418 vessels were purchased (of which 313 were steamers), at a cost of $18,366,681.83; and of these 340 vessels were sold during and immediately subsequent to the war, for $5,621,800.27. 2. There were 322 commissioned officers of the navy who “traitorously abandoned the service” at the beginning of the conflict.

ARKANSAS.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.

Please give a description of Arkansas and Washington Territory, climate, price of cattle, horses, sheep, and farm products. 2. Which is best adapted to Northerners?

A. H. CHASE.

Answer.—A description of Washington Territory was given in answer to another subscriber a week ago. In Arkansas the land gradually rises from the Mississippi westward, reaching its greatest elevation in the Ozark Mountains. Unlike the Eastern portion of the State, which is alluvial in character, the country near these mountains is high and the climate is healthful. Throughout the State the soil along the river “bottoms” is rich and deep, producing large crops of corn, wheat, cotton, and tobacco. The river surface is 540 square miles, and the area covered by lakes and ponds 265 square miles. The temperature varies in the southern part from 20 degrees to 94 degrees; in the north from 10 degrees to 92 degrees. The rainfall in the south is 48-56 inches; in the north 42 inches. Below we give the average prices in Oregon, being unable to obtain them in Washington Territory. In Oregon the average price per bushel of Indian corn is 82 cents; of wheat, 78 cents; rye, 82 cents; oats, 40 cents; potatoes, 59 cents; hay, $12.14; horses, $56.22; milch cows, $21.17; oxen and other cattle, $13.72; sheep, $1.46. In Arkansas corn is 49 cents; wheat, $1.02; rye, 86 cents; oats, 53 cents; potatoes, 74 cents; hay, $11.50; cotton, 10 cents per pound; horses, $49.36; milch cows, $14.56; oxen and other cattle, $10.11, and sheep $1.48. 2. The effects of climate depend largely upon individual peculiarities, but, generally speaking, the heavy rains of Western Washington and the malaria of Eastern Arkansas are about equally injurious. Western Arkansas and the Eastern part of Washington Territory are favorable to consumptives.

DR. KANE, THE EXPLORER.

NORMAL, Ill.

1. Please give a sketch of the life of Dr. E. K. Kane. 2. Are any members of his expedition still living?

F. A. WALKER.

Answer.—1. This celebrated explorer was born in Philadelphia in 1820. When about 25 years of age he visited China, India, and the East Indies as surgeon in the navy, and later traveled through Arabia, Egypt, Greece, and Western Europe. He acted as surgeon, naturalist, and historian to the first Grinnell expedition, in 1850, which led to the discovery of Grinnell Land, and in 1853 himself commanded the second expedition in search of Franklin. Returning home in 1855 he published the account of his travels, and in the following year went to England for his health. Thence he sailed to Cuba, where he died, at Havana, Feb. 16, 1857. 2. Dr. Hayes, who subsequently commanded another American Arctic expedition, died in New York Dec. 17, 1881. Several of the men are still alive.

RESTORING THE FLAG ON FORT SUMTER.

GALVESTON, Texas.

On what occasion was the flag of Fort Sumter restored to its place, and how?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—General Sherman, on his march to join General Grant near Richmond, captured several rebel strongholds, and among them Charleston, which was evacuated by the rebels on Feb. 17, 1865. On April 14, 1865, the identical Union flag which had been hauled down at the time of the surrender, exactly four years before, was formally restored with befitting ceremonies.

THE OLDEST AMERICAN MINE.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What is the oldest mine of any kind in the United States?

C. D. ADAMS.

Answer.—It is generally conceded by those who are read up in the history of mining and metallurgy in this country that the oldest mining enterprise of the United States, still active, is the Mine La Motte, in the lead district of Eastern Missouri, opened about 1720 under Renault, of Law’s notorious Mississippi Company. It was named after La Motte, the mineralogist of the expedition. It has been worked at intervals ever since it was opened, and is in successful operation now. There are silver mines in New Mexico and Arizona, some of which may have been opened by the Spanish adventurers of the latter part of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth. Some of these ancient mines were operated by the Toltecs and Aztecs years before the Spanish invasion, but it is not easy to identify them. So there are copper mines in the Lake Superior region in which the tools and mining marks of ancient miners of pre-historic times were found by the pioneers of the present American mining companies. Where the first colonists of Virginia got the ship-load of “fool’s gold” which they sent back to England, to the great disgust of the London company, is not certainly known; but it is known that at the same time, in 1608, they shipped a quantity of iron from Jamestown, which yielded seventeen tons of metal, the first pig iron ever made from American ore. There are diggings in North and South Carolina and Georgia, now overgrown with forests, which are supposed to have been excavated by the followers of De Soto and his immediate successors between 1539 and 1600. The first recorded account of the discovery of coal in the United States is contained in Hennepin’s narrative of his explorations in the West, between 1673 and 1680, when he saw the coal outcrop in the bluffs of the Illinois River, not far from Ottawa and LaSalle; but coal was first mined in the Eastern States in the beginning of this century.

