Name: The inter ocean curiosity shop for the year 1883
Author: Various

The inter ocean curiosity shop for the year 1883 (part 3 of 4)

Answer.—1. The sections on the northern and western boundaries of a township are fractional—i. e., they do not contain exactly 640 acres. The small fragments of these fractional sections are called “lots,” and they are numbered from 1 upward in each section. 2. The course that surveyors are directed by the regulations of the General Land Office to pursue in the subdivision of sections is to run straight lines from the quarter section corners established by the United States survey to the opposite corresponding corners, and the point of intersection of lines so run will be the common corner to the several quarter sections, or, in other words, the legal center of the section. In the subdivision of fractional sections, where no opposite corresponding corners have been or can be fixed, the subdivision lines should be ascertained by running from the established corners due north, south, east, or west lines, as the case may be, to the water-course, Indian boundary line, or other external boundary of such fractional section. Where the lines marked in the field by the United States Deputy Surveyors are not due north and south or east and west lines, “mean courses” must be adopted. Where there is no opposite section line the subdivision line must be run parallel to the section line that is marked. The purpose is to divide the overplus or deficit arising from the unavoidable irregularities and errors of the United States survey as nearly equal as possible among the minor subdivisions of the section.

TEA, COFFEE, AND WHISKY.

When and by whom were tea, coffee, and whisky first used as a beverage?

H. G. CLAYTON.

Answer.—The use of tea among the Chinese, from whom it has extended to all parts of the world, cannot be traced with certainty further back than to 350 A. D., or thereabouts. This use did not become general in China until about A. D. 800. It was first introduced into Europe by the Dutch in 1610. How long coffee has been used in Arabia, its native country, is not certainly known. It was introduced into Egypt in the sixteenth century. The first coffee house in Europe was established in Constantinople in 1551. The first person to make it known to Western Europe seems to have been Leonhard Rauwolf, a German physician, a great traveler. Once introduced, the use of this delightful beverage extended rapidly. Coffee houses sprung up in all the chief cities. The first one in London was opened by a Greek in Newman’s court, Cornhill, in 1652; the first one in France was opened in Marseilles in 1671; the first one in Paris in 1672. The earliest manufacture of whisky is generally referred to the middle of the sixteenth century, but there are some reasons for believing that it had an earlier origin. It was made by the Gaels from barley, which still yields the best quality, and was called by them uisge beatha, later usque baugh, the water of life—of which first word “whisky” is a corruption.

CONVICT LABOR.

RUTLAND, Ill.

If convicts can make a better article than those who are not convicts, why should other mechanics complain? At least, why shouldn’t the public be permitted to utilize the labor of convicts for its own good?

WM. MARSHALL.

Answer.—No doubt it is sound policy to make use of convict labor for the public good and the improvement of the criminals themselves, but the real question is, How is this to be done? Manufacturers and honest mechanics complain that the present system of hiring out convicts to contractors puts the labor of the untaxed criminals, housed at the expense of the State, without families to support, and free from all social and civil burdens, in unfair competition with the labor or industrial products of honest workmen who have families to maintain, taxes to pay, and social and civil duties to perform. Whether the contract system can be so adjusted as to remove any just ground of complaint of the nature here pointed out is a question that is eliciting the earnest study of some of our most profound social and political economists. We cannot discuss it in this place, nor have we any dictum to proclaim. It must be said for the system that it is the only one, with few, if any, exceptions, that has rendered American penitentiaries self-sustaining.

MUSHROOM GARDENING.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Tell us how to raise mushrooms. Are they produced from seed or not?

Answer.—The mushroom spawn is sold in bricks, and should be used in the following manner: Procure a quantity of good horse dung and make it into a heap, which must be frequently turned for a fortnight, until the rankness has disappeared. Then build it into beds twelve inches in height and four feet wide, under a shed ten feet wide. This will allow room for a walk through the center of the shed. Pack the dung tightly, and cover it with long straw for ten days, when the straw must be removed and an inch of fine loam spread upon the beds. On this plant the spawn, which has been broken into pieces the size of a walnut, in rows six inches apart, and cover with another inch of mold, over which spread the straw. When the mold is too dry sprinkle it with tepid water. In five or six weeks the young mushrooms should appear.

BATTLE OF THE PYRAMIDS.

RAVANNA, Mo.

I have a picture entitled “The Battle of the Pyramids.” Where, when, and by whom was that battle fought?

C. E. J.

Answer.—The “Battle of the Pyramids” was fought at Embabeh, opposite Cairo, Egypt, July 21, 1798, between the French, commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Egyptian Mamelukes, commanded by Murad Bey. The latter fought with desperate valor, but they were completely bewildered by European tactics. The French infantry, formed into squares, received the fierce charges of the magnificent Mameluke cavalry, which swarmed around them, on their serried bayonets, while a galling fire of grape and musketry virtually annihilated whole divisions of their army. Out of an army of over 60,000 men Murad Bey escaped with barely 2,500 horse, leaving 15,000 men on the field of battle and the rest of his troops, their arms abandoned, fleeing in utter rout in all directions completely disorganized. From the circumstance that this battle was fought within sight of the famous pyramids of Gizeh, near Cairo, it took the name above mentioned.

FIRES OCCASIONED BY LOCOMOTIVES.

ADELINE, Ill.

Are railway companies responsible for damage to farm property occasioned by locomotives or must the farmer bear the loss.

ADELINE READER.

Answer.—State laws require railway companies to use certain precautions against fire from locomotive sparks or coals from ash pan. If it can be shown that damage to property has resulted from neglect of these laws or through culpability of railway employes, the company is responsible. The spark extinguishers on locomotive smoke stacks check the draft and on this account engines frequently run considerable distances with them uncovered. Again they often dump panfuls of live coals on the track, when the prairie grass and stubble are like tinder and the wind is blowing a gale. Damage done through such culpability is fairly chargeable to the railway companies, and, if the facts can be proved, they can be made to pay the loss.

SERGEANT MASON’S SENTENCE.

GALT, Mich.

What was Sergeant Mason’s sentence? Please answer and settle a dispute. State main facts.

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—Sergeant Mason, one of the soldiers detailed to guard Guiteau, fired into his cell on Sept. 12, 1881, with the intention, as he confessed, to kill him. He was tried by court martial early in 1882, and sentenced to be dismissed from the army, with loss of pay, and to be imprisoned for eight years in the Penitentiary at Albany.

AUTHOR OF DYING CALIFORNIAN.

GRAND DETOUR.

Seeing no response to the question as to who is the author of the poem entitled the “Dying Californian,” I wish to say that this poem was written by Kate Harris, of Pascoag, R. I., now Mrs. Charles Plass, of Napa City, Cal. It was suggested by hearing a letter which was dictated by Brown Owens when dying, on his way to California. It was read at his funeral services at Chepachet, R. I.

M. W. GILMAN.

THE CHRISTIAN ERA—WHEN FIRST USED.

1. When was the practice of reckoning time from the birth of Christ instituted, and by whom? 2. What nations now reckon time according to this era?

Answer.—Dionysius the Little, a learned monk, introduced the use of this epoch in Italy in the sixth century. It began to be made use of in Gaul and England about two centuries later. It is now followed in nearly all Christian countries and in several Eastern nations.

THE TWELVE CÆSARS.

SAOPI, Minn.

Who were the twelve Cæsars?

M. H. MILLER.

Answer.—The twelve Cæsars are Julius Cæsar and the eleven Emperors following him, most of whom were from his family. Nerva was chosen by the Senate, and was the first to select a successor without regard to family. Following are the names and dates of the reigns of the twelve: Julius Cæsar, 44; Augustus, 31 B. C.-14 A. D., Tiberius, 14-37; Caius, 37-41; Claudius, 41-54; Nero, 54-68; Galba, 68-69; Otho, 69; Vitellius, 69; Vespasian, 69-79; Titus, 79-81; Domitian, 81-96. The title Cæsar was given to all of the Roman Emperors, until the time of Hadrian, after whom Cæsar was the title of the heir of the throne, and the title of the Emperor was Augustus.

SINKING BRIDGE PIERS.

FREEPORT, Ill.

Please explain the use of compressed air in sinking the caissons of the great Brooklyn and New York bridge.

F. R. SMITH.

Answer.—The method of sinking cylinders by use of compressed air was invented by Mr. Triger, of England, in 1841, but has been carried to greater results in the United States than anywhere else. Tubular cast-iron shells are used to form a large hollow pile, which may be forced downward by its own weight and superincumbent masonry built on it as it descends. Compressed air is employed inside such shells to force the water out at the bottom, where the pile or caisson is open, while it is air-tight and water-tight at all other points. It was formerly supposed men could not work under a pressure of more than three atmospheres, which is required in most cases to keep out water at a depth of sixty-five feet, but in the case of the St. Louis bridge, caissons were sunk a depth of 110 feet below the surface. So, in the case of sinking the Brooklyn bridge piers, the men at work in the compressed air chamber, excavating the earth as the pier descended, worked in an atmosphere from three to four times as heavy as in the open air; a strain which they could endure but a short while at a time, and which proved fatal in many instances.

PROPERTY OF ALIENS.

GRISWOLD, Iowa.

If a Welshman who has not been naturalized dies in this country, who inherits his estate? Would the making of a will make any material difference as to the control of his property?

FLORA K. SMITH.

Answer.—Each of the States has its own laws in regard to the rights of aliens. In Iowa aliens, that is persons of foreign birth who have not been naturalized by their own act or that of their parents, may acquire, inherit, hold, and dispose of property, real or personal, precisely as if they were citizens. The same is true in most of the States. In Pennsylvania alien friends may buy lands not exceeding 5,000 acres, nor in net annual income $20,000, and hold the same as citizens may, but there are certain differences between them and citizens in the matter of real estate conveyances, inheritance, etc. A will prevents the property of an alien from escheating to the State in case of non-appearance of heirs; and, as in the case of citizens, transcends the statute and common law as to the division of property among the heirs of persons who die intestate, i. e. without testamentary wills.

LAND WARRANTS.

COVE, Oregon.

Is there anything to prevent a person from locating a land warrant on public lands in this State? For what wars were land warrants given, and what are they worth?

JAMES M. SELDERS.

Answer.—Military bounty land warrants are issued by the Commissioner of Pensions for services in the several wars before the year 1855. No warrants are issued for services during the war for the Union; but soldiers can be credited on homestead entries for the terms of their enlistments, up to four years of the time of residence required as a condition of title in cases of ordinary homesteaders. These warrants call for 40, 60, 80, 120, or 160 acres of land, as the case may be, and being assignable can be located by any purchaser. They should be bought only of responsible dealers, with a written guarantee that, in case of error or defect, the settler will not lose anything thereby. The market price of such warrants is from $1 to $1.20 per acre. There is no reason why these cannot be used in paying for public lands in Oregon as well as in other States or Territories. Applications must be made as in cash cases, but accompanied with a warrant duly assigned as payment for the land. Yet where the land is $2.50 per acre, as the warrant pays only for land at $1.25 per acre, the remaining $1.25 per acre must be paid in cash. However, a tract of eighty acres, rated at $2.50 per acre, for example, can be paid for by two eighty-acre warrants without any cash, except fees chargeable by land officers, as follows: For a forty-acre tract, 50 cents each to Register and Receiver; for sixty acres, 75 cents each; for eighty acres, $1; and so on.

NOON BY CLOCK AND BY SUN-DIAL.

SUN RIVER, M. T.

The following rule will enable any one to determine the true difference between noon by clock-time and noon by the sun-dial or noon-mark; which seems to be a vexing question with some of your correspondents: Rule: From any almanac take the time from sunrise to 12 o’clock and from 12 o’clock to sunset. Half of the difference between the two is the number of minutes which the dial shows wrong, either plus or minus. This is called the equation of time and varies about fifteen minutes either way, at its highest.

JOHN KERLER.

THREE AMERICAN AUTHORESSES.

ENGLEWOOD, Ill.

Please name the author of “The Lamplighter”—an old book, but a good one—and who wrote “The Wide, Wide World.”

E. O. G.

Answer.—The author of “The Lamplighter” was Maria S. Cummins, born in Massachusetts in 1827; died in 1866. The writer of “The Wide, Wide World,” of which there were 500,000 copies sold in the first ten years, and of “Queechey,” is Susan Warner, born in New York in 1818. Her sister Anna is the popular author of “The Fourth Watch,” “The Other Shore,” and other works published under the pseudonym of “Amy Lathrop.”

BONANZA FARMS—U.S. MARINE.

PLEASANT PLAINS, Ill.

1. Who owns the largest farm in Dakota and how many acres does it contain? Which is the largest in the United States? 2. How many ships has the United States engaged in commerce?

ALBIN C. DEMARY.

Answer.-The largest farm in the United States is the estate of the late Dr. Glenn, of California, over 60,000 acres. The largest farm in Dakota is the Grandin Farm, covering about 50,000 acres, and requiring the labor of 150 men at seed time and 250 at harvest. The largest cultivated area under one control is the 28,000 acres farmed by Oliver Dalrymple. 2. June 30, 1880, the shipping of the United States was classified as follows: Sailing vessels, 16,830; steam vessels, 4,717; barges, 1,930, and canal-boats, etc., 1,235; total, 24,712, measuring 4,069,035 tons. In 1882 (June 30) the commercial navy of this country numbered 24,368 vessels, of 4,165,933 tons.

WHERE POSTAL SERVICE IS SELF-SUPPORTING.

LONGMONT, Col.

In what States is the United States postal service self-supporting.

C. WATSON BROWN.

Answer.—In Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Alaska, in which States and Territory the excess of receipts over expenditures in the year ending June 30, 1882, amounted to $6,951,696, while the excess of expenditures over receipts in the rest of the Union amounted to $5,114,930, leaving a surplus, for the first time in several years, amounting to $1,836,765.

THOMAS NAST, THE CARICATURIST.

ASHKUM, Ill.

Give a short biographical sketch of Thomas Nast, the great “caricaturist.”

C. K. LANGLEY.

Answer.—Thomas Nast is a Bavarian, having been born at Landau, Sept. 27, 1840. At six years of age he came to the United States with his father, and at 15, with six months instruction from Theodore Kaufmann, he began to furnish illustrations for newspapers. His reputation, by the caricatures he made, was won during the civil war.

MAXIMILIAN I.

URBANA, Ill.

Please give me a short biography of Maximilian I., of Germany.

NETTIE AYERS.

Answer.—Maximilian I., one of the greatest German Emperors, was born in 1459, and at the age of 19 married Maria, daughter of Charles the Bold. This union led to war with Louis XI. of France, who tried to seize some of Princess Maria’s possessions. In 1486 he was crowned King of the Romans, and in 1493, at the death of his father, Maximilian became Emperor of Germany. Later he married the daughter of the Duke of Milan. He was led to war with the Swiss, Venetians, and French. He died in 1519.

ORPHAN ASYLUMS.

CARTHAGE, Ill.

Is there an asylum for orphan children in Illinois? If so, where is it?

H. L. RAND.

Answer.—The only State orphan asylum in Illinois is the Soldiers Orphans’ Home at Normal. There are several orphan asylums in Chicago and vicinity, sustained by churches or by private benefactions. Among these are the Chicago Protestant Orphan Asylum, 2228 Michigan avenue; Chicago Nursery and Half Orphan Asylum, 855 North Halsted street; German Orphan Asylum, at Rose Hill (Havelock Postoffice); St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum, Douglas avenue, corner of Lake; and St. Mary’s Orphan Asylum, 2928 Archer avenue; Uhlich Orphan Asylum. There are others of similar nature in other parts of the State, as the German Evangelical Lutheran Orphan Asylum, at Addison; Orphan Home, Jacksonville; Asylum of St. Casimir for Polish children, LaSalle; Home for the Friendless, Peoria; Woodland Home, Quincy. Besides these there are in Chicago several houses for foundlings.

LANGUAGES AND TONGUES.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What is the difference between a language and a tongue? How many languages and tongues are now spoken?

J. G. SMITH.

Answer.—Language is a term that is applicable to any mode of conveying ideas, whether by speech, writing, hieroglyphics, or a system of gestures or pantomime. Even the deaf and dumb have several languages, but cannot be properly said to have “tongues.” Tongue is an English term for the spoken language of a particular people, as the French tongue, the German tongue, and so on. The number of languages of all the kinds above designated or the number of tongues in all the world is not known. There are over 6,000 known languages and dialects: how many more will be discovered when we have thoroughly explored Africa and Central and Northern Asia is still a matter of conjecture.

AMERICAN VESSELS SOLD.

SHEBOYGAN, Wis.

What proportion of American shipping was sold to foreigners during the civil war? How much was sold last year?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—During the four years, 1861 to 1865, inclusive, the tonnage of American vessels sold to foreigners, mainly to escape capture, or because it could not be profitably employed while exposed to war risk, compared with our total merchant marine as follows:

Years. Total tonnage. Tons sold. 1861 5,539,813 26,649 1862 5,112,164 117,756 1863 5,155,056 222,199 1864 4,986,400 300,865 1865 1,579,994 133,832 ——————— Total tons sold 801,301

As the laws of the United States interdict the re-enrollment of any of these vessels, and restoration of the privileges of our flag, this was a permanent loss to the tonnage of our merchant marine, although it is certain that many of them continued to be the property in fact of American citizens, sailing under foreign colors. The sale of American vessels to foreigners in 1879 amounted to 43,312 tons, and in 1880 to 26,883 tons.

QUEEN VICTORIA’S SURNAME.

PANORA, Iowa.

Having noticed in Our Curiosity Shop what is said in regard to the surname of the Queen of England, I send you the following extract from the Whitehall Review on this subject: “At dinner the other night the conversation lapsed, as it sometimes will lapse with the best, into questions hardly distinguishable from conundrums. A celebrated historian was present, and I put a question to him which I know has puzzled a great many people at different times: ‘What is the surname of the royal family?’ ‘Guelph, of course.’ That is the usual answer, and it was the historian’s. I ventured to suggest that although the royal family are Guelphs by descent, her Majesty’s marriage with Prince Albert of Saxe-Cobourg must have the effect which the marriage of a lady has in all other cases, and that the surname of the present house must be the Prince Consort’s. But what is the surname of the Prince Consort’s family? Simple, but staggering. No one knew. All guessed, and all were wrong. I happened to have looked up the subject a few months ago, so I knew that the name was ‘Wettin.’ Of course no one had heard it before. Every one smiled at the horrible idea of the Guelphs being reduced to Wettins! The point was referred to Theodore Martin. ‘You are quite right,’ said the graceful biographer of the Prince Consort. ‘Wettin is the family name of the house of Saxony, to whom the dominion of Saxony in the year 1420. The king of Saxony and the minor princes of the house are, therefore, all Wettins; or, German, Wettiner.’” [Nevertheless, the fact remains that none of the royal family sign either of the names, Guelph or Wettin, or are addressed by either name in any form of address, oral or written.—ED.]

MRS. H. R. BRYAN.

NATIONAL, STATE AND LOCAL WEALTH AND DEBT.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa.

Tell us what is the total public indebtedness of the United States of all kinds, National, State, county, city, township, district, etc. Also what part of the Union, the East, West, or South, owes the most. Finally, give the wealth per capita East, West and South.

DISPUTANT.

Answer.—According to statistics in “The West in 1880,” since confirmed by the census returns, the local indebtedness of the several States (consisting of county, city, town and district debts, bonded and floating) added to State indebtedness, aggregated $1,117,821,671, or $22.28 per capita; and the wealth, measured by the assessed valuation, amounted to $336.89 per capita, distributed by States and Territories as follows:

Per Wealth States and Territories. Debt. capita. per cap. New Eng. States $178,654,977 $44.54 $661.27 Mid. States 488,638,655 41.57 473.55 South. States 204,887,805 13.43 155.29 West. States 243,984,183 13.17 333.63 Territories 1,656,051 2.73 211.29 —————————————— —————— ——————— Total $1,117,821,671 $22.28 $336.89

In some States local indebtedness has diminished since 1880, while in others it has increased. Assuming that the total local indebtedness is about the same, we may add to the above $1,117,821,671, the National debt at close of June 30, 1883, say $1,884,171,728, and it appears that the total public debt of this country is about $3,001,993,399.

PERVERSITY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

OPDYKE, Ill.

Seeing that the earth’s diameter at the equator is greater than at the poles, and Lake Itasca is nearer the center of the earth than the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, why isn’t it proper to say that the Mississippi River runs up hill?

HARRY.

Answer.—This notion that the Mississippi, in order to accommodate itself to theories as to the shape of the earth, is performing the remarkable feat of running up hill, is sufficiently prevalent to lead to the iteration and reiteration of the above question as often as once a week at least. Of course we cannot reiterate answers so frequently, and hence generally pass the question unnoticed, as correspondents have passed our by-gone replies. A lengthy answer will be found in Our Curiosity Shop of last year, page 95. Here and now we will merely say that the United States Hydrographical Survey flatly contradicts the notion that Lake Itasca is lower than the Gulf of Mexico. It gives the levels at numerous points between that lake and the mouth of the Mississippi, and, surprising as it may seem, considering that the equator has “got the bulge” on all the rest of the world, this survey demonstrates that this old-fashioned river, following the custom of other rivers, with unyielding perversity, is running down hill; in some places at the rate of twenty-five feet and more per mile, and in others at the rate of only several inches. Perhaps this all comes of its never having been “to high school,” or a gymnasium. In fact its education has been totally neglected, except down South, where it has been trained into a bad habit of climbing levees. Whatever the shape of the earth—whether its equatorial diameter is twenty-six miles greater than its axial diameter, or more or less; and whether the waters of the ocean are or are not drawn toward the equator by the centrifugal force of the earth’s diurnal motion, until they stand several miles higher there than they would if the globe had no diurnal motion—one fact is established beyond all equivocation, and that is, that tide level at the mouth of the Mississippi is about 1,575 feet lower than Lake Itasca; which entirely relieves this grand old son of Neptune of any necessity for waging war with the laws of nature and fighting his way up hill to revisit the halls of his father, the “Trident-bearer,” in the briny chambers of the sea. Probably if the earth’s motion on its axis were to cease there would be a reflux of waters from the equatorial region into the Gulf of Mexico, up the Mississippi Valley, across into the Red River of the North and the Mackenzie, submerging the greater part of North America. Let us hope that the earth will continue to spin on its axis at about the same rate as now, at least until we have sold out all our farms and corner lots and moved to equatorial America, where land will then be considerably higher than it is at present in more senses than one.

FIRST CHAPLAINS OF CONGRESS.

LEIGHTON, Iowa.

When was the first prayer offered in the Congress of the United States and by whom? Is there any official record of the matter? If so, where can it be found?

H. CLEW.

Answer.—The first chaplain of the Senate of the United States was the Rt. Rev. Samuel Provoost, of the Episcopal Church, Bishop of New York. The first chaplain of the House of Representatives was the Rev. Wm. Lynn, D. D., of the Presbyterian Church. Both of these officiated in the first Congress organized under the present Constitution in the spring of 1789. The Congressional proceedings of that time are preserved in the “American State Papers,” selected and edited under authority of Congress.

THE HARMONICA.

UNION CITY, Ind.

Please give a history of the harmonica.

FORD A. CARPENTER.

Answer.—The original harmonica consisted of drinking glasses, played with moistened fingers. We read that about 1750 Mr. Packeridge, an Irish gentleman, was noted as a player upon glasses, whose pitch was regulated by the amount of water contained in each. Benjamin Franklin greatly improved the harmonica by making the glasses revolve about a spindle and fixing the pitch by the size of the glass. He also adopted a different color for each note in the scale, and moistened the rims by passing them through water. Miss Davis, a relative of Franklin, became a celebrated harmonica player, and performed at concerts with great credit. The mouth organ, which is now commonly called the harmonica, is a toy in which the sounds are produced by the vibration of metallic reeds, moved by the breath. Reed instruments essentially similar have been in use in China, Germany, and Holland from very early times. The inventor is unknown.

OREGON AND WASHINGTON TERRITORY.

ALTA, Iowa.

Please inform your readers about Northern Oregon and Washington Territory. Is any part of them safe from Indian depredations? Is the land mainly government or railroad grants? State chief facts as to soil, climate, and the various kinds of grain raised.

Answer.—The Indians in Oregon and Washington Territory are all gathered into reservations, and are now peaceable. They are not so fierce and restless as the tribes on this side of the Rockies, being more inclined to pastoral life, farming, and fishing. Little trouble is to be apprehended from this source, particularly in Oregon, the Indian population of which is not large. There are great bodies of public lands. The railroad land-grants are not so extensive as in the Missouri Valley States. There are immense quantities of fine timber lands open to purchase at the minimum price of $2.50 per acre under the “timber lands act” of June 3, 1878, which applies only to such lands in Oregon, Washington Territory, California, and Nevada. There are also wide sections in these States for sale at 25 cents an acre under the “desert lands” act of March 3, 1877. Great bargains have been made in lands passed under this description which are capable of easy irrigation, and are then remarkably productive. Oregon is divided into two parts, differing essentially in climate and productions by the Cascade Range of mountains, running nearly parallel with the Pacific coast, with an average breadth of 50 to 60 miles, and an average elevation of 8,000 feet. The portion of the State west of this range, constituting about one-third of its total area, is well watered, is generally very fertile, and, for the most part, covered with forests of valuable timber. The eastern two-thirds of the State, with the exception of the broad, fertile valleys of the Colombia and Wallawalla Rivers, is mainly made up of elevated plains, with insufficient rainfall for agriculture, except in districts where artificial irrigation is practicable.

The description of Washington Territory corresponds in the main with that of Oregon. The Territory is similarly divided, as regards climate and productions, by the Cascade Range. The rainfall is even greater in the western portion of Washington Territory than in the corresponding portion of Oregon, ranging from 70 inches in the south to the remarkable measure of 125 inches in the north, where it borders on Puget Sound. In this same region the temperature is remarkably equable, varying but 27 degrees during the year between the lowest and highest points. East of the Cascades a narrow strip on the north is mountainous and covered with forests, but south of this lies the Great Plain of the Columbia. Along the western border of this vast region, next the Cascade Range, it is claimed that the rainfall is sufficient for good cereal crops. The same is asserted of its eastern edge, bordering the Coeur d’Alene Mountains of Idaho; but the rest of it, like the southern extension of the same plain into Oregon, is fit only for grazing, except where irrigation is possible. It resembles very much the western portions of Kansas and Nebraska and the western parts of Colorado and Wyoming. In both regions the nutritious, self-curing bunch grasses, which form the chief reliance of the herdsmen east of the Rockies, abound. The grazing and agricultural interests of Oregon and Washington are increasing with great rapidity. The census of 1880 credits Oregon with 500,000 cattle and 1,250,000 sheep, and Washington with 250,000 cattle and 200,000 sheep, and since then the increase has been nearly 100 per-cent. The wheat crop of Oregon, according to the census, was 7,480,010 bushels, the oat crop 4,385,650 bushels, and the barley crop 920,977 bushels. At the same time in Washington Territory the wheat crop was 1,921,322 bushels, the oat crop 1,571,706, and the barley crop 566,537 bushels. Undoubtedly the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad this year will open an era of marvelous growth in the State and Territory above described.

WILLIAM COBBETT, THE AGITATOR.

ALDER GROVE, Neb.

Who was William Cobbett? He is spoken of as a reformer.

J. M. K.

Answer.—He was an English political writer of the latter part of the last and the first third of the present century. Born at Farnham, Eng., in 1762, the son of a farmer of moderate means, he acquired habits of industry and self-dependence. Not liking rural pursuits, he went to London and engaged as a copying clerk. Soon tiring of this occupation, he enlisted in the British army, where he rose by merit to the rank of Sergeant Major. His spare time in barracks was given to self-education, and on obtaining his discharge, in 1791, he married and emigrated to Philadelphia, where he entered upon his after career as a political writer under the pseudonym of “Peter Porcupine.” At this period he satirized American democracy and French republicanism, attacking the inconsistencies and political fallacies of the time in terms of scorn and bitter denunciation. He was denounced by the American press, particularly by the Democrats, or “Republicans” of those times, as a Tory aiming at reviving the royalistic element in this country, not then completely eradicated. Not pleased with the reception of his political diatribes he returned in 1800 to England, and in 1802 began the publication of his Weekly Political Register, now famous, which he continued to his death, June 18, 1835. At first Tory, the Register gradually changed its politics until it became the most fierce and unrelenting opponent of the government, then conducted by Pitt, and the foremost champion of English Radicalism. He advocated the abolition of flogging in the army, and for strictures on the government and satires and charges claimed to be libellous against certain high officials, he was condemned to imprisonment for two years in Newgate Prison, and to pay a fine of £1,000. He attacked the six acts of the British Parliament for the suppression of free discussion, pouring vials of abuse on the leaders of the government party; and to escape pecuniary embarrassments and the dread of again going to Newgate, he once more came to America, where his change of politics had raised up many friends. He virtually edited his Weekly Political Register from this side the Atlantic until some years later when he returned to England. Radicalism had made great strides, and he found himself one of its recognized champions. In 1829-30 he delivered political lectures in several of the principal towns of England and Scotland, and was everywhere met with enthusiastic welcome as the boldest and most powerful advocate of the people’s rights. In 1832 he was elected to the first reformed Parliament as the member for Oldham. He was re-elected in 1834, and continued in this relation until his death the following year. Among his many popular works may be named “Cottage Economy,” “Rural Riches,” “Advice to Young Men and Women,” “The Emigrant’s Guide,” “Parliamentary History,” and an “English Grammar.”

CONCRETE OR GROUT HOUSES.

FOUNTAIN, D. T.

Please describe the method of building houses with concrete walls. What should be used to make the concrete, and in what proportions? Will common lime answer, or must Portland cement or water lime be used? The former comes high here.

WM. M. FISK.

Answer.—For the foundation, especially in sandy or wet soils, it is best to use water lime, or a mixture of Portland cement or water lime and quick lime in the proportions of two shovelfuls of the former and one of quick lime putty to fourteen of fine gravel (or fine and coarse mixed) and one of coarse sand. Above the ground or embankment use quick lime in the proportions of one shovelful of lime putty to six or eight of gravel sand. The proportions depend on the strength of the lime, which varies according to the quality of the stone from which it is made. Slake the quick lime into putty ready for use, mix it partially with the gravel, and only add the water lime at the last moment before filling the barrow or hod. For the foundation dig a ditch of the proper size and dump the concrete into it. Cover it and give it a couple of days to set and harden before starting the upper walls. Take fence boards for mold boards; make clamps of three-quarter inch strips, tapering from two inches to one and one-half inches, so as to drive out of the wall easily before the concrete is hard; bore a half-inch hole in each and two inches further apart than the thickness of the wall, and make half-inch pegs four inches long for these holes. Set one tier of these molds on top of the foundation all around, resting on clamps at distances of five to six feet, and with as many clamps on upper edge to gauge the molds. Now shovel or dump in the fresh concrete as fast as you can mix it. If the weather is fine you can set a second tier of molds on top of the first, twenty-four hours, or even eight hours, after the first were filled, and fill in at the same rate as before, provided you leave the first molds undisturbed. As soon as the second tier is filled, draw the pegs from the taper ends of the lowest tier of clamps and drive them out. Remove the lower set of mold boards and begin a third tier at once. Leave the holes left by clamps, for the air to circulate through. A foot wall for first story and ten-inch above that, with eight-inch for partitions, will make a good strong building. The outside should have a coat of plaster made of medium fine sand, mixed with equal portions of quick lime and water lime; and this plaster should be marked out, before it becomes fully hardened, into blocks, to resemble stonework. As concrete houses, like brick ones, are apt to be damp if plastered directly on the walls, it is best to run in small blocks or strips sixteen inches from center to center, on top of every third or fourth course, before filling the molds with concrete, keep these flush with the inside of walls. Nail inch strips to these blocks to serve for scantling, and lath and plaster over this “furring,” as it is called, and you will have dry walls. Have window and door frames ready to build in as you go; securing them by blocks nailed to jambs, around which pack the concrete to hold them firm. Level up the course of concrete when you reach the height for the first joists, and lay an inch board four inches wide on concrete to rest joists on. Have ends of joists that enter wall cut beveling, so that in case the inside of building burns the joists will drop without prying the walls down. Set joists, leveling them carefully, and go on building wall as before. A concrete house built in this way is as substantial as brick.

LAS VEGAS HOT SPRINGS.

BATAVIA, Iowa.

Are the hot springs of Las Vegas, N. M., beneficial in cases of chronic rheumatism? How far are they from Chicago, and what is the route to them? Also, kindly state the fare.

E. C.

Answer.—The Las Vegas hot springs are reputed to be highly beneficial in cases of chronic and inflammatory rheumatism; particularly in the latter. They are situated on the New Mexico line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, 770 miles from Kansas City, which makes them 1,259 miles from Chicago, via the Chicago and Alton. The regular fare from Chicago to Kansas City is $14.90; from Kansas City or Atchison to Las Vegas and return it is $42.80. It is claimed also that these springs are of great benefit to patients suffering with blood-poisons, paralysis, dyspepsia, and nervous diseases. In the mountain streams the fishing is good, and game is plenty in neighboring localities. From this point to Santa Fe, sixty-five miles, the railroad runs through one of the most interesting portions of this continent, historically considered; a region filled with the wonderful ruins of the old Aztec civilization, the birthplace of the Montezumas.

BASKET WILLOW

LOVELAND, Col.

Is the basket willow marketable in the United States at rates that pay for cultivating it? If so, how is it cultivated, and what soil is best suited for it.

I. H. DAVIS.

Answer.—Repeated efforts have been made to cultivate the osier, or basket willow, in the United States, but the labor of peeling and preparing it for the market costs so much more here than in Europe, where this work is done by women and children at trivial wages, that it has been found difficult to compete with the imported stock. The annual importation of prepared willow during the ten years ending in 1879 averaged $33,000, and the willow-work $170,000 a year. The soils best adapted for the osier are rich alluvions and reclaimed swamps. If liable to overflow in spring floods, the ground should have drainage ditches. It is well to have means of irrigating the land in very dry weather. It is propagated from cuttings, selected from the wood grown the year before, cut smoothly into lengths of about ten inches, thrust into soil butt-end first, so as to leave only about an inch above ground. Care must be taken not to peel the bark in setting these slips, and for this reason it is sometimes best to use a hard wood or iron rod to make the hole. They should slope at an angle of 45 degrees toward the north. It is best to plant in straight rows from 20 to 28 inches apart, according to whether they are to be cut every year or every other year, and at intervals of six or eight inches. It is sometimes preferable to set in trenches, and, if the soil is poor, to fertilize with leaf-mold, stable manure, or bonedust, and irrigate with the soakings of manure during dry weather. The ground should be kept mellow and well weeded. The time of cutting should be late in the fall or in winter. The rods should be sorted into sizes, tied in bundles, dried in the sun, and stored in a dry place until ready for peeling. When peeled they should be dried for a day or so in the sun, when if properly prepared they will be white and brilliant; otherwise they will look dull, which impairs their value in market. If exposed to cold and dry winds, the growing osier should be protected by wind-breaks. Dr. F. B. Hough, Chief of the Forestry Division of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., says: “An osier plantation costs about $20 per acre for cultivation and yields about $100 to $125 per acre.” If this holds good anywhere in this country, it is strange that osier cultivation is so generally reported unprofitable.

CHEAP PROCESS OF SILVERING METALS.

WEST LIBERTY, Iowa.

Please give us instructions for plating or silvering cups, spoons, and other metal articles.

A. H. COX.

Answer.—Electro-plating is a process that requires apparatus, and a degree of skill in using the same which render it scarcely worth while to enter into a detailed description of it. We outlined the process not long ago, and cannot reiterate it. A cheap and simple method of silvering metals, that any one can put in practice, is as follows:

Clean the articles to be silvered with nitric acid, rub them with a mixture of cyanide of potassium and powdered silver, and wash thoroughly in clear, warm water. Then plunge them into a liquor composed of two parts, by weight, of grape sugar or sugar of milk, two of gallic acid, and 650 parts of distilled water, filtered and kept from the air in tightly-corked bottles until the instant of use. After a few minutes take them out of this liquor and immerse them in another composed of twenty parts, by weight, of nitrate of silver, twenty parts of ammonia solution, and 650 parts of distilled water. Repeat this process, plunging the articles first into one liquor and then into the other, every few minutes, until they are all well coated. The process can be accelerated by heating either the mixture or the articles to a moderate degree. Some persons prefer to mix the two liquors at the moment of use in equal quantities. In such case, shake the mixture thoroughly and filter before immersing the metals. The ammonia solution should be of standard strength. If there is any doubt of this, dissolve the nitrate of silver for the second liquor in the distilled water, add the first liquor, mix thoroughly, and add only enough ammonia to clear the mixture. This is the process for copper, brass, German silver, and similar articles, but before silvering iron or steel they should be coated with copper by leaving them for a little time in a solution of sulphate of copper.

THE GUILLOTINE.

FAIRMONT, Neb.

I should like to know who was the inventor of the guillotine. How was it constructed and operated.

W. P. JACKS.

Answer.—For many years the invention of the guillotine, the instrument for inflicting capital punishment adopted by the French during the reign of terror, was accredited to Joseph Ignace Guillotine, a French physician, born in 1738, who in 1785 recommended its use in France from motives of humanity, in place of the barbarous gibbet. However, there is in the Antiquarian Museum of Edinburgh a guillotine made before 1581, which served to behead the Scottish Regent, Morton, who had introduced it into use in that country. It was used in Italy in the thirteenth century in a form resembling the instrument now used in France. The guillotine is composed of two upright beams, grooved upon the inside, and surmounted by a cross-beam. Between these beams and sliding in the grooves is a sharp, iron blade, which falls by its own weight with great speed and certainty, severing the head from the body.

ASSESSMENT OF DEPOSITS.

ANDOVER, D. T.

Has an assessor in Dakota any right to assess money on deposit in a bank in Michigan?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—According to the laws of most States and Territories a certificate of deposit is just as assessable as the money it represents. Money is subject to assessment wherever it belongs.

GOVERNORS OF ALABAMA.

GREENVILLE, Ala.

Please give the names of all of the Governors and Senators of Alabama since the admission of the State into the Union, with the years during which they served.

SEA.

Answer.—The Governors were the following: William W. Bibb, 1819-20; Thomas Bibb, 1821; Israel Pickens, 1821-25; John Murphy, 1825-29; Gabriel Moore, 1829-31; John Gayle, 1831-35; Clement C. Clay, 1835-37; Arthur P. Bagby, 1837-41; Benjamin Fitzpatrick, 1841-45; Joshua L. Martin, 1845-47; Reuben Chapman 1847-49; Henry W. Collier, 1849-53; John A Winston, 1853-57; Andrew P. Moore, 1857-61; John G. Shorter, 1861-63; Thomas H. Watts, 1863-65; Lewis E. Parsons, 1865; Robert M. Patten, 1865-68; William H. Smith, 1868-70; Robert B. Lindsay, 1872; David P. Lewis, 1872-74; George S. Houston, 1874-79; Rufus W. Cobb, 1879-81. The present Senators are John T. Morgan, 1883-89; James L. Pugh, 1879-85. For former Senators see “Lanman’s Biographical History of the Civil Government of the United States;” it is too long a list to copy here.

BACCHUS—TRADE MARKS.

WILMINGTON, Ill.

1. Explain the use of trade marks. 2. Who was Bacchus?

L. F. HAZELTON.

Answer.—1. Trade marks secure a proprietary right of a single firm in the article thus marked. They are intended to prevent an unknown manufacturer from palming off upon the public imitations of goods that have acquired a reputation from the original manufacturer; or they are a certain warrant of the quality of articles bearing them. 2. Bacchus, or Dionysius, was the Greek god of wine, and, according to the myth, the son of Zeus and Semele, the daughter of Cadmus of Thebes. At his birth he was carried by Hermes to Nysa, to be reared by the nymphs. Being struck with madness, at the command of Juno, he wandered from land to land, attended by nymphs having their heads wreathed with vine and ivy leaves and bearing in their hands the thyrsus. To him is ascribed the knowledge of the cultivation of the vine and the manufacture of intoxicating wine, for in his wanderings he carried to men of many lands this information. Those who received him hospitably were rewarded, but all who rejected him brought upon themselves some form of misery. This hero and demigod was worshiped throughout Greece, but chiefly at Thebes, with sacrifices of goats and oxen, and many noisy and indecent rites, until, in 186 B. C., the Roman Senate suppressed the mysteries, which were the principal feature of the worship.

APOCRYPHA AND THE SACRED CANON.

ALGONA, Ill.

I should like to know in what year the Bishops of the Church of Rome accepted the Apocrypha as a part of the canon.

LAURA A. BARSLON.

Answer.—As early as the latter part of the first century of the present era discussions arose among Christians regarding the books rejected by the Jews as profane, and at the Council of Laodicea (360 A. D.) the Greek Church rejected all books except those in the present Protestant canon. In 474 Pope Gelasius convened a council of seventy Bishops, which confirmed the opinion of Pope Innocent I., recognizing the Apocryphal books as sacred, and rejecting some of the doubtful books of the New Testament. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) finally settled the mooted question for the Roman Catholic Church, accepting the “Apocrypha” as a part of the sacred canon. The Greek Church has much the same books, while the Protestants retain only the Hebrew canon of the Old Testament.

CHURCH REFORMATION—PAPAL INFALLIBILITY.

DANVILLE, Ill.

Did any reformatory movements or discussions occur in the Roman Catholic Church before the time of Luther? 2. Are all of the Popes considered infallible?

JOHN SHORT.

Answer.—After the union of church and state, during the reign of Constantine the Great, as the church attained great temporal power and wealth, imposing rites and ceremonies were added to her service, and, with these, abuses and corruption crept in. The first great evil was the assumption by the church of spiritual dictatorship, and to oppose it arose St. Ambrose, St. Martin, and St. Stephen. Then occurred the great reform within the church itself, inaugurated by Pope Gregory III. for the purification of the clergy; and at the same time came Abelard, preaching liberty of thought in theology. But the growth of new sects specially characterized the four centuries immediately preceding the Lutheran Reformation. Of these the principal ones were the Lollards (1324), the Hussites (1373), the Moravian Brethren (1417), and the Mystics (1340-1471). 2. The supreme authority of the Pope in all religious matters has been generally acknowledged in the Roman Catholic Church from very early times, but the infallibility of the Pope, in regard to faith and morals, was not formulated and decreed by the Vatican Council until July 18, 1870.

A COMPARISON OF NATIONS.

MEDIA, Kan.

What effect does the present system of tariff have upon American commercial and industrial interests of the United States? How do the commerce and industrial products of the United States compare with those of other countries?

J. H. VICK.

Answer.—There are several articles on the tariff in Our Curiosity Shop for 1880, to which we must refer you; particularly one on page 149, entitled “The Tariff and the Farmers.” According to high statistical authority the commerce and principal industries of this country, Great Britain, France, and Germany in 1880 compared as follows:

Countries— Commerce. Manufactures.

United States $1,505,000,000 $4,440,000,000 Great Britain 3,460,000,000 3,790,000,000 France 1,660,000,000 2,425,000,000 Germany 1,920,000,000 2,135,000,000

The commerce above referred to is mainly foreign commerce. In the case of Great Britain, what corresponds to our inter-State commerce (the trade between the different portions of the one extended government) is included under the head of “Commerce,” swelling the aggregate largely, whereas but a small portion of the interstate commerce of the United States is included in the above estimate of our “Commerce.” Our fifty million people buy and sell among themselves to supply each other’s wants, and consume a much larger proportion of their domestic products per capita for their own comfort than do the English, French, or Germans. The effects of the tariff in building up American manufactures are shown in the above table, and in the table below are indicated some of the effects on mining, agriculture, and the carrying trade:

Carrying Countries— Mining. Agriculture. Trade.

United States $360,000,000 $3,000,000,000 $830,000,000 Great Britain 325,000,000 1,200,000,000 805,000,000 France 60,000,000 2,000,000,000 810,000,000 Germany 105,090,000 1,700,000,000 845,000,000

Comparatively few of our manufactures are exported, because our agriculture, mining, manufacturing, commercial, and professional classes consume them at home. So, too, the products of our mines are mostly kept at home, and four-fifths of our agricultural products. If our foreign carrying trade is not so large as Great Britain’s, our coasting and other domestic carrying trade exceeds hers. By division of labor we are creating a world of our own, setting up our own standards of wages, and modes of living, and are, as a consequence, living better, enjoying more of the comforts of life, man for man, than any other people under the sun.

THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES.

ALGONA, Iowa.

I come to you for a little light. In Abbott’s “Life of Cleopatra” the author states that in early times the Bible was not kept by the Jews as any other than a vulgar history. I should like to know whether there is any authority for the assertion.

LAURA A. BARSLOW.

Answer.—For hundreds of years before the birth of Christ the books of Moses and other works sanctioned by the prophets (whose duty it was to guard the people against spurious writings or the loss of what was genuine) were regarded by the Jews as so sacred that “no one dared to add to or omit or alter anything;” so Josephus tells us. An authentic copy was kept in the Temple, while others copied from it were circulated for use in the synagogues of different places. A Jewish tradition ascribes to Ezra, after the return of the Jews from the captivity, and the college of learned men called the “Great Synagogue,” the collection and selection of writings which form the Jewish and the present Protestant Old Testament canon. There is no good authority for the statement in your question.

SHOOTING NIAGARA.

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Did any steamboat ever go through the great whirlpool in Niagara River with anybody on board and without being wrecked?

CONTROVERSY.

Answer.—The little excursion steamer Maid of the Mist, which used to ply on the Niagara River, between the falls and the whirlpool, ran through the seething rapids and the great whirlpool of that river in 1861, with the captain and two companions on board, one of whom was hurt on the passage. It was a foolhardy feat, and came near ending in the wreck of the vessel and the death of all on board.

THE SUN’S STAY IN THE NORTH.

GILMAN, Ill.

To settle a dispute, state whether the sun stays north of the equator longer than it does south of it; and if so, why.

YOUNG READER.

Answer.—The earth’s orbit is not a perfect circle, but an ellipse with the sun in one of the foci, at a point on the long diameter of the orbit something more than a million miles from the center in the direction of perigee, or the place where the earth approaches nearest to the sun. In 1882 the sun was in perigee Dec. 31, and in apogee—the point furthest from the earth—on July 3. For several thousand years to come the perigee point will be south of the equator, as it has been for several thousand years past. As a consequence of this and because the earth moves more rapidly the nearer it gets to the sun, it takes it less time to travel through that part of its orbit south of the equator than through the portion north of it. In the year 1800 the sun was north of the equator seven days 16 hours and 51 minutes longer than it was south of it. The sun crossed the equator, coming north, March 21, 1882, at 12:02 o’clock at night, and crossed it on the return Sept. 22, 1882, at 10:29 o’clock p. m., an interval of 185 days 10 hours and 27 minutes. It reached the equator next on its return northward, March 20, 1883, at 5:39 o’clock p. m., an interval of 177 days 19 hours and 10 minutes. So that the northern hemisphere had a longer spring and summer than the southern hemisphere last year by seven days 15 hours and 27 seconds. The Brazilians and Terra del Fuegans may console themselves with the reflection that in about 6,000 years they will get even with us, and that in a little more than 12,000 years from now the sun will linger in the southern hemisphere a full week longer than in the northern.

AREA OF PALESTINE.

OSCEOLA, Iowa.

What is the extent of Palestine? Where can I get a first-class map and geographical description of Palestine?

C. M. F.

Answer.—The area is variously estimated as from 11,000 to 12,000 square miles. The former is Kitto’s estimate, and according to that Palestine has not quite one-fifth the extent of Illinois (56,650) or Iowa (56,025). Maps of Palestine, ranging in cost from $4 to $30, with or without descriptive pamphlets, or geographies, may be ordered of any of the church publication societies in this city by yourself or through the nearest bookseller.

DATES OF CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.

NEWTON, Kas.

Please give the dates of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

C. A. HERRICK.

Answer.—The first ten were added before the adoption of the Constitution, in 1791; the eleventh in 1798, the twelfth in 1804, the thirteenth in 1865, the fourteenth in 1868, and the fifteenth in 1870.

SENATOR SHARON.

MANLY JUNCTION, Iowa.

Please give a brief sketch of Senator Sharon.

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—William Sharon was born in Smithfield, Ohio, Jan. 9, 1821. After preparing himself for admission to the legal profession he decided to enter the banking business, and upon his removal to Nevada became interested in mining operations. He is at present a trustee of the Bank of California, and has great influence in the business of the Pacific slope. He was United States Senator from Nevada for the term 1875-81.

THREE BLACK FRIDAYS.

ODESSA, Neb.

What was “Black Friday,” and what part did ex-President Grant take in it?

ED. S. JELLEY.

Answer.—September 24, 1869, Jay Gould and James Fisk, Jr., attempted to create a corner in the gold market by buying all the gold in the banks of New York City, amounting to $15,000,000. For several days the value of gold rose steadily, and the speculators aimed to carry it from 144 to 200. Friday the whole city was in a ferment, the banks were rapidly selling, gold was at 162½ and still rising. Men became insane and everywhere the wildest excitement raged, for it seemed probable that the business houses must be closed, from ignorance of the prices to be charged for their goods. But in the midst of the panic it was reported that Secretary Boutwell, of the United States Treasury, had thrown $4,000,000 on the market, and at once gold fell, the excitement ceased, leaving Gould and Fisk the winners of $11,000,000. There is no good evidence that President Grant had any connection with the sales. The fact that his brother-in-law was interested in Wall street operations at that time led to the charge against Grant by his enemies. The day noticed above is what is generally referred to as Black Friday in this country, but the term was first used in England, being applied in the first instance to the Friday on which the news reached London that the young Pretender, Charles Edward, had arrived at Derby, creating a terrible panic: and finally to May 11, 1866, when the failure of Overend, Guerney & Co., London, the day before, was followed by a widespread financial ruin.

FORFEITURE OF HOMESTEAD.

CAMARGO, Ill.

Is it absolutely necessary for a homesteader to commence his bona fide residence on his claim within six months?

G. H. SNEDAKER.

Answer.—The homestead law contemplates immediate settlement by the claimant upon the land; and section 2,297 of the Revised Statutes declares that if at any time after he has filed his entry affidavit it is shown, to the satisfaction of the receiver of the land office, that the claimant has actually changed his residence, “or abandoned the land for more than six months,” at any time, the land shall revert to the government. “Copps’ American Settlers’ Guide,” page 53, says: “At the expiration of six months from date of entry the homestead party who has not been able to establish a bona fide residence upon the homestead, owing to climatic reasons, must file his affidavit, duly corroborated by two credible witnesses, giving in detail the storms, etc., that rendered it impossible for him to commence residence within six months.” We would add that it is safest to comply with the law, making it unnecessary to appeal to the decree of the General Land Commissioner, a very uncertain resort in cases of this nature.

LIQUOR DRANK IN ILLINOIS.

CARLINVILLE, Ill.

In an argument on the temperance question a few days ago, a public speaker quoted THE INTER OCEAN as authority for the statement that there are $60,000,000 worth of liquor drank in Illinois during the course of a year. 1. Did THE INTER OCEAN say so? If it did, give us the figures in the Curiosity Shop to prove it. 2. He also said that this amount was one-third greater than the total value of the wheat crop of this State. Prove that too.

T. E. D.

Answer.—The principal facts on which THE INTER OCEAN rests the estimate above quoted are re-stated below once for all. If they can be successfully refuted, let us have that refutation. The following estimate is based on observations made as to the patronage of six Chicago saloons, so long ago as 1877, by the founders of the Citizens’ League. The figures in the first column give the number of persons, male and female, seen to enter these places between 7 o’clock p. m. and midnight; the second column is our own computation of the money paid in, assuming that nothing but beer was called for, at 5 cents a glass, two-thirds of the customers drinking but one glass, and the rest of them averaging only two glasses each; and the third column indicates the probable actual receipts, adding for the ordinary consumption of drinks more costly than beer:

Number Receipts Gross entering. if beer. receipts.

2,863 $190 $250 2,806 187 250 1,979 132 176 1,820 121 160 1,741 116 155 1,685 112 150

Observe that these are the receipts in saloons where lager beer was the chief drink; that the above figures cover only the five hours after 7 p. m., and that liquors in kegs, bottles, pitchers, and jugs ordered for home use are not taken into account. There are a few establishments dealing chiefly in whisky, brandy, wine, etc., whose receipts are at times nearly double the highest amount above given as the daily average.

To add assurance to the above calculation, one of the most thorough investigators and accurate reporters on THE INTER OCEAN local staff was detailed to ascertain, as nearly as may be, the actual receipts of Chicago saloons. He made the following report:

On the foregoing data a moderate estimate of the gross annual receipts of the 3,750 licensed saloons of Chicago figures as below:

No. of Average daily Receipts saloons. receipts. for year.

10 $175 $838,750 50 85 1,551,250 100 50 1,825,000 1,000 30 10,950,000 1,000 25 9,125,000 1,090 15 5,967,750 500 10 1,825,000 ————— ——————————— 3,750 $32,082,750

This schedule does not cover unlicensed saloons, or other places where liquor is sold; the average daily receipts are taken at less rather than more than the probable truth, and yet it charges Chicago, which contains only about one-sixth of the population of the State, with an outlay of over $32,000,000 per annum for spirits, wines, and fermented drinks. It is not so easy to ascertain the number of saloons in the rest of the State and their average daily sales, but data are not wholly wanting. Take the following figures, compiled from a list of high-license towns, where in several instances the number of saloons has been reduced by more than half.

Population. No. of License. saloons. Anna 1,500 9 $500 Aurora 13,500 25 500 Apple River 650 2 300 Bloomington 23,000 32 600 Cabery 325 3 400 Carmi 2,500 12 300 Charleston 3,250 6 800 Chandlerville 700 3 500 Chenoa 1,100 5 300 Dongola 700 4 300 Elmwood 1,700 3 800 Galesburg 12,000 18 600 Gillespie 800 8 450 Hillsboro 2,000 3 800 Joliet 14,500 60 500 Kenny 600 2 500 Lamoille 500 1 300 Minier 650 3 300 Mason City 2,000 4 750 Mattoon 7,000 8 800 Moline 9,000 30 300 Mount Morris 900 1 500 Noble 400 1 300 Odell 1,000 2 750 Ohio 400 3 475 Oswego 700 2 300 Paris 5,500 8 800 Rockford 15,000 20 500 Rochelle 2,000 4 433 Savanna 1,500 10 500 Strawn 400 3 300 Tiskilwa 800 2 400 Washburn 500 3 300

In Peoria, Quincy, Rock Island, Galena, Alton, Cairo, Belleville, Springfield, LaSalle, Ottawa, Morris, Kankakee, and low-license towns generally, the number of saloons as compared with population is still greater, averaging but little better than Chicago with its license of only $103, and one saloon to every 160 inhabitants—men, women, and children. Fifty-eight high-license towns of the State, with a population of 189,000, contain 401 saloons, or one to every 470 inhabitants. Make all the allowance that can be reasonably asked for the moderate drinking of the farming classes, and discount, if possible, our estimate for Chicago, and the total cost of liquor drank in Illinois exceeds $60 000 000 per annum. 2. The Illinois crop report for 1882 makes the winter wheat of that year worth $45,472,045 and the spring wheat $1,242,331.

THE DIAMOND.

SHENANDOAH, Iowa.

When, how and by whom were diamonds first discovered? What is the etymology of the word diamond? How did their value when first discovered compare with the same now? What is the value of a one-carat diamond of the finest quality?

R. P. DRAKE.

Answer.—The discoverer of diamonds is unknown. From references in Exodus it is apparent that the diamond was a precious stone in Egypt in those early times; and even before that it was known in India, where probably it was first obtained. The name is derived from the Greek word adamas, meaning “unsubduable,” referring to its hardness, and later was written diamas, in Latin. From Pliny, a writer of the first century, we learn that the diamond was regarded as the most valuable of all things, and but few kings even could afford to buy them. But as no means of artificial polishing had been discovered the stone depreciated in value, so that the ruby and emerald became more precious. The discovery by Ludwig van Berquen, in 1476, of a mode of cutting and polishing it, at once returned this gem to the first place among precious stones. The present value of a fine brilliant, weighing one carat, varies from $50 to $100. The rose and table diamonds command much less. Larger diamonds appreciate in value much more rapidly than the ratio of their weight. The Orloff diamond, 193 carats, is valued at $500,000; the Pitt diamond, 136 carats, at $600,000; the Dudley diamond, 254½ carats, at $750,000; while the Kohinoor, for various reasons, although now it weighs but 102½ carats, is estimated to be worth $2,000,000.

AUTHORS OF CERTAIN POEMS.

RANDOLPH, N. Y.

The title of the poem containing the couplet—

“And is this the man, thou vaunting knave, Thou hast dared to compare with the weeping slave?”

is “The Peasant.” It was written by William Howitt. The author of the poem containing the lines, “I sat alone with my conscience,” etc., is Charles W. Stubbs. It appeared in the Spectator under the title, “The Conscience and Future Judgment.”

LEO BOARDMAN.

GENERAL TOM THUMB.

GRISWOLD, Iowa.

How old was General Tom Thumb when he died? State his real name in full, and that of his wife; also a few of the principal facts as to his size, history, etc., and oblige several readers.

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—The true name of this celebrated dwarf was Charles Heywood Stratton. He was born in Bridgeport, Conn., Jan. 4, 1838, and died at his residence, Middleboro, Mass., July 15, 1883, of apoplexy. The attention of P. T. Barnum, the showman, was first drawn to Stratton in November, 1842, when the midget was about 4 years old. He was then less than 2 feet high, weighed less than 16 pounds, was beautifully formed, a blonde, with ruddy cheeks and mirthful eyes. Barnum introduced him to the public Dec. 8, 1842, by the name of General Tom Thumb; now known the world over. He paid him $3 a week and expenses for himself and his mother for the first four weeks, after which he engaged him for a year at $7 a week, but, as the boy proved a great attraction, he soon raised the wages to $25 a week. In January, 1846, under a contract of $50 a week, Mr. Barnum took him to Europe, where he made a profitable tour through England, France, and Germany. He was presented to Queen Victoria, Louis Phillipe, King William of Prussia (now the German Emperor), and other rulers, who treated him with marked kindness. The next year he returned to Europe for three months. On his return home he proved a greater attraction than ever, and Mr. Barnum says that in twelve days in Philadelphia he received $5,504.91; and in one day at Providence he took in $976.98. In 1857 he took Tom Thumb and Cordelia Howard, famous as little Eva in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” to Europe, where these children appeared in humorous characters, creating a furore and gathering a golden harvest. In 1862 Mr. Barnum introduced the two sister midgets, Lavinia and Minnie Warren, to the public, the former of whom young Stratton married before the end of that year. True to his chief instinct Barnum desired to turn the courting and the marriage ceremony to pecuniary account, offering $15,000 to postpone the wedding for a month, and then have it take place in the Academy of Music as an exhibition at so much a seat. To the credit of the bride and groom, they repelled this offer with just indignation, and were married in Grace Church, New York. The public reception at the Metropolitan Hotel, immediately following, was a notable affair. After this, for week after week, the three tiny folks drew crowds of admirers at Barnum’s old museum on the corner where the New York Herald office now stands, the receipts sometimes being over $3,000 a day. Mr. and Mrs. Stratton had a pleasant home at Middleboro, where they spent a large part of their time when not on the stage. They had one child, who died at the age of 2 years and 6 months. Both of them have been noted for sprightly intelligence, and have hosts of friends in all circles of society.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

URBANA, Ill.

Will you please to give a short biography of Napoleon Bonaparte?

NETTIE AYERS.

Answer.—He was born at Ajaccio, Corsica, Aug. 15, 1769. His mother, a strong and cultured, but severe woman, ruled her household with a rod of iron, and to her the son owed his indomitable will. At ten years of age he was sent to a military school at Brienne, France, and six years later entered the army. In 1792, having taken an active part in the defection in Ajaccio, he was expelled, with the rest of his family, from the city. After several years of brilliant military service Napoleon was made commander of the campaign in Italy, which closed with the treaty of Campo Formio. On the eve of his departure he was married to the beautiful and accomplished Mme. Josephine Beauharnais. The year after the close of the Italian campaign (1797) Napoleon set out for Egypt, designing to investigate its wealth, art treasures and other antiquities, but the expedition proved disastrous and he soon returned to meet a critical state of affairs in France, leaving the army under the command of General Kleber. On Aug. 2, 1802, the French people made Bonaparte First Consul for life, and in the same year received at his hands the famous Code Napoleon, the product of the best legal talent of the nation, and undoubtedly one of the noblest monuments of his administration. It still forms the great body of French law. Two years later, he was proclaimed Emperor. After a remarkable career in war and peace, he sacrificed his heart and highest manhood to his ambition by divorcing his faithful Josephine to form a royal alliance with Maria Louisa, daughter of the Emperor of Austria. The decline of his power soon followed, like a pursuing Nemesis; beginning with the fearful disasters succeeding the burning of Moscow and the ensuing retreat in the midst of a Russian winter, and ending with the disastrous battle of Leipsic, the fall of Paris, his first abdication, and his exile (1814) to the little island of Elba. He escaped to France ten months later; raised another army, and hastened to meet the allies—English, Germans, and Netherlanders—in Belgium, on the fatal field of Waterloo. A few months later and he was a prisoner for life on the desolate island of St. Helena, in custody of Great Britain, where he died of cancer of the stomach May 5, 1821. By almost universal concession he is regarded as the greatest military commander that ever lived. Had his diplomacy been equal to his military genius it is probable that he would have remained to his death, as he was for a period of more than six years, the virtual master of nearly all the civilized States of Continental Europe. In 1840 his mortal remains were carried to France and buried in Paris, the scene of his greatest triumphs as of his final downfall.

WEIGHT OF LUMBER.

DECATUR, Ill.

Please publish a table of the weight per thousand feet, “Chicago yard measure,” of planed and unplaned boards, flooring, siding, etc., and do your readers a practical service.

OLD SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—The following table is given in the lumber inspection rules printed by the Northwestern Lumberman Publishing Company of this city. It presents the average of the actual weights in the shipment of 20,000,000 feet of lumber during a single season:

Weight in Description pounds

Boards, 1, 1¼, and 1½ inch thick, surfaced on one side per thousand ft. 2,102 Boards, 1, 1¼, and 1½ inch thick, surfaced on two sides 2,068 Boards, 2 inches thick, surfaced on one side 2,000 Flooring, white pine, dressed and matched 1,890 Flooring, 4 inches wide, dressed and matched 1,793 Flooring, hard pine, dressed and matched 2,366 Ship laps, 8 inch 1,711 Ship laps, 10 inch 1,725 Ship laps, 12 inch 1,855 Ceiling, white pine, ⅜ inch 786 Ceiling, hard pine, ⅜ inch 950 Siding 865 Piece stuff, rough 2,560 Piece stuff, surfaced on one side 2,210 Thin, clear 1,380 Ceiling, ⅝ 1,120 Rough boards 2,524 Fence, hard pine 2,910 Fencing, 6 inch 2,433 Shingles, pine, per 1,000 248 Shingles, cedar, per 1,000 203 Lath, dry 502

ST. ANASTASIUS—APOSTLE OF HUNGARY.

Who was called the “Apostle of Hungary,” where was he born, and when did he live?

W. I. PRATT.

Answer.—St. Anastasius, surnamed Astric, was born in France, A. D. 954, and died in 1044. He gained great influence over Stephen I., King of Hungary, 997-1038, who intrusted the zealous missionary with almost unlimited powers. These he used with such rare wisdom and spirit that the Hungarians were rapidly converted from paganism. The freedom of all Christian slaves was proclaimed, the political organization of the kingdom was reconstructed, schools were established, and, in fine, Hungary was transformed from barbarism to a state of inchoate Christian civilization. He is honored in history and tradition as the “Apostle of Hungary.”

EXECUTIVE AND DEPARTMENT SALARIES.

AUGUSTA, Kan.

Please give the organization of the President’s household, give the salaries of its several officers, and state who pays the same. Also give the organization of each of the departments under the several members of the President’s Cabinet.

C. H. M.

Answer.—The President’s salary is $50,000 a year. The organization of the executive office gives him a private secretary, with salary of $3,250; assistant secretary, $2,250; two executive clerks, each $2,000; stenographer, $1,800; five other clerks, severally $1,200, $1,400, and $1,800; steward, $1,800; usher, $1,400; five messengers, each $1,200; four doorkeepers, each $1,200; watchman, $900; furnace-keeper, $864.

The principal officers of the Department of State are: Secretary of State, salary, $8,000; Assistant Secretary, $4,500; Second Assistant, $3,500; Third Assistant, $3,500; Chief Clerk, $2,750; Examiner of Claims, $3,500; Chief of Diplomatic Bureau, $2,100; Chief of Consular Bureau, $2,100; Chief of Indexes and Archives, $2,100; Chief of Bureau of Accounts, $2,100; Librarian, $2,100; Translator, $2,100. There are thirty-nine clerks with salaries ranging from $1,800 down to $900; a proof-reader, $1,300; a lithographer, $1,200; chief engineer, $1,200; assistant engineer, $1,000; messengers, watchmen, laborers, and firemen, in all twenty-four, ranging from $1,000 down to $660.

The Treasury Department is one of the most, perhaps the most important and laborious department of the government. The Secretary’s salary is $8,000, the Assistant Secretary receives $4,500; Second Assistant Secretary, $4,500; Chief Clerk, $2,700; First Comptroller, $5,000; Second Comptroller, $5,000; Commissioner of Customs, $4,000; First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Auditors, each, $3,600; Treasurer of the United States, $6,000; Assistant Treasurer, $3,600; Register of the Treasury, $4,000; Comptroller of the Currency, $5,000; Commissioner of Internal Revenue, $6,000; Solicitor of Internal Revenue, $4,500; Solicitor of the Treasury, $4,500; Director of the Mint, $4,500; Chief of Bureau of Engraving and Printing, $4,500; Chief of Bureau of Statistics, $2,400; Supervising Architect, $4,500; Superintendent of United States Coast Survey, $6,000; Chairman of Lighthouse Board, $4,000; Superintendent of Life-saving Service, $4,000; Inspector General of Steamboats, $3,500; Chief of Appointment Division, $2,500; Chief of Warrant Division, $2,750; Chief of Public Moneys Division, $2,500; Chief of Customs Division, $2,750. The subordinate officers and employes under the above chief officers of the Treasury number many thousands, varying in number with the emergencies of the service. The total official list of this department for all parts of the country, including collectors of customs and internal revenue and their employes, covers 195 octavo pages, with from sixty to ninety-six names on a page.

The Department of the Interior is organized as follows: Secretary of the Interior, salary, $8,000; Assistant Secretary, $3,500; Chief Clerk, $2,750; Assistant Attorney General, $5,000; Commissioner of General Land Office, $4,000; Commissioner of Pensions, $5,000; Commissioner of Patents, $4,500; Commissioner of Indian Affairs, $4,000; Commissioner of Education, $3,000; Director of Geological Survey, $6,000; Superintendent of Census, $5,000. Other officers and employes in all parts of the country, but mainly at Washington, vary in number from time to time, more perhaps than those of any other department, ranging from about 7,500 to about 9,000, with salaries from $3,000 down to $600.

The Secretary of War receives $8,000 a year; Chief Clerk, $2,500; Adjutant General, $5,500; Inspector General, $5,500; Quartermaster General, $5,500; Commissary General, $5,500; Surgeon General, $5,500; Chief Medical Purveyor, $4,200; Judge Advocate General, $5,500; Chief of Engineers, $5,500; Chief Signal Officer, $5,500; Chief of Ordnance, $5,500. The complete official list of the department at present embraces about 4,000 names, with salaries from $3,000 to $660.

The Secretary of the Navy receives $8,000; Chief Clerk, $2,500; Judge Advocate General, $4,500; Chiefs of the Bureaus of yards and docks, navigation, ordnance, provisions and clothing, medicine and surgery, equipment and recruiting, construction and repair, steam-engineering, each $5,000; Commandant of navy yard, $4,500; Pay Inspector, $3,000; Commandant of Marine Corps, $4,500; Superintendent of Naval Observatory, $5,000; Superintendent of Nautical Almanac, $3,500; Chief Signal Officer, $3,500; Hydrographer, $3,500. The total official list of the Navy numbers now about 2,800, with salaries from $3,000 to $660.

The Postmaster General receives $8,000; the First, Second and Third Assistants, each $3,500; Superintendent of Foreign Mails, $3,000; Assistant Attorney General for Postoffice Department, $4,000; Superintendent of Money-order System, $3,000. The total official list for employes at Washington numbers about 5,000, with salaries ranging from those already given down to $660 a year.

The Department of Justice is organized with Attorney General, salary, $8,000; Solicitor General, $7,000; First Assistant Attorney General, $5,000; Second Assistant Attorney General, $5,000. There are about fifty clerks, copyists, messengers, laborers, etc., at salaries from $2,200 to $660.

WHEN THE SEASONS BEGIN.

WENONA, Ill.

To end an argument, please inform us, through Our Curiosity Shop, when summer begins.

C. M. TURNER.

Answer.—The civil or tropical year, the one commonly used in the measure of time, is the period which elapses from the sun’s appearance on one of the tropical circles to its return to the same. It varies very slightly, and has a mean length of 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 49.7 seconds. Astronomically considered, the four seasons begin at the equinoctial or the solstitial points. The summer solstice is the meridian, passing through the point where the sun touches the tropic of cancer; the winter solstice is the meridian passing through the point where it touches the tropic of capricorn; and the equinoctial points are the points at which the sun’s path or equinoctial crosses the celestial equator. All these points shift, according to very exact astronomical laws, from year to year; and so the precise times when the seasons begin are matters of the nicest mathematical calculations. For example, last year the seasons began as follows:

Winter began Dec. 21, 1881, at 10:52 a. m. and lasted 90 days, 1 hour, and 10 minutes.

Spring began March 21, 1882, at 12:02 p. m. and lasted 91d, 20h, and 4m.

Summer began June 21, 1882, at 8:06 a. m. and lasted 93d, 14h, and 23m.

Winter began Dec. 21, 1882, at 4:45 p. m. and lasted 89d, 18h, and 16m.

The beginning of the seasons this year are given as follows:

Winter began Dec. 21, 1882, at 4:45 p. m. and lasted 88 days, and 54 minutes.

Spring began March 20, 1883, at 5:39 p. m. and lasted 92d, 20h, and 14m.

Summer began June 21, 1883, at 1:53 p. m. and lasts 93d, 14h, and 35m.

Winter will begin Dec. 21, 1883, at 10:44 a. m. and last 89d, 16h, and 16m.

HENRY CLAY.

HOOSIER, Pa.

Please give me an account of Henry Clay and his descendants.

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—Henry Clay was born near Richmond, Va., April 12, 1777. His father died in 1782, and ten years later his mother married again and moved to Kentucky, leaving Henry as a clerk in Richmond. In 1797 Henry followed her, and opened a law office in Lexington. He took an active part in the framing of a new constitution for Kentucky, upon her separation from Virginia when he strongly urged some provision for the abolition of slavery, but in vain. From this time he became prominent in politics. In 1803 a State Senator, a United States Senator in 1806, one of the negotiators of peace in the war of 1812, and twice a Speaker of the House, he was no stranger to statesmanship when in 1824 he appeared as a candidate for the presidency. He was defeated, however, as was also the case in 1832 and 1844 when he was the candidate of the Whig party. As an orator he stands among the very first that this country has produced. As a statesman he was far-seeing, a wise political economist, a devoted lover of the Union, and absolutely incorruptible. “I would rather be right than be the President,” is one of his utterances, made under circumstances that tested his sincerity. He did what he believed was right, offended the slave oligarchy thereby, as he foresaw he should do, and barely failed of election to the presidency in the ensuing campaign as the consequence. Knowing the desperate measures to which the champions of slavery would resort to preserve and extend that institution, he averted threatened secession in 1821 by bringing forward the “Missouri Compromise;” again in 1850 by another compromise known as the “Omnibus bill.” The effect of these pacific measures was to defer the inevitable final appeal to arms until the strength of the free States had outgrown the slave power, and the Union was able to grapple with secession and throttle it. As one of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty of Ghent, at the close of the second war with England, he caused the erasure of the clause granting free navigation of the Mississippi to British vessels. Protection to American industry through a wise adjustment of the tariff, found in him one of the ablest of its early champions. Mr. Clay married Lucretia Hart, in 1799, who bore him six daughters and five sons. The last of the daughters died in 1835. Of the sons, the most promising, Henry, born in 1811, fell at the battle of Buena Vesta, Feb. 23, 1847. James B., born in 1817, was a representative in Congress from his father’s old district, 1857-9. He was a member of the Peace Commission of 1861; died at Montreal, Jan. 26, 1864. Thomas Hart, born in 1803, took office under President Lincoln as minister to Nicaragua, and, later, to Honduras. He died at Lexington, Ky., March 18, 1871.

FOUNDING OF YALE AND DARTMOUTH.

MELVIN, Ill.

Please state when and by whom Yale, Harvard, and Dartmouth colleges were founded.

A. BUCKHOLZ.

Answer.—Yale College was founded in 1700, by the Connecticut Colony, under the trusteeship of the ten principal ministers of the colony. Harvard University was founded at Cambridge in 1636, and named for the Rev. John Harvard, who gave $3,500 toward its endowment fund. Dartmouth College was chartered in 1769, and named for Lord Dartmouth, because of his interest and benefactions. These institutions were chartered by corporations, and not by single individuals.

SWARMING OF BEES.

KEWANEE, Ill.

In swarming, do the old or the young bees leave the hive?

“TOPSY.”

Answer.—The first swarm of a season leaves the hive under the guidance of the old queen, before the new brood is hatched. This swarm consists of most of the old workers and drones. As soon as the new brood is five or six days old, young queens lead forth other swarms, composed for the most part of young bees, until only one queen remains in the old hive with a swarm.

MARTIN LUTHER.

URBANA, Ill.

Will you please give me a short biography of Martin Luther?

NETTIE AYRES.

Answer.—Martin Luther was born of poor parents, at Eisleben, in 1483. After studying at Erfurt and being confirmed priest, Luther accepted a professorship at the University of Wittemberg in 1508. In 1510 he was sent on a mission to Rome, where he had an insight into the corruptions of the papacy, and upon his return he immediately entered upon his work of reform, especially attacking the sale of indulgences. One of his first acts was to nail on the door of Wittemberg Church ninety-five theses, in which he denied the power of the Pope to forgive sins. Great excitement followed, and Luther was summoned by Pope Leo X. to appear at Rome. The university and electors interfered, and a legate from Rome came to Germany to hear Luther’s defense. Soon Luther’s books and papers gained a wide circulation, and in 1520 came a papal bull of excommunication, which Luther burned in the gate of Wittemberg in the presence of a large company. The next year Charles V. convened the Diet of Worms, which ordered the destruction of Luther’s books and the arrest of the heretic. He was now imprisoned by friends in the Castle of Wartburg for his protection, and soon after his release married the gifted Katharine Von Bora, a nun whom he had converted to Protestantism. His later life was spent in writing and controversy, though, on the whole, very quiet. He died in 1546.

FALL OF WESTERN RIVERS.

1. What is the elevation of Rock Island, St. Louis, and Cairo above the Gulf of Mexico? 2. What is the fall per mile required to give a river a current of two miles an hour? 3. State average fall of the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

J. H. RHODES.

Answer.—1. Rock Island is about 536 feet, St. Louis 408 feet, and Cairo about 322 feet above tide-water. 2. The number of inches fall per mile required to give a current of two miles depends very greatly upon the volume of the stream, the character of the bed, and the directness of the channel. The same stream is sluggish at low water and a rushing torrent at high flood. The current of the Lower Mississippi, with a fall of nearly three inches per mile, has an annual average of three miles an hour in midstream. 3. The slope of rivers falling into the Mississippi from the west is about six inches per mile, and that of those from the east is about three inches per mile, except in the case of the Ohio River, whose mean descent from Pittsburg to Cairo, including the falls and rapids at Louisville, is about 5⅙ inches. The mean descent of the Mississippi from the mouth of the Ohio to the gulf is a little over 2⅘ inches a mile. Between Lake Itasca and the mouth of the Ohio the descent of the Mississippi is much more rapid. From its source to the Falls of Pecogama, 270 miles, the total descent is 324 feet; thence to Pine River, 200 miles, the fall is 165 feet; thence to Crow Wing, 47 miles, it is 49 feet. Below this are the Sauk Rapids, then the Rapids and Falls of St. Anthony, 18 feet at a leap and 66 feet in a single mile; then the Rock Island Rapids, 22 feet; and the Des Moines Rapids, 24 feet. The total descent between Lake Itasca and the mouth of the Ohio is 1,285 feet.

PRINCIPAL BATTLES OF THE REBELLION.

YORK, Neb.

Please give the dates of the principal battles of the rebellion, who commanded in each, and the number killed on both sides.

J. I. MOSBARGER.

Answer.—Bull Run (first), July 21, 1861: North, General McDowell; killed, 481: South, General Beauregard; killed, unknown. Shiloh, April 7, 1862: North, General Grant; killed, 1,735; South General A. S. Johnston; killed, 1,728. Seven Pines and Fair Oaks, May 31 and June 1, 1862: North, General McClellan; killed, 890; South, General J. E. Johnston; killed, 2,800. Antietam, Sept. 16 and 17, 1862; North, General McClellan; killed, 2,010; South, General Lee; killed, 3,500. Chancellorsville, May 2 and 3, 1863: North, General Hooker; killed, 1,512: South, General Jackson; killed, 1,581. Gettysburg, July 1, 2, and 3, 1863; North, General Meade; killed, 2,834; South, General Lee; killed, 3,500. Vicksburg, July 3 and 4, 1863: North, General Grant; killed, 545: South, General Pemberton; killed, unknown. Chickamauga, Sept. 19-23, 1863: North, General Thomas; killed, 1,644; South, General Bragg; killed, 2,389. Wilderness, May 5, 6, and 7, 1864: North, General Grant; killed, 5,597; South, General Lee; killed, 2,000. Spottsylvania, May 8-21, 1864: North, General Grant; killed, 4,177; South, General Lee; killed, 1,000. The above figures are based on medical official returns, and do not agree with returns of Adjutant General. No two reports agree. Adjutant General makes killed at Wilderness 2,261, and at Spottsylvania 2,270; while General Meade’s report, based on reports immediately after the battle, states killed at Wilderness at 3,288; at Spottsylvania 2,146.

SILVER COINS AT A PREMIUM.

HEBRON, Ind.

Can you give a list of the United States silver coins that are at a premium?

FRANK RICHARDS.

Answer.—There is a considerable demand for United States silver coins of rare issues to complete collections for coin cabinets. The following are quotations for a few of the rarer coins, taken from two coin price lists, one published in Chicago and the other in Reading, Pa.:

UNITED STATES DOLLARS.

Reading. Chicago. 1794, flowing hair $30.30 $12.50 1795, flowing hair 1.50 1.25 1795, fillet head 1.65 1.25 1796, fillet head 1.65 1.25 1797, fillet head, 6 stars facing 1.75 1.75 1797, fillet head, 7 stars facing 2.00 1.25 1798, fillet head, 13 stars, small eagle 4.75 1.25 1798, fillet head, 15 stars, small eagle 6.00 2.00 1798, 13 stars, large eagle 1.35 1.15 1799, 5 stars facing 2.25 1.40 1799, 6 stars facing 1.25 1.15 1800, spread eagle 1.45 1.25 1801, spread eagle 1.75 1.50 1802, spread eagle 1.45 1.35 1802 over 1801, spread eagle 1.50 1.35 1803, spread eagle 1.50 1.25 1804, excessively rare, “boss dollar” 500.00 200.00 1836, C. Gobrecht’s name in field 6.00 1836, flying eagle 3.00 1838, flying eagle 12.00 15.00 1839, flying eagle 18.00 15.00 1851, liberty seated 18.00 15.00 1852, liberty seated 18.00 15.00 1854, liberty seated 5.50 2.25 1855, liberty seated 3.25 2.00 1856, liberty seated 2.25 1.50 1857, liberty seated 2.75 1.50 1858, liberty seated 20.00 15.00

U. S. HALF DOLLARS.

1794, flowing hair, fair 3.50 2.00 1794, flowing hair, good 5.00 3.25 1796, fillet head, 15 stars 20.00 15.00 1796, fillet head, 16 stars 20.00 16.00 1797, fillet head, 15 stars 20.00 12.50 1801, fillet head 3.50 2.00 1802, fillet head 3.50 2.75 1815, head to left, good 3.50 2.60 1815, head to left, fine 5.00 3.50 1836, liberty cap, milled edge 2.00 2.00 1836, liberty cap, milled fine 2.50 2.50 1838, liberty cap, having “O” mark underhead 7.00 3.00 1852, liberty seated 2.50 1.50 1852, liberty seated, fine 3.50 2.00

QUARTER DOLLARS.