LAWYER PRESIDENTS AND CONGRESSMEN.

WILMINGTON, Ill.

What per cent of our Presidents and representatives in Congress have been professional lawyers? Is it growing more or less common to elect lawyers to these places?

L. F. HAZELTON.

Answer.—Of the Presidents, John Adams, Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Tyler, Polk, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Hayes, and Garfield were lawyers; and Arthur was a successful legal practitioner until appointed Collector of the Port of New York by President Grant. Washington was a surveyor until he entered the army. Madison was studying law when elected to the Virginia Convention of 1776, after which he became absorbed in political life. Monroe studied law under Jefferson, but did not really enter the profession, being called off into military and political affairs. Harrison entered military and political life early, and was kept in it most of his days. Taylor and Grant rose to the Chief Magistracy by distinguished military services. Johnson was a tailor until he got into political life. As to Congress, its membership has been too numerous for a full investigation. The proportions indicated below will hold good, in all probability, for the whole of the last or Forty-seventh Congress. The two Senators and six of the eight Representatives from Alabama, both Senators and three of the five Representatives from South Carolina, one Senator and seven of the nine Congressmen from Virginia, both Senators and all the four Representatives of Arkansas, in that Congress were lawyers, or, at least, had been admitted to the bar; so were both Senators and twelve of the nineteen Representatives from Illinois, the two Senators and six of the nine Representatives from Iowa, both Senators and eight of the eleven Representatives of Massachusetts, one Senator and sixteen of the thirty-three Representatives of Pennsylvania. The South is more given to the practice of choosing lawyers, or persons with a smattering of the law, to represent them in Congress and the Legislature than the North. Planters, who never seriously expected their sons to practice, educated them in the law formerly, as one of the qualifications for political life. The olden prestige of the law as one of the learned professions, and the one that led most directly to political promotions, had its influence on the sons of the wealthy and their sires, not in the South only, but in the North; nor on them only, but on the people. There is some rational force also in the popular conception that lawyers are or should be peculiarly fitted to be law-makers. The tendency in the North for some years past, as indicated by the above statistics, is to choose fewer lawyers and have commerce and the great industries of the country represented by their conspicuous leaders.

SCHOOLS FOR THE COLORED RACE.

GONZALES, Texas.

How many institutions of learning for the colored race are there in the United States, and how many persons attending them?

JOHN CRAWFORD.

Answer.—According to the report of the Commissioner of Education, for 1880, the educational institutions for the colored race in the United States were then in number and attendance as follows:

Class of Institutions. Schools. Enrolled.

Public schools 17,081 806,106 Normal schools 44 7,408 High schools and academies 36 5,237 Universities and colleges 15 1,717 Schools of theology 22 800 Schools of law 3 33 Schools of medicine 2 87 Schools for deaf, dumb, and blind 2 122 —————— ——————— Total 17,205 821,570

Besides this there are a number of colored public schools in States that fail to report them separately from the white schools; and there are many colored children attending the same schools with the whites.

THE WYOMING MASSACRE.

CHICAGO, Ill.

To settle a dispute, please give the particulars of the massacre of the Wyoming colonists during the revolutionary war, together with the names of the military commanders and Indians, and oblige

A CONSTANT READER.

Answer.—In the summer of 1778 the beautiful valley of Wyoming, Penn., was invaded by a band of tories and Indians, and in the battle that followed, on July 3, the American patriots, commanded by Colonel Zebulon Butler, were defeated with horrible slaughter. Then followed a general massacre, which some escaped by fleeing to the mountains, while a few took refuge in Fort Forty (now Wilkesbarre). This fort was besieged the morning of the 4th by the tories and Indians under Colonel John Butler, and ordered to surrender; and being without any means of defense, Colonel Dennison yielded to the entreaties of the women and children to enter into articles of capitulation. It was agreed upon the surrender of their arms, and the destruction of the fort, the inhabitants of the valley should return peaceably to their homes, but no sooner was the fort surrendered than the Indians fell upon the houses, which they plundered and burned, killing all the women and children who had not escaped to the mountains. The entire village of Wilkesbarre was burned to the ground.

THE ILLINOIS BLACK LAWS.

WESTERN SPRINGS, Ill.

What were the “black laws” of Illinois?

J.L. WELLS.

Answer.—Under the Territorial laws of Illinois persons were allowed to bring slaves into the Territory under the name of indentured servants. As such they might be held in bondage for a term of ninety-nine years or less. This was in direct violation of the spirit of the ordinance of 1787, which interdicted slavery or involuntary servitude in all the territory north of the Ohio River. The first State constitution, adopted in 1818, prohibited the further introduction of slaves, but did not abolish this species of slavery by liberating the victims of the barbarous Territorial enactments. Thus slavery existed in Illinois in defiance of the ordinance of 1787 until the adoption of the constitution of 1848, which contained the following provision: “There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this State, except as a punishment for crime.” After the adoption of the constitution of 1818, the first Legislature re-enacted the wicked law “respecting free negroes, mulattoes, servants, and slaves” of Territorial times. No severer law was to be found in any slave State. It forbade negroes or mulattoes to settle in the State without certificates of freedom. No person was to employ any negro or mulatto without such certificate, under a penalty of $1.50 for each day. To harbor any slave or servant, or hinder the owner in retaking a slave, was made a felony, punishable by restitution or a fine of two-fold value, and whipping not to exceed thirty stripes. Every black or mulatto without a proper certificate was subject to arrest as a runaway slave, to be advertised for six weeks by the sheriff, when, if not reclaimed or his freedom established, he was sold for one year, after which he was entitled to a freedom certificate. Any slave or servant found ten miles from home without permit was liable to arrest and thirty-five stripes, on the order of a justice. For misbehaving to his master or family he was punishable with the lash. Indeed, punishment with the lash to the number of thirty-nine and forty stripes was prescribed for each of a long list of offenses, real or of legal construction. Even after the adoption of the constitution of 1848, which required the General Assembly at its first session to pass such laws as would effectually prohibit free persons of color from immigrating to, or settling in this State, and prohibit the owners of slaves from bringing them here for the purpose of setting them free, the Legislature passed an act, Feb. 12, 1853, which imposed on every such colored person a fine of $50. If the fine was not paid forthwith, he was to be advertised and sold to any one who would pay the fine and costs for the shortest period of such person’s service. A case under this law was carried up to the Supreme Court, and decided so late as 1864, to be valid. Other provisions of these enactments were almost equally detestable. Such were the infamous “black laws” of Illinois, which were continued, with slight modifications, from Territorial times down to 1865, when by act of Feb. 7, of that year, they were repealed. Had it not been for these black laws the census of Illinois would not be blotted with an enrollment of “168 slaves” in 1810; 917 in 1820; 747 in 1830; and 331 in 1840—the last census that carries such a stain. Fortunately, the masters and people at large were better than their laws. The horrors of Southern slavery would not have been tolerated here. During the last twenty-five years of their existence the black laws were practically a dead letter, being retained upon the statute book more out of opposition to abolitionism, and deference to the pro-slavery sentiment of the dominant parties than for any other reason.

FIRST EXPLORERS OF THE FAR WEST.

KILL CREEK, Kan.

Is it a fact that early French explorers were the first to cross the continent through the northern part of what is now the United States?

SAMUEL RITTER.

Answer.—No French explorers, known as explorers, traveled farther West than Minnesota, but doubtless the French trappers reached the head waters of the Missouri, if they did not go even farther. These, however, have left no record of their wanderings, and we know nothing of what they discovered. To Lewis and Clarke who in 1804-5 ascended to the head waters of the Missouri and descended the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, belongs the honor of having given the first written account of the far West.

PENNSYLVANIA WHISKY WAR.

PRAIRIE CITY, Ill.

Did the distillers of Pennsylvania at one time create an insurrection on account of certain excise laws? If so, please state the facts, and what means was used by the government to quell the disturbance?

S. T. YOUNG.

Answer.—In 1791 a tax was imposed upon domestic liquors. This created especial dissatisfaction in Western Pennsylvania, where, in 1794, the distillers rose en masse and refused to pay the duty. But upon the approach of militia sent by Washington, they yielded.

GAY-LUSSAC—BALLOONS.

PAWNEE ROCK, Kan.

1. Who was Gay-Lussac? 2. Who invented balloons? 3. Why was Sir Walter Raleigh executed?

STEPHEN J. WILLARD.