1796, fillet head, fair 2.00 1.75 1796, fillet head, good 3.50 2.00 1804, fillet head, fair 1.50 1.25 1804, fillet head, good 2.00 1.50 1823, head to left, fair 15.00 13.50 1823, head to left, good 25.00 20.00 1827, head to left, fair 15.00 17.50 1827, head to left, good 25.00 20.00 1853, liberty seated, without arrows 5.00 2.50

TWENTY-CENT PIECES.

1877 1.25 1878 1.50

DIMES.

1796, fillet head, fair .75 1.00 1796, fillet head, good 1.50 1.25 1797, 13 stars, fair 1.00 1.25 1897, 13 stars, good 1.75 1.75 1797, 16 stars, fair 1.00 1.25 1797, 16 stars, good 1.75 1.75 1798, fillet head, fair .75 1.00 1798, fillet head, good 1.00 1.50 1800, fillet head, fair .50 1.00 1800, fillet head, good .75 1.50 1801, fillet head, fair .75 1.00 1801, fillet head, good 1.00 1.50 1802, fillet head, fair 1.50 1.25 1802, fillet head, good 2.50 2.00 1803, fillet head, fair 1.25 .75 1803, fillet head, good 1.75 1.25 1804, fillet head, fair 4.00 1.75 1804, fillet head, good 5.50 2.00 1800, head to left 1.25 .60 1811, head to left .70 .60 1822, head to left, fair 1.50 1.50 1822, head to left, fine 2.00 2.00 1846, liberty seated 1.00 .50

HALF DIMES.

1794, flowing hair, fair 2.00 1.25 1794, flowing hair, good 3.00 2.00 1795, flowing hair, good .70 .50 1796, 15 stars, fillet head, fair 1.50 1.00 1796, 15 stars, fillet head, good 2.00 1.50 1797, 15 stars, fillet head, fair 2.50 .75 1797, 15 stars, fillet head, good 2.50 1.25 1797, 16 stars, fillet head, fair 1.50 .75 1797, 16 stars, fillet head, good 2.50 1.25 1800, fillet head, fair .40 .25 1800, fillet head, good .60 .50 1801, fillet head, fair 1.25 .75 1801, fillet head, good 2.00 1.25 1802, fillet head, fair 25.00 10.00 1802, fillet head, fine 40.00 30.00 1803, fillet head, fair 1.25 .75 1803, fillet head, good 2.25 1.25 1805, fillet head, fair 1.50 1.00 1805, fillet head, good 2.50 1.50 1846, liberty seated, without stars, fair 1.50 .50 1846, liberty seated, good 2.00 .75 1846, liberty seated, fine 2.00 1.00

SILVER THREE-CENT PIECES.

1863 .60 .25 1864 to 1869, inclusive .25 1870, large star in center .20 1871, large star in center .20 1872, large star in center .20 1873, large star in center .90 .60

Such quotations are subject to frequent fluctuations, but New York auction sales of old United States coins, reported from time to time, indicate that coin purchasers can make a fair profit on the above prices.

THE SALVATION ARMY.

BELLE RIVER, Wis.

Will the Curiosity Shop please to give some information regarding the “Salvation Army,” its origin, object, and modes of work?

Answer.—Eighteen years ago, when General Booth began his work in London as a Methodist minister to the artisan classes, he was confronted by the great question, how to bring the gospel to the hearts of the ignorant and degraded so as to make it a vital power. After many trials and failures he began the organization of what is now known as the Salvation Army numbering at present 320 corps, with 760 officers who give their entire time to the work, having over all a “general.” Their creed is the literal gospel, and it is preached by them in no less than 6,200 meetings a week. Their territory is divided into thirteen districts, each under the care of a “major,” who inspects and controls all the corps in his district. To each corps is assigned a “captain,” assisted by one or two “lieutenants,” who devote all their time to conducting meetings, visiting those enlisted, and organizing work among the unconverted. The system of promotion is slow and guarded. When a person professes a change of heart he must at once rise and confess it before his former associates. He is then placed under the supervision of the sergeant of the district in which he resides, whose duty it is to report him to the captain if he fails in the proper performance of any religious duty. He must always wear the letter S in some conspicuous place, and is soon given the charge of a part or the whole of a street. If faithful in these duties, godly in character, and of good general ability, he may be recommended by his captain for promotion. The major refers him to the general, and if he answers satisfactorily a long list of questions asked him by the latter he is sent to the “training barracks” at Clapton, whence, after from six weeks to three months, he is dispatched to some distant field as lieutenant. Each officer is expected to lead from nineteen to twenty-five meetings a week, and spend eighteen hours in visiting families. The army has become so large that the management of affairs devolves upon the majors. Its property is held by an attorney in the name of the general. All who are able must contribute toward the general expenses, and most of the corps are now self-supporting. The salaries are met by general subscription.

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF BRITISH ARMIES.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Who is the present Duke of Cambridge, Commander-in-chief of the British armies? Please give an outline of his career.

INQUIRER.

Answer.—He is first cousin to Queen Victoria; being the son of Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge, tenth child of George III., of whom Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, the Queen’s father, was fifth child. He succeeded to the title of his father, July 8, 1850. In 1837 he was promoted to a colonelcy in the British army. In 1854 he was Lieutenant General commanding the first division sent to aid Turkey against Russia in what is known as the Crimean war. He led the troops at Alma and Inkerman. There was a good deal of dissatisfaction expressed at the slow progress of the war, and under the plea of ill-health he returned to England, where, in 1856, he succeeded Viscount Hardinge as Commander-in-chief. In 1862 he was raised to the rank of Field Marshal. He has never married, but—like his Uncle William IV., who lived for many years with Mrs. Jordan, the actress, rearing a numerous illegitimate family by her, and his Uncle Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, who, in violation of the royal marriage act, married a subject, the Lady Augusta Murray, who bore him two illegitimate children—he has persistently lived for many years with Miss Fairbrother, once known as a beautiful actress, by whom he has several illegitimate children, well provided for out of his large income.

THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN.

BRUSHY PRAIRIE, Md.

Please give a synopsis of the observations and opinions of the best geologists of the present time as to the antiquity of man upon the earth.

R. ASHLEY.

Answer.—To summarize the earliest recorded geological evidences of man’s life as briefly as possible it may be said: 1. In the words of Professor Archibald Geikie, of Edinburgh University, “The geological deposits which contain the history of the human period are cavern loam, river alluvia, lake bottoms, peat mosses, and other superficial accumulations.” Human remains are not found imbedded in stratified rock, as in the cases of the fossilized plants and animals of the lower orders. The entire period in which any supposed evidences of the existence of man have been discovered is the Miocene or middle epoch of the Tertiary period. They consist of a few flint flakes, fancied to have been used, possibly, as human implements, but so roughly shaped that it is admitted they may be simply natural; and some bones of animals, scratched as if scraped by men, but more probably by the teeth of wild animals. No geologist of high repute acknowledges any of these crude objects and marks as proof of the existence of man in the Miocene period. It has been claimed that traces of man were found in California, in Calaveras County, and on Table Mountain, in the next later formation, the Pliocene. But M. Favre, reviewing the whole subject up to 1870, and Mr. Evans, President of the Geological Society of London, still later, in 1875, declare that the existence of man in any epoch of the Tertiary period is unproved. 2. The next period is the Quaternary, which immediately precedes the geological epoch in which we are living, known as the “recent epoch.” The Quaternary period is subdivided into three epochs, of which the earliest was the “glacial,” the second the “champlain,” and the third the “terrace.” During the first of these the northern regions of Europe, Asia, and America appear to have been capped with ice down to about the latitude of 40 degrees north. During the second the glaciers melted, the ice cap receded toward the pole, and the greater part of the now cultivable regions of the northern hemisphere were flooded with seas and lakes, underneath which heavy sedimentary deposits were found. During the third epoch land continued to rise; the lakes were drained off; mighty rivers took the place of many of the lakes, cutting deep channels through the old flood plain-deposits left by glaciers and lakes, and leaving terraces or bluffs, such as are seen along the Mississippi, Missouri, and other great rivers. In this formation, in the terraces of the river Somme, near Abbeville, M. Boucher de Perthes discovered, about 1858, chipped flints, associated with the bones of the mammoth, rhinoceros, hyena, horse, etc., which are generally regarded as human implements. Similar discoveries were made at Hoxne, England, in strata underlying the higher level river-gravels, but overlying the glacier deposit, which seems to fix this discovery in the champlain epoch. A well-shaped human skull was found in a cave at Engis, near Liege, Belgium, associated with bones of extinct and living species, beneath a crust of stalagmite, which are believed to belong to the middle or latter part of the Quaternary period. Near Nice, in a cave at Mentone, a few years ago, was found the skeleton of a man, associated with the bones of the cave-bear and the cave-lion—long extinct in that region—and the bones of living species, such as the reindeer and stag, with twenty-two perforated teeth of the stag lying around his head as if they had been worn as a necklace. In what is called the Aurignac cave in France were found seventeen human skeletons of both sexes and all sizes, along with entire bones of extinct animals, and human implements and ornaments. The cave was closed up with a slab, and outside of it was a deposit of ashes and cinders, with burnt and split and knawed bones of extinct animals, covered with talus, or a sloping heap of broken rock and earth. Coming down from these discoveries to those of apparently later times, the habitations of more civilized men have been discovered in what are called the “lake dwellings” of Switzerland, of New Guinea, South America, and in some parts of Africa. Such are the chief indications of the antiquity of man, reckoned by geological periods and epochs; but how to reduce these latter to years is still an unsolved problem; so much so that some geologists claim that the beginning of the terrace epoch, which, as above shown, contains the earliest well-defined human remains, does not extend back more than 7,000 to 10,000 years, while others date it back from 50,000 to 60,000 years. Professor Le Conte sums up his review of this question by saying: “In conclusion, we may say that we have as yet no certain knowledge of man’s time on the earth. It may be 100,000 years, or it may be only 10,000, but more probably the former than the latter.” The fact that the deposits in which human remains and implements have been discovered are all confessedly “superficial” gives opportunity for unending disputations as to the origin of such remains, the date of their deposit, and the time requisite to produce subsequent physical changes.

PALACE OF THE CÆSARS.

MULBERRY, Ind.

Please give a description of the Palace of the Cæsars and the “Golden House” of Nero. How far were they apart, and how much did they cost?

J. J. R.

Answer.—The Palace of the Cæsars, if we judge from the Latin authors, was of all palaces of its time the most magnificent. The palace of Augustus, built upon the site of the houses of Cicero and Catiline, was its beginning, and each succeeding Emperor altered and improved it. Tiberius and Caligula enlarged it, Nero added his Golden House, and Titus used the portion on the Esquiline Hill for his famous baths. It is now a mass of shapeless ruins, extending over three hills of Rome, and covering an area 1,500 feet in length and 1,300 feet in width, giving no hint of what it once was in architecture or embellishment. All is left to the imagination of the poet except the beauty of the Golden House, which soon outrivaled the splendor of the older palace of which it was a part. It is said to have been the houses of Augustus and Maecenas connected by arches and columns, and it extended over the Palatine, Esquiline, and Cælian Hills of Rome. The interior was covered with gold and precious stones, and adorned with the finest paintings and statuary that the world afforded. The circular banquet hall, perpetually revolving in imitation of the apparent motion of the sun about the earth, had vaulted iron ceilings, which, opening, scattered flowers upon the guests, and golden pipes through which ran sweet perfumes. In the vestibule stood Nero’s statue, 120 feet in height. The palace was surrounded by a triple portico a mile in length, and supported by a thousand columns, and within this lay an immense lake, whose banks were bordered by great buildings, each representing a little city, about which lay green pastures and groves, where sported “all animals, both tame and wild.” It is impossible to learn how much these palaces cost. They were not far apart, but reference to Tacitus Annals shows that they were distinct structures.

HOMEOPATHY IN THE UNITED STATES.

CAMBRIDGE, Ill.

Please inform me, if you can, who was the first teacher of homeopathy in this country, and the extent to which the practice of it has spread.

W. N. BOYER, M. D.

Answer.—It is generally conceded that Hans B. Gram, a native of Boston, who studied in Denmark, introduced homeopathy into the United States in the year 1825. There are now twelve colleges of this school of medicine in this country, graduating from 300 to 400 students a year—380 in 1880—45 homeopathic dispensaries; over 30 hospitals; 15 periodicals devoted to this practice; and about 7,500 physicians and surgeons.

NEBRASKA AND LINCOLN’S MONUMENT.

FREMONT, Neb.

To settle a dispute, state whether Nebraska voted $500 toward the National Lincoln Monument at Springfield, Ill., and then took it back, or refused to pay it over to the Monument Association.

A. C. F.

Answer.—By an act approved Feb. 15, 1869, the Legislature of Nebraska appropriated $500 “to aid in the construction of the National Lincoln Monument at or near Springfield, Ill.” In September, 1882, when visiting the monument, the Hon. Isham Reavis, of Falls City, Neb., who voted for this appropriation, learned incidentally from Mr. J. C. Power, the custodian, that the Association had never received the money. On his return to Nebraska he went to Lincoln, and by examination of the Auditor’s books found that the $500 had never been remitted, and that in due time it had by operation of law been covered back into the treasury with other unexpended balances. With the hearty co-operation of the Hon. C. H. Gere, of the Nebraska State Journal, who as a member of the Senate had participated in the act of appropriation, Judge Reavis induced leading members of the last Legislature to revive the appropriation. The Legislature of New York had set an example some time before by the reappropriation of the $10,000 which it had voted to the monument, but which had been permitted to lapse before it had been called for. Having been informed that the monument was then about complete, that the association was not in debt, and that the receipts from visitors for admission to the monument pay all current expenses, but that if the Nebraska appropriation was paid over it would be used in embellishing the nine acres of ground surrounding the monument, the Legislature, on or about Feb. 23, 1883, reappropriated the original amount of $500. After all, therefore, Nebraska has a share in this splendid memorial to the immortal Lincoln.

LOW TARIFF AND FIAT MONEY.

EMPORIA, Kan.

Your reply to J. R. Thompson has awakened in my mind a desire to know more about the Japanese currency and financial conditions. What led to the issue of the Japanese “fiat money,” as you call it? Was this paper money “convertible?” What was it based on? When was it redeemable, and how? What was the financial standing of the government at the time, and what is it now?

E. D. HUMPHREY.

Answer.—The treaties made with Japan by foreign nations when that country was wholly unsophisticated in treaty-making and inexperienced in the laws of international commerce, provided for the admission of foreign products on what is practically a free-trade basis. As a consequence, the balance of trade has for years past been against Japan, her exports being considerably less in value than her imports. For example, in 1880 the exports from Japan to Great Britain (which country gets two-thirds of the whole Japanese foreign trade) amounted to only £531,621, while the British “home produce” alone imported into Japan amounted to £3,290,906. Again and again Japan, seeing the ruinous effects on home industry resulting from the too moderate tariff fixed by the foreign treaties, has sought to get a modification of those treaties permitting her to increase the tariff, but thus far with little effect. Of course the difference between the value of the imports and exports has to be paid in the precious metals. The country was already suffering from this drain of bullion, when a civil war broke out in 1868, and the government was forced to issue paper currency to meet its ordinary and extraordinary expenses. This first issue bore a promise of redemption at the end of thirteen years; but, though the rebellion had been put down and a peaceful and, in many respects, a strong, progressive government had been established, this government was not in a condition to keep its promises, and the old currency issue was replaced with a new one, without any stipulation as to when it should be redeemed. The people looked upon it with distrust, and, although it was a legal tender, it was not long before it dropped to 50 cents on the dollar as compared with specie. The government took warning, entered upon a contraction of expenditures, strove to inspire confidence in the currency, and by contracting the volume somewhat, it has raised the value of its paper money to about 75 cents on the dollar.

When Japan opened its ports to foreign commerce it was substantially without debt. It is not even now heavily burdened, and could it once check the influx of foreign goods and so develop its home productions as to bring exports and imports to something like an equilibrium, its financial condition would be superior to that of most other countries. Its foreign debt in January, 1875, amounted to no more than £3,400,000, which had been reduced by the action of the sinking fund to £2,134,700 at the end of 1881; and its home debt in July, 1880, stood at £69,406,919—a total of about $357,700,000; of which $108,000,000 was the “fiat money,” or irredeemable paper currency above described.

MEANING OF A AND AP IN SURNAMES.

GREENVILLE, Ill.

What do the abbreviations a and ap before a surname denote?

SEA.

Answer.—These particles, “a” and “ap,” are abbreviations of Latin prepositions meaning “of” and “at” or “from.” Generally, when connected with names, they refer to the town or place where one was born, or the family estate. In the case, for example, of Thomas a Kempis, author of that famous work entitled “Imitation of Christ,” which has been translated into more languages than any other book, save the Bible, the “a” denotes “from.” His family name was Thomas Hammerken. He was born in 1379 or 1380 in the town of Kempen, near Cologne. He was educated first at Deventer, then at Zwolle, and in the Convent of St. Agnes. After the custom of the times at these schools, he was known as “Thomas from Kempen,” and, finally, as happened in many other such cases, the school name pushed aside the family name.

TROPICAL PLANTS IN LABRADOR.

TINGLEY, Iowa.

Have any tropical plants been discovered in the rocks of Labrador? If so, where and by whom?

JAMES S. WILLIAMS.

Answer..—Tropical vegetation once existed far north of Labrador, as is shown by fossil remains discovered in Greenland, Iceland and Spitzbergen; but we do not know whether similar discoveries have been made in Labrador. We must refer you to Hind’s “Explorations of the Labrador Peninsula,” and Bell’s “Report of the Geological Survey of Canada,” 1879.

CURING BASKET WILLOW.

WINNECONNE, Wis.

In your edition of July 26 is an inquiry on the basket willow from T. H. Davis, of Loveland, Col. I think the answer right all but the directions for curing. In England I have seen them set the willows, after they are cut, in bundles, standing in a pond or stream of water, butts down, with stakes and poles to keep them in position. In the spring, when the sap rises, peel them by drawing through a crotched stake set firm in the ground and faced in the crotch with iron. If the willow is allowed to dry before peeling it will be hard to get the bark off and the wood will be discolored.

F. LIGHTFOOT.

JEAN PAUL RICHTER.

OCONOMOWOC, Wis.

Will you oblige me with a short sketch of Jean Paul Richter. How is Richter pronounced?

A READER.

Answer.—Jean Paul Friedrick Richter was one of the most original characters in the literary world. He was a man of much general information, but of erratic genius. It has been said that he wrote in “gems,” so filled are his works with beautiful ideas. But his style is too careless and his thoughts too rambling to place him among classical writers. He was born at Wunsiedel, in Bavaria, March 21, 1763. Though, when quite young, his father’s death left the family in poverty, Jean Paul resolved to go to Leipsic, and by the greatest self-sacrifice he accomplished his resolve. At the end of four years, however, he was obliged to leave the town secretly to escape being arrested for debt. He now abandoned the idea of entering the church and taught for a few years, writing meanwhile. When, in 1794, he began his visits to German literary centers, he found himself the idol of the ladies, who treasured even the shorn locks of his poodle, and sometimes ventured to propose to the eccentric author himself. But he rejected them all, and in 1801 chose for himself the brilliant Caroline Mayer, of Berlin. Ever afterward the King of Bavaria gave him an annual pension of 1,000 florins and he received the degree of doctor from the University of Heidelberg. In his later years his mental strength failed and in 1824 he became totally blind. He died at Bayreuth Nov. 14, 1825, surrounded by loving friends. His character, though eccentric, was beautiful in its gentleness and philanthropy. The poor were his chief mourners. Carlyle has translated some of his writings and found in him a theme for two of his best essays. The ch in Richter’s name has the same sound as in the German word for book. It can be learned properly only by oral instruction.

INVENTOR OF COTTON GIN-WHITNEY.

WINDSOR, Ill.

Please give some items connected with the life of Eli Whitney.

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—Eli Whitney, a graduate of Yale College in 1792, was induced to invent a machine for cleaning cotton by the widow of Nathaniel Greene, with whom he boarded while studying law. He patented the cotton-gin, but the idea was stolen by other parties, and it was only after years of litigation that he obtained the $50,000 which had been voted him for the invention by the Legislature of Georgia. In 1793 he established a manufactory for the machine near Washington, Ga., but five years later he turned his attention to the improvement of firearms, reaping a fortune therefrom.

ISINGLASS.

GLENALLIN, D. T.

Please tell me how isinglass is made, and whether the raw material is valuable.

A. H. CHASE.

Answer.—The raw material of isinglass is the air bladders or sounds of fish, and is invaluable except for this one purpose. In Russia, where the finest isinglass is made, the sounds of the sturgeon are cut open and steeped in water until the outer membrane separates from the inner; then the latter is washed and dried in the sun. The sounds of the common cod, the hake, and other gadidae are also used for isinglass.

MOCHA ISLAND.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Is there an island by the name of Mocha? If so, please describe it. Also tell where Mocha coffee grows.

HENRY COLLINS.

Answer..—There is an Island named Mocha off the coast of Auracania, belonging to Chili. It is about eight miles long, very broken, and at the north end mountainous, rising to 1,230 feet above the sea. Whalers occasionally resort to it for wood and water, both of which are scarce, while the landing is bad. There is a portion of Southwest Abyssinia called Mocha. But the place by this name that is of most importance is a fortified port on the Arabian side of the Red Sea. It gives its name to the finest variety of coffee known to commerce, most of which is produced in the interior of Arabia, in the province of Yemen.

A SPORTING TERM—HIGH-BINDER.

ALEDO, Ill.

What is the meaning of “high-binder,” an old sporting term, I think?

JOSEPH WHITTAUS.

Answer.—The high-binder is an athlete, such as a circus tumbler and jumper. The term is sometimes applied to horses that jump hurdles and ditches, or steeple-chasers.

UNITED BRETHREN.

KINGMAN, Kan.

What is the date of the founding of the sect known as the United Brethren in Christ; what are the present statistics of the church, and how does it differ from the Methodist Episcopal Church?

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—This sect was founded among the Germans in Pennsylvania by Philip William Otterbein and Martin Boehm in 1760. In 1875 they numbered 4,010 churches, 1,967 ministers, 136,076 members, and their church property was valued at more than $2,500,000. The church has ten educational institutions in Western States, and a large printing establishment at Dayton, Ohio. The members are sometimes called German Methodists, as their faith is Arminian; but their church polity is a mixture of Methodism, Congregationalism, and Presbyterianism. Like the Methodists, they have quarterly, annual, and general conferences, but their bishops are elected for only four years. They are very severe in the requirements of candidates for membership, admitting none who are members of secret societies or sanction slavery and the use of alcoholic liquors.

EMBER DAYS.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.

What is understood by the ember days?

N. ZEIGLER.

Answer.—The ember days are days set apart in the calendar of the Romish and Episcopal Churches for the purpose of fasting and prayer, imploring a divine blessing upon the fruits of the earth, and upon the ordinations performed at that time. Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, in the week following the first Sunday in Lent, Whitsunday, the 14th of September, and the 13th of December, are called ember days, and the weeks in which they occur are called ember weeks.

VICTOR HUGO’S WORKS.

VIENNA, Iowa.

Please give a sketch of the life of Victor Hugo, the poet and novelist. Name some of his most noted writings, and where they may be found?

H. S. ELLWANGER.

Answer.—A brief biographical sketch of Victor Hugo may be found in Our Curiosity shop for 1880. His earlier novels are “Han d’Islande,” “Bug-Jargal,” and “Notre Dame de Paris;” his dramas, “Cromwell,” “Marion Delorme,” “Le Roi s’amuse,” “Lucrèce Borgia,” “Ruy Blas,” and “Hernani;” his poems, “Les Feuilles d’Automne,” “Les Chants du Crépuscule,” and while an exile upon the island of Guernsey he added “Les Misérables,” “Les Travailleurs de la Mer,” “L’Homme qui Rit,” and “Quatrevingt-Treize.” Since then he has published his “Speeches,” the “Légende des Siècles,” “L’Histoire d’un Crime,” and a poem, “Le Pape.” He is one of the most original and perhaps the most popular writer of fiction and lyric verse France has ever produced.

PRESIDENTS OF THE SENATE.

WAUSAU, Wis.

Please give the names of the Presidents of the United States Senate up to date. How long do the Presidents pro tempore retain that position? Give the names of Speakers of the House of Representatives, beginning with the Forty-second Congress.

N. A. S.

Answer.—The Vice President of the United States is President of the Senate when sitting in that body, but in his absence a President pro tempore is proposed and chosen by ballot. “His office is understood to be determined on the Vice President appearing and taking the chair, or at the meeting of the Senate after the first recess.” (See Jefferson’s Manual.) The persons who have presided over the Senate are: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, George Clinton, William H. Crawford, Elbridge Gerry, John Gaillard, Daniel D. Tompkins, John C. Calhoun, Hugh L. White, Martin Van Buren, Richard M. Johnson, John Tyler, Samuel L. Southard, Willie P. Mangum, George M. Dallas, Millard Fillmore, William R. King, David R. Atkinson, Jesse D. Bright, John C. Breckinridge, Hannibal Hamlin, Andrew Johnson, Lafayette S. Foster, Benjamin F. Wade, Schuyler Colfax, Henry Wilson, Thomas W. Ferry, William A. Wheeler, Chester A. Arthur, David Davis, and the present incumbent, George F. Edmunds. It is not worth while to mention those who have filled the chair only for a few hours at a time. The Speakers since the Forty-second Congress have been James G. Blaine, Michael C. Kerr, Samuel J. Randall, and J. Warren Keifer.

DAVID H. STROTHER—“PORTE CRAYON.”

CHICAGO, Ill.

Kindly give the right name of the author of “Virginian Illustrated,” “Life in the Old Dominion,” “Virginian Canaan,” etc., which appeared in Harper’s Monthly, vols. 6 to 12, under the nom de plume of “Porte Crayon.” What became of him? Is he still living?

JAMES BUTCHER.

Answer.—The real name of this author is David Hunter Strother. He was born in Virginia, in 1816, studied art in New York; first became known to the public as “Porte Crayon” in 1853; entered the Union army as Captain in 1864, resigned, and in 1867 was brevetted Brigadier General; after the war, published in Harper’s Monthly a series of “Personal Reminiscences of the War;” and in 1879 went to Mexico as Consul General, an office he still holds.

THE GUINEA PIG.

WATERVILLE, Kan.

Will you please tell me, through your department, the nature and origin of the Guinea pigs? Where do they come from, and how often in a year do they breed?

“MAGNOLIA.”

Answer.—Properly speaking, the “Guinea pig” (cava caboya) is not a pig, but a rodent closely related to the restless cavy of Uraguay and Brazil, belonging to the same natural order as the rat and beaver. Like the cavidae, it burrows in the ground, and feeds upon fruits and herbs. Its chief value consists in its beauty, which may be described thus: A white fur, patched with red and black, covering a little animal a foot long and weighing from a pound to a pound and a half—a creature inoffensive and helpless in the extreme, exceedingly restless, and not remarkably intelligent. It is supposed that this cavy was carried from South America to Europe in the fifteenth or sixteenth century, and there domesticated; and that its name is a corruption of Guiana pig. It is very prolific, beginning to breed at the age of two months, and rearing a brood of four to twelve three times a year.

DARIUS AND THE SCYTHIANS.

GENEVA, Ill.

In “Gibbon’s Rome,” Vol. III., chap. 26, page 13, we find the following foot-note: “When Darius advanced into the Moldavian desert, between the Danube and the Niester, the King of the Scythians sent him a mouse, a frog, a bird, and five arrows; a tremendous allegory!” What did this allegory signify?

C. P. DUTTON.

Answer.—It has been variously interpreted. The following is the meaning given it by some writers: “You make war (the arrows) on a people you cannot conquer until you can subsist on roots and wild grain like the mouse, inhabit either land or water, like the frog, and flee with the swiftness of a bird.” Another rendering is: “We subsist in the wild fields like the mouse; live either on land or water, like the frog; flee like the bird, and slay our pursuers as we flee, for our right hands are full of arrows for our enemies.” Darius Hystaspes had demanded an offering of earth and water from them as a token of submission, and this was the answer of these invincible barbarians; and they made good their allegory. As Darius pursued them with an army of 700,000 men they led him farther and farther, through forests, swamps, and deserts, until his troops died of fatigue, malaria, and famine, and he was compelled to return, utterly defeated in his object, leaving all but a mere remnant of his immense army dead in the wilderness.

THE MISSISSIPPI AND MISSOURI RIVERS.

YELLOWSTONE, Wis.

The “New American Dictionary” says that the Missouri is the longest river in the world, 4,194 miles, and that the Mississippi is 3,200. “Wilson’s Geography” says the Mississippi is 4,396, and the Missouri is 3,960 miles long. Please tell us which is right, and the reasons for these variations.

JAMES LYONS.

Answer.—The fact is that the precise lengths of the chief rivers of the globe are not known. They shift their channels and wind to such a degree as renders it a difficult problem to determine the exact length of any one of them, and exactness in such cases is not as yet a matter of sufficient practical importance to justify the expense of making accurate measurements. If it were, it would be found that every great river varies in length from time to time by cutting new channels for itself. As a consequence all statements are only estimates, and scarcely two original writers precisely agree. The latest edition of “Lippincott’s Gazetteer of the World” does not presume to speak positively, but says: “The Mississippi is about 3,000 miles long (or, as some say, 3,160).” Speaking of the Missouri, it says: “The total length of the stream, from its source to the Gulf of Mexico, is computed to be 4,300 miles.” “Chambers’ Universal Knowledge” says the Mississippi River is 2,986 miles long from its source to its mouth, and that from the latter to the source of the Missouri is 4,506 miles. Probably Lippincott’s statements are nearest to the truth, but none of them claim to be absolute measurement.

WHY EASTER IS A MOVABLE FEAST.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Why does Christmas always fall on the same day of the month, while the days celebrated in commemoration of Christ’s death and ascension change? I have submitted this question to several ministers and other learned persons without receiving a satisfactory answer.

BUSCANDO.

Answer.—Christ was crucified on Friday, the 14th day of the Jewish month Nisan, and rose from the dead on the following Sunday. The 14th of Nisan was the Jewish “passover,” the day observed by them in commemoration of the sprinkling of their door-posts with the blood of the paschal lamb on the night when the “Destroying Angel” passed over the dwellings of the Israelites but smote the first-born of the Egyptians. As the year of the Jews is a lunar year, and the 14th of Nisan is always a full-moon day, the Christian Church, regarding the observance of the crucifixion of Christ as a substitute for the passover of the Jewish Church, determine Good Friday and Easter Sunday by the rules for reckoning the Jewish ecclesiastical year. Christmas, intended to commemorate the birth of Christ, had no connection with the ritual of the old church, and, like some two or three hundred other immovable feast days of the Church of Rome, many of them birthdays of saints, it was finally settled that it should be observed on a given day of the common calendar.

OMAHA INDIAN RESERVATION.

BOONE, Iowa.

Isn’t it about time that the Omaha Indian Reservation was opened for settlement, under the act of Congress approved Aug. 7, 1882?

GRANGER.

Answer.—The same question, substantially, comes to THE INTER OCEAN at least once a week from one part of the country or another. In reply to an inquiry, the Acting Commissioner of the General Land Office recently wrote as follows:

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4.—Editor of Inter Ocean: In reply to your inquiry of the 17th ult., I have to state that this office is unable to say what time will elapse before the Omaha Indian Reservation, in Nebraska, will be open to settlement. The requirements of the act of Aug. 7, 1882, as to appraisement, have not yet been fully complied with, and these lands are still under the jurisdiction of the Office of Indian Affairs. Yours respectfully,

LUTHER HARRISON, Acting Commissioner.

The substance of the act above referred to is given in Our Curiosity Shop for 1882, pages 113 and 128.

FIRST AMERICAN FREE SCHOOLS.

DOUGLASS, Kan.

Where and in what year were free schools first established in this country? Who was the first advocate of them? When did they become general?

HENRY BUTLER.

Answer.—A law was passed in Massachusetts in 1649 requiring every township to maintain a free school, and every town of 100 families to maintain a grammar school to “fit youths for the university;” and it is recorded in 1665 that a free school was then supported by each town in New England. The Connecticut, Plymouth, and New Haven Colonies soon followed this good example of Massachusetts, either in whole or in part. The first public school in Pennsylvania was established in Philadelphia by the Quakers, in 1689, free to those who could not pay. In 1694 Maryland enacted that every county should have a public school, and every parish a free library of at least fifty volumes. A free grammar school was established in New York by an act passed in 1702, but a system of free common schools was not inaugurated in this State until after 1795, in which year, on the recommendation of Governor Clinton, the Legislature appropriated $50,000 to encourage the establishment of common schools—not wholly free. It was years after this before the system of schools free to all (except colored children) went into general operation in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. The Southern States waited until after the war before adopting the free-school system even for white children. Their common schools were free only for the children of confessed paupers. Who was “the first advocate” of free schools it is now impossible to determine positively. Several of them came over in the Mayflower, as there were a few free schools in Massachusetts before the above enactment of 1649, making it obligatory on every town to have them, the chief argument then being that “every child must know how to read the Bible.”

CORDOVA, MEXICO.

UNION CITY, Iowa.

My regiment was stationed at Cordova, Mexico, at the close of the Mexican war. How old is that city, by whom was it founded, and what is its present population?

M. W. V.

Answer.—Cordova, situated about fifty-seven miles inland from Vera Cruz, Mexico, is now a city of 6,500 to 7,000 inhabitants. The district around it is very fertile, and the tobacco, sugar, coffee, and cotton produced here foster an increasing trade. Its streets are regularly laid out and well paved; most of the houses are built of stone, and the fine cathedral is much admired for its interior architecture and decorations. The city was founded by the early Spanish adventurers and missionaries on the site of an old Aztec town, and named in honor of the forerunner of Cortez, Francisco Fernandez de Cordova, the discoverer of Yucatan and the southeastern extremity of Mexico, in the year 1517. The date of the first Spanish settlement is uncertain.

MARSHAL KEITH.

FAIRMONT., Neb.

Who was Marshal Keith, “the noble exile,” killed at the battle of Hochkirchen?

W. P. JACKS.

Answer.—He was Francis Edward James Keith, a Scotch nobleman, born at Inverngie Castle, Aberdeenshire, in 1696. He and his elder brother, the Earl Marischal, espoused the cause of the “Elder Pretender,” as he is called, James Francis Edward, son of the deposed James II. of England, in the insurrection of 1715. That affair ended in speedy disaster, and being attainted of treason, he fled to France. Here after some two years, spent for the most part in study at the University of Paris, he took part in the disastrous expedition of the Pretender to the highlands of Scotland in 1719. Escaping again to France, he lived in obscurity and want, first at Paris and then at Madrid, until he received a colonel’s commission in the army of the King of Spain. Here his Protestantism stood in the way of his promotion, and he soon took a recommendation from the King to Peter II. of Russia, in whose service he soon rose to the rank of general. In 1747 he entered the service of Frederick the Great of Prussia, who made him a field marshal, accounting him one of his ablest generals. Quick to discern the military exigencies and opportunities of the moment, and prompt to avail himself of them, “sagacious, skillful, imperturbable, without fear and without noise, a man quietly ever ready,” as Carlyle describes him, he had the full confidence, and even won the affection, of Frederick, who was wont to place him in the most responsible positions. He was killed Oct. 14, 1758, in the battle of Hochkirch, in which Frederick the Great suffered one of the most terrible defeats of that bloody war at the hands of the combined Austrian and Prussian armies.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS IN ALL THE WORLD.

SALMON CITY, D. T.

Please give the origin of the Sunday school, where and by whom first started, and the number of such schools in this country, and, so far as known, in the whole world.

W. H. ANDREWS.

Answer.—The following statistics of Sunday schools were reported by Mr. E. P. Porter to the Robert Raikes Centennial Convention held in London, England, June 28, to July 3, 1880. They comprise only those of the “Evangelical denominations,” and are incomplete even for this class of schools. Full returns, including the enrollment in schools of denominations not classed by Mr. Porter as Evangelical, probably would increase the above aggregate by from 20 to 25 per cent.

Countries. Teachers. Scholars. Total.

Europe 550,001 5,332,813 5,882,814 Asia 1,772 38,000 39,772 Africa 300 15,000 15,300 N. America 931,740 6,974,454 7,906,194 S. America 3,000 150,000 153,000 Oceanica 17,800 170,000 187,800 ————————— —————————— —————————— Total 1,504,613 12,680,267 14,184,880

The numbers reported for the United States, at the above convention, were as follows: Schools, 82,261; teachers, 886,328; scholars, 66,233,124. Your other questions are all answered with great care on pages 58 and 96 of Our Curiosity Shop, in book form, for 1882; price per mail, 25 cents.

SCHOOLS OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

MILES, Iowa.

How do the public school privileges of Ireland compare with those of England?

H. G. BRYANT.

Answer.—The total population of Ireland in 1881 was 5,159,839. The total number of national schools in 1880 was 7,590, with 1,083,020 pupils, aided by a parliamentary grant of £722,366, or about $3,611,830. The population of Great Britain proper—England, Wales and Scotland—was 29,703,859 in 1881, and the number of public schools inspected in 1880 was 20,670, with an attendance of 3,155,534 pupils. The parliamentary grant amounted to £2,468,077, or about $12,340,385, so that the parliamentary grant in aid of primary education in Ireland is about 70 cents per capita of the total population, while for England, Wales and Scotland it is only about 41 cents. The above figures cover only the national schools for elementary instruction, in addition to which there are hundreds of parochial, or denominational and private schools in both countries. In Ireland, in 1880, there were 158 workhouse schools under the superintendency of the National Board, with an enrollment of 16,945, and an average attendance of 8,880. There were fifty-two industrial schools in 1879, with 4,979 inmates. There were in 1880, ninety-four school farms, nineteen school gardens, and a large number of agricultural schools under local management. The total number of pupils who entered the examination in agriculture in 1880 was 33,648, of whom 15,652 passed. The statistics of industrial schools in England, Wales, and Scotland are not conveniently obtainable.

SUNLIGHT OVERFLOWS THE HEMISPHERE.

HAPPY HOLLOW, Ill.

The sun being so much larger than the earth, does not a little more than one-half of the earth’s surface receive its rays at the same time?

W. C. COLGROVE.

Answer.—A little more than half of the earth’s surface is illuminated by the sun at any given moment. There is a very slight extension of the area of illumination for the reason you mention, and beyond that an extension of from thirty-five to forty miles all around on account of horizontal refraction. If you put a silver coin into a bowl, then stand back until the edge barely hides the coin, and while you keep this same position another person fills the bowl with water, you will see the bottom of it seem to lift until the coin comes into sight. This is because the rays of light reflected from the bottom of the bowl are bent out of a straight line in passing through the water and out into the thinner medium, the air. This is called refraction. The rays of light from the setting sun are bent downward in a similar manner as they enter the earth’s atmosphere, and so the sun appears to be above the horizon a little more than two minutes after it has actually dropped below the true horizon. A difference of two minutes in time corresponds to a distance of thirty miles on the earth’s surface.

THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT.