Answer.—Louis Joseph Gay-Lussac was one of the most eminent chemists of this century. He was born at St. Leonard, France, Dec. 6, 1778. He distinguished himself as a student in the Polytechnic College, Paris, and was selected to become the assistant of the great French physicist and chemist, Berthollet, who was so impressed with his originality and skill in research that on a certain occasion he exclaimed: “Young man, it is your destiny to make discoveries. You shall be henceforth my companion. I wish—it is a title of which I am sure I shall have cause to be proud—I wish to be your father in science.” While investigating terrestrial magnetism he was led to make a balloon ascent, on Aug. 24, 1804, when he reached an altitude of about 13,000 feet. Not satisfied, he procured a greater balloon, and on Sept. 16 of the same year rose to an altitude of 23,000 feet, a height never before reached in a balloon, and seldom exceeded since then. He made many valuable observations before descending. Together with the famous Alexander von Humboldt, he made the discovery that hydrogen and oxygen unite in the proportions of two of the latter to one of the former, by bulk, to form water; also that when gases combine with one another, either by weight or by volume, they do so in very simple proportions, as 1 to 1, 1 to 2, 2 to 3, and so on. He analyzed many chemical compounds, proved the elementary nature of several substances, such as iodine, to which he gave the name it now bears, and he formed by chemical combinations many valuable compounds. The French Academy elected him a member of that distinguished body of savants; the French Government honored him with important and highly honorable appointments; he became a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1831, and in 1839 was made a peer of the realm. He devoted himself to scientific research to the last, and was associated with the distinguished scientist Arago, in the editorship of the Annals of Chemistry and Physics. He died in 1850. 2. Stephen and Joseph Montgolfier, of Annonay, France, a town about forty miles from Lyons, were the inventors of hot air balloons, just one hundred years ago, and the same year two brothers of the name of Robert made and charged the first hydrogen gas balloon, under the superintendence of Mr. Charles, a professor of natural philosophy, in Paris. 3. Sir Walter Raleigh was executed under a trumped up charge of conspiracy against the life of James I., of England; but really at the instigation of certain rivals and to gratify the king of Spain, toward whom he had always manifested the greatest hostility.

QUARTER SECTIONS, SHORT OR LONG.

ORLEANS, Neb.

There is a case in dispute here in regard to the government survey. They say that the government surveyor who ran the section lines here started at the Kansas line from the wrong corner, and, running north, made one tier of sections fifteen or twenty rods too narrow and the next tier as much too broad. Now, after twenty years, when the land is all occupied and more or less improved, can the line be moved? All the old corners are plainly defined and recognized as government corners.

B. F. POLHUMUS.

Answer.—In the case of Peder O. Aanrud (see Copp’s Land Owner) the Commissioner of the General Land Office made the following ruling: “The term ‘quarter-section’ is used to designate a certain legal subdivision of the public land ascertained by official survey. It generally contains just 160 acres; but, through unavoidable inaccuracy of surveys in adjusting meridians etc., it often exceeds or falls below that amount. It is still, however, the technical legal quarter section defined by law and ascertained by official survey. A homestead settler may enter 160 acres in legal subdivisions lying contiguous to each other without reference to the quarter-section lines, or he may enter a technical quarter-section as such, in which case he can take the amount of land contained therein, as shown by the official survey. In entering a quarter section he cannot depart from the ascertained lines, but must take 160 acres, more or less, as the case may be.” The case stated in this question is extraordinary, and may not be fully covered by the above ruling, but it is almost certain that in all cases where patents have issued and owners have been in undisturbed possession for sixteen years or more the titles cannot be disturbed.

ATCHISON, THE BORDER RUFFIAN SENATOR.

TISKILWA, Ill.

Kindly inform us who Dave Atchison, of Kansas and Missouri notoriety, was.

G. S. BATTERY.

Answer.—He was a politician of the desperado order, who figured in an unenviable light in the early days of Kansas. Born in Fayette County, Ky., in 1807, he removed to Missouri in 1830. In 1841 he was appointed by the Governor to fill an unexpired term in the United States Senate, of which, through re-election, he continued a member until 1855. For some time he acted with the Benton wing of the Democratic party, which accepted the Jacksonian doctrine as opposed to pro-slavery radicalism. In time, however, he adopted Calhounism, including the doctrine of secession, and during the early Kansas troubles devoted himself to making Kansas a slave State. In 1854-56 he encouraged and abetted the outrages committed by the bands of Missouri border ruffians, who repeatedly invaded that Territory, taking an active part in driving free-soil voters from the polls and instigating the bloody attacks on Lawrence and Ossawatamie, and in other villainies of those terrible times preceding the triumph of the Free State party in Kansas.

MURDERS AND SUICIDES.

MELROSE, Wis.

Give, if you can, the number of murders and suicides in the United States in the course of a year.

IRA JONES.

Answer.—According to the census for 1880 there were 1,336 cases of homicide, or murder, and manslaughter, and 2,517 cases of suicide, of which 472 were by self-shooting, 155 by drowning, 340 by poison, 1,550 by other means.

RAINFALL IN NEBRASKA.

VAN CLEVE, Iowa.

What part of Nebraska has the greatest rainfall? What parts have the second and the third largest average rainfall? In what month is this fall the greatest?

J. W. JOHNSON.

Answer.—During the ten years from 1869 to 1879 the average annual rainfall in that part of Nebraska lying between the Missouri River and a line drawn to where Blue River crosses the Kansas-Nebraska Line, was thirty-eight inches. In the extreme southeastern corner of the State, near the Missouri River, it was nearly forty inches. West of the line above described to a line starting from the Missouri River a little south of the mouth of Bow River, running with a slight eastern curve to Kearney and then southwesterly to the State line, the average rainfall was thirty-two inches. From this last line to another starting near the mouth of the Niobrara, curving southwesterly to a point a little east of North Platte, and thence curving slightly to the southwest to a point a little west of Culbertson, the rainfall averaged twenty-six inches. Between this last line and another starting on the State line at the mouth of the Keya Paha and running southwesterly to a point on the Kansas-Nebraska line, midway between Culbertson and the southwest corner of the State, the average was nineteen inches. West of this section the rainfall is not well determined, but it diminishes from nineteen to less than seventeen inches. The heaviest rainfall is in June.

THE SIRENS.

I have an engraving representing a lady about to go into a boat, or a sailor about to land. It is entitled, “The Siren.” What is the story?

BACHELOR.

Answer.—Among the old Greek legends is one that near the island of Caprera, in the Mediterranean Sea, there dwelt two—some versions say three—damsels whose music was so sweet that no one who heard it could resist its seductive charms. The passing sailor, listening to it, forgot his country, home, and all former friends, and, unable to escape the entrancement of their songs, remained on the barren rocks until he died of starvation. It is further related that Ulysses, one of the most crafty of the Greek heroes of the olden time, by the advice of Circe, filled his sailors’ ears with wax before passing the rock and had them lash him to the mast until the danger was passed. When he heard the music he struggled hard to free himself and escape to the rock, but his companions only bound him the more firmly until their ship had passed out of hearing, whereupon the fated sisters hurled themselves into the deep and were changed into two great rocks. The whole legend may be regarded as an allegory, the sirens personifying seductive pleasures.

THE FIVE POINTS IN CALVINISM.

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind.

What are the “Five Points” considered essential to pure Calvinism? Did not the Pan-Presbyterian Council held at Philadelphia a few years ago indorse them all?

FREEMASON.

Answer.—The “Five Points” in the confession of the Synod of Dort, generally regarded as the essentials of Calvinism, are the following doctrines: 1. Predestination; 2. The atonement; 3. The total depravity of the natural man; 4. That salvation is purely of the grace and free will of God; 5. The final perseverance of all who have once experienced justification by faith. For a more extended presentation of these five points see Our Curiosity Shop for 1881, page 91. These doctrines are differently construed by Presbyterian divines; so that in fact they are held in quite different senses by organizations usually classed together as Calvinists. The Pan-Presbyterian Council recognized the rights of the several bodies represented in it to construe the Scriptures as regards these doctrines according to their own judgments so long as they subscribed to the general declarations of the Westminster Confession of Faith, or the confession of the Synod of Dort.

CLAUDE DE BONNEVAL.

KILL CREEK, Kan.

Please sketch briefly the career of Claude de Bonneval.

SAMUEL RITTER.

Answer.—Count Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, born at Limousin, France, began his eventful career as a soldier in the French army, but being condemned to death for insolence toward the Minister of War, provoked by being refused promotion, on account of bad conduct, he fled to Germany. He entered the Austrian army, and in 1723 was appointed Master of Ordnance to the Netherlands. But he became involved in a disgraceful quarrel with the Governor, and was sentenced to death. The sentence was, however, commuted to a year’s imprisonment. Upon his release he went to Constantinople, and under the name of Achmed he entered the service of the Porte, who made him Pasha, and gave into his hands the organizing of the artillery after the European manner. In the Turco-Russian war he achieved great success, and won the appointment of Governor of Chios, but soon lost the position through his imprudence. His death occurred at Constantinople in 1747.

TO FIND THE DAY OF THE WEEK.

BATH, Ohio.

I am puzzled. Please give me a rule for ascertaining the day of the week on which any day of the year comes.

SELIVA Q. YOLVARE.