SANDUSKY, Iowa,

1. Does Parliament serve the same purposes in Great Britain as Congress does in the United States? 2. How is Parliament constituted?

A. C. STARIN.

Answer.—Like the Congress of the United States, the British Parliament legislates for the whole nation. But, in addition to this, it takes the place of the separate legislative bodies that used to exist in Scotland and Ireland, and makes local laws for England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, such as in this country can only be made by State Legislatures. As regards the Dominion of Canada, the Australian Provinces, and other colonial possessions, with legislatures of their own, the powers of Parliament are somewhat analogous to those of Congress over the States. 2. Parliament is composed of two houses, the Lords and the Commons. The House of Lords consists of peers who hold their seats either by virtue of hereditary right; by creation of the sovereign (who is unrestricted in his power of creating peers); by virtue of office, as the English bishops; by election for life, as the Irish peers; or by election for duration of Parliament, as the Scottish peers. This House, in the session of 1882, consisted of 516 members, of whom 5 were peers of the blood royal, 2 were archbishops, 22 were dukes, 19 marquises, 117 earls, 26 viscounts, 24 bishops, 257 barons, 16 Scottish peers, and 28 Irish representative peers. More than two-thirds of these hereditary peerages have been created within the present century—over one-third of them by the present sovereign, which marks one of the strongest factors of the power of the Crown. In the same year the Commons consisted of 639 members, classified as “knights of the shire,” or representatives of counties; “citizens,” or representatives of cities; and “burgesses,” or representatives of boroughs—all of whom hold office by election. The qualifications of electors were given in an article published in Our Curiosity Shop a few months ago. The total number of these electors in 1882 was 3,134,801.

REMOVAL OF ARTHUR FROM CUSTOM HOUSE.

MILWAUKEE, Wis.

Why did President Hayes remove Chester A. Arthur from the New York Custom House? Was he charged with dishonesty?

S. J. SMITH.

Answer.—There was no official charge or imputation of dishonesty against Chester A. Arthur when in the New York Custom House. His administration of that office was a great improvement on any preceding one for many years back. He had effected great reforms and ousted officers who had fattened on corruption under his predecessors. President Hayes distinctly disclaimed any want of faith in Mr. Arthur’s integrity as a cause for replacing him, and the official reports of Secretary Sherman bore unequivocal testimony to the efficiency of the Collector’s administration of his difficult office, and clearly recognized his personal integrity. Mr. Arthur did not approve certain changes which Secretary Sherman wished to make, and he was known also to be in sympathy with Mr. Conkling and others not favorable to Secretary Sherman’s aspirations for the Presidency. It is generally believed that the above were the chief reasons for the Secretary’s desire to supersede Mr. Arthur, which finally prevailed.

ROGER BACON.

MELVIN, Ill.

Please tell us something of the life and works of Roger Bacon.

A. BUCKHOLZ.

Answer.—Roger Bacon was an English monk of penetrating intellect, who by his scientific investigations and writings greatly advanced the cause of science in a time when the study of nature had been supplanted by the theological disputations and philosophical speculations of the “schoolmen.” He was born near Ilchester, England, in the year 1214, of a respectable family. He graduated at Oxford and Paris, and, entering the order of Franciscan monks, settled at Oxford, where he devoted himself to the study of physics. His discoveries were looked upon as wonderful by the ignorant, and were made the means by his clerical brethren of bringing him into disfavor with the Pope, who deprived him of his professorship. He was imprisoned for some years, until the elevation of Clement II. to the Papal throne. Despite the Franciscan interdiction, Clement requested Bacon to send him his writings, and, in answer, John of London became the bearer to the Pope of “Opus Majus” and two other works. For ten years Bacon was at liberty, but in 1278 he was again imprisoned, and the reading of his works forbidden. Through the intercession of many influential English noblemen, his release was granted shortly before his death, which occurred in 1292 or 1294. He wrote much, but several of his works have not been printed. Chief among his inventions was the magnifying glass, and his superior knowledge won for him the title, “Doctor Mirabilis.” He sought to know nature through the study of mathematics and by investigation. He pointed out the errors in the calendar, growing out of the old style of reckoning, long before Pope Gregory instituted the present calendar. As a Latin writer, his style was elegant and forcible; as a scientific scholar, he was fully two centuries in advance of his age; as a man, his character was pure and noble.

THE SPHINX—GUNPOWDER.

1. Is the Sphinx made of one solid block of stone, or is it built of mortar and brick? 2. Who invented gunpowder?

A. L.

Answer.—1. The “great Sphinx” at Gizeh, Egypt, only 300 feet east of the second pyramid, was hewn out of the natural rock where it stands. It measures 172 feet 6 inches long by 52 feet high. 2. Nearly all authorities agree in referring the invention of gunpowder to China or India, the weight of evidence being in favor of crediting it to the former.

COUNTIES LARGER THAN STATES.

COLUMBIA, D. T.

Is it true that Brown County, D. T., contains a larger area than Rhode Island? Please give the exact figures.

R. A.

Answer.—Brown County, D. T., contains forty-eight Congressional townships, or, disregarding fractional sections, 1,728 square miles; whereas the area of Rhode Island is but 1,250 square miles. There are several counties of Dakota that are larger than Delaware, which contains but 2,050 square miles; such, for example, as Grand Forks, Pembina, and Burleigh. Some of the unorganized counties are as large as Connecticut. It will not be long before, following the practice in the most thickly settled parts of the Territory, these undergrown but over-extended counties will be subdivided into smaller ones of sixteen to twenty townships, the ordinary size of an Iowa county, each about half the size of “Little Rhody.”

LORD BYRON.

GARNAVILLO, Iowa.

Please give a sketch of Lord Byron.

WILLIAM A. KREGEL.

Answer.—George Gordon, Lord Byron, was born in London in the year 1788, and at the age of 11 succeeded to the title and estate of his grand uncle, William, Lord Byron, near Nottingham. In 1807, two years after entering Trinity College, he published his first volume of poems, entitled “Hours of Idleness.” Stung by the sarcastic criticism on these poems by Lord Brougham in the Edinburgh Review, he soon after wrote “English Bards and Scotch Reviewers,” a scathing satire, and at once sailed for Turkey and Greece. “Childe Harold” and a few shorter poems were written between the years 1812 and 1818. After a year of riotous living in Italy he sailed for Greece in 1823, and took a conspicuous part in the struggle for Greek independence. In this he succeeded so far as to restore comparative order to the disorganized army, but his health soon began to fail, and exposure to a storm induced a fever which terminated his life, April 10, 1824. His body was interred in the Huckwall church-yard, being denied admission to Westminster Abbey. Byron undoubtedly possessed great genius and wrote many beautiful and ennobling poems, but his restless and passionate temper and the immorality of his life tainted most of what he wrote and debarred him from the list of really great English poets. In descriptive power, fervor, imagery, and melody his powers were marvelous, and many passages in his writings are unsurpassed in these respects by anything in the English language.

TIN AND TARIFF.

BELOIT, Wis.

What is meant by “tin and terne plates,” and what is the gist of the demand of the “American Tinned Plate Association” for an increase of the duty on these plates?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—“Tin plates” are plates of sheet-iron or soft steel, coated with tin, used chiefly for making household and dairy utensils, and for cans of all sorts. “Terne plates” are iron or soft steel sheets, coated with mixed lead and tin, used for roofing and similar purposes. About 95 to 98 per cent of these products are iron or steel, the tin and lead coating constituting the remaining 2 to 5 per cent. Soft steel is used chiefly now, because the quality required can be made cheaper than in iron, is more homogeneous and solid, and less liable to blister in the tinning processes. The association above named claims that the British plates imported to this country are “of poor quality, meanly coated, and, if low priced, are wasteful in the end.” That if home manufacture of such plates were encouraged by as heavy a tariff as is put upon other forms of finished iron—say 50 per cent, instead of only 15 to 30 per cent, as at present—American competition would act in this case as it has done in other classes of “protected industry,” to improve the qualities and ultimately to reduce the actual cost of the goods. But it is not only in these respects that it would benefit the country, says this association, but in bringing out the buried resources of our own mines and increasing the home market for American goods and American labor. The extra cost of American labor is, after all, accounted for mainly by the better manner of living of American laborers; their earnings are distributed among the American consumers of their wares, instead of being sent abroad to pay foreign laborers, while the native products utilized are so much clear gain. The tin, a small percentage of the sheets as above shown, would be imported to this country directly from Australia or the Dutch East Indies and “Straits Settlements,” but aside from this the materials used would be American products. In 1882 there were 480,596,480 pounds of British tin and terne plates sold in the United States, valued at $18,000,000 at Liverpool, and costing about $2,000,000 more for transportation. For this tin the American consumers paid about $30,000,000. To produce this in the United States would cost about as follows:

Tin (to be Imported), lbs 25,000,000 Tallow, home product, lbs 10,000,000 Sulphuric acid, lbs 30,000,000 Lead, lbs 5,000,000 Iron ore, tons 850,000 Limestone, tons 300,000 Coal, tons 1,500,000 Pig iron, tons 300,000 Charcoal, bu 5,000,000 Labor $12,000,000 Interest on $30,000,000, capital invested in machinery 1,800,000 Cost of repairs 1,000,000 Oils and lubricants 100,000 Insurance and taxes 1,000,000

The whole of this amount, excepting the cost of the 25,000,000 pounds of tin ore, or “block tin,” would be produced and the money involved kept at home. Such is the substance of the arguments used by the American Tinned Plate Association to induce Congress to increase the tariff on “tin and terne plates.”

DEATH RATE OF CITIES.

NEW ORLEANS, La.

Will you state the death rate in the principal cities of America and Europe?

E. C.

Answer.—The following represents the number of deaths per annum in the United States out of 1,000 inhabitants, according to the census of 1879: New York, 25.82; Boston, 19.80; Philadelphia, 17.20; Chicago, 17.20; St. Louis, 18.19; New Orleans, 21.60. The deaths per 1,000 in the following European cities were as follows: London, 22.83; Berlin, 27.81; Paris, 22.04.

A STANZA FROM MRS. BROWNING.

PONTOOSUC, Ill.

The lines quoted in the inquiry of “A Reader” in THE WEEKLY INTER OCEAN of Aug. 30 are from the pen of that grand Christian poetess, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and may be found in the fifth verse of the beautiful poem, “A Woman’s Shortcomings.” One of the lines is a little different from what your questioner has it. I will give you the whole verse:

“Unless you can muse in a crowd all day, On the absent face that fixed you; Unless you can love as the angels may, With the breadth of heaven betwixt you; Unless you can dream that his faith is fast, Through behooving and unbehooving; Unless you can die when the dream is past— Oh, never call it loving!”

Your correspondent has the fourth line, “With the breath of heaven between you.”

MILLARD E. LITTLE.

CORN IN DAKOTA.

PIERRE, D. T.

I notice that in THE WEEKLY INTER OCEAN of Aug. 23, in answer to W. K., Chicago, you say that corn is generally conceded to be a hazardous crop in Southern Dakota. That theory is like the one of olden time, that Dakota is a vast wilderness where only the sagebrush and wild buffalo abound. Both theories have been exploded by actual demonstration, and it is no longer an experiment. Corn ripens in South Dakota in from 90 to 100 days from date of planting, which is 10 to 15 days shorter time than it takes in Northern Illinois or Iowa. It is the soil, the long days and short nights that do it; and there are numerous farmers here who can testify to the fact.

W. B. STEERE, M. D.

A GULLED ENGLISHMAN.

CAPRON, Ill.

In reply to the inquiry of one of your correspondents, referred to me, as to whether there is “any truth in the statement made in a book published by some returned English tourists, to the effect that an itinerant lecturer advertised to give an entertainment at Capron, Ill., and at the close of the lecture shoot himself dead; that the home was crowded at $1 a head; and that, true to the programme, at the conclusion of his speech, this peripatetic orator actually committed suicide,” I would say that there was such a story written by a barber here, which was published in the county paper. It was false. The lecture never was given; at least the funeral never came off.

ALEXANDER VANCE, P. M.

SAINT SIMON, THE SOCIALIST.

DANVILLE, Ill.

Who was Saint Simon, and what were his principles?

JOHN SHORT.

Answer.—Claude Henri, Saint Simon, was a French nobleman, who was noted as a social philosopher and the founder of the sect named for him Saint Simonians. He entered the American army in 1778, at 18 years of age, and served therein with distinction and honor. While returning to his native land he was captured by British seamen and carried to Jamaica, where he remained until 1783. When at length he reached France he won many disciples to his socialistic views, and before his death, in 1823, he wrote several works upon philosophy and social reform. His greatest work was the ‘Nouveau Christianisme’ (New Christianity), in which he embodies his final and complete design for the amelioration of the poor and the preservation of society. He advocates a social hierarchy, controlling and regulating the choice of vocations, the fixing of salaries, the division of heritages, whose chief aim it shall be “to make the labors of each conduce to the good of all;” and to aid his projects he advised the union of France and England.

DIXON AND ELGIN BRIDGE DISASTERS.

BLENDON, Kan.

Please state the date and the occasion of the Dixon bridge disaster, with the number of killed and wounded.

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—This calamity occurred on Sunday afternoon, May 4, 1873, resulting in the death from drowning and injuries of over forty men, women, and children, and the serious injury of nearly forty others. Its immediate cause was the overcrowding of the bridge by spectators of an immersion service of the Baptist Church of that city. The real cause was the faulty construction of the bridge, which was an iron structure, known as a Truesdell truss. It was a wagon and root bridge of five spans, each about 120 feet long. Both shore spans fell into the water while the three middle ones, resting entirely upon stone piers, remained suspended by the wrought-iron members of the main cords from six to eight feet below their proper place, dropped down between the piers. The number of persons on the first span that went down was variously estimated to be from 150 to 200, representing a weight of not more than 30,000 pounds. A Truesdell bridge, erected over Fox River at Elgin, fell in December, 1868. This was rebuilt by Mr. Truesdell. On Monday, July 5, 1869, a crowd of about 300 persons gathered on the bridge to witness a tub race, when the east span, 68 feet in length, fell, precipitating about one hundred men, women, and children into the water. Fortunately the stream was but about four feet deep at this time, and no persons were drowned and but two or three deaths followed from injuries received.

CONGRESSMAN GEORGE W. JULIAN.

NEODESHA, Kan.

Was the Hon. George W. Julian a Republican? Describe in brief his life.

E. K. KRONE.

Answer.—George Washington Julian was born in Centerville, Ind., May 5, 1817. After receiving a common school education he was admitted to the bar in 1840. He was chosen a member of the Legislature in 1845. From 1849 to 1851 he represented his district in Congress. The Pittsburg convention nominated him on the Free Democratic ticket for Vice President with John P. Hale for President. In 1856 he was prominent among the organizers of the Republican party. In 1861 he was re-elected to Congress, where he continued to do excellent service for several terms.

GEOLOGICAL DIVISIONS OF TIME.

Please give the geological divisions of time, beginning with the present, and a brief explanation of each.

N. JAY DEEMS.

Answer.—The divisions of time established by geologists are based upon the formations of strata and the advents of different forms of animal life. The history of the earth is divided into five “eras,” seven “ages,” twenty-two “periods,” and the last two periods are subdivided into seven epochs. These divisions, proceeding from the fifth downward to the first, are as follows: 5. Psychozoic era, age of man, human period, and recent epoch. 4. Cenozoic era, age of mammals—embracing the quaternary period, which comprehends the terrace, Champlain, and glacial epochs, and the tertiary period, which comprehends the pliocene, miocene, and eocene epochs. 3. Mesozoic, or middle, era, the age of reptiles, the cretaceous, jurassic, and triassic periods. 2. Paleozoic era, the carboniferous age, or age of acrogens and amphibians; the Devonian age, or age of fishes; the silurian age, or age of invertebrates, or mollusks—the names of the fourteen periods into which these ages are divided are not in common use. 1. Archaean, or eozoic era; the archaean age, and the Huronian and Laurentian periods. For an explanation of the terms used in this division consult Webster’s or Worcester’s unabridged dictionaries, and study the clear illustration accompanying the word “Geology” in the former work.

SUBMARINE CABLES.

EVERGREEN, Iowa.

How many telegraph cables cross the Atlantic, and where? How many ocean cables are there in all?

GUY SMITH.

Answer.—There were in 1879 seven telegraph cables between Europe and America—five from Ireland, one from France, and one from Portugal to Brazil. Since then a new cable has been laid between New York and Flores, in the Azores, from which one extension runs off to France, England, and Holland, and another to Fayal, San Miguel, and Lisbon, embracing in all 7,300 miles. The longest line before this latter was the French cable, 2,585 nautical miles. There are now some 225 ocean cables in all parts of the world, of the aggregate length of over 68,000 miles.

“I” AND “WE” IN JOURNALISM.

DAYTON, Ohio.

1. What is the rule of THE INTER OCEAN as to the use of the pronouns “I” and “we” in the office and in editorial correspondence? 2. What is your rule respecting a contributor’s using “we” when referring to himself?

J. W. H.

Answer.—1. The use of the word “we,” under all circumstances, is deprecated. Senator Conkling once said: “Only three classes of people are allowed to say ‘we:’ Kings, editors, and men with a tape-worm.” In this office “THE INTER OCEAN” is used instead of “we.” 2. Correspondents use “I,” when necessary, but are instructed to be as impersonal as possible. “Your correspondent” is preferred.

PROVIDENCE SPRING—ANDERSONVILLE PRISON.

GILMAN, Iowa.

Is it true that in the Andersonville prison pen, during the late civil war, at a time when the water in the creek had become very scarce and foul and the captive Unionists were dying from this cause, a spring suddenly burst out of the hillside? If this is a fact, state some of the particulars, giving the date of the occurrence.

H. W.

Answer.—It is a fact, and, whether it was a “special providence” or not, as most, if not all, of those wretched prisoners believed, it served all the purposes of one, as much as the miracle in the desert of Sinai, when Moses smote the rock, and the waters gushed forth which saved the thirst-stricken hosts of Israel. Of the origin of this spring John McElroy, who spent fourteen months in Southern prison pens, gives substantially the following account: “Toward the end of August, 1864, the water in the creek was indescribably bad. Before the stream entered the stockade it was rendered too filthy for any use by the contaminations from the camp of the guards, situated about half a mile above. Immediately upon entering the stockade its pollution became terrible. The oozy seep at the bottom of the hillsides drained directly into it all the filth from a population of 33,000. Imagine the condition of an open sewer through the heart of a city of that many people, and receiving all the offensive products of so dense a population into a shallow, sluggish stream a yard wide and five inches deep, heated by the burning rays of the sun at the thirty-second parallel of latitude.’ The prisoners dug wells in the swampy earth with their pocket-knives to a depth of 20 to 30 feet, pulling up the earth in pantaloon-legs. But a drought came on and these wells, which at the best were not free from pollution, began to fail. To approach too close, even by a hair’s breadth, to the “dead-line” on the west side of the stockade, where the creek entered, in the effort to get water as free from filth as possible, was to sign one’s death warrant, which the whizzing bullet of the heartless guard executed instantly. “More wicked and unjustifiable murders were never committed than those almost daily assassinations at the creek,” says the historian. Sickness had multiplied in this horrible prison-pen until the wretched victims of such barbarism sat face to face with despair constantly. At this awful extremity what was the astonishment and gratitude of the camp one morning, when it was discovered that “during the night a large, bold spring had burst out on the north side, about midway between the swamp and the summit of the hill, and pouring out was a grateful flood of pure, sweet water, in an apparently exhaustless quantity.” This was the morning of Aug. 13, 1864. The overjoyed Union prisoners christened it “Providence spring,” the fitting name by which it is still known.

CATTLE IN THE UNITED STATES.

JETMORE, Kan.

State the total number of cattle in the United States, and what percentage of them are milch cows.

C. E. BOUGHTON.

Answer.—The statistician in the Department of Agriculture estimates the total number of cattle in all the States and Territories in January, 1882, as 35,891,870, of which number 12,611,632, or a little more than 35 per cent, were milch cows. This estimate, so far as the number of cattle in the Territories, Colorado, and Texas are concerned, is largely conjectural.

JULES SANDEAU AND “GEORGE SAND.”

MENDOTA, Ill.

Who was Jules Sandeau, who is said to have given Madame Dudevant the now famous nom de plume of “George Sand?” Why did she take that name?

ALICE.

Answer.—Leonard Sylvain Jules Sandeau, a French novelist and dramatic writer of some distinction, was born at Anbusson, France, Feb. 19, 1811. He studied law in Paris, but subsequently turned his attention to literature. In 1831 he became acquainted with Madame Dudevant, who lived with him in three small rooms in the Quai Saint Michel at a yearly rental of 300 francs. She it was who induced him to enter upon a literary career. In 1832 they produced together “Rose et Blanche,” a novel in five volumes, signed “Jules Sand.” It was received by the public with encouraging favor. Before she returned to Nahant she conferred with Sandeau respecting a new romance, each of them to write half of it. Fearing that he would neglect the work when she was not at hand to spur him to his task, she wrote the whole of “Indiana,” published the same year, in which her splendid genius rose far above anything in “Rose et Blanche.” Returning to Paris, she found that Sandeau had not written a line. Handing him her manuscript, she exclaimed: “Read that.” He did so, and declared it to be such a masterpiece that he could not review it. She wished to retain the name of “Jules Sands,” but as he had taken no part in the work, he positively declined to allow it. Appealing to their mutual friend, De Larouche, he advised her to take for a Christian name the name of the patron saint of the day, St. George, retaining the name “Sands,” a piece of advice which she instantly adopted. M. Sandeau afterward produced numerous novels and dramas, conspicuous among which are “Mdlle. de la Sergliere,” in two volumes, 1848, dramatized in 1851—generally esteemed his best novel; “La Maison de Penarvan,” 1858, dramatized in 1858; “Le Gendre de M. Poirier,” written in connection with Emil Angier, 1854—his best comedy. In 1853 he became keeper of the Mazurin Library, and in 1858 was elected a member of the French Academy, one of the highest distinctions to which a Frenchman can aspire. He died April 24, 1883.

MAXIMILIAN AND CARLOTTA.

CORNING, Iowa.

Please give a short biography of the Empress Carlotta and the late Emperor Maximilian of Mexico.

LILLIAN ELDRIDGE.

Answer.—Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph, Archduke of Austria, younger brother of Francis Joseph I., the present Emperor of Austria-Hungary, and now generally referred to as the Emperor Maximilian I. of Mexico, was born in 1832. He was liberally educated, with a mind enriched by extensive reading, wide travel, and intercourse with many of the leading spirits of Europe. In 1857, on July 27, he married the sister of the present King of the Belgians, Charlotte Marie Amelie, born June 7, 1840. This amiable, beautiful, and highly intellectual lady was reared by her father, Leopold I., of Belgium, the most progressive of European sovereigns, with the greatest care, until she adorned every court she moved in. In 1861, taking advantage of the troubled condition of Mexico and the civil war in the United States, France, Spain, and Great Britain commenced hostilities against Mexico, ostensibly to enforce certain pecuniary claims. But in 1862, when the real purpose of the French manifested itself, the British and Spanish forces withdrew, and the French declared war, proclaiming the intention to liberate the Mexican people from the tyranny of their President, Benito Juarez. They overran the eastern and central part of Mexico, captured the capital—receiving more or less support from the clerical party among the natives—and finally set up a provisional government, headed nominally by General Almonte, but really under dictation of the invaders. An “Assembly of Notables,” so called, convened at Mexico, July 10, 1863, decided by a vote of 281 to 19 in favor of a “limited hereditary monarchy,” with a Catholic prince for sovereign, under the title of Emperor. At the instigation of Napoleon, who had already begun to realize the folly of his undertaking to subdue the whole of Mexico and hold it in subjection to his own will, seeing that the Republicans of Mexico were still organized and were continually harrassing the usurpers, the scepter of this new government was proffered to Maximilian. Not until all but the four northern provinces were in possession of the French forces and their Mexican recruits did he accept this uneasy crown. On May 29, 1864, the Emperor and Empress landed at Vera Cruz and on June 12 they made their public entry into the capital amid a brilliant military and civic display, accompanied by many signs of popular welcome. Before winter the Imperialists had gained possession of all the chief places in every State in the so-called empire. However, the fugitive President of the desperate republic still maintained a species of guerilla warfare in various places, and the sympathies of the people of the United States were with them. No sooner was the great civil war in this country ended than this sympathy began to make itself felt very sensibly. On Nov. 6, 1865, Secretary Seward directed the American Minister at Paris to represent to Napoleon III. that the presence of the French army in Mexico was a “cause of grave reflection to the government of the United States,” and that the latter could on no account allow the establishment of an imperial government, based on foreign aid, in that country, or recognize there any other than republican institutions. This increased the unpopularity of the war in France. Napoleon took warning, and in the summer of 1866 withdrew his forces. Deserted by his European allies, Maximilian’s empire hastened to a most melancholy end, so far as himself and the Empress were concerned. Charlotte went to Europe to enlist aid, but in vain. Her husband’s perilous position, added to the bitter disappointment and mortification of her failure, at last dethroned her reason. Maximilian refused to leave with the last French detachment, though urged to do so. He felt bound in honor to remain and share the fate of his Mexican supporters. At the head of 10,000 men he made a brave defense of Queretaro against the republicans under General Escobedo. On the night of May 14, 1867, the stronghold of his position was betrayed into the hands of his foes by the Emperor’s most trusted friend, General Lopez. Even then he refused the opportunity proffered him by his immediate captor to escape in civilian’s dress, lest it might compromise this generous foe. Along with Generals Miramon and Mejia, he was tried by court-martial, and on the 19th of July the three were shot. “Poor Carlotta,” as she is sorrowfully called, has never fully recovered her reason, although cared for with the greatest tenderness by her royal brother.

BOSS COINS OF AMERICA.

GALESBURG, Ill.

Our Curiosity Shop has given a list of American silver coins that command a high premium; now please give a list of high-price copper coins of the United States, and colonial pieces. At least name all the “boss” coins, silver and copper.

NUMISMATIST.

Answer.—As shown in the table of United States silver coins now obtainable only at a high premium, which has already been given in Our Curiosity Shop, the “boss dollar,” the rarest of all, is that of 1804, price $400 to $500, according to condition; the “boss half-dollar” is that of 1796, with sixteen stars, price $20 to $27.50—although that of 1796, with only fifteen stars, and that of 1797, each command nearly the same premium; $20 to $25. The “boss quarter-dollars” are those of 1823 and 1827, each quoted at $15 to $25. The “boss dime” is that of 1804, quoted at $4 to $6. The “boss half-dime” is that of 1802, worth $25 to $40. The “boss cent,” the rarest of all the cents, is that of 1799, quoted at $4 to $6; a higher rate of premium even than that of the “boss dollar.” The “boss half-cent” is that of 1796, worth $5 to $8, or from one thousand to sixteen hundred per cent more than its face.

The following are the United States cents that are worth 50 cents apiece and upward:

Year. Description. Good. Fine.

1793—Cent, wreath, stars, and bars on edge $2.00 $3.50 1793—Cent, with chain ameri 2.75 5.00 1793—Cent, chain, America on the reverse 1.75 3.75 1793—Cent, clover leaf under bust 1.50 2.50 1793—Cent, liberty cap, rare 3.00 6.00 1793—Cent, dot after date, and legend “Liberty” 3.00 5.00 1795—Cent, thick planchet, edge lettered 75 1.00 1799—Cent, the rarest of the cents 4.00 6.00 1804—Cent, very rare 3.00 5.00 1839—Cent, over date of 1836 75 1855—Pattern cent, flying eagle, copper 60 70 1856—Nickel cent, flying eagle 1.50 2.00 1858—Nickel cent 50 1873—Two-cent piece 50 75

Next we give United States half-cents, valued at 50 cents and upward:

Year. Description. Good. Fine.

1793—Half-cent, rare $1.75 $2.50 1793—Half-cent of smaller planchet 1.50 3.00 1794—Half-cent of several varieties 40 50 1795—Half-cent, lettered edge 75 1.00 1795—Half-cent of thin planchet 40 60 1796—Half-cent, the rarest of all 5.00 8.00 1797—Half-cent, several varieties 50 75 1802—Half-cent 50 75 1811—Half-cent 60 75 1831—Half-cent 2.50 3.50 1836—Half-cent 2.50 3.50 1840 to 1848 inclusive—Half-cent 2.50 3.50 1849—Half-cent, small date 2.50 3.50 1849—Half-cent, large date 05 10 1852—Half-cent 2.50 3.50

The coins minted by any of the American colonies and now at a high premium are as follows:

Year. Description. Good. Fine.

1786—Cent, Vermontensium Respublica $0.40 $0.68 1786—Cent, Vermonts Respublica 30 50 1788—Cent, Nova Cesarea, horse head to left 75 1.25 1788—Mass. half-cent, 40 65 1787—New York “Excelsior” cent 2.00 3.00 1783—Chalmer’s Annapolis shilling and sixpence 2.50 3.00 1652—Oak Tree shilling and sixpence 3.00 4.00 1852—Pine Tree shilling and sixpence 3.00 4.00 1722—Rosa American half-cent 60 75

“A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME.”

CHICAGO, Ill.

A friend says that the saying “A little bird told me so,” is in the Bible, but she don’t know where. Is she right? If so, please explain it.

ONE OF YOUR GIRLS.

Answer.—This mild expression for “I won’t betray my informer,” is not a literal quotation, but is undoubtedly borrowed from Ecclesiastes, chapter x, verse 29: “Curse not the King, no, not in thy thoughts: and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.”

METEORIC STONES.

WYOMING, Wis.

When and where did the largest meteoric stone, of which there is any record, fall? Please give a description of the meteoric stone that fell in Iowa a few years ago.

WILLIAM YALE.

Answer.—An immense aerolite, or meteoric stone, fell near Ægospatami, in Asia Minor, in 467 B. C., which was described by Pliny as being as large as a wagon. There is a remarkable one in the Smithsonian Institution, weighing 1,400 pounds, which fell in Mexico about A. D. 1500. The largest meteoric masses on record were heard of first by Captain Ross, the Arctic explorer, through some Esquimaux. These lay on the west coast of Greenland, where they were subsequently found by the Swedish Exploring Expedition of 1870. One of them, now in the Royal Museum of Stockholm, weighs over 50,000 pounds, and is the largest specimen known. Two remarkable meteorites have fallen in Iowa within a few years past. On Feb. 12, 1875, a very brilliant meteor, in the form of an elongated horseshoe, was seen throughout a region of at least 400 miles in length and 250 breadth, lying in Missouri and Iowa. It is described as “without a tail but having a sort of flowing jacket of flame. Detonations were heard, so violent as to shake the earth and to jar the windows like the shock of an earthquake,” as it fell, at about 10:30 o’clock p. m., a few miles east of Marengo, Iowa. The ground for a space of some seven miles in length by two to four miles in breadth was strewn with fragments of this meteor, varying in weight from a few ounces to seventy-four pounds; the aggregate of the parts discovered being about five hundred pounds.

On May 10, 1879, at about 5 o’clock p. m., a large and extraordinarily luminous meteor exploded with a terrific noise, followed at slight intervals with less violent detonations, and struck the earth in the edge of a ravine, near Estherville, Emmet County, Iowa, penetrating to a depth of fourteen feet. Within two miles other fragments were found, one of which weighed 170 pounds and another 32 pounds. The principal mass weighed 431 pounds. All the discovered parts aggregate about 640 pounds. The one of 170 pounds is now in the cabinet of the State University of Minnesota. The composition of this aerolite is peculiar in many respects; but, as in nearly all aerolites, there is a considerable proportion of iron and nickel.

A SKELETON IN EVERY CLOSET.

MADISON, Wis.

What gave rise to the expression, “There is a skeleton in the closet,” and just what does it mean?

ALICE.

Answer.—There is an old story that a soldier once wrote to his mother, who complained of her unhappiness, asking her to get some sewing done by some one who had no care or trouble. Coming in her search to one who, she thought, must be content and happy, this lady took her to a closet containing a human skeleton. “Madam,” said she, “I try to keep my sorrows to myself, but know that every night I am compelled by my husband to kiss this skeleton of him who was once his rival. Think you, then, I can be happy?” The inference is certainly too clear to need interpretation.

FINANCES OF CONFEDERATE STATES.

AMES, Iowa.

What was the amount of the Confederate debt at the close of the war? Was their currency a legal tender for all debts? How much did they issue? How much, if any, remained in the Confederate treasury at the close of the war?

CASEY AND UNDERHILL.

Answer.—1. According to the “Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government,” by Jefferson Davis, the foreign debt of the Confederate States at the close of the war was £2,200,000, or about $11,000,000. Besides this, the debt at home, on the books of the Register of the Treasury on Oct. 1 1864, amounted to $1,147,970,208. Davis estimates that balances in the hands of absent officers would have reduced the total public debt to $1,126,381,095, of which $541,340,090 consisted of funded debt and the balance unfunded debt, or treasury notes. What further debt was created between Oct. 1, 1864, and the downfall of the Confederacy in April, 1865, it is not easy to ascertain. Judging from the expenditure of the six months next preceding Oct. 1, 1864, the debt must have been increased at least $450,000,000. Davis says: “The appropriations called for by the different departments for the six months ending June 30, 1865, amounted to $438,416,504,” which, taken together with the amount of unexpended appropriations and the small proportion raised by taxation, confirms our estimate, so that the total home and foreign debt of the Confederacy at the close of the war, omitting any claims for advances made by individual States, must have been about $1,587,000,000. 2. The treasury notes of the Confederacy were made receivable for all public debts or taxes except export duty on cotton. The terms of at least one issue, as given by Mr. Davis, “receivable for all debts or taxes except the export duty on cotton,” would constitute them a legal tender. 3. In December, 1863, this currency in circulation in those States amounted to “more than $600,000,000.” A considerable part of this was funded in Confederate bonds, but new issues or reissues swelled the amount again to about the old figures before the war closed. 4. Just how much specie remained in the hands of the Secretary of the Confederate Treasury when Johnston surrendered is not known, but it must have been a trifling sum; for when Jefferson Davis committed the treasury chest to General Joe Johnston’s safe-keeping, according to that officer’s statement on pages 408 and 409 of his “Narrative of the Rebellion,” it contained but $39,000 in silver, a considerable part of which he took and divided among his troops. The fleeing members of the Cabinet, no doubt, got away with the most of the gold and foreign bills.

SAN FRANCISCO TO AUSTRALIA.

OSCEOLA, Neb.

Will you please state the distance and rates of fare between San Francisco and Sydney? If not too much trouble give the same for all the principal ports in the Sandwich Islands, New Zealand, and Australia.

J. M. LOGAN.

Answer.—The following table gives the distances and rates of fare for all ports in Sandwich Islands, Australia, and New Zealand touched at by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company’s steamers:

Miles. San Francisco to Cabin. Steerage.

2,100 Honolulu $75.00 $30.00 6,050 Auckland 200.00 100.00 6,625 Wellington 230.00 120.00 6,795 Lyttleton 235.00 122.50 7,000 Port Chalmers 240.00 125.00 7,200 Sydney 200.00 100.00 7,740 Melbourne 210.00 105.00 7,650 Brisbane 220.00 110.00 7,500 Rockhampton 235.00 117.50 8,245 Adelaide 223.75 117.50 7,600 Hobart Town 232.00 118.00

THE DEMOCRATIC ROOSTER.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Give the origin of the rooster as a Democratic emblem.

A READER.

Answer.—We are indebted to Mr. W. F. Slater, of Hyde Park, for the following reply to this inquiry: During the Jackson and Van Buren administrations the party used the hickory pole and broom as a Democratic emblem of victory. In the memorable campaign of 1840 the Indianapolis Sentinel (Democratic) was published, with Mr. Nat Bolton as editor, and George Pattison as assistant. In the town of Greenfield resided Mr. Chapman, life-long Democrat, and at that time the postmaster, but no connection with the Chapman that subsequently published the Sentinel. Mr. Chapman wrote a desponding letter to Pattison, and Pattison, in his answer, endeavored to encourage his fellow-townsman, and wound up his letter with, “Crow, Chapman, crow!” The letter fell into Whig hands and was published in the campaign paper of the Whig party, The Spirit of 1876. In 1842 and 1844, when the Whig party met with defeat, the rooster came into universal use as the Democratic emblem of victory.

TO CHINA AND JAPAN.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa.

Please supplement your answer of last week giving distances and rates of fare from San Francisco to the Sandwich Islands, Australia, and New Zealand, by giving the distances and rates of fare to Japan, China, and East India ports.

IOWAN.

Answer.—The following table shows the distance, fares in American gold, etc., per Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company’s vessels, from San Francisco to points named:

———————+————————————————————+————————+——————————+——————— Miles. | San Francisco to— | Cabin. | Steer’ge | Chinese ———————+————————————————————+————————+——————————+——————— 4,800 | Yokohama, Japan |$250.00 | $85.00 | $51.00 5,100 | Hiogo, Japan | 268.00 | 75.00 | 58.00 5,500 | Nagasaki, Japan | 285.00 | 111.00 | 63.50 6,000 | Shanghae, China | 305.00 | 125.00 | 71.00 6,400 | Hongkong, China | 300.00 | 100.00 | 51.00 7,850 | Singapore, India | 380.00 | | 8,250 | Penang, India | 400.00 | | 9,900 | Calcutta, India | 450.00 | | ———————+————————————————————+————————+——————————+———————

Children under 12 years, one-half rates; under 5 years, one-quarter rates; under 2 years, free. Servants accompanying their employers, two-thirds of cabin rate, without regard to age or sex. Round trip tickets, good for twelve months, 12½ per cent from regular rates.

CORN CROPS OF ILLINOIS AND IOWA.

AYR, Neb.

To settle a dispute, please tell which State raises the most corn—Illinois or Iowa.

J. A. SULLIVAN.

Answer.—Illinois leads all the States in the amount of corn raised. In 1882 the Illinois crop was 187,336,900 bushels, and the Iowa crop was 178,487,600 bushels. According to the same authority, the Statistician of the Agricultural Department, the average annual corn crop of Illinois for the five years ending with 1879 was 260,230,740 bushels, and that of Iowa was 163,789,120 bushels. The corn crop of Illinois in 1880, as given in the census, was 325,792,481, and that of Iowa was 275,024,247 bushels.

BEE-SWARMING.

H. J. Dunlap, Esq., of Champaign, Ill., who has made bee-culture a study, after a few words of comment on the brief answer given to “Topsy’s” question on the swarming of bees, published in Our Curiosity Shop three or four weeks ago, gives us his own views on this subject as follows:

New brood is hatched early in the season—in case of plentiful stores before the earliest blossoms—while the first swarm may not leave the hive until July, or even later; the condition of the honey flowers in bloom having much to do in determining the time. [In the Southern States it often leaves in April or May, and in this latitude usually in May or June.—ED]. The first swarm is composed of old and young bees indiscriminately, and of drones. In from six to ten days a young queen is hatched. Sometimes several hatch at the same time, but all are destroyed except one, the queens engaging in deadly combat in which one or the other is the victor. The bees destroy the remaining queen cells as soon as a queen is hatched. In a day or two the virgin queen flies out to meet the male, or drone, and after copulation returns to her hive, where she usually remains until the next season, when she leads out a swarm. In some seasons, when honey is plenty, she may go out with a swarm, and even third swarms are thrown off, but such seasons are almost certain to be poor ones for honey, the swarms becoming so depleted in number that they are unable to avail themselves of the later blossoms, even if these are well-stored with honey. The second swarm thrown off will necessarily be composed mostly of young bees, but the inference that swarming continues so long as there are young queens to lead them out is erroneous.

DEATHS FROM CONSUMPTION.

Please tell what States furnished the largest percentage of consumptives, according to population, and settle a dispute.

B. F. FEATHER.

Answer.—The following table shows the total population of States reporting the greatest number of deaths from consumption in the last census year, and the number of deaths per 10,000 inhabitants:

States. Population. Died of No. per consumption. 10,000.