Answer.—To find the day of the week on which any particular date of the current year will fall, divide the whole number of days from the time when computation is made by 7. If there is no remainder the day sought will be the same day of the week as the day when the computation is made. If there is a remainder of one it is the next day of the week, and so on. Illustration: Suppose it is Monday, July 9, and the question is, what day of the week will Aug. 10 be, proceed as follows: In July after July 9 there are 22 days. Add 10 days in August, making 32 days. Divide 32 by 7, and the quotient is 4 and 4 remainder. Now July 9 was Monday, so Aug. 10 will be the fourth day of the week after Monday, or Friday. To find the day of the week for dates in other years than the current one is a much more serious matter. It involves many elements, and is, withal, an arithmetical problem, and therefore excluded from Our Curiosity Shop by one of its standing rules. There are tables for this class of questions, as explained in an answer given not long ago.

SUPPORT OF PAUPER RELATIVES.

LONGMONT, Col.

What States, if any, require persons to support their pauper parents and other near relatives?

C. WATSON BROWN.

Answer.—The statutes of Illinois require “that every poor person who shall be unable to earn a livelihood in consequence of any bodily infirmity, idiocy, lunacy, or other unavoidable cause, shall be supported by the father, grandfather, mother, grandmother, children, grandchildren, brothers or sisters of such person, if they, or either of them, be of sufficient ability; provided that when persons become paupers from intemperance or other bad conduct they shall not be entitled to support from any relative except parent or child.” These relatives are to be called on in the following order: Children are to be first called on for parents, if the children are of sufficient ability, and, if not, then the parents of the poor person; next brothers and sisters; next grandchildren; next grandparents. Married females cannot be required to support their poor relatives unless they have property in their own right. Similar laws exist in most if not all the other States of the Union. Not having the statutes of Colorado at hand, we must refer you to them, at the nearest justice’s office or at the county court house, for definite information as to your own State.

THE FIRST RAILROAD IN ILLINOIS.

ALTONA, Ill.

In a recent answer in Our Curiosity Shop it was asserted that “a section of the Northern Cross Railroad, from Naples to Springfield, was the first railroad in this State; also, that it was operated by mule power until 1849.” Now let me say: 1. That the road was built from Meredosia toward Jacksonville and Springfield in 1838. [It was begun in 1837, and was opened through to Springfield in 1838—Editor.] 2. A locomotive was shipped by way of the rivers to Meredosia, where it arrived and was placed on the track in November, 1838. I went from Peoria, June 15, 1839, by steamboat to Meredosia, where I saw the locomotive on the new railroad, coupled to a train of cars ready to pull out. A few years later there was a branch constructed from the bluff, four or five miles from Meredosia, to Naples. The road from Naples to Jacksonville and Springfield became the main line, and the spur to Meredosia was regarded as the branch. [The use of steam was very soon abandoned, as the road was operated at a loss, and mule power was resorted to until 1849—Editor.]

A. G. LITTLE.

DU CHAILLU, THE TRAVELER.

POSTVILLE, Iowa.

Please give a short sketch of the life of Paul B. Du Chaillu. How is his name pronounced?

MAUD MAYO.

Answer..—Du Chaillu, a great African explorer, began his travels when but a boy, with his father. For many years they lived upon the Gaboon River, and in 1855, after spending some years in New York, he returned to Western Africa, where he devoted four years to travel and discovery. During this time he traveled about 8,000 miles on foot, and collected many valuable specimens in natural history. His works contain the result of his study during this and a later expedition, their chief interest and value being due to the account they contain of many hitherto strange tribes, and to his description of the gorilla and many curious apes. Du Chaillu was born in France about 1820. His name is pronounced Du Sha-yu, with accent on second syllable, and sounding a as in far.

SALE OF TOBACCO BY PRODUCER.

ORLEANS, Ind.

Has Congress changed the internal revenue laws so as to allow the producer to sell to the consumer?

A. N. W.

Answer.—Yes, within a narrow limit: as shown by the following communication from Mr. Milton C. Springer, the efficient and obliging Chief Deputy Internal Revenue Collector of this district, showing changes in the law relating to the sale of leaf tobacco by the producer:

“The law (see section 3.244, United States Revised Statutes, paragraph 7) defines a retail dealer in leaf tobacco as a person whose business it is to sell leaf tobacco in quantities less than an original hogshead, case, or bale; or who sells directly to consumers; or to persons other than dealers in leaf tobacco, who have paid a special tax as such, or to manufacturers of tobacco, snuff, or cigars who have paid a special tax, or to persons who purchase in original packages for export.

“Section 2 of the act of March 3, 1883, provides that on and after May 1, retail dealers in leaf tobacco shall pay two hundred and fifty dollars ($250), and thirty cents for each additional dollar on the amount of their monthly sales, in excess of the rate of five hundred dollars ($500) per annum. Provided that farmers and producers of tobacco may sell at the place of production tobacco of their own growth and raising, at retail directly to consumers to an amount not exceeding $100 annually. This proviso, as in the case of all provisos to general provisions of law, must be construed literally:

“1. The sales must be made at the place of production.