New York 5,082,871 12,858 25 Pennsylvania 4,282,891 8,073 19 Massachusetts 1,783,085 5,207 30 Ohio 3,198,062 5,912 18 Illinois 3,077,871 5,146 16 Tennessee 1,542,259 3,767 24

This shows that whereas the deaths from consumption in the census year were 16 for every 10,000 inhabitants in Illinois, they were 25 per 10,000 in New York State, and 30 per 10,000 in Massachusetts, the highest ratio in the country. Maine stood next with 29 per 10,000, while Rhode Island lost 25, New Hampshire 25, New Jersey 23, Connecticut 21, California 21, Virginia 20, North Carolina 15, and Michigan the same as Illinois, 16, while Florida lost not quite 10, and Minnesota not quite 11 per 10,000.

RAILROAD RELINQUISHMENT TO SETTLERS.

MELROSE, M. T.

Two men had a hearing about a claim within the limits of the railroad land grant, and the General Land Office decided that neither could hold it. One of the parties procured from the Northern Pacific Railroad a relinquishment, which was sent to the General Land Office, and a patent was issued to this person. Now, had the Northern Pacific Railroad the right to relinquish its title in this way? Please give the law.

DAVID EVANS.

Answer.—By an act of Congress approved June 22, 1874, according to the statement of “Copps’ American Settler’s Guide,” it is provided that in the adjustment of all railroad land grants, whether made directly to any State for railroad purposes, or to any corporation, if any of the lands granted be found in the possession of an actual settler, whose entry or filing has been allowed under the pre-emption or homestead laws subsequent to the time at which, by the decision of the Land Office, the right of said road was declared to have attached to such lands, the grantees, upon a proper relinquishment of the lands so entered or filed for, shall be entitled to select an equal quantity of other lands in lieu thereof from any of the public lands not mineral, and within the limits of the grant, not otherwise appropriated at the date of selection. And any such entries or filings thus relieved from conflict may be perfected into complete titles as if such lands had not been granted. Lands so relinquished are rated at only $1.25 per acre. An inducement is thus offered to railroad companies to relinquish in favor of the settlers, and receive other lands in lieu of those surrendered. Not only this, but when the superior right of the company is ascertained, and it is found that the claim of the settler is such that it would be admitted were the railroad claim extinguished, the General Land Office will, in all practicable cases, direct the attention of the officers of the company to the fact, and request an explicit answer whether or not the land will be relinquished. At the same time it is well for the party interested to seek for himself the relief indicated, by direct application to the railroad authorities, and thereby aid in securing a speedy adjustment.

DEATHS FROM ACCIDENT.

CHICAGO, Ill.

About how many persons die from injuries by railroad collisions and other accidents every year? Also, give the number of suicides.

CRIPPLE.

Answer.—The total number of deaths due to accidents, violence, suicide, etc., as reported for the last decennial census, was 35,932, divided as follows:

Burns and scalds 4,786 Exposure and neglect 1,299 Homicide 1,336 Injuries by machinery 120 Railroad accidents 2,349 Suffocation 2,339 Sunstroke 557 Drowned 4,320 Gunshot 2,289 Infanticide 40 Suicide by shooting 472 Suicide by drowning 155 Suicide by poison 340 Suicide, other causes 1,550 Deaths by other injuries 13,980

From the above, it appears that the total number of deaths from suicide, 2,517, exceeded the total from railroad accidents, and that the latter amounted to 65 in every 1,000 deaths from accidents and violence.

SUBMARINE TORPEDOES.

HARPER, Kan.

How are torpedoes, for blowing up vessels, constructed and used?

CHARLES G. BOONE.

Answer.—There are several kinds of naval torpedoes. They may be classed, as fixed—submarine mines—and locomotive. Of the first sort there are two classes, viz., the self-acting and those which must be exploded by the electric battery operated from the shore or some other means of direct ignition.

An example of the self-acting sort may be described as follows: Take a hollow iron cone; fill this in part with gunpowder, say 150 to 250 pounds, but not enough to overcome the buoyancy of the cone. In the top of this charge of gunpowder bury an iron case containing lime, and in it a thin glass tube filled with sulphuric acid. Connect this tube or vial with an iron rod running through the top of the torpedo cone, up to within a short distance of the surface of the water. From this upright rod let other rods, called feelers, extend horizontally in every direction; let the whole be anchored in the channel to be defended, so that these feelers will be so near to the surface that passing vessels will be likely to come in contact with one or more of them; in which case the shock will break the frail glass tube containing the sulphuric acid, which latter, acting chemically on the lime, will instantly generate sufficient heat to explode the charge and destroy the vessel. For a sample of the other class of fixed torpedoes, imagine a submarine magazine filled with gunpowder, or—better still for this purpose, gun-cotton, because water does not injure it—planted in a channel, connected with the shore by an insulated copper wire attached to a battery. Let a small piece of wire be soldered to the metal case of the torpedo, and unite this, in the priming chamber, with the shore wire by a fine piece of platinum. The moment the operator on shore connects the wire with the battery the current, meeting the resistance of this contracted bridge of platinum, heats it to incandescence and explodes the charge. By planting several parallel lines of such torpedoes across a channel, at no great distance apart, in such a way that the mines in one row stand opposite the open spaces in another, it is rendered extremely hazardous for a hostile vessel to attempt to pass. Of the locomotive submarine explosives, one of the most formidable is the Whitehead fish torpedo, the construction of which is more or less a secret, sold by the inventor to the English, Austrian, and Russian navies. The shape of the case is, as the name implies, that of a fish, and it is propelled by a screw driven by compressed air. From a peculiar carriage on shore, or more frequently on board a vessel, it is discharged in a direct line for the enemy’s ship, and is exploded by impact. It is a terribly destructive engine when it happens to strike, but its aim is uncertain. The American torpedo, of similar description in many respects, Harvey’s, is believed to be a more reliable and effective engine.

Finally there is the torpedo used to such good advantage in several instances during our late war, particularly in the case of the sinking of the rebel ram Albemarle. It is rigged on the end of a spar carried in the bow of a launch, and sometimes on outriggers on either side, and is exploded by contact with the vessel to be destroyed, at some point several feet below the water-line.

ANCIENT VIRGINIA.

LA JUNTA, Col.

What were the original boundaries of Virginia, and how did it get its name?

J. P. GRANGER.

Answer.—There is no good ground for dispute over the question as to how Virginia got its name. This name was given by Queen Elizabeth at the request of Sir Walter Raleigh to the region discovered in 1584 by persons sent out by him. It was applied to what is now North Carolina, and was extended, with the progress of exploration, over the country northward as far as the present city of Bangor, Me., or to the 45th degree of north latitude, and southward to the 34th parallel. One colony after another was carved out of the original Virginia until it was reduced to the boundaries it had at the time of the Revolutionary war. It claimed jurisdiction over all the Northwest territory by virtue of its first charter, made to the London company, and by conquest from Great Britain during the war; but it ceded all its rights to the Federal Government in 1787, reserving only 3,709,848 acres to reward Virginia troops.

AMERICAN TREATIES WITH CHINA.

CHEBANSE, Ill.

How long before the passage of our infamous anti-Chinese immigration law was it that our government forced its way into China at the cannon’s mouth?

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—The first American treaty with China was made at Wang-hia, a suburb of Macao, July 3, 1844, by the Hon. Caleb Cushing, Minister Plenipotentiary for the United States, and Commissioner Ki-ying, on the part of the Chinese. It was soon after the close of the Anglo-Chinese war known as the “Opium war,” because it grew out of the persistent smuggling of opium into China by the East India Company, and resulted in the agreement of the Chinese Government to admit opium as an article of legitimate commerce. It also resulted in the opening of five ports to English trade. Thus the forcing of the Chinese “at the cannon’s mouth” was done by the English, against a sincere desire of the former both to keep out opium and to have nothing more to do with Europeans that they could possibly help. The negotiations between Mr. Cushing and Ki-ying were amicable and highly creditable to both nations from first to last. Strange to say, to the utter astonishment of the English, Mr. Cushing, with the arguments of reason only, gained many important concessions not contained in the British treaty, besides all that was conceded in that instrument. The next treaty between the United States and China was signed at Tientsin, China, June 15, 1858. It contained a number of important additional concessions, all obtained without any violence or serious warlike demonstration on the part of our own government, but coincident with the English and French treaties extorted from the Chinese by the bloody war that had been waged for the two preceding years. Had not the English and French waged that war it is quite certain that neither they nor the Americans would have gained any new concessions, and they might have had to yield some of those granted in the old treaties. But having been forced to make concessions to their hated foes, it must be said that the Chinese Government yielded to Americans equal rights and privileges in a manner which showed plainly that they had no desire to withhold anything from a friendly power which they had granted to their enemies. The first article of the treaty recites, among other things: “There shall be, as there always has been, peace and friendship between the United States and the Ta-Tsing (Chinese) Empire, and between their people respectively. They shall not insult or oppress each other,” etc. The next, known as the Burlingame treaty, was negotiated at Washington and ratified by the United States Senate July 16, 1868, when Mr. Anson Burlingame was here at the head of the first Chinese Embassy to this country. It was negotiated on the highest plane of American statesmanship, and breathes throughout the spirit of true republicanism, the spirit of the highest Christian civilization. It is sad to think that it was too high for the majority of our politicians to stand on, and has been lowered and narrowed to accommodate them in the present treaty, negotiated in 1880, at the dictation of Denis Kearney and the Sinophobists of California.

CATTLE IN UNITED STATES.

ELLSWORTH, Kan.

Will you please tell how many cattle there were in the United States, according to the last census; also, the number for four years past?

WM. ASHMEAD.

Answer.—The census gives the number of working oxen in the United States in 1880 as 993,841; the milch cows as 12,443,120; other cattle as 22,488,550; total, 35,925,511. The Statistician of the Agricultural Department gives the numbers for the past four years as shown below:

Jan. 1, 1879— Milch cows 11,826,400 Oxen and other cattle 21,408,100

Jan. 1, 1880— Milch cows 12,027,000 Oxen and other cattle 21,231,000

Jan. 1, 1881— Milch cows 12,368,653 Oxen and other cattle 20,937,702

Jan. 1, 1882— Milch cows 12,611,632 Oxen and other cattle 23,280,238

THE GERMAN PATRIOT, BLUM.

MAZOMANIE, Wis.

Tell us something of Robert Blum, the German statesman, who was shot in Vienna in 1848.

CARL FEHLANDT.

Answer.—He was born at Cologne in 1807. He was well educated, served for a time in the army, which he left in 1830 to connect himself with the theater at Cologne, of which he became in time a director. Much of his time was given to literature and politics. In the latter he espoused the cause of liberalism. This was particularly the case after he moved to Leipsic, where he was first a director of the theater, then a bookseller and publisher. Here he founded the Schiller Society of Leipsic, was connected with the German Catholic movement, and was finally elected Vice President of the Provisional Assembly at Frankfort in 1848. In the National Assembly he became leader of the Left, or Radicals. He joined the popular movement in 1848, took a prominent part in the insurrection that broke out at Vienna at the time of the struggle for Hungarian independence, headed by Kossuth, and, being arrested, he was summarily shot, Nov. 9, 1848.

SIR JOHN FRANKLIN’S LAST RECORD.

CHEBANSE, Ill.

When, where, and by whom was the cairn discovered in which was the last record of Dr. John Franklin?

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—The cairn containing the written record left by the Franklin exploring party was discovered at Point Victory on the coast of King William’s Island. This discovery was made in 1859 (fourteen years after Franklin’s death), by Lieutenant Hobson of the British yacht Fox, purchased and fitted out by Lady Franklin, and commanded by Captain Leopold McClintock. The principal facts stated in the record are that her Majesty’s ships Terror and Erebus spent the winter of 1845-6 at Beechey Island, off the southwest coast of North Devon, having ascended Wellington Channel to latitude 77 deg., and returned by the west side of Cornwallis Island. Lieutenant Gore and Charles F. De Voeux had left the ships with six men, on an exploring expedition, May 24, 1847, and on the 28th left this written statement of their journeyings. Franklin had sailed westward to longitude 98 deg., then up Wellington Channel—the course specially commended to him, but upon trying to reach the American coast he was prevented by the masses of ice sweeping southward through McClintock Channel. The record concludes with these words, in the handwriting of Captain Fitz James: “April 25, 1848—H. M. ships Terror and Erebus were deserted on 22d April, five leagues n. n. w. of this, having been beset since 12th September, 1846. The officers and crews, consisting of 105 souls, under the command of Captain F. R. M. Crozier, landed here in lat. 69 deg. 37 min. 42 sec. n., long. 98 deg. 41 min. w. Sir John Franklin died on the 11th June, 1847; and the total loss by deaths in the expedition has been to this date 9 officers and 15 men.” Captain Crozier added the important statement: “We shall start on to-morrow, 26th April, 1848, for Back’s Fish River.” This record proved the identity of Sir John Franklin’s party with a party seen by the Esquimaux pressing southward along Fish River to reach the settlements of the Hudson Bay Company. Later many skeletons were found on the south and west coasts of King William’s Island. It is certain, according to the recent reports of Captain Hall and Lieutenant Schwatka, that all of the party perished from hunger and exposure.

STEPHEN GIRARD.

James White, Fairfield, Pa.—Stephen Girard was born near Bordeaux, France, May 24, 1750; took to a seafaring life, became master of a sailing vessel, then owner of several ships in the American coasting and West India trade, in which business he amassed a fortune, the greater part of which was left to found and endow Girard College for Orphans, near Philadelphia, and other charitable institutions. He was regarded, at the time of his death, as the wealthiest man in the United States, although, compared with the money kings of the present time, he had but a moderate fortune, probably not to exceed $9,000,000. No one knows what William H. Vanderbilt or Jay Gould is worth, but it is safe to say that it is not less in either case than $150,000,000, and some say more than $200,000,000.

ELEVATION OF WESTERN SIGNAL STATIONS.

FAIRMOUNT, Ill.

Please give in Our Curiosity Shop the elevation above sea level of Huron, D.T., St. Paul, Minn., Madison, Wis., and Chicago.

E. HALLADAY.

Answer.—The best we can do is to give the elevations of the barometers of the United States Signal Service above sea-level at the several points specified, as computed for that service. That these are not certainly exact is admitted by the Chief of the Signal Service, who says, on page 1,178 of his report for 1881: “When the elevations of these planes above mean sea-level have been determined by the Coast and Geodetic Survey, it is expected that we shall be able to greatly improve on the elevations at present adopted.” The Signal Service barometer at Huron, D. T., stands at 1,300 feet above mean sea-level—marked (?) or doubtful. The barometer at St. Paul is 810.9 feet, at Madison 949.2 feet, at Chicago 660.9 feet, above sea level. The elevation of these barometers above the ground varies between thirty and seventy-five feet. As to your other question you are mistaken; Huron still appears in the “Weather Reports” printed in The Inter Ocean.

VALUES OF FOREIGN COINS.

HOUGHTON, Mich.

Can you not oblige us with a list of foreign coins and their values in this country?

WILLIAM J. WREN.

Answer.—The following table gives a list of foreign coins and their values, as proclaimed by the United States Treasury Department for the guidance of Custom House officers:

Countries. Standard monetary unit. Value in U. S. cur.

Austria Florin, silver .40.6

Belgium Franc, gold and silver .19.3 5,10, and 20 franc coins.

Bolivia Boliviano, silver .82.3

Brazil Milris of 1,000 reis, gold .54.5

Canada Dollar, gold 1.00

Central America Peso, silver .83.6

Chili Peso, gold .91.2 Condor, doubloon, and escudo.

Denmark Crown, gold .26.8 10 and 20 crown pieces.

Ecqaudor Peso, silver .82.3

Egypt Pound of 100 piasters, gold 4.97.4 5, 10, 25, and 50 piastres.

France Franc, gold and silver .19.3 5, 10, and 20 franc pieces.

Great Britain Pound sterling, gold 4.86.6½ Sovereign and half sovereign.

Greece Drachma, gold and silver .19.3 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 drachmas.

German Empire Mark, gold .23.8 5, 10, and 20 marks.

India Rupee of 16 annas, silver .39.7

Italy Lira, gold and silver .19.3 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 lire.

Japan Yen, gold and silver .99.7 1, 2, 3, 10, and 20 yen.

Liberia Dollar, gold 1.00.

Mexico Dollar, or peso, silver .89.4 Dollar, 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavo.

Netherlands Florin, gold and silver .40.2

Norway Crown, gold .26.8 10 and 20 crowns.

Peru Sol, silver .83.6

Portugal Milreis, 1,000 reis, gold 1.08. 2, 5, and 10 milreis.

Russia Ruble of 100 copecks, silver .66.9 Ruble, ¼, and ½ rouble.

Sandwich Islands Dollar, gold 1.00.

Spain Peseta of 100 centimes gold and silver .19.3 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 pesetas.

Sweden Crown, gold .26.8

Switzerland Franc, gold and silver .19.3 5, 10, and 20 francs.

Tripoli Mahbub. 20 piasters, silver .74.3

Turkey Piaster, gold .04.4 25, 50, 100, 250, and 500 piasters.

United States Peso, silver .83.6 of Colombia

THE SOUTH AND PROTECTIVE TARIFF.

JONESBORO, Ark.

How is the South, and, particularly, how are Southern farmers, benefited by the tariff?

S. W. MOREHEAD.

Answer.—Just as other American farmers are. First, by escaping direct taxation for the support of the General Government, a form of taxation that always bears on farmers and the other industrial classes heavily, as illustrated in direct taxation for State and county purposes. The Southern politicians who framed the Constitution of the Southern Confederacy, a majority of them, ignored the protectionist policy of Washington, Madison, Clay, Lowndes, Bell, and other Southern statesmen of different political parties, and, as Jefferson Davis puts it, in his “Rise and Fall of the Confederacy,” “protective duties for the benefit of special branches of industry were altogether prohibited.” A tariff for revenue only, export duties, and direct taxation were relied on to supply the exchequer of the Confederacy. What does Mr. Davis say of the result as regards the last of these sources? On page 495 of Volume I. he writes: “Within six months after the passage of the war tax of Aug. 19, 1861, the popular aversion to internal taxation by the General Government had so influenced the legislation of the several States that only in South Carolina, Mississippi, and Texas were the taxes actually collected from the people. The quotas of the remaining States had been raised by the issue of bonds and State Treasury notes. The public debt of the country was thus actually increased instead of being diminished by the taxation imposed by Congress.” Where did most of the money come from that was raised by the Confederacy? Off the agricultural products of the South. As to the foreign loan, Davis says: “Each bond, at the option of the holder, was convertible at its nominal amount into cotton at the rate of sixpence sterling for each pound of cotton—say 4,000 pounds of cotton for each bond of a hundred pounds sterling.” The farmer was paid for the cotton in Confederate currency or bonds, as a rule, and any other cotton exported from the country was compelled to pay an export duty to help pay the interest on the foreign bonds. But not only does the policy of American protection tend to keep the amount raised by direct taxation down to a minimum (as now, when, except the internal revenue tax on whisky and tobacco, nearly the entire revenue of the Federal Government is collected off of imports), but it levies the tariff mainly on such articles as can be produced in this country, so compelling consumers of Southern cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, etc., to pay better prices for these articles, or foreign competitors to reduce their profits when selling to American consumers; while it admits, coffee, tea, and other home necessities that we cannot produce, free of duty. It lays a duty on iron and other ores, and so encourages the Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama miner to delve for the wealth beneath his feet. It taxes cotton goods, and so holds out an extra inducement over all that nature has done to encourage the South to erect cotton factories. The same is true in a thousand other lines of manufacture. In general, it attracts capital into the South to engage in mining and manufacturing; it keeps money at home; it builds up home markets; it develops natural resources; it quickens the inventive genius of the nation, and it diversifies industries, and so provides occupations adapted to the various talents of different persons. This last is what the South needs more, in proportion, than any other section of the Union. Diversity of occupation, like diversity of crops, is essential to the realization of the best results. In many cases the most expert mechanics would make inferior farmers. The girl who “loves dearly to attend cotton-looms” (as a female operative in the weaving department of the Southern Exposition at Louisville lately exclaimed) would not stay on a farm. Diversity of industry affords opportunity for every worker to make the most of his abilities. It is the safety-valve of labor, which prevents any one occupation from being overgorged with laborers. It is the great equalizer of wages. The South is only beginning to realize the importance of home manufactures. Georgia is alive to this matter; so are some portions of Kentucky. Other Southern States are awakening to it. If it be true that in some parts of the North the manufacturers are strong enough to stand without protection, it is not yet true of the same industries in the South, and the latter should demand that the tariff be maintained until she has acquired like strength. She has the cotton, iron, sugar, cheaper labor, and on account of the climate it costs the laborers less to live there than in the North. Why should she not rival France, of similar climate, in manufactures? Capitalists are asking “why not;” and capital is pouring into the South faster than ever before. It would be suicidal to drive this capital back. The South will be stupid if she exerts herself to keep her children shut up to agricultural pursuits and continues to spend more than half the value of her surplus products in sending them to market and bringing them back in a manufactured condition (as she always has done) instead of manufacturing them at home.

I AM DYING, EGYPT, DYING.

EVANSTON, Ill.

Who was the author of the touching poem commencing, “I am dying, Egypt, dying?” It is said that he was an army officer.

J. H.

Answer.—It was William Haines Lytle, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1826. He belonged to a cluster of brilliant young writers whose early ambition was to build up a school of Western literature, but who were drawn into the whirl of more active life, which left little time for courting the muses. On the breaking out of the late war he went into the army, serving as a Colonel in Western Virginia in 1861. He was wounded at Perryville, Ky., in October, 1862, was promoted for gallant services, and, finally, was killed at the battle of Chickamauga, Sept. 20, 1863. He was greatly beloved by his fellow officers for his noble social qualities as well as for his martial bearing; and nothing could be more unjust, according to the testimony of those who knew him well, than the story recently started by a flippant penny-a-liner, that he wrote the poem above referred to, properly entitled “The Death of Mark Antony,” on the walls of a guard-house in St. Louis, in which he was held under arrest over night for disorderly conduct on his way home from the theater, where he had seen Booth in Shakespeare’s great drama of “Antony and Cleopatra.” That the poem was suggested to him by witnessing Booth’s representation of this play is probably true: and it is asserted by some that he had written it, in part at least, some time before the eve of his death, but the following version of the peculiar circumstances under which this greatly admired lyric was completed and transmitted to the world corresponds with the traditions of the army, and is probably true. John M. Balthes, of Clifton, Ill., who was once a fellow-townsman of General Lytle, at Zanesville, Ohio, writing to a fellow-soldier of that gallant officer, says:

“I send you the following beautiful lines, written by him in the middle of the night, just before the next day’s battle, in which he lost his life. The General being strongly impressed, or having a premonition that he should lose his life in the battle that was so soon to open, sat absorbed and alone in his tent, when an officer coming in admonished him that he needed rest before the serious business planned for the next day. Thereupon General Lytle handed him these verses, remarking that they would be the last he should ever write.” This poem was published in THE SUNDAY INTER OCEAN of Oct. 7, almost precisely as given by Mr. Balthes, and as it appears in “Famous Single and Fugitive Poems,” by Rossiter Johnson.

SPECIAL PARTNERS—CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.

A. D. Bird, Tecumseh, Neb.—1. In limited partnerships the special partner’s liability for the indebtedness of the firm is limited to their total interest in the firm, whereas the other partners are each liable for the whole indebtedness of the firm. In corporations “limited” stockholders are liable only to the total amount of their stock, or some specific amount over that. For a fuller answer see page 87 of Curiosity Shop for 1882, in book form. 2. The twelfth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which terminated the old rule that the candidate receiving the greatest number of votes for President should be President, and the one receiving the next greatest number for President should be Vice President, and requiring electors to name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and, in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice President, was adopted in 1804.

SILK FROM OSAGE-ORANGE LEAVES.

GALESBURG, Ill.

Will silk-worms fed with the leaves of the Osage orange thrive as well and produce as fine a quality of silk as if fed on the leaves of the white mulberry?

FARMER’S WIFE.

Answer.—They seem to thrive well, and they produce fine-looking cocoons; but as to the value of these latter compared with those produced from mulberry leaves, it is not yet time to speak positively. The strength, fineness, and other elements of value have not been fully tested and pronounced upon by experts. Miss Nellie Lincoln Rossiter, of Philadelphia, who has written a little hand-book on the raising of silk-worms, says that there is no apparent difference between the silk crops from morette, a species of white mulberry, and Osage orange leaves. It would be well for persons interested in this question to correspond with the Woman’s National Silk Association of Philadelphia. An interesting experiment in raising silk-worms has been successfully carried on the past season by the Misses Sarah Dewey and Alice Coykendall, at Canton, Ill. They procured the eggs from Philadelphia, with instructions for the management of them, and an exchange says: “They now have 3,500 worms in all stages of development, from those just hatched to those which have their cocoons fully formed. They are kept in an upstairs room on perforated paper, over which fresh leaves of the Osage orange are spread each morning. The ladies are enthusiastic over their success, which certainly seems assured. They will be able to find a ready market for their cocoons at Philadelphia at remunerative prices.”

AMERICAN KNIGHTS—SONS OF LIBERTY.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.

Give some of the facts as to the origin and acts of the disloyal orders known during the war for the Union as “American Knights,” “Sons of Liberty,” etc.; and of the trial of Dodd for conspiring against the government.

JAS. BREWSTER.

Answer.—The treasonable organization known during the late war, at one time as the “Mutual Protection Society,” again as the “Circle of Honor,” or the “Circle,” or “Knights of the Mighty Host,” but more widely as “Knights of the Golden Circle,” first developed itself in the West in 1862, about the time of the first conscription, or draft of troops, which it was designed to obstruct and resist. An association under the last of these names had existed for some years at the South being one of the chief means used to foment the rebellion before the outbreak. Because of some exposures of the signs, rituals, etc., of the Knights of the Golden Circle, Sterling Price, the Confederate general, had instituted as its successor in Missouri a secret political order, known as the “Corps de Belgique,” in honor of his chief coadjutor, Charles L. Hunt then Belgian Consul at St. Louis. Its special object was to beat up recruits for Price and otherwise co-operate with him in his design of overrunning Missouri. This was afterward merged into another secret order, called the “Order of American Knights,” commonly known as the “O. A. K.,” organized in the autumn of 1863 by Clement L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, and P. C. Wright, of New York. It is believed that it was founded by Vallandigham in consultation with Jefferson Davis and other arch-rebels at Richmond, during his banishment within the rebel lines. At least, members of the order in Indiana boasted that the ritual was prepared by Davis himself, and Mary Ann Pitman, at one time attached to General Forrest’s command as a rebel spy, declared that Davis was a member of the order. In Indiana, in May, 1864, owing to the names of some of the leaders and the signs and passwords of the order having got into the possession of the Federal authorities, its name was finally changed to the “Order of the Sons of Liberty,” or “Knights of the Order of the Sons of Liberty,” and a ritual was instituted. These soon became general. Local branches of the organization used other names outside their lodges, such as “Peace Organization” in Illinois, “Star Organization” in Kentucky, “American Organization” in Missouri, “McClellan Minute Men” in New York, “Democratic Invincible Club” in Chicago, “Democratic Reading-room” in Louisville, and so on.

This order had a Supreme Council for the United States at large, of which the chief officers were a Supreme Commander, a Secretary and a Treasurer. There was a Grand Council for each State, whose chief officers were a Grand Commander, a Deputy Grand Commander, a Grand Secretary, and a Grand Treasurer, and a certain number of Major Generals, one for each of its “military districts.” There was also a “Parent Temple” in each county and subordinate temples in townships. The constitution of the order declared that “the Supreme Commander shall be Commander-in-chief of all military forces belonging to the order in the various States, when called into actual service.” There were four Major Generals in Indiana, each commanding “a military district and its army.” In Illinois, where its organization was at one time very complete, the members in each Congressional district constituted a brigade, under a “Brigadier General.” Those of each county a “regiment,” commanded by a “Colonel,” and those of each township a “company.” In Indiana companies were subdivided into “squads.” The McClellan Minute Men of New York were similarly organized.

The first Supreme Commander was P. C. Wright, editor of the New York News, who was subsequently incarcerated in Fort Lafayette, New York harbor, when he was succeeded by Vallandigham. Robert Holloway, of Illinois, is said to have acted as Supreme Commander in the latter’s absence in Canada. Charles L. Hunt, Grand Commander for Missouri, Charles E. Dunn, Deputy Grand Commander, and Green B. Smith, Secretary, being placed under arrest, divulged facts confirmatory of the above. H. H. Dodd, the Grand Commander for Indiana, was arrested and tried at Indianapolis before a military commission “for conspiring against the government,” “violations of the laws of war,” and other charges. He was finally turned over to the civil authorities and liberated.

Vallandigham declared in a speech at Dayton, Ohio, in the summer of 1863, that the order numbered 500,000 men; others claimed 800,000, and some still more. Statements of its officers at different times, represented its numbers in Indiana as 75,000 to 125,000; in Illinois as 100,000 to 140,000; in Ohio as 80,000 to 108,000; in Michigan and New York as about 20,000 each, and so on. In March, 1864, it was represented that the total force capable of being mobilized for effective service was 340,000. Green B. Smith and other witnesses testified to having purchased and shipped arms to various points to arm the order. Another witness, once a member of the order in Indiana, testified that there were 6,000 muskets and 60,000 revolvers, besides private arms in possession of the order in that State.

The members were bound by the most rigorous oaths. Its “declaration of principles” declared that it was the imperative duty of its members to resist the functionaries of the Federal Government, “and, if need be, expel them by force of arms.” The witnesses, former members, testified that the duties of members were: 1. To aid soldiers to desert and harbor and protect them. 2. To discourage enlistments and resist the draft. 3. To circulate disloyal and treasonable publications. 4. To communicate and give assistance to the enemy. 5. To recruit for the Confederate army. 6. To furnish the rebels with arms and ammunition. 7. To co-operate with the enemy in raids and invasions. 8. To harass loyal men and destroy their property when so ordered to do. 9. To assassinate officers of the government when so directed to do. 10. To establish a Northwestern Confederacy.

The above statements are compiled from the reports of the Hon. J. Holt, Judge Advocate General, to Secretary Stanton on “Secret Societies,” and other State papers. Unusual space has been given to this question because it has been asked repeatedly, and our attention is called to the fact that it is not treated in the popular cyclopedias and histories.

CHIEF CITIES OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND.

RUSHVILLE, Ill.

What is the population of each of the principal cities of France?

JAMES P. CLARKE.

Answer.—The population of each of the principal cities of France and England in 1881 is given in the “Statesman’s Year Book” as in the table below:

Paris 2,269,023 Lyons 376,613 Marseilles 360,099 Bordeaux 221,305 Lille 178,144 Toulouse 140,289 Nantes 124,319 St. Etienne 123,813 Rouen 105,906 Le Havre 105,867 Rheims 93,823 Roubaix 91,757 Amiens 74,170 Nancy 73,255 Toulon 70,103 Angers 68,041 Nice 66,279 Brest 66,110 Limoges 63,765 Nimes 63,552

London [12]4,764,312 Glasgow [13]647,095 Liverpool 552,425 Dublin [14]418,152 Birmingham 400,757 Manchester 393,676 Leeds 309,126 Sheffield 284,410 Edinburgh 236,002 Bristol 206,503 Bradford 180,459 Salford 176,223 Wolverhampton 164,303 Hull 161,519 Oldham 152,511 Newcastle-on-Tyne 145,228 Dundee 140,239 Brighton 128,407 Portsmouth 127,953

LIQUID GLUE AND CHINESE CEMENT.

BLACK OAK, Mo.

Please tell us how to make “Spaulding’s prepared glue” or some substitute for it.

D. P. STUBLEFIELD.

Answer.—The formula for making Spaulding’s prepared glue is not available. The following (Dumoulin’s) is quite as good: Take soft water, 1 quart; best pale glue, 2 pounds; dissolve in a covered vessel by the heat of a water bath or in a vessel immersed in boiling water; cool, and add, gradually, of nitric acid (specific gravity 1.335) 7 ounces; when cold put it into bottles. It is very strong and does not gelatinize.

The following formula, known as “Chinese cement,” produces a cement for porcelain, glass, fancy work, jewelry, etc., so strong that wood or porcelain can be joined together so firmly that they will break anywhere else rather than where cemented: Take of finest pale orange shell-lac (broken small) 4 ounces; strongest rectified spirits 3 ounces, and digest them together in a corked bottle in a warm place until dissolved. It should have about the consistence of molasses.

THE MAN OF ROSS.

GREENVILLE, Ill.

Who was the “Man of Ross?”

IDA E. WHITE.

Answer.—The “Man of Ross” is a title given to John Kyrle, of Ross parish, Hereford County, Eng., because of his remarkable spirit of enterprise and great benevolence. Although only an untitled, private gentleman of moderate fortune, he did far more for the good of his community than many a wealthy lord of the manor. Pope appreciated the true nobility of Kyrle, and has done full honor to him in the third epistle of his “Moral Essays,” “On the Use of Riches.” Coleridge, too, has paid a beautiful tribute to his memory in the lines:

“Richer than miser o’er his countless hoards, Nobler than kings or kings’ polluted lords, Here dwelt the Man of Ross. O, traveler, hear! Departed merit claims a reverent tear.”

EASTERN CENTRAL ARKANSAS.

CLARENDON, Ark.

Seeing an Inquirer, in the Curiosity Shop, asks information in regard to Arkansas, I will say that the Eastern Central portion of the State is nearly level, and very fertile. All fruits, vegetables, cereals, tobacco, cotton, sorghum, sweet potatoes—in fact anything one may plant—gives large returns. Owing to this locality lying in the great cotton belt, and to the large quantities of cotton produced, the usual price per bushel of Indian corn is $1; oats, 90c, and oats will yield from forty to sixty bushels per acre, with the rude implements and tillage here in vogue—a one-horse cast-iron plow, and a small tree top for a harrow. After oats and wheat are harvested the same land is frequently planted in corn, or sown with millet, or Hungarian grass, thus producing two crops a year. Land here is cheap, water is soft and pure, and timber abundant. The rivers abound in fish, and the immense forests in game. I came from Indiana. I have lived here twelve years. Have never seen a case of consumption in the State.

DR. H. C. YOUNG, Formerly Surgeon U. S. N.

PSEUDONYMS OF AUTHORS.

AUBURN, Ill.

I should like to have a list of the noms de plume of modern authors of reputation.

CHARLES HERSHMAN.

Answer.—The following is as long a list as there is room for here; although it contains but a small proportion of the over 5,000 pseudonyms known to literature:

Pseudonyms and real names. Born. Died.

Algernon Sidney—Gideon Granger 1767 1822 Amy Lothrop—Miss Anna B. Warner 1825 An American Girl Abroad—Miss Trafton Artemus Ward—Charles F. Browne 1836 1867 Barney Cornwall—Bryan Waller Procter 1790 Boz—Charles Dickens 1812 1870 Christopher Crowfield—Mrs. H. B. Stowe 1812 Chrystal Croftangry—Sir W. Scott 1771 1832 C. L. I. O. (Clio)—Joseph Addison 1672 1719 Cornelius O’Dowd—Chas. Jas. Lever 1806 1872 Country Parson—The Rev. A. K. H. Boyd 1825 Currer Bell—Charlotte Bronte (Mrs. Nichols) 1815 1855 Diedrich Knickerbocker—Washington Irving 1783 1859 E. D. E. N—Mrs. Emma D. E. (Nevette) Southworth 1818 Edward Search (2)—Abraham Tucker 1705 1774 Edward Search (1)—Wm. Hazlitt 1778 1830 Elia—Chas. Lamb 1775 1834 Eli Perkins—Matthew D. Landon Elizabeth Wetherell—Susan Warner 1818 Ellis Bell—Emily Bronte 1819 1848 Ettrick Shepherd—James Hogg 1772 1835 Fanny Fern—Sarah Parton 1811 1872 Father Prout—Francis Mahony 1805 1866 Figaro—Mariano Jose de Larra 1809 1837 Gail Hamilton—Miss Abigail Hamilton Dodge 1838 Gamaliel Smith—Jeremy Bentham 1748 1832 Gath—George Alfred Townsend 1833 Geoffrey Crayon—Washington Irving 1783 1859 George Eliot—Mrs. Mary Ann (Evans) Lewes Cross 1820 1880 George Fitzdoodle—Wm. Makepeace Thackeray 1811 1863 Georges Sand—Mme. Dudevant 1804 1876 Grace Greenwood—Mrs. Sara J. Lippincott 1825 Horace Hornem—George Gordon, Lord Byron 1788 1824 Hosea Biglow—James R. Lowell 1819 Ik Marvel—Donald Grant Mitchell 1822 Jean Paul—Jean Paul F. Richter 1763 1825 Jedediah Cleishbotham—Sir W. Scott 1771 1832 Jennie June—Mrs. J. C. Croly 1840 John Chalkhill—Izaak Walton 1593 1683 Jonathan Oldstyle—Washington Irving 1783 1859 Josh Billings—Henry W. Shaw 1818 Joshua Coffin—Henry W. Longfellow 1807 1881 Junius—Probably Sir Philip Francis 1740 1818 Laertes—G. A. Townsend 1833 Launcelot Langstaff—Washington Irving 1783 1859 Launcelot Langstaff—William Irving 1766 1821 Launcelot Langstaff—Jas. Kirke Paulding 1779 1860 L. E. L.—Letitia Elizabeth Landon 1802 1839 Little Thomas—Thomas Moore 1779 1852 Luise Muhlbach—Mme. Clara Mundt 1814 1873 Malachi—Sir W. Scott 1771 1832 Malachi Malagrowther—Sir W. Scott 1771 1832 Malakoff—Samuel Johnson, LL. D. 1709 1784 Marion Harland—Mary V. (Hawes) Terhune 1835 Mark Twain—Samuel L. Clemens 1835 M. Quad—Chas. B. Lewis Mrs. Partington—B. P. Shillaber 1814 Old Bachelor—George W. Curtis 1824 Oliver Optic—William Taylor Adams 1822 Owen Meredith—Edward R. Bulwer, Lord Lytton 1831 Paul Creyton—John T. Trowbridge 1817 Parson Lot—The Rev. Charles Kingsley 1819 Saxe Holm—Miss Rush Ellis 1858 Theophilus South—Edward Chitty 1807 Timothy Titcomb—J. G. Holland 1819 1881

CHICAGO NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION.

AURORA, Ill.

To settle a dispute, state which of the Chicago newspapers has the largest circulation.

CONOVER.

Answer.—The only criterion of newspaper circulation which there is absolutely no means of successfully disputing is the amount of postage paid on papers sent to actual subscribers. Below is given the amounts of postage paid on such circulation by each of the Chicago newspapers here named during the fiscal year ending June, 30, 1882:

THE INTER OCEAN $19,609.30 The News 7,289.14 The Times 6,581.10 The Tribune 5,644.54 The Herald 1,443.68

For circulation of papers outside of the mails there is nothing that can be regarded as an impartial standard of comparison; nothing which affords the reading and advertising public such unequivocal testimony as the above, but every intelligent person will naturally conclude that the proportions of circulation through the mails and outside of the mails will not differ very greatly.

TO POLISH SEA-SHELLS.

CRESTON, Iowa.

Please inform us through Our Curiosity Shop how to polish sea-shells and prepare them for sale.

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—According to Cooley, one of the highest authorities on processes employed in the arts and manufactures, the surfaces of certain shells which have a natural polish should be first cleansed by rubbing with a rag dipped in hydrochloric acid (obtainable at any drug store) till the dull outer skin is removed. They must then be promptly washed in warm water, dried in hot sawdust, and polished with chamois leather. But shells destitute of natural polish may be either varnished or rubbed with a mixture of tripoli powder and turpentine, applied by means of a “wash-leather” (split sheepskin dressed with oil), and afterward with fine tripoli alone, and finally a little olive oil, the surface being brought up with vigorous use of the chamois leather. But there are shells which must first be boiled in a strong solution of potash, then ground on wheels, sometimes all the way through the outer stratum, to show an underlying one, after which they are polished with hydrochloric acid and putty powder. This last process better be left to men who make a business of shell-grinding; for it is said that “shell-grinders are almost all cripples in their hands,” owing to the dangerous nature of this operation.

STATES WITH COMPULSORY EDUCATION.

STECOAH, N. C.

Name the States and Territories which have compulsory education laws; and show how their attendance and non-attendance compare with the same in other States and Territories.

J. L. CRISP.

Answer.—Arizona, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming have compulsory education laws, requiring every male child between certain years—usually 8 to 14—to attend school not less than a specified period—usually twelve weeks each year. The Illinois law did not come into effect until the present school year, and in several other States these laws were not passed in time to affect the statistics of 1880, so the following table gives the total number of children of school age in none but such States as had compulsory attendance laws before 1880. It gives not the average daily attendance, but the total enrollment of pupils in the public schools:

Children of States. school age. Enrollment.

California 215,978 158,765 Connecticut 140,235 119,694 Massachusetts 307,321 309,777 Michigan 506,221 362,556 New Jersey 330,685 204,961 New York 1,641,173 1,031,593 Ohio 1,043,320 747,138

The table below gives the corresponding statistics for an equal number of States not having such laws, as nearly adjacent as possible:

Children of States. school age. Enrollment.

Oregon 59,615 37,533 Maine 214,656 149,827 Rhode Island 52,273 44,780 Pennsylvania 1,370,000 937,310 Delaware 35,459 27,823 Indiana 703,558 511,283 Iowa 586,556 426,057

This comparison sheds very uncertain light upon the question as to the effect of compulsory attendance laws, because the school age period is different in different States, and it does not show the number of pupils in private schools. It would be far more interesting in this connection if it included only all children of the ages within the compulsory period in each State, and gave the number of such children enrolled in schools of any sort before and after the passage of the law. Nevertheless, these tables do indicate plainly enough that such laws are not strictly enforced in any State, and are, comparatively speaking, a dead letter in others.

BASHFULNESS WORSE THAN FEAR.

OREGON, Ill.

What brave man was it that said he had suffered far more from bashfulness than from fear?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—It was “John Brown, of Ossawatomie,” the hero of the Harper’s Ferry plot to emancipate as many as possible of the slaves of Virginia and Maryland, and lead them on an exodus into Canada. Being asked, on the way to the scaffold, if he felt any fear, he replied: “It has been a characteristic of me from infancy not to suffer from physical fear. I have suffered a thousand times more from bashfulness than from fear.”

CHOKE-BORE SHOTGUNS.

PECATONICA, Ill.

Please explain the difference between “full choke” and “modified choke” shotguns.

SPORTSMAN.

Answer.—In a full choke shot-gun the bore is a perfect cylinder to within a few inches from the muzzle, where it swells inward slightly all around, and then opens out in the last six or seven inches to about the same diameter as in front of the choke. In a “modified choke” gun the barrel tapers from the shell chamber to the choke curve. In a “taper bore choke” the barrel tapers regularly from the shell chamber to the muzzle.

NIGHT GLASSES.

HARPER, Kansas.

What is a night glass? Is it true that a person can see as plainly with one of these, in fair weather, at night, as he can without one in daylight?

C. G. BOONE.

Answer.—A night glass is simply a small terrestrial telescope, or spy-glass, ordinarily in the form of a large opera-glass, with an unusually large lens in the end toward the object to be viewed, called the object-glass, which serves to concentrate a large amount of light, and so render objects seen at night much more distinct than when viewed by either the naked eye or an ordinary spy-glass. Since it is a principle in optics that “it is impossible, by any optical arrangement whatever, to obtain an image whose brightest part shall surpass the brightest part of the object,” it is obvious that nothing seen through a night-glass, even in the clearest night, can appear as distinct as in daylight.

AMERICAN HISTORIANS.

WANDA, Ill.

Will you please publish a list of the principal American historians?

Answer.—Assuming that by “American historians” you mean historians born in America, we give the following list, naming first those who wrote chiefly of our own country, and afterward those who have written mainly of other countries: J. S. C. Abbott, b. 1805; d. 1877; George Bancroft, 1800; Richard Hildreth, 1807-1865; C. E. A. Gayarre, 1805; Francis Parkman, 1823; John C. Ridpath, 1840; John D. G. Shea, 1824; Jared Sparks, 1789-1866; James F. Cooper, 1789-1851; Hubert H. Bancroft, and Thomas H. Burton. W. H. Prescott, 1796-1859; John Lathrop Motley, 1814-1877, and Royal Robbins, 1788-1861.

SANDPAPER.

SHENANDOAH, Iowa.

Please describe the process of making sandpaper.

H. S. GALT.

Answer.—Common window glass—that having a green tint is best—is powdered and sifted through sieves of varying fineness, for coarse and fine sandpaper. Then any coarse paper is covered with thin glue and the powdered glass is sifted upon it. After standing a day or two, the refuse sand is shaken off, and the paper is ready for use.

ALABASTER.

CLINTON, Ill.

Where is alabaster quarried and manufactured?

OLD PILGRIM.

Answer.—Alabaster, or plaster of paris, is made in large quantities at Grand Rapids, Mich., where there are extensive beds of gypsum, the stone from which it is produced. Vases and other ornamental articles can be cut from the finest quality of this stone; but generally such articles are produced in Europe, where labor is cheaper and the class of workmen accustomed to this branch of art is numerous. The chief supply of European gypsum for fine arts is obtained at Sienna and other places in Tuscany, and manufactured at Florence, Milan, Leghorn, and Volterra.

RAILROADS ENTERING CHICAGO.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Please state the total number of railroads entering Chicago on their own tracks or others, and oblige

SEVERAL READERS.

Answer.—Hardly two persons would agree as to “the number of railroads entering Chicago on their own tracks or others,” for the reason that one person would count all the distinct roads named in the several coupons of every through ticket from any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico to this city, while others would count only the roads chartered in Illinois and adjacent States running under separate managements, and entering Chicago over their own traces or leased right of way. The latter number about thirty-eight, the former amount to several hundred. There are twenty-seven great railway systems centering at Chicago and controlled mainly from this point, which embrace about 25,000 miles of track.

HARVARD, YALE, COLUMBIA.

WEST LEBANON, Ind.

Please give a comparison of Harvard, Yale, and Columbia Colleges in wealth, number of students, and number of graduates.

A SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—According to the report of the Bureau of Education for 1880, these institutions compare, as regards wealth, as follows:

Productive Income Income Colleges— funds. from funds. fr. tuition.

Harvard $3,959,556 $236,889 $122,835 Yale 1,293,078 79,943 102,912 Columbia 4,816,257 320,565 24,200

Besides the above, there is a scientific school connected with each of the above colleges with property, as follows:

Prod’tive Income Income Scientific Dept.— funds fr. funds fr. tuit’n

Lawrence Scientific School (Harvard) $729,623 $46,482 $2,505

Sheffield Scientific School (Yale) 265,775 28,157 15,850

School of Mines (Columbia) 36,500

As respects students enrolled and graduates of all departments, in the year above given, these institutions compared as in the totals below:

Number of Number of Degrees Colleges— Students. conferred.

Harvard 974 264 Yale 952 232 Columbia 577 415

The degrees enumerated were all conferred “in course,” honorary degrees being omitted from this statement.

THE MAID OF THE MIST.

DANVILLE, Ill.

Are you not mistaken as to the time when the Maid of the Mist ran through the great whirlpool in the Niagara River? Can you not give a fuller description than appeared in Our Curiosity Shop of Aug. 16?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—The date here called in question is the one given for this feat in Clemens Petersen’s article on Niagara in “Johnson’s New Universal Cyclopedia,” but in THE DAILY INTER OCEAN of Sept. 1 we gave an account from the lips of DeWitt C. McMurtry, now of Philadelphia, who claims to be the only survivor of that perilous passage. He says the trip was made June 29 1859. He gives the dimensions of the stanch little steamer at “about 150 feet over all and 16 feet beam.” She was a side-wheeler, with new and powerful engines, usually carrying 125 or 130 pounds pressure of steam, but set at this time to blow off at 228 pounds. The run was made to evade the payment of a mortgage held by Judge Addington, of Buffalo, and under an offer from some Toronto parties to pay $25,000 for the Maid of the Mist if delivered at Queenstown, on the Canada side, at the mouth of the river. Joel Robinson, the captain, was offered $500, the engineer, a Mr. Jones, and the fireman, Mr. McMurtry, each $100, to undertake this task. The captain had himself lashed in the wheelhouse, and the other two were shut in below under battened hatches. The distance from the last landing above the whirlpool to Queenstown is just five miles, one mile of which is through the whirlpool-torrent. This distance was made in seven and three-quarter minutes, only two of which were spent in the rapids. The boat was dashed about at a terrible rate. “When she first struck the rapids,” says McMurtry, “our boat leaped downward perhaps thirty feet. Then she was hurled clear out of the water. Down she would go, as if she would never stop, when suddenly she would right herself and, with a bound which seemed almost human, leap out of the water. The current runs forty-five miles an hour and the waves are twenty feet high. Jones and I were almost killed by the quickly succeeding shocks. I felt my strength rapidly oozing away as I clung to the hand-rails for dear life. There was barely time to catch my breath between concussions. Suddenly the current struck her sideways, she swung around, and shot down the stream. We had escaped the whirlpool. When I got out at Queenstown the water was waist high, the boat had been so racked and wrenched in her passage.” Jones died soon afterward. Robinson survived several years longer. According to this witness no one perished in the passage, as is stated in some narratives of the affair.

FEMALE SUFFRAGE IN NEW JERSEY.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What State was it that permitted women to vote ninety years ago?

J. M. SNOW.

Answer.—It was New Jersey; which organized as an independent State two days before the declaration of independence, with a constitution that allowed universal suffrage, male and female, without regard to color. This constitution was not altered until 1844, when, among other changes, the suffrage was restricted to males; largely because of the apathy shown by women, especially those of the better class, in regard to the exercise of the ballot.

UNION AND REBEL PRISONERS

SWAN, Iowa.

Give the number of prisoners taken on both sides during the late war. State how many died while prisoners; and, if possible, tell how many Union soldiers once in Southern prisons still survive. How many graves in National Cemeteries?

A PRISONER OF WAR.

Answer.—The number of Union soldiers captured by the Confederates during the late war was 212,608. The number of Confederate prisoners taken was 476,169. The number of Union soldiers who died while prisoners was 29,725, or little more than one in seven of all captured. The number of Confederates who died while prisoners was 26,774, or very nearly one in eighteen. The total number of graves in the National cemeteries is 315,555, only 172,409 of which have been identified. There is no means of learning how many who were once Union prisoners still survive.

BATTLE OF SOLFERINO.

CAMBRIDGE, Wis.

In what war was the battle of Solferino fought; and what gave this place so much importance?

R. D. THOMPSON.

Answer.—The battle of Solferino was fought in 1859 between the French, under the Emperor Louis Napoleon, and the Sardinians, under Victor Emanuel on the side of the victors, and the Austrians, the oppressors of Italy, led by the Emperor Francis Joseph. Solferino is a place of no importance in itself, being but a village of some 1,400 inhabitants, situated in the province of Brescia, North Italy. Its position, with its famous tower, called the “Spy of Italy,” because it commands a view of the whole broad plain of Lombardy, gives it great strategic importance; and in this war, which was, in fact, for the independence and unity of Italy, the battle of Magenta, twenty days earlier, in which the Austrians were driven from the field with a loss of 9,713 killed and about 11,000 wounded and missing, and this decisive victory at Solferino, in which the allies lost about 18,000 killed and wounded and the Austrians 20,000, besides 6,000 prisoners and 30 cannon, resulted in the treaty of Villafranca, ceding Lombardy to Sardinia and virtually terminating Austrian interference in Italian affairs; so paving the way to the ultimate unification of Italy, which quickly followed.

RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENT.

BLAIR, Neb.

Was the acts for the resumption of specie payments a Republican or Democratic measure? Please give the vote on the passage of the bill.

C. C. D.

Answer.—Resumption was advised by the Secretary of the Treasury under President Grant, was earnestly recommended in the President’s message, was brought forward in Congress by a Republican, was reported with the recommendation that it pass from the Finance Committee of the Senate, by its Chairman, Senator Sherman, Dec. 21, 1874, when a majority of the Senate and the committee were Republicans; and passed the Senate the same day, by a vote of 32 to 14. All who voted in the negative were Democrats, except Tipton and Hamilton, of Texas, both Independents. The bill passed the House on June 7, 1875, by the following vote: Yeas, 136; nays, 98; not voting, 54. The nays were all Democrats, except Clarke, Crutchfield, Dawes, Field, Gooch, Hagans, B. W. Harris, J. R. Hawley, E. R. Hoar, G. F. Hoar, Lawson, Niles, L. C. Parker, M. Sayler, H. J. Scudder, Sherwood, W. A. Smith, W. Townsend, C. W. Willard, and Woodworth, in all 20, Republicans. All who voted yea were Republicans.

ORIGIN OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

TURNER, Ill.

When did the Democratic party originate, and what were its principal doctrines when it was in power?

L. S. M.

Answer.—We first read of a Democratic party in 1807, with such men as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison for its leaders. It is sometimes referred to by historians as the “Democratic Republican” party, and its adherents were quite as frequently termed Republicans as Democrats. Not until the first Democratic convention, in 1832, did what is now generally understood as the simon pure Democratic party assume positive shape. Thence forward it rapidly developed into the defender of slavery; the opponent of National banks and protective tariff; the advocate and administrator of the doctrine, “To the victors belong the spoils,” or rotation in office; first vigorously espoused and put into practice by General Jackson; and finally the champion of State sovereignty and apologist and abettor of secession. For a synopsis of the present political salmagundi, or olla podrida, denominated Democracy, and for the doctrines of the Republican party see Our Curiosity Shop for 1882, page 134.

WILL CARLETON, THE POET.

JUNCTION CITY, Kan.

Please give us a sketch of Will Carleton, author of “Farm Ballads,” and other poems.

LADY READER.

Answer.—Will Carleton was born in Hudson, Mich., Oct. 21, 1845. His parents, John H. and Celeste E. Carleton, were of English descent. They removed to Michigan from the East at an early day, where the father cleared the farm upon which he afterward lived for forty years. He was a man of great natural force of character, with a talent for extemporaneous speaking, and he soon became a man of influence, filling many offices of trust in the community, and contributing powerfully to the rapid success of the Methodist Church in Southern Michigan, of which he was a devoted member. He died in 1872. The mother is still living and resides with her son in Brooklyn, N. Y. She is a woman of decided force of character and sweetness of heart, and is beloved by all who know her. Her only other son having died on his way home, after a long imprisonment in the South during the late war, and her daughters being dead, the subject of this sketch is the only one of her five children now surviving. The boyhood of Will Carleton was passed in farm labor and study. At the district school he was particularly fond of grammar, and manifested a spirit of criticism that at times got him into discussions with his teachers which disturbed their serenity of temper. Frequently when the day for “speaking pieces” came around he would surprise his fellow pupils with original bits of humor, which, although intended for good-natured satires, ended more than once in schoolboy fights. Later he walked five miles daily to attend high school in town. At 16 he taught a country school of fifty-two pupils, and any allusions he makes to “boarding ’round” are born of experience. He graduated at Hillsdale College in 1869 with the degree of A. B., and for two years devoted himself to editorial work, being during the last of the two editor of the Detroit Weekly Tribune. He then returned to Hillsdale to reside, while giving more time to preparations for a literary life, and occasionally filling lecturing and reading engagements.

What may properly be called Mr. Carleton’s first literary success was a political satire entitled “Fax,” written during his junior vacation in the summer of 1868, at Aurora, Ill., and delivered before literary clubs during the political campaign of that year. Several thousand copies of it were published and widely circulated. His graduation poem, at Hillsdale, the next summer, was entitled “Rifts in the Clouds;” afterward incorporated in “Farm Legends.” Among his other early poems is one read on Decoration Day, 1870, entitled “Cover Them Over,” which was copied extensively at the time, and has since been recited on many other such occasions. The poems which first brought him into general notice throughout the country and abroad were his “Farm Ballads,” which having first, many of them, appeared in Harpers’ Weekly and other periodicals, were published by Harper & Bros., in 1873. “Farm Legends” followed, in 1875; “Young Folks’ Centennial Rhymes,” in 1876, and “Farm Festivals,” in 1881. In 1878 he visited Europe, spending much time among the peasantry of England, Ireland, and Scotland, and visiting the continent. The same year he removed to Chicago, making that the center of a large lecturing circuit, covering most of the Western States. Wherever he went large audiences received him with cordial welcome and tokens of approbation. In 1880 he removed to Boston, and in 1882 to Brooklyn, N. Y., his present home, near the center of the Eastern lecture circuit. Mr. Carleton contributes to several periodicals, lectures from two to five evenings a week, and is meanwhile preparing another book for the press, which will appear soon. His former volumes have sold to the extent of over 200,000 copies, and the demand is well maintained.

NUMBERS IN VARIOUS OCCUPATIONS.

PARSONS, Kan.

Give the different occupations of the American people, and numbers engaged in each.

I. J. UZZELL.

Answer.—It will take too much space to name all the occupations designated in the United States census of 1880; the following are the principal ones:

In Agriculture—

Farmers and planters 4,225,945 Agricultural laborers 3,323,876 Dairymen and dairywomen 8,948 Gardeners, nursery and vine-growers 51,482 Stock-drovers 3,449 Stock-herders 24,098 Stock-raisers 16,528 Florists 4,550 All others 11,617 ————————— Total in agriculture 7,670,493

In Manufacturing and Mining—

Blacksmiths 172,726 Boot and shoemakers 194,079 Butchers 76,241 Cabinetmakers 50,654 Carpenters and joiners 373,143 Carriage and wagon makers 49,881 Cigarmakers 56,599 Cotton-mill operators 169,771 Engineers and firemen 79,625 Fishermen and oystermen 41,352 Glassworks operators 17,934 Gold and silver workers 28,405 Harness and saddle-makers 39,960 Iron and steel operatives 114,539 Leather-curriers, tanners, etc. 29,842 Lumbermen and raftsmen 30,651 Machinists 101,130 Manufacturers 44,019 Marble and stone cutters 32,842 Masons, brick and stone 102,473 Mill operatives, not specified 30,836 Millers 53,440 Milliners, dressmakers and seamstr’ses 285,401 Miners 234,228 Painters and varnishers 128,556 Paper-mill operatives 21,430 Plasterers 22,083 Plumbers and gas-fitters 19,383 Printers, lithographers, and stereo-typers 72,726 Saw and planing mill operatives 77,050 Ship carpenters, caulkers, riggers, and smiths 17,452 Silk mill operatives 18,071 Tailors and tailoresses 133,756 Tinners and tinware workers 42,818 Tobacco factory operatives 20,446 Wheelwrights 15,592 Woolen mill operatives 88,010 All others in mines and factories 754,888 ————————— Total 3,837,112

In Trade and Transportation—

Clerks in stores 353,444 Draymen, hackmen, and teamsters 177,586 Employes of railroads not clerks 236,058 Telegraph officials and employes 22,809 Sailors 60,070 Salesmen and saleswomen 72,279 Saloon-keepers and bar-tenders, besides 13,074 restaurant keepers 68,461 Traders in cigars and tobacco 11,866 Traders in clothing 10,073 Traders in coal and wood 10,871 Traders in drugs and medicines 27,704 Traders in dry goods, fancy goods, etc. 45,831 Traders in groceries 101,849 Traders in iron, tin, and copper wares 15,076 Traders in liquors and wines 13,500 Traders in live stock 12,596 Traders in lumber 11,263 Traders in produce and provisions 35,129 Traders in real estate 11,253 Traders in sewing machines 6,577 Traders and dealers not specified 112,842 Undertakers 5,113 All others 387,006 ————————— Total in trade and transportation 1,810,256

In Professional and Personal Services—

Barbers and laundresses 44,851 Clergymen 64,698 Dentists 12,314 Domestic servants 1,075,653 Employes of hotels and restaurants 77,413 Hostlers 31,697 Hotel keepers 32,453 Journalists 12,308 Laborers not specified 1,859,223 Launderers and laundresses 121,942 Lawyers 64,137 Musicians 30,477 Officials of Federal and State governments 57,081 Clerks of Federal and State governments 16,849 Employes 31,401 Physicians and surgeons 85,671 Soldiers of U. S. army and navy 24,161 Teachers and scientific persons 227,710 Other professions 2,204,199 ————————— Total in professions and transportation 4,074,238

The total number of persons in the United States reported as employed in gainful occupations in 1880 was 17,392,099, out of a total population of 50,155,783, being 34.68 per cent of the population of all ages, and 47.31 per cent of the population over 10 years of age. Of these 14,744,942 were males and 2,647,157 were females. Of the males 825,187 were between 10 and 15 years of age, and of the females, 293,169.

ISLANDS of THE UNITED STATES.

BRISTOL, Ill.

Please give the number and dimensions of the islands of the United States, and state their condition as to soil, water, atmosphere, vegetation, etc.; also, whether they are generally inhabited.

C. S. HOPPER.

Answer.—This is a very interesting question, or series of questions, but the full answer would fill a volume. The coast of the State of Michigan alone is gemmed with no fewer than 179 islands of all sizes, from Isle Royale, which forms an entire county of more than fifty miles in length by ten in breadth, to islets of less than an acre in surface. Their total area aggregates 404,730 acres. In “Rand & McNally’s Atlas of the World” all the islands of noticeable magnitude are laid down, and by this authority it appears that Maine has 40 such islands; Massachusetts, 39; Rhode Island, 24; Connecticut, 9; New York, 22; New Jersey, 2; Delaware, 6; Maryland, 16; Virginia, 7; North Carolina, 10; South Carolina, 10; Georgia, 11; Florida, 79; Alabama, 4; Mississippi, 7: Louisiana, 24; Texas, 8; Ohio, 13; Michigan, 179; Wisconsin, 31, California, 14; Washington Territory, 26. Alaska Territory embraces more than 200 islands, many of which are of great value as fishing stations. There are hundreds of petty islets not located except in the charts of the United States Coast Survey. Many of them, like the islands in the Western rivers, are not known by names but only by numbers. But a small number of the more important islands in the above list are inhabited; less than 100 in all. The soil is of all varieties, from the fertile fields of Port Royal, Hilton Head, and Edisto, South Carolina, the home of the famous “sea island cotton,” and the rich dark loam of Long Island, New York, to the bleak rocks and barren sands of Mt. Desert, and the arid isles on the coast of California.

PRE-EMPTION CLAIM QUERIES.

ST. LAWRENCE, Dak.

1. What is necessary to constitute “continuous residence” on a pre-emption claim? 2. What more does the law require of a single man to “prove up” than of the head or a family?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—1. The courts have repeatedly decided that “the sufficiency of residence and improvement is a question of fact to be decided from the circumstances of each case.” In the case of Copley versus Rell it was ruled that “where, from the nature of the land entered under the pre-emption law, it would appear that the claimant has selected it for speculative purposes rather than for purposes of improvement and cultivation, the evidences of good faith and occupation should be of the most satisfactory character.” And again, in the case of Porter versus Johnson, it was held that what constitutes residence within the meaning of the law “is simply a question of good faith, and each case must be considered upon its own merits.” In the case of Boyse versus Goss, it was held that “the statute requires inhabitancy on the land pre-empted and this means actual residence or a home.” In case of Southern Pacific Railroad versus Newton, it was held that “occupation and use of land for purposes other than cultivation, etc., do not constitute a pre-emption claim.” While the above rulings distinctly reveal the intent of the government to exact all that is essential to actual settlement and the maintenance of a home upon the land, there are other rulings which indicate that the law will be construed liberally so long as the above essentials are preserved. For example, it has been decided that “a party while having an actual residence on his claims, may work elsewhere for other people a few weeks at a time.” Again, “where a party is very poor, a dug-out in the side of a hill or a sod-house is a satisfactory residence, and four pre-emptors may combine to erect and occupy a house on the corner common to their claims, provided each pre-emptor resides in his own part of the house. Should one of them be unmarried he may board in the family of a married pre-emptor.” 2. The law makes no difference between married and unmarried pre-emptors. In construing it, as regards what constitutes residence, the last ruling above quoted indicates that the government is disposed to make some allowance for the unfortunate circumstances of a young man who has not found any girl willing to share his dug-out sod-house or tepee and cook his corn-dodgers and potatoes for the privileges of wifehood, including a dower interest in the estate. Married and unmarried pre-emptors must each make a final affidavit, declaring that they have complied with the law in every particular, are not disqualified by owning 320 acres of land elsewhere in any State or Territory of the United States, or by other reasons specified, and must file pre-emptor’s proofs in the form of sworn answers to questions furnished them on printed blanks, which must be accompanied by sworn testimony of two witnesses, taken separately, in the form of answers to questions stated in another set of printed blanks prepared by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, all designed to attest that the law as to continuous residence, cultivation, etc., has been complied with in good faith.

A FATAL FEINT.

PRINCETON, Ill.

Who was the young man who when walking on the brink of Niagara River, some years ago, in company with his intended bride and her little sister, accidentally tossed the latter into the rapids, and perished in the effort to save her? What was the child’s name, and how did it all happen?

JAMES.

Answer.—It is related of a Mr. Addington, a son of Judge Addington, of Buffalo, that when standing on Luna Island, just above the Falls of Niagara, with a Miss De Forrest and her little sister, he seized the latter playfully, and, holding her over the brink, threatened to toss her into the river. The child, in a spasm of terror, sprang from his arms and fell into the edge of the fatal current. Instantly young Addington bounded after her, succeeded in seizing her, and caught a frail bush for support. Had this held they might both have been saved, but it gave way, and man and child were carried over the falls. The common traditions represent that Mr. Addington and Miss De Forrest, who was a very lovely young lady, were engaged to be married, and that in consequence of the terrible fate of her lover and sister she became insane. This was in 1844, or thereabouts.

TARANTULAS.

KINGMAN, Kan.

To settle a dispute, please give a description of the tarantula, and tell where it is found.

A READER.

Answer.—There are several varieties of tarantulas. The one from which they all take this name, the “lycosa tarantula,” is the largest of European spiders, named from Taranto, Italy, where they are very numerous. Its body is from one and a half to two inches long, ashy brown above, thorax marked with gray and abdomen with three-cornered spots and curved streaks bordered with white, with a patch of saffron-color below all, crossed by a black band. It has one spiracle, or breathing aperture, on each side, one pulmonary sac, and eight eyes. It does not spin a web to snare its prey, but captures it by running it down, and it lives in holes lined with a silk-like substance. Its bite is no more severe than that of some kinds of wasps, and is certainly not nearly so dangerous to life as it is fabled to be. The notion that its bite produced a sort of delirium and was curable only by dancing to lively music until the sufferer fell from sheer exhaustion was a superstition. For a good illustration of this ugly insect see the cut accompanying the word “tarantula” in Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary.

There is a variety of tarantula in our Southern States, called “lycosa Carolinensis” by naturalists, which is even larger than its European namesake, being about two inches long, and having legs spreading at least four inches. It has whitish legs, white sides, whitish dots and lines on the belly, and is of a mouse color on top and black or dark colored underneath. Like the Italian tarantula, it spins no web, takes its prey by pursuit, and lives in holes lined with a sort of silk. It is peculiar in carrying its young on its back, and it seldom bites.

There are certain spiders of the genus mygale in the Southwestern States, which are sometimes improperly called tarantulas.

PERRY’S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE.

EVANSTON, Ill.

Can you give us the old American naval song of 1812, in which perry, pear cider, is made to pun with the name of Perry, the hero of Lake Erie.

A READER.

Answer.—A correspondent, the Rev. W. P. Jones, of Mt. Morris, Ill., a boy at the time of that victory, recalls so much of the song as is given below. It must be remembered that Captain Barclay commanded the British squadron and General Proctor the British land forces in Canada.

Bold Barclay one day To Proctor did say, “I’m tired of Jamaica and sherry; Come, let us go down To this new floating town, And get some American Perry.”

Finding that the liquor flowed more freely than it was wanted, and was too hot to suit his taste, he cries out, in the last stanza, in his vain attempt to fly:

“Your liquor’s too hot; Keep it still in the pot! Oh, cork your American Perry!”

But there was no such thing as corking Perry until he had captured the entire British squadron, consisting of two ships, two schooners, a brig, and a sloop, with all on board, including forty-one killed and ninety-four wounded.

THE TWO U. S. CONSTITUTIONS.

BELMONT, Iowa.

Please point out the difference between the first Constitution of the United States, under which the Revolutionary war was fought, and the present Constitution.

O. T. K.

Answer.—The Articles of Confederation conferred upon Congress none but delegated powers and recognized the absolute sovereignty of the States. Aside from the right to make war and peace, regulate foreign intercourse, receive and send embassadors, control the coinage of money, and settle disputed boundaries, Congress had no power to act without the consent of nine of the States, each casting one ballot. It could not levy taxes, and before 1787 the war debt had destroyed the financial reputation of the United States abroad. The States were divided in their interests, and at the last Colonial Congress but eight of the States sent delegates. Not the least of the weaknesses of the confederation was the non-provision for a chief magistrate, or for a national judiciary. To meet these needs it was found necessary to frame a new constitution, systematically organizing a permanent form of government. This document arranges the powers of government under three heads—legislative, executive, and judicial—and places the supreme power in the people of the whole country, instead of vainly endeavoring to maintain a multitude of independent States. It replaced a disjointed confederacy of jealous States with a Nation.

CHAPLAINS IN ARMY AND NAVY.

GIBSON, Ill.

How old must a man be to be ineligible to the office of chaplain in the United States navy? How old to be ineligible to a chaplaincy in the army? How many chaplaincies are there in the army and navy and what is the rank and pay?

CONSTANT READER.

Answer.—A chaplain in the navy cannot be less than 21 nor more than 35 years of age at the time of his appointment. Limits of age of new appointees in the army are not specified in the statute. The President may retire a chaplain unconditionally after forty years’ service, or after he is 62 years of age. The President is authorized, by and with the consent of the Senate, to appoint thirty post chaplains and a chaplain for each of the cavalry and two infantry regiments of colored troops in the army, and not to exceed twenty-four chaplains in the navy. The rank and pay of chaplains in the navy are stated on page 88 of Curiosity Shop for 1882. Chaplains in the army have the rank of captain of infantry, without command, and are on the same footing with other officers of the army as to terms of office, retirement, and pensions. The pay of an army chaplain is $1,500 a year for the first five years’ service, $1,650 for the next five years, $1,800 for the next five, $1,950 for the next five, and $2,100 after twenty years’ service. It should be borne in mind that the duty of chaplains of colored troops and of post chaplains includes instruction of the enlisted men in the common English branches of education.

POSTAL-LAW QUERIES.

NEPONSET, Ill.

1. When were the salaries of postmasters changed from a percentage on stamps sold to a percentage on stamps canceled? 2. What is the postage on newspapers to Great Britain? 3. Can a supplement be sent without extra charge?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—1. Under the postal law approved Jan. 23, 1874, the compensation of postmasters of the first, second, and third classes consisted of annual salaries, assigned in even hundreds of dollars, to be ascertained and fixed by the Postmaster General from their respective quarterly returns for four quarters immediately preceding the adjustment or readjustment, by adding to the whole amount of box rents, not exceeding $2,000 per annum, commissions, also not to exceed $2,000 per annum, on the postal revenues of the office. All postmasters whose salaries, computed by this law, did not amount to $1,000, constituted a fourth class, whose compensation was the box rents collected at their offices and commissions on other postal revenues of their offices at the rate of 60 per cent on the first $100 or less per quarter, 50 per cent on the next $300 or less, and 40 per cent on the excess above $400 per quarter. To swell the revenues of their offices, postmasters of the fourth-class, and some of those of the third and second-classes, went into the large cities and sold stamps to mercantile firms and other heavy dealers, in some cases even sharing commissions with them. This abuse led to a revision of the law in the act of June 17, 1878, so that commissions should be allowed only “on stamps canceled as postages on matter actually mailed” at the offices in question. 2. The postage on newspapers to Great Britain and most of her colonies, the world over, is 1 cent for every two ounces or fraction thereof. Better inquire at postoffice for postal rates, or consult the United States Postal Guide, which can be seen at every postoffice. 3. That depends on the weight.

FARM AREAS AND VALUES.

ORD, Neb.

Oblige some of your readers by giving the cultivated area of the United States; the number and value of farms, farm implements, stock, etc. Also specify the States and Territories having over 500,000 acres each under cultivation.

HENRY P. MAIDEN.

Answer.—The total number of improved acres in the United States, according to the census of 1880, was 284,771,042, embraced in 4,008,907 farms. The value of farms, including lands, fences, and buildings, was $10,197,096,776; value of live stock, $1,500,464,609; cost of building and repairing fences, $77,763,473; cost of fertilizers purchased, $28,586,397. Estimated value of all farm productions (sold, consumed, or on hand), $2,213,402,564.

The following States and Territories had each more than 500,000 acres under cultivation;

Alabama 6,375,706 Arkansas 3,595,603 California 10,669,698 Colorado 616,169 Connecticut 1,642,188 Dakota 1,150,413 Delaware 746,958 Florida 947,640 Georgia 8,204,720 Illinois 26,115,154 Indiana 13,933,738 Iowa 19,866,541 Kansas 10,739,566 Kentucky 10,731,683 Louisiana 2,739,972 Maine 3,484,908 Maryland 3,342,700 Mass’ch’setts 2,128,311 Michigan 8,296,862 Minnesota 7,246,693 Mississippi 5,216,937 Missouri 16,745,031 Nebraska 5,504,702 N. Hampshire 2,308,112 New Jersey 2,096,297 New York 17,717,862 N. Carolina 6,481,151 Ohio 18,081,091 Oregon 2,198,645 Pennsylvan’a 13,423,007 S. Carolina 4,132,000 Tennessee 8,496,556 Texas 12,650,314 Vermont 3,286,461 Virginia 8,510,113 W. Virginia 3,792,327 Wisconsin 9,162,528

Illinois leads the column with nearly double the cultivated area of the Keystone State; Iowa comes next, and Ohio, New York, Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Texas, in the order here given, come trudging after. The next census will make marked changes in the above list.

THE GOOSE HANGS HIGH.

BLUFFDALE, Ill.—Some one asks in Our Curiosity Shop as to the origin of the saying, “All things are lovely, and the goose hangs high.” This is it: In the autumn, during the warm, hazy days of Indian summer the wild geese fly very high, so high that they cannot be seen, but their cry, which is a “haunk,” is plainly heard. Therefore it was, and is, a saying in the West, “All things are lovely, and the goose ‘haunks’ high,” a sure indication of continued fine weather. It is not “the goose hangs high,” which is a corruption of language, and is, moreover, nonsense.

S. G. R.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION.

SHERWOOD, Wis.

Mention all the attempts made to explore the arctic regions, and tell where we can find a full account of these expeditions.

WILLIAM R. BISHOP.

Answer.—No one work contains a full account of all the toils and sufferings, the thrilling scenes and exciting experiences of arctic exploration. The books and charts on this subject would make a good-sized library. As respects the northeast passage, they include narratives of the expeditions of Willoughby and Chancellor (English, 1553), Burroughs (English, 1556), Pet and Jackman (English, 1580), William Barentz (Dutch, 1594-96), Henry Hudson (English, 1608, and Dutch, 1609), Wood (Dutch, 1676). Behring (Russian, 1741), Shalaroff (Russian), who with his crew perished of starvation, Wiggans (English, 1784), Billings (Russian, 1787), and finally, Professor Adolf Eric Nordenskjold (Swedish), who, after two other expeditions (severally in 1875 and 1876), in 1878-9 succeeded in sailing from the North Atlantic eastward, through the Arctic Ocean and Behring Straits, into the Pacific, thus triumphantly completing the discovery of the “northeast passage.”

The search for the “northwest passage” has engaged nearly two hundred and fifty expeditions, of various nationalities. It would be useless to enumerate them all. The first attempts were made by Sebastian Cabot (English, 1498), and Martin Frobisher (English, 1576); Captain John Davis, after whom Davis’ Strait is named (English, 1585-88); Henry Hudson, after whom Hudson’s Bay is named (English, 1610); Button (English, 1615), and Bylot and Baffin, after the latter of whom Baffin’s Bay takes its name (English, 1615-16). Little more in the way of discovery in this direction was realized, although occasional attempts were made by Jens Munk, a Danish navigator, Fox, James, and others, until 1818, when Ross and Parry, under direction and support of the British Admiralty, entered upon a series of expeditions extending over more than a decade, by which a large addition was made to the knowledge of the geography of this region as far west as long 110 deg west, in Melville Sound, and north to latitude 82 deg. 45 min., and the magnetic pole was discovered. Dease, Simpson, Dr. John Rae, and other explorers followed. Then in 1845, came the memorable expedition of Sir John Franklin, whose party perished to the last man, but not until they had left records, since recovered, of discoveries showing that Sir John, had he been spared to return, was prepared to claim the honor of discovering the northwest passage. But as these records were not discovered by McClintock’s expedition (English) until 1859, and McClure (English), who went out via Behring’s Straits in search of Franklin in 1850, returned in 1852, after having brought his ship to Melville Island and his ship’s crew through from Behring’s Straits to Baffin’s Bay, had already received the award for the discovery of this long-sought passage. Besides the above, which are only the principal British expeditions, there are the American ones, under Dr. De Haven, 1850; Dr. Kane, 1853; Dr. Hayes, 1861; and Captain Hall, 1860, 1864, and 1870, full of interest, and resulting in important geographical and scientific discoveries; the Austrian Arctic Expedition of 1872-74, resulting in the discovery of Franz Joseph Land; the British Expedition, under Captain Nares, 1875-76; the Jeannette Expedition of 1879-80, which resulted in the melancholy death of Captain De Long and so many of his companions by starvation. Written and illustrated accounts of nearly all the above explorations have been published, and many of them can be found in the catalogues of the leading American publishing houses.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

ZANESVILLE, Ohio.

When was the Declaration of Independence first proposed, and when was it finally adopted? Give the hour in the day as nearly as you can, the order of proceedings, and the scenes that followed.

GEORGE M. HOFFMAN.

Answer.—That enthusiastic little rebel, Rhode Island, was the first of the colonies to declare itself “free from all dependence on the crown of Great Britain.” This she did on May 4, 1776. The Assembly of Virginia in the same month instructed her delegates to the Continental Congress to present to that body a proposition “affirming the independence of the colonies from Great Britain.” In compliance with these instructions Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, on June 7, 1776, introduced his famous resolutions: “That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown; and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign alliances. That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective colonies for their consideration and approbation.” John Adams seconded these resolutions, and an animated discussion ensued. On June 8 a committee, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, was appointed to draw up a declaration of independence embodying the sense of Lee’s resolutions. On July 2 Lee’s resolutions were passed by the vote of twelve of the thirteen colonies, the New York delegates refraining from voting for want of instructions from their province. On July 3 the formal declaration, almost precisely as written by Thomas Jefferson, was presented by the committee above named, and was debated with great spirit, John Adams being the chief speaker on the part of the committee. The discussion was resumed on the morning of the 4th, and at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, after one or two slight modifications, it was adopted. The announcement was hailed with the liveliest enthusiasm. “Ring! ring!” shouted the lad stationed below to give the signal to the old bellman in the State House tower; and he did ring until the whole city shouted for joy. The King’s arms were wrenched from the Court House and burned in the streets; bonfires were lighted, the city illuminated, and the exultation was prolonged far into the night. In New York City the populace hurled the leaden statue of George III. from its pedestal and molded it into bullets, and in all the great cities similar demonstrations of enthusiasm were exhibited. Washington had the declaration read at the head of every brigade of the army, and the soldiers pledged fealty to the cause of independence.

INVENTOR OF THE LIFE-BOAT.

JOLIET, Ill.

Who invented the life-boat, and when did he do it?

JAMES.