“2. They must be made strictly to consumers and to no other persons.

“3. The tobacco must be of the growth and raising of the farmer or producer who makes the sales.

“4. The sales must be of leaf tobacco in the form and condition of leaf as it is ordinarily dried and cured for the market. If the tobacco is ‘twisted by hand or reduced into a condition to be consumed, or in any manner other than the ordinary mode of drying and curing prepared for sale or consumption, even if prepared without the use of any machine or instrument and without being pressed or sweetened,’ it is liable to a tax of 8 cents a pound. (See section 14, act of March 1, 1879).

“5. If the farmer or producer sells ordinary leaf at retail directly to consumers, as hereinbefore stated, to an amount exceeding $100 annually, he becomes liable to pay a special tax as retail dealer in leaf tobacco. He also becomes liable if he violates any of the conditions of the said proviso, as herein stated.”

RAIN-GAUGE AND TEMPERATURE.

OSBORNE CITY, Kan.

1. How should a rain-gauge be set in order to register rainfall correctly? 2. At what hours per day are the observations of thermometer taken to get a mean temperature?

S. B. F.

Answer.—There are different kinds of rain-gauges, and instructions for using accompany each instrument. As a rule the mouth of a rain-gauge is larger than the graduated chamber which measures the fall. For special observations different forms of gauges are used, horizontal, inclined, or vertical. For ordinary observations the mouth of the instrument should be horizontal. Instructions of the United States Signal Service direct observers to set the rain-gauge “whenever practicable, with the top of the funnel-shaped collector twelve inches above the surface of the ground, firmly fixed in a vertical position. When a position at the level of the ground cannot be found with a sufficiently clear exposure, the gauge will be placed on the top of the instrument-room or roof of the building occupied by the observer, who will measure the height above the ground and report it to the Chief Signal Officer. The measuring-rod is graduated in inches and tenths of an inch, and the proportion between the cylinder and funnel is as ten to one, so that ten inches upon the rod correspond to one inch of actual rainfall.” “Snow will be melted and measured, and reported in the same manner as rain. If for any reason it cannot be melted, the depth will be measured, and ten inches of snow reported as one inch of rainfall.” There is a great difference in measure of rain at several elevations above the ground, not wholly explainable. Professor Phillips found the fall of rain at York, England, for the year 1833-34 to be 14.16 inches at 213 feet from the ground; 19.85 inches at 44 feet; and 25.71 on the ground. Daily mean relative humidity observations, according to the United States Signal Service, are obtained by dividing 7 a. m., 2 p. m., and 9 p. m. observations by three; the monthly means by dividing the sum of the daily means by the number of the days in the month. 2. The daily mean temperature is obtained by dividing the sum of the 7 a. m., 2 p. m., and twice the 9 p. m. observations by four.

When a rain-gauge is not at hand, a perfectly cylindrical pan or tub may be used to measure the rainfall, but it should be elevated at least a foot above the level lawn or roof.

NEAREST APPROACH TO THE POLE.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What is the nearest that any explorer has got to the north pole?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—The nearest approach to the north pole, 83 degrees 20 minutes 26 seconds was made May 12, 1876, by a sledge party sent off from one of the two vessels of the Nares expedition, fitted out by the British Government. The point is almost exactly half the distance from Chicago to New York City by the shortest railroad route.

OUR BROAD REPUBLIC.

GARDEN CITY, Kan.

Has the United States any territory outside of the States and Western Territories, Alaska, and District of Columbia?

E. C. W.

Answer.—No; unless this government should conclude to reduce to possession the lands discovered in the Arctic and Antarctic regions by Dr. Kane, Dr. Hayes, Commodore Wilkes, and other American explorers. Several of these bold discoverers planted the American flag in the ice of those inhospitable lands and gave names to coasts and islands of large extent, so situated that if “Uncle Sam” insists on his title he can now boast, with “John Bull,” that the sun never sets on his possessions.

JOHN RUSKIN’S ST. GEORGE’S COMPANY.

PETOSKEY, Mich.

Be kind enough to give a sketch of the life of John Ruskin. Did he not attempt to found a society or colony on a novel plan and fail of success?

E. I. L.

Answer.—John Ruskin, the eminent English art critic, commenced the publication, in 1871, of a monthly periodical, entitled Fors Clavigera, addressed particularly to workingmen, and urging them to join him in forming an organization to be known as “St. George’s Company,” for the purpose of developing among the working classes a greater love of the beautiful and raising the common standard of architecture and home surroundings in rural life. He protested against “the tyranny and defilement of machinery” in country life. He set apart about $35,000 (£7,000), the tenth of his private fortune, to promote the success of this society, of which he was chosen Grand Master. The workingmen responded but poorly to all his appeals, and the undertaking is regarded as a failure. A sketch of Ruskin’s life is contained in Our Curiosity Shop of 1880, page 85.

AN EXCEPTIONAL VICE PRESIDENT.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.

What would be done in case of the failure of the people to elect a Vice President?

A POSSIBLE CANDIDATE.

Answer.—Just what was done in the only instance since the adoption of the twelfth amendment to the Constitution when such a failure has occurred. In 1836, no one having received a majority of the votes cast for Vice President, Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, was chosen by the United States Senate, he being one of the highest on the list of persons voted for by the people.

CENTRAL AMERICA.

BLALOCK, Ore.

1. What is the present political condition of Central America? 2. Are the States united under one federal government, or are they independent of each other?

W. MARIMER.

Answer.—After much civil strife the people are becoming accustomed to republican forms of government, and educational and commercial advantages are increasing; though it must be said that the progress is not rapid. At present the country is quiet. 2. Until 1839 the republics of Central America were united into a confederation; but now each is an independent republic, governed by a president and at least one legislative body, chosen by universal suffrage. As a rule the president is elected for four years, but few have held this office for an entire term. These States consist of Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, San Salvador, and Honduras.

EXPLORERS OE THE SOUTHWEST.

WICHITA, Kan.

Our Curiosity Shop has told us of the first American explorers who crossed the Northern part of the United States, now please tell us who were the first Americans to cross the continent on or about the line of the Union Pacific Railroad, or south of that? Name some work on the explorers of the Southwest that is instructive and reliable, but not expensive.

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—It was long believed, and is still generally supposed, that, after Lewis and Clarke, General John C. Fremont, then a Captain of Engineers in the United States Army, with a small force, guided by the famous Kit Carson, was the first explorer who crossed the continent within the present boundaries of the United States. This he did in 1843, following much of the way the route afterward adopted by the Union and Central Pacific Railroads. However, Mr. William E. Curtis, in his intensely interesting little book entitled “A Summer Scamper Along the Old Santa Fe Trail, and Through the Gorges to Zion,” shows conclusively that, while the world is indebted to Fremont for the first maps and published descriptions of the country between Central Colorado and the California coast, hunters and trappers had wound their way through these savage wilds years before him, and that as early as Jan. 20, 1824, a bold adventurer by the name of Sylvester Pattie, a Virginian, and his son, with a party of five other men, left the Missouri River in company with a trading party for Santa Fe, and some three years later groped his way down the Gila River into California; where he visited San Francisco, then an insignificant Mexican trading post and Jesuit mission station. Arrested as spies by the jealous Mexicans, and imprisoned, it was some time before these daring adventurers obtained their release and secured a passage from San Diego to Vera Cruz, whence they got back to the United States. “The Summer Scamper” and another book by the same author, “Children of the Sun,” both by The Inter Ocean Publishing Company, are full of spirited sketches of the early explorers of the Southwest, graphic descriptions of the scenery of this wonderful region, and observations on its natural resources and the progress of the civilization which is invading it from all directions.

LIVINGSTONE, THE EXPLORER.

Albia, Iowa.

Please give a brief account of Dr. Livingstone’s life and explorations.

J. H. ROWLES.

Answer.—David Livingstone was a Scotchman, born in Lanarkshire in 1817, and when a boy worked in a cotton factory. In 1840 he landed in Port Natal, Africa, as a medical missionary of the London Missionary Society, and became an associate of the Rev. Robert Moffat, whose daughter he afterward married. For sixteen years he labored earnestly in the mission work, and during that time discovered Lake Ngami (1849), and crossed the continent from the Zambesi to Loando, a journey which occupied eighteen months. While in England, in 1857, Livingstone published his “Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa.” Returning to Africa he devoted himself to exploration, and in 1865 resolved to find the source of the Nile. During the remainder of his life he was often not heard from for months, and it was during one of these protracted absences that Mr. Stanley began his travels to search for him, and found him in great destitution at Ujiji. Dr. Livingstone died while exploring the river system of the Chambeze in the belief that these were the head waters of the Nile, having reached Ulala, beyond Lake Bemba, in 1873. In 1874 his body was interred in Westminster Abbey.

SUBDIVISIONS OF GOVERNMENT SECTIONS.

VENTURA, Mich.

1. In subdividing a township into sections, to what part of the township do the fractional sections belong? 2. Sections sometimes overrun or fall short in the subdivision of quarter sections into “forties” by the County Surveyor: Is this overplus or deficit divided equally among the “forties,” or is it all thrown into one side?

CHARLES OWENS.

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