Answer.—It is not easy to determine this question. Many writers give the credit to Mr. Henry Greathead, of Shields, Eng.; others give it to Lionel Lukin, a coach-builder, of London; others to William Wouldhave, parish clerk of St. Hilda’s Church, South Shields, Eng. Now that the Royal National Life-boat Institution of Great Britain alone has 271 life-boats in its service, and more than 900 lives annually, on the average, are saved, mainly by these boats, when the life-saving institutions of other countries are using them with most gratifying results, it is not strange that the honor of this invention is zealously contested. The facts seem to be these: The first patent for a life-boat was granted in England, in 1785, to Lionel Lukin. It was not satisfactory for several reasons, but was improved by Admiral Graves, of the Royal Navy, and Henry Greathead, a boatbuilder of Shields. This was improved by George Palmer, a member of the National Life-boat Institution, and remained the favorite boat in the service until 1851, when in response to the offer by the Duke of Northumberland of a prize of 100 guineas, about 100 models of improved life-boats were exhibited, and the prize was awarded to Mr. James Beeching, of Yarmouth. This boat, improved by Mr. R. Peake, of the Royal Dockyard, Woolwich, was adopted by the National Life-boat Institution, and is still its favorite model. Undoubtedly Greathead has received more credit for this invention than any one else. He received the gold medals of the Society of Arts and the Royal Humane Society. He received £1,200 from Parliament in 1802, and a purse of 100 guineas from Lloyd’s. He obtained patents and honorable awards in foreign countries and made large sums by furnishing boats for life-saving service for Great Britain and other lands. Nevertheless, the honor of inventing the self-righting life-boat is strenuously claimed for William Wouldhave, particularly by his fellow-townsmen and parishioners of South Shields. The story is that soon after a wreck, accompanied with a terrible loss of life, which occurred at Tynemouth in September, 1789, Mr. Wouldhave noticed a wooden dish floating on the surface of a well, which, on being accidentally struck by his finger, when he was assisting a woman to raise a skeel of water, turned bottom upward, and instantly righted itself again. Capsizing it again several times, he noted that it always righted itself. He discovered the self-righting principle then and there, and soon after made a model life-boat of tin, which he offered to exhibit to the ship-owners and mariners of South Shields as a suitable boat for rescuing persons from wrecks. The affair was greatly talked about, and a committee consisting of gentlemen connected with the merchant marine was appointed to test the model and any others that might be offered for inspection. Greathead, the boatbuilder above mentioned, exhibited a model at this time, and upon testing the merits of the boats Wouldhave’s proved to be self-righting and unsinkable by any water it might ship. Greathead’s model failed in these respects, though in others it was pronounced a good sea-boat. Mr. Greathead, however, was what Mr. Wouldhave was not, a shrewd business man. He made improvements in his model, adopting some of the features of Lukin’s patent above mentioned and some of Wouldhave’s, and it was not long before he had introduced it into actual service, not only in Great Britain, but elsewhere. Hence his name has become famous as the inventor of the life-boat, while Wouldhave’s name was known to few but his townsmen as the actual and original inventor. The first model made by Wouldhave is now in the Free Library Museum at South Shields. His tombstone, in St. Hilda’s Church-yard, bears a life-boat carved on it, and above the gaselier in the church a model life-boat is suspended in memory of him.

“BULLS” AND “BEARS.”

JONESBORO, Ark.

Explain how “bulls” and “bears” operate to affect the prices of stocks and provisions.

S. W. MOREHEAD.

Answer.—The means used to “bull” and “bear,” or raise and depress, the prices of stocks, grain, provisions, etc., are innumerable, varying with the needs of the times, but influenced much more by the combinations of capitalists and brokers. The “bulls” magnify every circumstance favorable to the appreciation of the stocks they hold or have agreed to take at a given time, while those who have contracted to deliver such stocks, or who for any reason wish to buy, do all in their power to depreciate them, and are therefore nicknamed “bears.” Any one who has ever witnessed a bull and bear fight will not question the appropriateness of these terms as applied to the combatants in the exciting wars among the kings of the stock board. The bulls struggle to toss the stocks higher; the bears squeeze and tug to force the prices down. The former resort to all kinds of expedients to induce small holders to cling fast to their stocks instead of putting them on the market. They persuade them by direct appeals, or by circulating encouraging reports, that these stocks are bound to rise rapidly in value; and they often combine to buy up the stock of the few who persist in selling, so as to “corner” the market. Not content with fair means, they sometimes enter into combinations with one another, and employ third parties to buy and sell stocks of the same description on ’Change, in such a way as to create the impression that there is a greater demand for them than there really is, when in fact the sales are never consummated, or merely amount to an exchange among themselves. Often, when neither the foreign nor home news was favorable to their purposes, false reports have been telegraphed through the country by interested parties, to affect the stock board. Similar methods are pursued on boards of trade.

ORIGIN OF POSTOFFICES.

WAUKESHA, Wis.

What country first established a postal system for transmitting the mail? When was postal communication established in America? Give us a few facts on this subject.

J. J. S.

Answer.—Couriers for carrying royal or government dispatches are mentioned in histories of the earliest times. Royal posts existed in Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The name postoffice originated in the posts, or stations, at intervals along the roads of the Roman Empire, where couriers were kept in readiness to start on the instant. But such posts were not used for transmitting private letters. The first postal system for commercial and private correspondence appears to have been established between the Hanse Towns early in the thirteenth century. In the reign of the Emperor Maximilian I., of Germany, letter posts were established by the Princes of Thurn and Taxis, connecting the chief cities of Austria and Lombardy, and later, 1516, the same princes connected Vienna and Brussels in the same way. Maximilian’s successor, Charles V., encouraged still further extension of this private postal system by repeated enfeoffments or special franchises, until all the great commercial centers of his vast empire, from Vienna to Madrid, from the Adriatic to the North Sea, and intervening places, were brought into regular postal communication. Far back in the twelfth century the University of Paris, whose students, gathered from all civilized nations, numbered not long after this over 25,000, employed foot-runners to carry letters for its members to all parts of Europe. But not until 1524 was permission granted to the royal French posts to carry other letters than those for the government and the nobility. London merchants established a postal communication of their own with France and other continental countries as early as the fifteenth century, and it is evident that, although the royal post of England established in the thirteenth century was intended and long restricted to the transmission of government dispatches only, it had gradually become a vehicle for private correspondence. In 1581 Thomas Randolph was appointed the “Chief Postmaster” for England, with authority to establish and supervise post-houses and regulate the fees charged by postmen, but apparently without authority to receive and handle mail matter, which was left largely to the discretion of the postmen themselves. Not until the time of James I. of England was a postmaster for foreign parts appointed, and steps taken by the government to establish regular running posts, going day and night, for the transmission of letters for the general public. In 1635 such a mail was established to run weekly between London and Edinburgh, and soon eight other lines were instituted.

In this country, Massachusetts provided by legislation for the postal system as early as 1639, and Virginia in 1657. A monthly post between Boston and New York was instituted in 1672. In the beginning, letters arriving in this country from beyond the seas were delivered on board the ship. Letters not called for were left by the captain at a coffee-house near the wharf, where they were spread on a table or shelf, awaiting call. Persons calling not only took charge of their own letters, but of those of acquaintances in their neighborhood, either delivering them in person or leaving them at the minister’s or some magistrate’s office to be inquired for, or announced in church. These coffee-houses gradually grew into common use for letters between cities and the interiors, until regular posts were instituted. One of the first acts of the Continental Congress was the establishment of a general postoffice department, and the appointment of Benjamin Franklin, who had enjoyed large experience in the British colonial postal service, as the first Postmaster General.

FINANCIAL CONDITION OF FRANCE.

HAMILTON, N. M.

What is the financial condition of France as compared with other European countries? Is she prepared to cope with Great Britain in case of a war between them?

E. L. EASDALE.

Answer.—France is carrying a larger national debt than any other nation. It amounted at the close of the fiscal year 1882 to $4,683,840,000—nearly a billion dollars more than that of Great Britain. Besides this, like our own States and minor political divisions, the departments and municipalities of France are carrying local debts amounting in the aggregate to an immense sum. The debt of Paris in September, 1880, was 2,295,000,000 francs, or about $450,000,000. The national debt is well distributed among the people, there being in 1881 as many as 4,617,900 holders, receiving 851,909,901 francs annually for interest. So long as this interest, or “rente,” is paid promptly these holders are, for the most part, content with the government; but should the latter plunge the country into a costly war, rendering it necessary to suspend payment of the interest, and jeopardizing resumption of such payments, a popular revolution would in all probability ensue. This enormous national debt will indisputably prove a source of weakness to the government and the nation In the event of a foreign war. The imperial debt of Germany in 1882 was only $120,197,528. Add to this the debt proper of Prussia, $493,821,812, and that of the other constituent states of the empire, $735,608,892, and the total was $1,349,728,232. The imperial debt of Austro-Hungary the same year was $1,107,978,118, which, added to the Austrian debt proper, $176,914,016, and the Hungarian debt proper, $400,532,142, made a total of $1,685,424,276. The public debt of Italy in 1882 was $2,042,000,000; of Spain, $1,826,613,093; of Great Britain, $3,814,500,000; of Russia, $4,314,607,500; of the United States, $1,918,312,294.

Undoubtedly the industrial condition of France is better than that of any other European country, except Great Britain, Belgium, and Holland. The French people have been accumulating wealth at a remarkable rate since the Franco-German war, and in this respect France is stronger than her great continental neighbors.

The following table, compiled from Mulhall’s “Balance Sheet of the World,” shows the estimated capital or wealth of a few of the principal nations of Europe in 1880:

Nations— Total wealth.

Great Britain $44,800,000,000 France 37,085,000,000 Germany 30,375,000,000 Russia 17,700,000,000 Austria 15,250,000,000 Italy 9,300,000,000 Spain 6,865,000,000 Holland 5,650,000,000

The next table gives the per capita, or rate of wealth for each inhabitant, less the per capita of the public debt:

Per capita of Nations— wealth.

Great Britain $1,185 France 900 Germany 650 Russia 180 Austria 335 Italy 235 Spain 255 Holland 1,310

So much for the financial condition of France. As regards her ability to cope with England in the event of war, it is largely a matter of opinion. One hazards little in predicting that, if her people stand united, France is almost impregnable at home to any assault from Great Britain. So is the latter against any attack from the former, except in Ireland. On the sea England’s navy is far more than a match for that of France, whom she would easily strip of all her colonial possessions; but France, with a few Alabamas, could quite as easily drive Great Britain’s merchant marine from the high seas, and injure her commerce even more than the Confederates did ours during the recent rebellion.

BAROMETRICAL QUERIES.

WILBER, Kan.

1. What causes the mercury to sink in a barometer before a storm? 2. How do persons foretell the state of the weather from the movements of the barometer? 3. How far ahead can storms be predicted?

F. J. ELLIOTT.

Answer.—The sinking of the mercury in the tube of a barometer is due to the lightness of the atmosphere, which is indicative, in most cases, of humidity, or aqueous vapor, in the air. The construction of a mercurial barometer may be stated in a few words. A glass tube, about 33 inches in length, open at one end, is filled with mercury, and while the unsealed end is covered, is inverted in a basin of mercury. As soon as the cover is removed the mercury in the tube will flow out until it stands about thirty inches above the mercury in the basin. At that point the pressure of the air upon the liquid in the basin is equal to the pressure of the liquid in the tube (the space in the upper part of the tube being a vacuum) and the flow ceases. When the air becomes heavier its pressure upon the basin will be greater and force the mercury in the tube higher; if the air becomes lighter the mercury in the tube will sink. The barometer therefore shows directly only the weight of the atmosphere, but thereby indirectly the future state of the weather is indicated. 2. This is explained in “Our Curiosity Shop” for 1881, pages 144-5. 3. How far ahead the changes of weather can be predicted depends upon so many other considerations besides that of the mere weight of the atmosphere, varying in different seasons of the year and different localities, that no answer suited to all can be given. In some instances storms have been predicted from observations of the barometer alone as much as thirty-six to forty hours before their arrival. The United States Signal Service bases its weather predictions not only on barometric phenomena, but on telegraphic reports from a multitude of stations of the temperature, humidity, clouds, direction, force and rate of motion of the winds, etc. In some cases it has given notice of storms starting in the Rocky Mountains and traveling eastward sixty hours before their arrival on the Atlantic seaboard.

EXEMPTIONS OF PRE-EMPTIONS AND HOMESTEADS.

PLANKINGTON, D. T.

Can a judgment rendered in Iowa eight or ten years ago attach to a pre-emption after the latter is proved and title taken from the government?

C. P. WILTON.

Answer.—It is expressly declared in the homestead law that “no lands acquired under the provisions of this chapter shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the issuing of the patent therefor.” There is no such provision in the pre-emption law. Lands acquired under the latter law are protected from previous judgments only by the State or Territorial homestead and exemption laws.

BEST PEDESTRIAN RECORD FOR 100 MILES.

OREGON. Ill.

Oblige a reader and settle a dispute by stating whether 100 miles has ever been made by any walker or runner in a day of ten hours. Also give the quickest time for 100 miles, walking, and the same distance running.

H. W. FARAGHER.

Answer.—The best record for 100 miles walking, in this country, is 18 hours, 53 minutes, 4 seconds, by D. O’Leary, of Chicago; the best in England is 18 hours, 8 minutes, 15 seconds, by William Howes, London. The best record for 100 miles running, in this country, is 13 hours, 26 minutes, 30 seconds; the best in England is 13 hours, 47 minutes, and 50 seconds.

AGASSIZ, THE NATURALIST.

SPENCER, Iowa.

Please give a biographical sketch of Professor Agassiz.

R. A. COATS.

Answer.—Louis John Rudolf Agassiz, the son of a Swiss Protestant clergyman, was born near Lake Neuchatel, May 28, 1807. After completing his academical course, he studied medicine at Zurich, Heidelberg, and Munich, preparatory to becoming a physician. Meanwhile Spix and Martins had returned from Brazil with a valuable collection of fossil fishes; and when, in 1826, the death of Spix made it necessary to select some one to continue the classification of his specimens, the choice fell upon Agassiz, who had already shown great ability in zoological research. Thus suddenly, at the age of 18, he began what was to be his life-long study. His next work was the study of the fresh water fishes of Central Europe, of which he published a history in 1839. In 1834 he paid his first visit to England, drawn thither by the tempting field of investigation in the fossils of the Devonian rocks. At about this time Agassiz commenced a new classification of fishes, based upon the character of the skin. Four years later he accepted a professorship at Neuchatel; and while there published his works on “Fishes of Central Europe.” “Mollusca,” and “Glaciers.” The last named work was the result of his study with Charpentier, during the year 1840. In 1847 he came to the United States, and became Professor of Zoology and Geology in Harvard. His life in this country was characterized by increased vigor as a writer. Failing health made a change of climate necessary in 1865, and with his wife and a company of assistants he visited Brazil. Later he explored the Southern Atlantic and Pacific shores of North America, gathering much valuable material for future study. His last great work was the establishment of a school for the study of marine zoology, on the island of Penikese, the gift of Mr. John Anderson, of New York, who also donated $50,000 as a permanent endowment. Professor Agassiz’s death occurred Dec. 14, 1873.

POSTMASTERS GENERAL AND THE CABINET.

FAIRBURY, Ill.

State who was the first Postmaster General of the United States, and who was the first Postmaster General admitted to a seat in the Cabinet.

E. E. MCDOWELL.

Answer.—From the organization of the Federal Government down to the year 1829, the Postmasters General were not recognized as members of the Cabinet. The first Postmaster General under the present Constitution was Samuel Osgood, of Massachusetts, appointed by President Washington, Sept. 26, 1789. He was regarded as the head of a bureau. On the accession of President Jackson he nominated William T. Barry, of Kentucky, to the office of Postmaster General, and invited him to a seat in the Cabinet, since when the head of the Postoffice Department has been considered a member of the Cabinet

TO DISTINGUISH SEX OF FOWLS.

KEARNEY, Neb.

Is it possible to distinguish the sex of fowls by the noises they make?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—An experienced poultry-raiser gives the following rules, which he says a close observer can soon learn to apply without mistake: The drake wheezes, the duck quacks. The Guinea cock and hen both have a peculiar, disagreeable chatter, but the hen sometimes says “buckwheat” or “go back” which the cock never does. The peacock can be distinguished, even when only a few months old, by the foxy red pinion feathers of his wings. In the case of turkeys, the breastbone of the cock is turned out at the front point, while that of the hen is straight. As to geese, the gabble of the common, the Embden and the Toulouse ganders is faster, finer, and higher than that of the goose, which is a slow, low bass; and the screech of the gander is fine, loud, and clear, while that of the goose is a rough bass. Both gander and goose of the English gray geese have a coarse screech and gabble, but the screech of the goose is lazy and seems to be partly broken, making two sounds, while the gander gives one clear, loud screech without any break in it. The screech of the African gander is loud and hoarse, while that of the goose is clear and stops abruptly, as if bitten off at the end. The Chinese gander gives one loud, clear screech, but that of the goose seems to be broken, making two different sounds, as if the first were made by forcing her breath out and the other by drawing it back.

INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE.

ST. PAUL, Minn.

What is meant by “an international date line?”

CONSTANT READER.

Answer.—Every person traveling around the world from west to east, with his watch or chronometer set to the time of the place at which he started, will note that the sun comes to his meridian, or noon, four minutes earlier than his chronometer time for every degree passed over, one hour for every 15 degrees, and twenty-four hours for 360 degrees, the total circuit of the earth. In other words, every one who completes such a journey gains a day, and to dispose of this superfluous day so as to make his reckoning correspond with that of his starting place, he must call the day on which he gets back (or on which he passes some certain point or meridian line) and the next following day of the week and month by the same name and date; thus having two Mondays, for example, together. On the other hand, every person traveling from east to west loses a day in making a complete circuit of the earth, and to correct his calendar must skip one day of some week.

Suppose it were universally agreed that this correction of the navigator’s reckoning should be made at the 180th degree of longitude west and east from Greenwich, Eng., then this would be the international date line. Unfortunately, now, there is no such universally accepted line, although most merchant vessels of all nations do make the correction at the meridian above named. So it often happens that sailors in the Pacific Ocean, because their vessels reach the 180th meridian coming eastward on Sunday enjoy two Sundays together, and going westward have two weeks without any intervening Sunday. It has been proposed to fix by international agreement upon this or some other line for this correction of dates so as to make all ship calendars agree, but thus far a silly national pride and other insufficient reasons have prevented such an agreement. The meridian of Rome, as the center from which Christian civilization was disseminated both towards the East and West, has been proposed by some. It has the advantage of being nearly upon the meridian of the most of the great observatories of Europe—those of Modena, Verona, Naples, Palermo, Padua, Venice, Munich, Leipsic, Prague, Berlin, Gotha, Copenhagen, Uraniburg, and Christiana. This would locate the 180th degree of longitude in Behring Straits.

If such a line could be determined, and local calendars the world over be made to correspond, it would dispose of such absurdities in reckoning as exist now, when it is a fact that during five hours of every day there are three different dates in use in different parts of the world. For example: From 5:10 o’clock a. m. to 10:10 o’clock a. m. of to-day, Sept. 17, 1883, at Chicago, the inhabitants of the Navigator Islands, in the Pacific, are in the early part of their Sept. 18, while those of the Philippine Islands, about sixty degrees further west, adhering to their old calendar, are finishing Sept. 16. That is to say, from the time any given day of the week and month begins at the earliest place of reckoning to the time it ends at the latest place is about fifty-three hours. This is accounted for by the fact that places discovered and receiving civilization by Eastern communication from Europe, and those receiving it by Western communication, took their dates from opposite directions without allowing for the day lost in circumnavigating the globe in the one direction and the day gained in circumnavigating it in the other. The Philippine Islands were discovered by Magellan, sailing westward, and conquered by a Spanish expedition dispatched from the west coast of Mexico, which accounts for the use there of a dating later by a day than that of the neighboring island of Hong Kong, on the China coast, and the Japanese islands; in fact, the latest dating of any place on the globe.

CERTAIN RIGHTS OF MARRIED WOMEN.

FORT WORTH, Texas.

Is there any State in the Union where a man is not compelled to divide his property with his wife in case they separate? 2. What is the proper pronunciation of “dude?”

E. G. HOWARD.

Answer.—All States, except California and Indiana, give the wife a dower right in her husband’s property. In case of voluntary separation, she may agree to waive a part, or all, of her right; or the husband may concede more than her dower right, and in case the agreement is reduced to writing and properly acknowledged, it is binding upon both parties, the separation being in other respects in conformity with law. In case of a divorce for the wife’s fault, she loses her dower right. If it is for the husband’s fault, the court will maintain her dower rights and also award her alimony proportioned to her husband’s income, to be paid by him at stated periods. 2. Pronounce it dood.

QUERIES ABOUT NEBRASKA.

TABOR, Iowa,

Please inform one of your readers what portion of Nebraska is open to homesteaders. Please give some facts in regard to water and drought. I am told there are valuable lands, well watered, in Custer County. Any facts concerning the lands of Central and Western Nebraska will be gladly received.

HOME-SEEKER.

Answer.—Most of Nebraska between Ft. Kearney and the western State line is open to homesteaders, but perhaps the greatest immigration at this time is to the Niobrara Valley. The Platte Valley is also very fertile. The agricultural country extends 180 miles west of the Missouri River, and produces great harvests of grain, flax, hemp, and all vegetables: while south of latitude 42 degrees the common small fruits grow in abundance. When Central Kansas and Nebraska are settled, what is now generally regarded as the “great corn belt” will be under cultivation. The portion of the State devoted to grazing comprises 23,000,000 acres, generally well watered, with Ogallala as a center. Except in the valleys, the water lies from 100 to 200 feet below the surface of the ground, and is obtained by boring. The sandy tracts are subject to drought, but where the subsoil is dry clay the ground is usually moist. Custer County is settling rapidly, although it has the reputation of being sandy, and adapted for the most part only to grazing. The mean temperature of the State is in winter from 22 to 30 degrees, and in summer from 70 to 74 degrees. The rainfall (greatest in May and June) averages about thirty inches in all but the extreme northwestern corner of the State.

FEUDALISM.

TOLONO, Ill.

Please give the definition of feudalism?

H. B. HASKELL.

Answer.—Feudalism is the state of society in which all landed property is considered as belonging to the crown. It is apportioned by the Kings to the nobles, as feudatories, upon condition that they render annually a certain amount of military service. These proprietors may, in turn, partition their lands to sub-tenants in consideration of like military service.

Feudal proprietors at first held their lands from a superior for life; later as an inheritance. The great feudatories lived in fortified castles, surrounded by villages of peasants who tilled their lands. In all matters of jurisprudence they exercised supreme authority over their dependents. To other feudatory lords each might stand in the relation of friend or foe, though he met with them as peers in the periodical councils of the realm. Among the services required from their dependents or vassals, were military service, when called upon, contribution toward the expenses of war, toward ransom of their lord if taken captive, toward marriage expenses of his son, and dowry of his daughter.

ADELINA PATTI.

KANKAKEE, ILL.

Decide whether Adelina Patti is a native of this country, and settle a dispute. Also, please tell her true maiden name and the main facts of her life.

Cymbeline.

Answer.—Adelina Patti’s real name before her marriage was Adele Juana Maria Patti. She is a native of Spain, being born at Madrid April 9, 1843. She inherited her talent to some degree from her mother, Mme. Barilli Patti, a prima donna of no mean reputation. It is stated that she sang “Norma” at the Grand Theater, Madrid, on the evening before Adele’s birth, and, as she lost much of the power and sweetness of her voice after that event, she always maintained that it had gone from her into the child. Adele has been claimed as an American, because the family came to this country the next year after her birth, and her brilliant fame dawned upon her in New York City. At the age of 9 she made her first appearance before the public, and made the tour of Canada with Strakosch and Ole Bull. She made her debut in New York City March 3, 1854, at Paul Jullien’s concert, in the City Assembly rooms. Then she accompanied Gottschalk, the great pianist, to the West Indies. It was at this time that she sung in costume with Signor Barilli at Havana the duet in the “Barber of Seville” with such effect that the audience became excited to such a pitch and clamored so wildly for her to reappear that she ran away in a fright, and nothing could persuade her to return. Returning to New York she was more popular than ever. It was in November of 1859 that the managers of the Academy of Music, New York, after a long period of unprofitable engagements which threatened to end in financial ruin, brought forward Adelina Patti as Lucia. The result was an immense success. From that time she was the pet of the metropolis.

She made her debut in London as Amina in “La Somnambula” in 1861. In England and on the Continent she soon won her way to the first rank among prima donnas. Devotees of the opera, of all ranks, showered favors upon her. The Emperor of Russia, in 1870, conferred on her the Order of Merit. Her voice is an unusually high soprano of rich, bell-like quality, and remarkable evenness of tone, to which qualities she adds purity of style and high artistic finish. Equally at home in the tenderness of deep passion and the sprightly vivacity of light comedy, she has also sung with success in oratorio. She was married in London July 29, 1868, to the Marquis de Caux, an almost impecunious scion of the old French nobility. It was an unhappy alliance and has ended in a divorce granted by the French courts to the Marquis, in 1876. According to French law she is not entitled to marry, but, nevertheless, she now claims to be legally married to Nicolini.

VOTING—RIGHTS AND RESTRICTIONS.

MOUND, La.

1. Are there not States where citizens over 21 years of age are not permitted to vote without a property qualification? 2. If so, has the representation of such States in Congress been reduced in proportion, as would seem to be required by the United States Constitution? 3. Do the peeresses entitled to seats in the English House of Lords ever occupy them and vote as members of that body?

W. R. JOHNSTON.

Answer.—1. Yes, and we gave their names in these columns recently. Rhode Island is the most exacting one of them. 2. No. 3. Yes.

COLUMBIA RIVER.

ONARGA, Ill.

To settle a dispute, please state the precise place where the Columbia River rises. Also give its length, and tell how far it is navigable.

HUGH E. SUTTON.

Answer.—The Columbia River rises in a trivial lake on the Western slope of the Rocky Mountains, in latitude 50 deg. 31 min. north, and longitude 116 deg. west of Greenwich. It is a swift, tortuous stream, cutting its way through many wild, deep gorges, or canons, and obstructed by numerous rapids and falls, until it reaches the foot of the Cascades, a series of rapids where it makes its way through the Cascade Mountains. Here the scene on either hand is most impressive, rising in places to the height of sublimity. From where the Clarke River fork enters to the sea the Columbia forms the boundary between Oregon and Washington Territory. Its total length is variously estimated, the best authorities making it between 1,400 and 1,450 miles. It is navigable for sea-going vessels of 300 tons burden to the head of tide water, at the foot of the Cascades, 160 miles, and steamboats ply on it above this, both below and above the narrow known as the Dalles, in all 485 miles more.

THE POET LOWELL.

POPLAR CREEK, Ill.

Please give an account of the life of James Russell Lowell.

H. L. WILSON.

Answer.—During the war with Mexico there appeared a series of humorous poems by Hosea Biglow, aimed against the war and slavery, which made not a little stir, not only in literary circles but in all classes of society. The real author was James Russell Lowell, a native of Boston, and already known as a poet through his “Legend of Brittany,” published in 1844. In 1854 he succeeded Longfellow as Professor of Modern Languages at Harvard. During 1857-62 he was editor of the “Atlantic Monthly,” and 1863-72 of the “North American Review.” In 1869 he published a volume of poems and in 1870 a second volume, followed in 1871 by “My Study Windows.” Four years ago he became United States Minister to the Court of St. James. In literature Mr. Lowell has attained to well-deserved distinction on both sides of the Atlantic, and as a diplomatist he has acquitted himself with honor.

HALLOWEEN.

LANSING, Mich.

Give the origin and history of Halloween and describe some of the sports.

A READER.

Answer.—For the origin and history of Halloween see Our Curiosity Shop for 1880, page 31. Some of the most common of the sports connected with it are these: If you go down the cellar stairs backwards or into a dark room, holding a lighted candle in one hand and a looking-glass in the other, the face of your “destiny” will appear over your left shoulder. Walk around the house three times with a broom over your right shoulder, and you will see the same person, or go down cellar backwards combing your hair and carrying a candle. These things must be done at exactly midnight. Let some one of a company “name” a number of apples, and drop them in a pail of water. Let each of the others try to take one out with the teeth alone, and so decide his or her fate. For other sports and superstitions associated with Halloween see “Chambers’ Book of Days.”

MARINE HISTORY—“OLD-TIMERS.”

FRANKFORT, Mich.

In answer to H. H. H., of Chicago, who asks in Our Curiosity Shop which is the oldest lake craft now in service, I will say: The oldest lake craft now in service is said to be the Racine, built at Cleveland in 1844; the next is Genesee Chief, 1846. Among some of the other old-timers still in service are the barge Seminole, 38 years old; Pilgrim, 35 years; Two Brothers, 37 years; Reindeer, 35 years; schooners Arcturus, 30 years; Cascade, 30 years; Elbe, 30 years; Sonora, 29 years; Clipper City, 29 years; Vermont, 30 years; Pilot, 35 years; Harriet Ross, age unknown. The oldest American vessel now coasting on the ocean is the bark Amethyst, built in 1822. The following will prove of interest to old Chicagoans, who will no doubt recollect the circumstances: The first craft built in Chicago was the sloop Clarisa, 1836; the first steamboats, James Allen, 213 tons; G. W. Dole, 162 tons burden, built in 1838. The first sail arrival at Chicago was the schooner General Tracy, from Detroit, in 1803. The first steamer arrival was the Superior, with United States troops, in 1832. The first tugboat in Chicago harbor was the Archimedes, a side-wheeler, exploded in 1852. The schooner Illinois was the first sail craft to enter the Chicago River over the bar, July 14, 1834. The schooners La-Grange, United States, Oregon, and Illinois were some of the pioneer packet vessels sailing between Buffalo and Chicago in 1830, carrying passengers and freight. The little steamer called Chicago plied on the river, and in 1836 carried the Governor and party up to Bridgeport, where the first shovelful of sand was dug for the canal.

In connection with the above, to show what a vessel can do in her time, I will mention as an example: The old packet ship Great Western, built over forty years ago, plying between New York and Liverpool, 1,800 tons burden. This vessel sailed twenty-nine years in the packet line without losing one of her crew; also during 116 trips she never lost a sail or spar. She has carried 30,000 passengers from Europe to America; 200 marriages, and 1,500 births occurred on board of her. Ten years ago she was sent to the Pacific Ocean, being a very successful craft. She caught fire and burned to the water’s edge in San Francisco during the past summer. For marine history of United States, see my articles in THE DAILY INTER OCEAN, May 10, 1882, July 28, etc.

CHARLES BURMEISTER.

TO POSTMASTERS.

FAIRMOUNT, Minn.

What is the object of the little patch of leather, open at the top, riveted to the inside of some of the United States mail-bags, not far from the top? I have inquired of several persons, including postmasters at one or two places, but none of them seem to know. Only about one in three or four mail-bags have it.

A FRIEND.

Answer.—The small pouch you refer to is a pocket for any memorandum the postmaster may wish to send with the bag. In case a mail-bag anywhere in the Northwest needs repairs it should be sent to the Chicago Postoffice, which has a repair shop connected with it. The postmaster sending such a bag should put in this pouch a memorandum showing from what office it is sent. This is but one of many instances in which it serves a good purpose. It is to be found only in the new mail-bags.

STRONG DRINK OF THE HEBREWS.

VICTORIA, Neb.

We read that in the time of Samuel there were people who drank no wine or any strong drink. Are we to suppose that they had any stronger drink than fermented wine? Had they any distilled spirits?

READER.

Answer.—By “strong drink” in the Old Testament we are not to understand distilled spirits, for alcohol was not discovered until the present era. The term refers to three beverages of the Jews—date honey, date or palm wine unfermented, and palm wine rendered intoxicating by fermentation, or by the admixture of stupifying ingredients while boiling. The latter was preferred, as fermentation made the wine bitter and harsh.

THE FATHERS ON PROTECTIVE TARIFF.

DAVENPORT, Iowa.

On what authority does Our Curiosity Shop class Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and, still more strange to say, General Jackson with the advocates of protective tariff?

FREE TRADER.

Answer.—The first Congress that assembled under our present Constitution passed the first tariff. In the preamble to that act it is expressly affirmed that such tariff was necessary “to pay the public debt, provide revenue, etc., and for the protection and encouragement of American manufactures.” The necessity of such protection was urged in the messages of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison James Monroe, John Q. Adams, and Andrew Jackson. In his annual message of Dec. 15, 1802, among other proper objects of government, Jefferson enumerates the following; “To foster our fisheries as nurseries of navigation and for the nurture of man; and to protect the manufactures adapted to our circumstances.” In his annual message of 1806, apprehending a surplus revenue, he says; “To what other objects shall these surpluses be appropriated, and the whole surplus of impost after the entire discharge of the public debt? Shall we suppress the impost (or tariff) and give that advantage to foreign over domestic manufactures?” He then suggests that on a few articles the impost might be wisely suppressed, but in regard to the great mass of them he says; “The patriotism of the people would prefer its continuance and application to the great purposes of public education, roads, rivers, canals, and other objects of public improvement.” In his message of Nov. 8, 1808, after referring with gratification to the increase of “internal manufactures and improvements,” he expresses the hope that such establishments of manufacturing industry “formed and forming, will, under the auspices of cheaper materials and substance, the freedom of labor from taxation with us, and of protecting duties and prohibitions, become permanent.” Says President Monroe, in his inaugural address of March 5, 1817; “Our manufactures will likewise require the systematic and fostering care of the government. Possessing, as we do, all the raw materials, the fruit of our own soil and industry, we ought not to depend, in the degree we have done, on supplies from other countries. It is important, too, that the capital which nourishes our manufactures should be domestic, as its influences in that case, instead of exhausting, as it may do in foreign hands, would be felt advantageously for agriculture and every other branch or industry. Equally important is it to provide at home a market for our raw materials, as by extending the competition it will enhance the price and protect the cultivator against the casualties incident to foreign markets.”

In his message of Dec. 7, 1830, General Jackson says: “The power to impose duties on imports originally belonged to the several States. The right to adjust these duties, with the view to the encouragement of domestic branches of industry, is so completely incidental to that power, that it is difficult to suppose the existence of the one without the other.” He proceeds to say that the denial of the right of the Federal Government “to exercise this power for the purpose of protection would he to present the anomaly of a people stripped of the right to foster their own industry, and to counteract the most selfish and destructive policy which might be adopted by foreign nations. This surely cannot be the case. This indispensable power, thus surrendered by the States, must be within the scope of the authority on the subject expressly delegated to Congress. In this conclusion I am confirmed as well by the opinions of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, who have each repeatedly recommended the exercise of this right under the Constitution, as by the uniform practice of Congress, the continued acquiescence of the States, and the general understanding of the people.” In a letter to Dr. Coleman, of North Carolina, dated at Washington City, April 20, 1824, General Jackson wrote: “If we omit or refuse to use the gifts which Providence has extended to us, we deserve not the continuation of His blessing. He has filled our mountains and our plains with minerals—with lead, iron, and copper—and given us a climate and soil for the growing of hemp and wool. These being the great materials of our National defense, they ought to have extended to them adequate protection; that our manufacturers and laborers may be placed in a fair competition with those of Europe, and that we have within our country a supply of those leading and important articles so essential to war. I will ask what is the real situation of the agriculturist? Where has the American farmer a market for his surplus produce? Except for cotton he has neither a foreign nor a home market. Common sense at once points out the remedy. Take from agriculture in the United States 600,000 men, women, and children and you will at once give a market for more breadstuffs than all Europe now furnishes us. In short, sir, we have been too long subject to the policy of British merchants. It is time we should become a little more Americanized, and instead of feeding paupers and laborers of England, feed our own, or else in a short time, by continuing our present policy, we shall be rendered paupers ourselves.” In consonance with these sentiments, Jackson, together with Martin Van Buren and Silas Wright, the leaders of the Northern Democracy, and the great mass of the Jackson representatives from the free States, voted for the tariff of 1828, the highest protective tariff ever levied in this country before the war of the rebellion. In the next subsequent decade the Democratic party, led by the cotton States, and determined to defeat the Whig party led by the great Protectionist, Henry Clay, espoused free trade.

DON CARLOS.

KINGMAN, Kan.

Who and what was Don Carlos?

A READER.

Answer.—1. There was a Don Carlos in the sixteenth century. He was the son of Philip II., of Spain; was born at Valladolid in 1545, and recognized as heir to the throne in 1560. But owing to his dullness at school, and distaste for study, the King deemed him unfit to reign over his subjects, and invited the Prince’s cousin, the Archduke Rudolf, to Spain, intending to educate him for the throne. Jealous of this usurper, Don Carlos conceived a strong dislike to all the King’s counselors, whom he plotted to destroy. But having foolishly divulged to his confessor that he intended to murder some one, that some one was suspected to be the King. The stupid Prince was tried and convicted of high treason, and left to the mercy of the King. Philip declared that he could make no exception in favor of such an ungrateful son, but there is found no formal record of any sentence of death. Don Carlos died soon afterward, at the age of 23. 2. The Don Carlos who has of late years been causing so much trouble in Spain, as a pretender to the throne, is the eldest son of the brother of King Fernando VII. His wife is Princess Marguerite, of Bourbon, daughter of Duke Carlos III., of Parma. He is a brother of the ex-Queen Isabella, and uncle to the present King.

EDUCATION AND CHRISTIAN BENEVOLENCE.

WEXFORD, Mich.

What proportion of the benevolent and educational institutions in the United States are built and operated by Christians, and what by infidels?

F. J. HALL.

Answer.—In the report of the United States Commissioner of Education for 1880 the following statistics of schools in the United States not under State control are given: One hundred and sixty-two commercial and business colleges, generally self-supporting, and unconnected with, or not dependent on, Christian or other benevolent organizations or private benevolence. There were 232 kindergartens, most of which were private schools and self-supporting. Such as were charity schools, like the free kindergartens of certain cities, were supported, for the most part, by Christian benevolence. There were 1,264 “schools of secondary instruction,” such as seminaries and academies; 355 asylums for orphans, 142 theological schools, and 227 “institutions for the superior instruction of women.” Most of all four classes of schools were and still are under the direction of Roman Catholics, Protestants or Hebrews. Of the 364 universities and colleges, only eighty are marked non-sectarian, and to these institutions are attached nearly all the 310 theological, law, and medical schools. There are forty-nine schools of science, (mining, engineering, agriculture, etc.), endowed with the National land grants, apportioned to the several States under act of 1862, the States providing in nearly every instance the grounds, buildings, apparatus, etc., and supplementing the income of the endowment fund. Even many of these schools, such as Purdue University, Indiana, Illinois Industrial University, and others, are indebted to private individuals, or county and city subscriptions for handsome contributions in money, lands, etc. Then there are thirty-five schools and collegiate departments of science not endowed by the National land grants or State grants, but almost wholly the product of private benefactions, the benefactors in nearly all cases being pronounced Christian philanthropists. The benefactions to educational institutions of the United States, (mostly denominational), in the years ending with 1880, amounted to about $60,000,000.

If by “infidels,” you intend persons who disclaim all faith in Christianity, then it is doubtful if any of the above institutions were founded or are sustained to any degree worthy of mention, by an infidel. Even Girard, the founder of Girard College was not an out and out atheist or deist, though he was bitterly opposed to all existing sects, and had a strong aversion to the clergy of every denomination.

GENERAL E. R. S. CANBY.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.

Tell us something about General Canby.

A. B. D.

Answer.—Edward Richard Spriggs Canby LL. D., was born in Kentucky in 1807, graduated at West Point in 1839, and spent the remainder of his life on the warpath. His first post was in Florida (1839-42), but he was little known until the war with Mexico, when he fought with such valor at Cherubusco and the City of Mexico as to win the brevets of major and lieutenant colonel. From 1849 to 1861 he served on the Pacific coast, in Washington, and Utah Territory, and against the Navajoes, and at the outbreak of the civil war took command in New Mexico, where he was brevetted brigadier general at Valverde. Two years later he was commander of the expedition which captured Mobile, and there won the title of brevet major general. Soon afterward Generals R. Taylor and E. K. Smith surrendered to him. In 1866 he was made a brigadier general in the regular army.

In 1869, having served in several important commissions, and being worn out, he voluntarily consented to take charge of the Department of Columbia; and there he was treacherously shot by the chief “Jack,” April 11, 1873, while trying to arrange for the removal of the Modocs from Northern California.

“PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES.”

BLUNT, D.T.

Please explain in the Curiosity Shop the meaning of the expression “Precession of the Equinoxes,” and how the climate of the earth is affected by this phenomenon?

ARTHUR SNOW.

Answer.—As the plane of the earth’s orbit crosses the equator at an angle of about 23½ degrees, the attractive force of the sun, moon, and planets, constantly exerted upon the earth, has a tendency to tilt the pole away from the sun and to draw the equator toward it. As a consequence, the sun crosses the equator each time a little farther west than the point where it crossed the last time preceding, and where it would have crossed on its return if there were no disturbing force. Originally it was said that the equinoctial point, or place of crossing, went forward to meet the sun, and hence this phenomenon was called the precession of the equinoxes. But, from the fact that the equinoctial point really falls backwards on the celestial equator, toward the west, each time about 50 seconds of a degree, it is now very frequently termed the recession of the equinoxes. In consequence of this recession the seasons begin a little earlier each year, and it is estimated that in 12,800 years they will be reversed, our summer occurring when the sun is in the constellation that he now traverses in winter time. It requires about 25,000 years for the sun to complete one circuit of precession of the equinoxes.

COMET OF 1812 AND 1813.

LAKE FOREST, Ill.

Is it true that the comet now coming into view is the same as the one of 1812? When will it become plainly visible to the naked eye, and when will it be nearest the sun?

STAR-GAZER.

Answer.—It is generally admitted that the comet discovered by Professor Brooks on the 5th of September last, and now visible, with the aid of a good opera or field glass, in the constellation Draco, between the “Great Dipper,” in Ursa Major, and the “Northern Cross,” in the Constellation Cygnus, is identical with the comet of 1812, which was believed by the superstitious to prognosticate our last war with Great Britain. It will reach perihelion, or the point in its orbit nearest the sun, Jan. 25. It will increase in brightness rapidly from the first of December, and be plainly visible to the naked eye by the middle of that month. At its brightest it will be brighter than in 1812, but it will not equal at any time the magnificent comet of 1882. The period, as calculated in 1812, was 70.6 years. As the interval between its perihelion time, Sept. 15, 1812, and its perihelion passage, Jan. 25, 1884, will be but 71.5 years, it is not strange astronomers—considering the imperfections of astronomical science and art then as compared with the state of astronomy now—are not surprised at this small error in this comet’s calculated orbital period.

LONGEVITY OF THE CIRCASSIAN RACE.

Garden City, Kan.

Is it a fact that the longevity of our race is on the increase? If so, what are the data from which this conclusion is reached? Is our physical strength on the increase, and what is the evidence? It has been agreed to leave these questions to you. One of the parties to the dispute is an ex-judge of the Supreme Court of one of the greatest States in the Union.

J. W. HOLMES, M. D.

Answer.—The above questions having been referred to one of the highest medical authorities in the West, a member of a State Board of Health, he replies as follows:

“It is a fact that the longevity of our race [i. e., the Caucasian or white race] is on the increase. Statistics published by the British Registrar show that during the last 150 years the average length of human life in the British Islands has been increased by nearly one-third. It is also true that the physique of the race is improving. I am sorry that I have not time to look up references for you; but any reasonably well-equipped life-insurance agent should be able to furnish them readily for the first question; and the Journal of Anthropology would supply evidence enough for the second. Dr. Nathan Allen, of Lowell, Mass., has made the subject a special study.”

RAILROADS IN ILLINOIS.

COOPERSTOWN, Ill.

How many companies are there owning railroads in Illinois?

E. P. R.

Answer.—According to the commissioner’s report for 1880-81, there were during the year fifty-four railroad companies operating roads in Illinois. Poor’s “Manual” gives the names of sixty-five companies operating roads in the State in 1882. It is difficult to state how many companies own these roads, for every year many of them change hands by lease or sale. There are more companies owning roads than there are operating companies. For instance, during the years 1880-81 six railroads were merged into the Wabash system, another was purchased by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Company, and still another was leased for an indefinite period by the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago. Probably the next annual report of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission will show exactly how many proprietary companies are still in existence. We have no data for an answer to your other question.

FOREIGN IMMIGRATION.

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa.

From what countries is most of the immigration to the United States? What proportion of the immigrants can read and write? Are any of them well educated? What was the immigration last year?

F. P. F.

Answer.—During the sixty years included between 1820 and 1880, the following countries were represented in the immigration to the United States, as here shown:

England 894,444 Ireland 3,065,761 Scotland 159,547 Wales 17,893 Netherlands 44,319 Poland 14,831 Portugal 9,062 Russia 38,316 Austria-Hungary 65,588 Belgium 23,267 Denmark 48,620 France 313,716 Germany 3,002,027 Greece 385 Spain 28,091 Sweden and Norway 306,092 Switzerland 83,709 Turkey 619 Italy 70,181 All other countries 1,161,875

Most of the immigrants from Sweden and Norway, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, and Scotland, are able to read and write; the majority of the others are illiterate. Many are very well educated, having enjoyed college privileges, and the advantages of travel. The total number of immigrants during 1882, was 788,992.

BASE OF THE METRICAL SYSTEM.

OMAHA, Neb.

Is it true that the unit of the metrical system is exactly the ten-millionth part of a quadrant of the earth, measured on a meridian? Please answer and settle a controversy.

AARON.

Answer.—It is not true. After all the pains taken by scientists to obtain the exact measure of a quadrant of a meridian of the earth, it is now conceded that this problem is still unsolved. In the latter part of last century, certain French astronomers and geodetic surveyors persuaded the French Academy of Sciences that they had succeeded in measuring so much of such an arc as enabled them to accurately determine the whole arc by geometrical calculations. In this belief what is now known as the metric system of measures was constructed, and under the French Republic, in 1795, the existing standards of French measures were adopted, based on the meter, the ten-millionth part of the earth’s meridian quadrant as thus computed. According to this a meter is 39.368 American inches, or 39.37 English inches. But while later surveys have failed to determine the quadrant with absolute certainty, it is conceded that they have demonstrated the inaccuracy of the earlier surveys and computations, and what is now generally accepted as a very close approximation to an exact measure shows that the standard French meter falls short of the ten-millionth part of the earth’s meridional quadrant by its 1-5,400 part. That is, according to the progress of more extended geodetic measurements, brought down to 1875, the earth’s meridional quadrant exceeds 10,000,000 meters by about 1,850 meters. Nevertheless the International Bureau of Weights and Measures very wisely adheres to the original standard meter, represented by the platinum meter of the French archives as the fundamental unit of the metric system.

EXECUTING FOR WITCHCRAFT.

OSHKOSH, Wis.

Will our Curiosity Shop please tell us the facts about witchcraft at Salem and elsewhere. Respecting Salem witchcraft, give causes, number killed, cruelties practiced, and names and characters of the men upholding the persecutions?

H. F. FEHLANDT.

Answer.—The Salem witchcraft was only one of the results of the superstition, as old almost as man himself, that certain persons, through intimate connection with the spirit world, possess superhuman influence for evil over their fellow-men. The early Christians inherited the idea from their pagan forefathers, and in 1484 Pope Innocent issued a bull directing the inquisitors to search out and punish all guilty of such crimes. For nearly three centuries following the delusion reigned, so that in Germany alone more than 10,000 persons were executed in consequence of this bull, and in England, during the 150 years following the reign of Elizabeth, over 30,000 persons were sacrificed to this wild superstition. In fact witches were hung in the latter country as late as 1716, and in Scotland until 1722. Under these circumstances it is not strange that Englishmen in America partook of the fanatical excitement, and when in 1688 four children of John Goodwin, a respectable man in North Boston, began to show strange symptoms, immediately after receiving abuse from a disreputable Irish woman, the people should at once attribute them to witchcraft; the more so since three Bostonians had been hung already for that offense, and lately a book had been published in defense of the popular belief. Four years later the excitement culminated at Salem. The first alleged victims were in the family of Samuel Parris, a clergyman. His daughter, niece, and two other girls began to show symptoms like those of the Goodwin children, and accused Tituba, an Indian squaw in the family, of bewitching them, though she stoutly protested her Innocence. Soon the number of bewitched increased, and likewise the number of accused. The excitement grew, being constantly fanned by those who should have been foremost in checking it. None were safe from accusation, and many, to save their own lives, accused their dearest friends and relatives. When Sir William Phipps became Governor of Massachusetts, in May, 1692, his first act was the appointment of a court for Suffolk, Essex, and Middlesex, consisting of seven judges: William Stoughton, the Lieutenant Governor; Chief Justice Nathaniel Saltonstal, who refused to act, and was replaced by Jonathan Curwin; John Richards, Bartholomew Gedney, Wait Winthrop, Samuel Sewall, and Peter Sergeant. Cotton Mather and Samuel Parris were among the chief Instigators of the prosecutions that followed. Under this tribunal twenty persons were hung, fifty or more tortured into confession of guilt; the jails were filled, and hundreds more were under suspicion, when the reason of the community awoke to a realization of the injustice and barbarity of such proceedings, and fanaticism was soon succeeded by bitter remorse. There is not space here to enumerate many of the tortures employed to extort confessions. The lash, the stocks, binding the sufferers in painful postures, as with neck and heels together; starvation and thirst, and other barbarities were exercised, until hundreds falsely accused themselves, their friends and neighbors, and even their dearest relatives, to obtain release.

AN ARMY LEGION.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Please state how many men the Austrian and Belgic legions enlisted for the service of Maximilian I. of Mexico, contained. I would like to know somewhere near the number, whether it was 500 or 5,000 men.

CHARLES SEYMOUR.

Answer.—It is impossible to give a definite answer to this question. The military term “legion” was not a very definite term, as regards numbers, even in the case of the old Roman legion, where it corresponded somewhat to the modern “army corps.” Sometimes it numbered 3,000 men and at others 6,000 or more. In 1792 the whole army of the United States was officially designated the “Legion of the United States” the Infantry regiments being styled “sub-legions.” This was not a popular organization and nomenclature with army men, and was soon abandoned. The term has been applied in modern times to divisions in the German, French, and other European armies, variously organized, and numbering from 2,500 to 5,000 men. It would be impossible, without reference to official records of Maximilian’s government, to say what number of Belgians and Austrians were enlisted in his service; but it was less than 10,000 all told, and most likely, judging from facts in our possession, not more than 7,000.

RAPHAEL’S SUPREME MADONNA.

WINCHESTER, Ill.

Where was the Sistine Madonna executed? Where and by whom was it taken to Dresden?

MAGGIE HUSTON.

Answer.—The “Madonna di San Sisto” was executed by Raphael as an altar-piece for the Church of St. Sixtus at Piacenza, in Northern Italy. It is perhaps the most widely known of Raphael’s works, and universally regarded one of his supreme efforts. Mrs. Jameson, renowned as an art critic, says of it; “For myself, I have seen my ideal once, and once only, there where Raphael—inspired, if ever a painter was inspired—projected on the space before him that wonderful creature which we style the Madonna di San Sisto.” It was painted between 1517 and 1520. We are not positive as to when and by whom it was removed to Dresden, but think it was during the reign of Frederick Augustus II., King of Saxony from 1797 to 1854. This King did more than any of his predecessors to embellish Dresden.

AUTHOR OF “THE FLAG OF OUR UNION.”

STANBERRY, Mo.

Will your Curiosity Shop give a short sketch of the author of the poem entitled, “The Flag of Our Union”?

J. M. H.

Answer.—George P. Morris was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1802. From early manhood he followed journalism, and was the originator of the two newspapers, The Mirror and The National Press. For several years he was associated with N. P. Willis, and, under their united efforts, the Mirror became a leading literary, magazine, having among its contributors Poe, Bryant, Halleck, and Paulding. In 1853 Morris and Willis edited “Prose and Poetry of Europe and America.” His reputation, however, chiefly rests upon his original poems, and of these the most familiar are “Woodman, Spare that Tree,” and “The Flag of Our Union.”

PENSIONS OF SOLDIERS OF 1812.

HAZELHURST, Miss.

Are the soldiers of 1812 entitled to pensions or land warrants? If so, how may they obtain them?

H. J. BRAINARD.

Answer.—By the act of Congress, approved March 9, 1878, any soldier of the war of 1812, or his widow, is entitled to a pension of $8 a month, provided he is not already receiving that amount, or more, as a pension; or, if receiving a pension of less amount, he is entitled to enough more to raise it to $8 per month. In addition he may claim 160 acres as a land warrant, granted to all soldiers who fought in the American army before 1855. For further information write to the Commissioner of Pensions, W. W. Dudley, Washington, D. C.

COUNTY LICENSES FOR DRAM-SHOPS.

HAMILTON, Iowa.

Can whisky be sold in Illinois outside of the corporate limits of a city by the drink? Are they not limited, under government license, to quantities of one gallon or more?

READER.

Answer.—Spirituous liquors cannot be legally sold in quantities of less than one gallon in any part of Illinois without a license, either from city, incorporated town, or village or county authorities. Counties are empowered to license dram-shops outside of incorporated cities, towns, etc.

CERTAIN CANADIAN AND AMERICAN CITIES.

RIVERTON, Iowa.

1. What is the population of the four largest cities of Canada and the four largest cities of the United States next the Canadian border? 2. If a man having a family takes a homestead claim must he forfeit his claim if his family refuse to accompany him?

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—1. In Canada: Montreal, 140,863; Toronto, 86,455; Quebec, 62,446, and Hamilton, 35,065. In the United States: Cleveland, 155,946; Buffalo, 149,500; Detroit, 116,340; Toledo, 50,143. 2. No.

M. TAINE, THE AUTHOR.

OMAHA, Neb.

Can you give me some information regarding M. Taine, author of a “History of English Literature?” 2. Where does Louis Kossuth reside?

DON QUIXOTE.

Answer.—Hippolyte Adolphe Taine, one of the foremost essayists and critics of our time, was born at Vouziers in Ardennes, France, April 21, 1828. After completing his education at the College Bourbon and the normal school of Paris, he published several works which attracted attention, and marked him as a polemic writer of power. In 1864 he was given the professorship of æsthetics in the School of Fine Art, Paris. Besides his controversial writings he has published several works on art and literature. 2. In Turin, Italy.

FATHER TAYLOR.

VESPER, Wis.

Please give a short sketch of, “Father Taylor,” the sailor-preacher in Boston.

S. BOYNTON.

Answer.—Edward T. Taylor, better known as “Father Taylor,” was a sailor during the war of 1812, and first acted a preacher while a prisoner at Dartmoor, England. In 1819 he was ordained by the American M. E. Church, and in 1828 was appointed to the Seamen’s Bethel, in Boston. Warm-hearted and quick-witted, he won the hearts of the rough men there, and from them received his “title.” He revisited England in 1832, and traveled in Palestine in 1842. During the famine of 1846 in Ireland he was chaplain in the United States relief frigate. He was born in 1794, in Virginia, and died in 1871.

LONDON.

COLUMBUS, Wis.

Please give us the derivation of the word “London.”

WILL SMITH.

Answer.—There is a fable that London was founded by Brute, a descendant of Æneas, and called New Troy, or Troy-novant, until the time of Lud, who surrounded it with walls and named it Caer Lud, or Lud’s town. But Haydn’s “Dictionary of Dates” contradicts this statement, and writes the old name Llyndin, meaning “the town on the lake.” The name is evidently of Celtic origin. It is claimed by some that there was a city on that same spot 1107 B. C., and it is known that the Romans found a city there called Londinium, A. D. 61.

THE HULLS—ALEXANDER HAMILTON.

LAWLER, Iowa.

1. Was General Hull, who surrendered at Detroit, a relative of Commodore Hull, of the United States frigate Constitution? 2. Of what nationality was Alexander Hamilton?

D. HALL.

Answer.—l. The distinguished revolutionary soldier, General William Hull, who was afterward condemned for surrendering to the British at Detroit early in the war of 1812-15, was an uncle of the naval hero who commanded the Constitution for a time. 2. Alexander Hamilton was born on the British West India island, Nevis, one of the lesser Antilles.

OLD POSTAL RATES.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Will you please inform us what the postal rates have been since the foundation of the system, and particularly the rates to Europe? If not convenient to give the latter for the whole period, give them for twenty years ago.

J. M.

Answer.—A detailed reply to this question cannot fail to interest the readers of Our Curiosity Shop, since it will enable them to appreciate more fully the strides of progress made in interstate communication since this government was formed. It is impossible to fully estimate the service cheap postage on letters, newspapers magazines, and books, and of late on seeds, samples of merchandise, etc., has rendered in the marvelous intellectual, moral, and material development of this country. The postal service is one of the most beneficent, as it is one of the most potent, forces in the control of the Federal Government. As a bond of union between the States its influence is of inestimable value. It is a life-long school of patriotism, minifying and almost annihilating the alienating force of distances, keeping the links of friendship bright and strong between old friends scattered throughout the land, familiarizing voters with the condition of all parts of the country, and fostering the common good in innumerable ways.

From the organization of the Postoffice Department, in 1786, to 1816 the rates on domestic letters (or letters for any place within the United States) were as follows: “For each piece of paper of which a single letter, or letter packet, may be composed,” under 40 miles, 8 cents; under 90 miles, 10 cents; under 150 miles, 12½ cents; under 300 miles, 17 cents; under 500 miles, 20 cents; over 500 miles 25 cents.

In 1816 the following schedule went into force: For a single letter carried not over 30 miles, 6¼ cents; less than 80 miles, 10 cents; less than 150 miles, 12½ cents; less than 400 miles, 18¾ cents; over 400 miles, 25 cents. Provisions for mailing newspapers were made as follows: Newspapers, under 100 miles or within the State where published, 1 cent; over 100 miles and out of the State, 1½ cents.

By the act of March 3, 1845, the rates were modified as follows: For each letter weighing less than half an ounce, if carried less than 300 miles, 5 cents; over 300 miles, 10 cents; each additional half ounce, double rates; drop letters delivered from the office where posted, 2 cents. The newspaper rates were: For papers containing less than 1,900 square inches, 1 cent each, if delivered within the State where printed and mailed, or out of the State but within 100 miles of publication office; for any greater distance, 1½ cents each; if conveyed less than 30 miles, free. Papers measuring over 1,900 square inches were charged magazine postage. Magazines, pamphlets, and other printed works were charged 2½ cents for the first ounce, and 1 cent for each additional ounce or fraction of an ounce, for any distance whatever. Bound books were unmailable. Carriage by private individuals on mail carriages, or by express, thenceforward, was prohibited. Two years later transient newspaper rates were raised to 3 cents, and prepayment was required; postage on unsealed circulars was raised from 2 cents to 3; newspaper postage to Oregon and California was placed at 4½ cents, and letters, via Chagres and Panama, 40 cents; between post towns in California, 12½ cents.

In 1849 the postage on transient newspapers was reduced to ordinary rates, but prepayment was maintained.

In 1851 the single letter was defined by weight instead of by piece, at a half ounce or under, and rates were greatly cheapened, as follows: For a single letter under 3,000 miles, 3 cents, if prepaid; otherwise, 5 cents; over 3,000 miles, 6 cents, or 12 cents. The postage on newspapers, which had been almost prohibitory in the early days, and had been maintained at high rates until this time, was now (1851) greatly reduced, as will be seen by comparing the following quarterly charges with the charges per copy given above:

Weekly newspapers, to actual subscribers in the county, free; under 50 miles and out of county where published, 5 cents a quarter; over 50 and under 300 miles, 10 cents; over 300 and under 1,000 miles, 15 cents; over 1,000 and under 2,000, 20 cents; over 2,000 and under 4,000, 25 cents; over 4,000, 30 cents. Postage on transient newspapers and circulars was also proportionately reduced, and books under 32 ounces were admitted to mail at 1 cent an ounce if prepaid, if not prepaid 2 cents.

Slight changes were made in 1852 and 1855, but it was reserved for the Congress of 1863 to make the next great step forward by making the rate of postage on all domestic letters uniform throughout the Union, at 3 cents for each half ounce or fraction thereof. At the same time the quarterly postage on newspapers and periodicals sent to subscribers, and not exceeding 4 cents, was made uniform for all distances, at the following rates; Weekly, 5 cents; semi-weekly, 10 cents; tri-weekly, 15 cents; six times a week, 30 cents; seven times, 35 cents. But in 1868 the law was so amended as to allow weekly newspapers to go to regular subscribers in the county free. No modification of domestic letter rates occurred after this until the new postal law of this year, which went into effect Oct. 1, reducing the single letter rate to 2 cents. An important change as to newspapers and periodicals was made in 1872, requiring prepayment in advance either at the mailing or the delivery office. In 1874 it was made payable at mailing office exclusively, and a still more important change was made in the reduction of the rate on such matter to only 2 cents per pound or fraction thereof.

Stamps and stamped envelopes were first introduced in 1851, the registry of valuable letters in 1855, the carrier delivery system in 1863, the money-order system Nov. 1, 1864, the postal-cards, at 1 cent each, in 1872.

The foreign postal rates not being subject to the will of this government only, but being a matter of international agreement, will be treated in a separate article.

STEAM PLOWS.

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa.

When and where were steam plows first used? How are they constructed, and how many acres will they plow per hour?

H. C. B.

Answer.—An apparatus for steam plowing was first patented in the United States Nov. 19, 1833, by E. C. Bellinger, of South Carolina. It was not received with sufficient favor by farmers or planters to encourage the manufacture of the machines. In England, Francis Moor took out a patent as early as 1769 for an engine to plow, harrow, and do other farm work without the aid of horses. Several other attempts at inventing steam plows were made, but all to no practical purpose, until 1810, when a Major Pratt patented a steam-plowing apparatus, employing two engines stationed on opposite headlands, and drawing plows by means of endless chains or ropes. An improved form of this machine was patented by Mr. Heathcote, M. P., in 1832, which is said to be the first that was ever worked successfully in the field. Alexander McRea made improvements on Mr. Heathcote’s machine in 1846 and 1849; still the practical results were insignificant until in 1854, when John Fowler, also of England, brought forward an improvement on the plans of Bellinger, Pratt, and others, since which time various changes and additions have been made, and steam plowing has gone into successful practice on many of the large estates of Great Britain and in the East and West Indies; about 1,500 steam plows being now in use in England alone.

Many attempts to invent a successful traction engine for steam plowing have been made, particularly by Mr. J. Boydell, of England, in 1846, Mr. Calloway and Mr. Pukis, of England, in 1851, and in this country by Joseph W. Fawkes, by Henry Corning in 1850, David Russell in 1855, B. Crawford in 1857, Judd Stevens in 1858, particularly, by Thomas H. Burbridge, of St. Louis, in 1858, and Mr. W. R. Hinsdale, of New York, about 1870, who invented a gang of three plows to go with Messrs. Aveling and Porter’s traction engine, imported from England by the late Mr. A. T. Stewart, to be used on his estate at Garden City, Long Island.

The plan called cable traction, invented in part by Pratt, in part by Bellinger, and improved by Fowler, has been operated with greater success than any other. It consists of a single locomotive engine, of from twelve to fourteen-horse power, with a windlass under the boiler, around which passes a single steel-wire cable, which, by means of hinged clips, lays hold of the cable with a grip proportioned to the strain. This continuous cable, twice the width of the plat to be plowed, passes around a sheave, or pulley-block, fastened to a self-acting anchor placed on the opposite side of the field from the engine. This “anchor” consists of a low truck on four wheels, with sharp, disk edges, which cut so deep into the soil that it will not drag when the traction is applied. A box loaded with stones, or some other weight, on the outer side of this truck keeps it from tilting when the power is applied to the plows. A sheave on the truck gives motion to a drum which winds up another cable attached to a post or anchor in the direction in which the furrows are to succeed each other, so that the machine warps itself along the headland on which it is stationed just as fast as the plowing progresses, keeping at all times directly opposite to the locomotive engine, which is moving down the opposite headland in the same direction. The plows are attached to a balance frame, the especial invention of Mr. Fowler, and are in duplicate, pointing to each other, so that when the set at one end of the frame is at work the opposite set is carried along the cable in the air. The plow frame is hauled from one side of the field to the other, between the engine and the movable anchor, by reversing the action of the windlass. It is adapted to turning from two to eight furrows at once, according to the power of the engine and toughness of the soil. The amount of ground plowed by such a machine varies from three to eight acres a day for a three-furrow gang, according to depth of furrow from twelve inches to four inches. An eight-furrow gang will do a little more than twice this amount of work per day.

For various reasons steam plowing is not practiced to any noticeable extent in the United States, but it is probable that as the advantages of this mode of turning up the soil to a depth not practicable by animal draft, become better understood, and other changes transpire, it will go into successful operation here as it has done in England.

THE “BAD LANDS.”

ELDORA, Iowa.

Where is the district of country called the “Bad Lands?” Is it true that it is very remarkable for fossil remains, and that wood or any animal substance, if left there for a short time, becomes petrified?

A. J. P.

Answer.—The “Bad Lands,” or “Mauvaises Terres,” of the old French fur-traders’ dialect, are an extensive barren tract in Dakota, Wyoming, and Northwestern Nebraska, between the North Fork of the Platte and the South Fork of the Cheyenne River—west, south, and southeast of the Black Hills. It lies mostly between the 103d and 105th degrees of longitude, with an area as yet not perfectly defined, but estimated to cover about 60,000 square miles. There are similar lands in the Green River region of which Fort Bridger is the center, and in southeastern Oregon. The following description applies directly to the district named in the question, so commonly known in the Northwest as the “Bad Lands.” They belong to the Miocene period, geologically speaking. “The surface materials are for the most part white and yellowish indurated clays, sands, marls, and occasional thin beds of lime and sandstone.” It is fitly described as one of the most wonderful regions of the globe. It is held by geologists that during the geological period above named a vast fresh water lake system covered this portion of our continent, when the comparatively soft materials which compose the present surface were deposited. As these lakes drained off, after the subsidence of the plains further east, resulting in the formation of the Missouri Valley, the original lake beds were worn into canyons that wind in every conceivable direction. Here and there abrupt, almost perpendicular portions of the ancient beds remain in all imaginable forms, some resembling the ruins of abandoned cities. “Towers, spires, cathedrals, obelisks, pyramids and monuments” of various shapes appear on every side, as far as the eye can range. Says Dr. Hayden, the earliest explorer of this region, “Not unfrequently the rising or setting sun will light up these grand old ruins with a wild, strange beauty, reminding one of a city illuminated in the night, as seen from some high point. The harder layers project from the sides of the canyons with such regularity that they appear like seats of some vast weird amphitheater.” Through all this country rainfall is very light, the earth absorbs the most of what rain does fall, and water and grass are very scanty. The surface-rock is so soft that it disintegrates rapidly, covering the lower grounds in many places to a depth of several feet with a soft, powdery soil unsuited to vegetation, into which animals sink as in snow, while when wet it becomes a stiff mud of impassable depth. The fitness of the Dakota name for this region, signifying a land hard to travel over, cannot be called in question. These lands are plainly unsuited for agriculture, and with rare exceptions, here and there, are of little value for grazing purposes. But they are one of the most astonishing treasuries of fossil remains to be found anywhere. The soft clayey deposits are in some places literally filled with the bones of extinct species of the horse, rhinoceros, elephant, hog, camel, a deer that strongly resembled a hog, saber-toothed lions, and other marvelous creatures, which have rendered this section of the earth a study of the highest interest to geologists of all lands. Fossil trees and shrubs and fruits abound here. All these petrifactions are the result, in part, of conditions that do not now exist in the same degree, and required no one can tell how long. The soft clays of this region and the climate are still peculiarly conducive to petrifying animal and vegetable substances, but this process requires many years to convert such substances to stone.

GRAIN PRICES AND ENGLISH CORN LAWS.

LISTOWEL, Can.

What was the price of grain in England for a few years preceding and following the repeal of the corn laws?

H. MARTINSON.

Answer.—From 1835 to 1855 the average prices in England of wheat, barley, and oats, per imperial quarter of eight bushels, were as follows. The corn laws were repealed in 1846.

Wheat, Barley, Oats, Years. s. d. s. d. s. d.

1835 39 4 29 11 22 0 1836 48 6 32 10 23 1 1837 55 10 30 4 23 1 1838 64 7 31 9 22 5 1839 70 8 39 6 25 11 1840 66 4 36 5 25 8 1841 64 4 32 10 22 5 1842 47 3 27 6 19 3 1843 50 1 29 6 18 4 1844 51 3 33 8 20 7 1845 50 10 31 8 22 6 1846 54 8 32 8 23 8 1847 69 9 44 2 28 8 1848 50 6 31 6 20 6 1849 44 3 27 9 17 6 1850 40 3 23 6 16 5 1851 38 6 24 9 18 7 1852 40 9 28 6 19 1 1853 53 3 33 2 21 0 1854 72 5 36 0 27 11 1855 74 8 34 9 27 5

Reckoning the pound sterling at its present value at the United States Custom House, it appears from the above table that an imperial bushel of wheat was worth $1.18⅓ in England in 1839, $1.51 in 1845 (the year before the corn laws were repealed), $2.10 in 1847, owing to the unusual scarcity in Europe and other special causes; about $1.52 in 1848; that the following year it dropped to $1.22; and that in 1855, owing to the Crimean war and other influences, it rose to $2.25. The price continued to decline after 1855 until it reached $1.33 in 1859. Then the opening of our civil war sent prices up temporarily, but even before it closed they dropped to the lowest point touched since the corn laws were repealed, viz., 40s 2d per quarter, or $1.20 per bushel—still a shade higher than the price in 1839, six years before the repeal. The good effects of that repeal must be looked for in other matters than in the reduction of prices of grain: in the general revival of manufacturing industries, the increase of the volume of trade, better wages, and many other items of prosperity.

HOW “SCALPERS” MAKE MONEY.

GLASGOW, Ohio.

1. How can “scalpers” sell tickets at lower rates than railroad companies? 2. Did Senator Wade vote for the impeachment of President Johnson?

D. M. MCINTOSH.

Answer.—The following are some of the many ways in which “scalpers” or ticket-brokers supply themselves with tickets that they can afford to sell at a reduction from the regular prices and still make a profit: 1. They purchase at a discount partly-used through tickets between the large cities, from travelers getting off at intermediate cities and way stations. As the fares between the prominent Eastern and Western railroad centers are usually proportionately lower than to way stations, where there is no competition, travelers often find that they can purchase through tickets at such prices as make it more economical for them to get such tickets and sell the unused mileage to the scalpers, even at a considerable discount, than to pay full way-passenger rates. Second—During excursions many persons use but half of a ticket, and sell the “return” to the “scalpers” at a discount on full rates. Third—In railroad wars they can buy quantities of tickets cheap to retail later, the railroad companies selling tickets in large quantities at such times to speculators, who transfer them to “scalpers” to sell at their convenience, when the war is ended and rates have increased. Fourth—Sometimes, while a railroad company is bound by contract not to sell at less than a specified rate, it will offer to “scalpers” a commission large enough to enable them to undersell the regular ticket agents, who are bound by the agreements entered into between railroad companies to sell only at fixed prices. 2. He did.

LIBERIA.

VINTON, Iowa.

Please give the principal facts in the history of Liberia.

A READER.

Answer.—The negro republic of Liberia owes its origin and much of its prosperity to American philanthropy and enterprise. Dec. 31, 1816, a body of energetic men organized themselves into the American Colonization Society, with Henry Clay for President, their aim being to establish an African colony for freed negroes. Not until six years later did they succeed in inducing the African princes of Guinea to favor their plan; but in 1821 a treaty was concluded by which they obtained a tract of land 500 miles long and 50 miles wide on the grain coast of Upper Guinea. Thereupon the society began at once the exportation of colonists. To each man was given 30 acres, together with the means for cultivating the land. The first town was Monrovia. The form of government adopted was that of the United States, and the country is universally recognized as an independent republic. Since 1847, when the protection of the United States was withdrawn, Liberia has enjoyed a certain prosperity, since more schools and churches have been established in proportion to the population than in Great Britain or America. But as to wealth and political influence it has failed. Only about 19,000 negroes have emigrated from our country, but surrounding tribes have been added gradually to their territory, and the present population is estimated to number 1,068,000, of whom about 18,000 are Americo-Liberians. About 50,000 have learned the English language and 3,000 are Christians. The chief products are sugar, palm oil, cocoa, cotton, coffee, arrow-root, and rice.

THE ARGENTINE CONFEDERATION.

PILZEN, Neb.

Be so kind as to name the States composing the Argentine Confederation, their areas and population, and a few of the chief facts as to the government and condition of the country.

VESPER.

Answer.—The Argentine Confederation is composed of a group of fourteen States or Provinces, and four Territories, whose population, according to the census of 1869, and estimated areas are as follows:

Provinces— Areas. Population.

Buenos Ayres, on the coast 63,000 495,107 Santa Fe, on the coast 18,000 89,218 Entre Rios, on the coast 45,000 134,235 Corrientes, on the coast 54,000 129,023 Rioja, Andes 31,500 48,746 Catamarca, Andes 31,500 79,962 San Juan, Andes 29,700 60,319 Mendoza, Andes 54,000 65,413 Cordova, Central 54,000 210,508 San Luis, Central 18,000 53,294 Santiago del Estero, Central 31,500 132,898 Tucuman, Central 13,500 108,904 Salta, Northern 45,000 88,933 Jujuy, Northern 27,000 40,362 —————— ————————— Total 515,700 1,736,922

Territories—

Gran Chaco 125,612 45,291 Missiones (1879) 23,932 32,472 Pampas 191,842 21,000 Patagonia 347,400 24,000 ——————— ——————— Total 688,796 122,763

This shows a total population in 1869 of 1,859,685. The present population is believed to be over 2,500,000. By the treaty of 1881 between the Argentine Confederation and Chili, the latter concedes to the former all the territory east of the crest of the eastern ridge of the Andes, including a small part of Terra del Fuego, and the greater part of Patagonia. The form of government is republican. The President is elected for six years by an electoral college, composed of 133 representatives chosen by the several states. The National Congress is composed of a Senate of twenty-eight members, two from each state, or province, and a house of fifty members, apportioned according to population. There are five ministers, viz.: The Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Interior, Finance, War, and Education. Each of the provinces has a governor and legislature elected by a popular vote. A large part of this vast country consists of rich, alluvial plains, called pampas, similar to the prairies of this country, with a soil four or five feet thick, formed for the most part, like our prairie soil, by the decay of luxurious vegetation. Immense herds of cattle and sheep are raised on these grand prairies, furnishing the principal exports, hides, tallow, wool, and canned meats. In 1881 the horned cattle were estimated at 18,000,000 head, and the sheep at 100,000,000. The exports of the country amounted to $56,497,423, and the imports to $54,029,545. Most of this trade is between Buenos Ayres—the capital, having a population of about 200,000, and European, chiefly English, ports. Twelve lines of steamers run to Europe, making the trip in an average period of twenty-nine days. The revenue for 1881 was $24,349,450, derived almost wholly from import and export dues. The expenditures amounted to $26,747,480, and the national debt has grown to $107,681,639, a considerable part of which is represented by recent public improvements: railways, bridges, roads, etc. There are now about 1,600 miles of railway and 10,000 miles of telegraph in the country. The laws recognize no difference between natives and foreigners, and of late foreign immigration, mostly from Spain and Italy, has been flowing in at a steadily increasing rate, amounting now to about 50,000 per annum.

THE OLD CALIFORNIA MAIL.

CHICAGO, Ill.

By what route was the first California and Oregon mail, via the Isthmus, carried; where was it first opened; what was the postage on letters: and what was the distance run?

JOHN ALBRIGHT.

Answer.—On the 1st day of December, 1848, the Falcon sailed from New York to Chagres, stopping at Havana en route, and carrying the first regularly established United States mail via the Isthmus. From Chagres it was carried up the Chagres River, thence overland to Panama, where it was taken by the California Steampacket Company’s vessels to San Francisco, Cal., and Astoria, Oregon. The distance between New York and Chagres, by this route, was given as 2,860 miles, and from New York to Astoria, 7,500 miles. The postage on letters between places in Oregon and California and places on the Atlantic was 40 cents for each half ounce, or fraction thereof; while local postage between offices in Oregon and California was 12½ cents per single letter.

MEASURING HAY.

WHITE LAKE, D. T.

How many cubic feet constitute a ton of hay, and what length of time is required for it to settle sufficiently to make measurement correct?

W. A. ROGERS.

Answer.—Measuring is a very crude, unsatisfactory method of estimating the weight of hay. There are times, however, when it is impracticable to use the scales, and a close approximation to the true weight will answer all purposes. Then, by taking into consideration that fine, soft hay will pack more closely than a coarser, stiffer quality, that when cut early in the season it will become more solid than stiff, late-cut hay, that the degree of dryness when stacked will affect the weight, that the compactness of the lower part of a stack or lead is affected by the height, the time it has stood, or distance and kind of roads it has traveled over, it is quite possible for a person of ordinary experience and judgment to make an estimate of the quantity in a load or mow. It is estimated that, with all the above-mentioned conditions at an average, timothy, in stacks of ten feet high and upward, measures about 500 cubic feet to the ton; clear clover, between 600 and 700 cubic feet; new mown hay, about 675 cubic feet; fine hay, well settled, 450 to 500 cubic feet. To find the cubic feet in a circular stack, multiply the square of the circumference by four one-hundredths (.04) of the height. Below is given a set of rules for computing the number of cubic yards in a ton of hay in the field, stack, or load, which can be easily reduced to cubic feet by multiplying the result in cubic yards by 27:

1. The number of tons of meadow hay in windrows is the quotient of the product of the length, breadth, and height, in yards, divided by 25.

2. To find the number of tons of hay in a mow, divide the product of the length, height, and width by 15, if the stack be well packed. If shallow, and the hay recently stacked, divide by 18, and by any number from 15 to 18 according to the density of the stack. In square or long stacks the number of tons is the quotient of the product of the length of the base, the width, and half the height, in yards, divided by 15.

3. In loads the number of tons of hay is found by multiplying together the length, width, and height, in yards, and dividing the product by 20.

BRAVE BARCLAY’S BRAVE BRIDE.

CHICAGO, Ill.

The allusion to the British commander in the battle of Lake Erie, made last week in Our Curiosity Shop, when giving the fragment of the popular old song of the war of 1812, reminds me of an incident I have read which goes to show that Captain, afterward Commodore, Barclay, our defeated enemy, was not only a brave but a noble-minded man. He was sadly crippled in that battle, and having been previously engaged to marry a lady of rank and fortune in England, after his return to that country he sent a message to her by a mutual friend, saying that although his love for her was not abated, yet, as he was so badly mutilated, if she desired it, he would release her from her engagement. The noble lady replied “Tell Commodore Barclay that I will marry him if he has only body enough left to hold the soul.”

A READER.

DEFINITION OF LITERATURE.

WEYAUWEGA, Wis.

What is included under the term “Literature?” Is all prose literature?

H. L. A.

Answer.—It would be difficult to improve upon the definition of literature in Webster, quarto edition: “1. Learning; acquaintance with letters or books. 2. The collective body of literary productions, embracing the entire results of knowledge and fancy preserved in writing; also the whole body of writing upon a given subject, as the literature of biblical literature, of chemistry, etc. 3. Belles-lettres, or the class of writings distinguished for beauty or style of expression—as poetry, essays, or history—in distinction from scientific treatises and works on positive knowledge.” Which of the above senses is intended must be judged from the subject and context. Webster further says: “Literature, in its widest sense, embraces all compositions, except those on the positive sciences, mathematics, etc. It is usually confined, however, to belles-lettres, or works of taste and sentiment, as poetry, eloquence, history, etc., excluding abstract discussions and mere erudition. A man of literature is one who is versed in the belles-lettres; a man of learning excels in what is taught in the schools, and has a wide extent of knowledge, especially in respect to the past; a man of erudition is one who is skilled in the more recondite branches of learned inquiry.” The perspicuity of the above definitions leaves nothing obscure. Prose is the common language of men, in distinction from verse. All of literature that is not in verse may be classed as prose, but so may ordinary social and business correspondence, text-books of science, court records, State statutes, and city ordinances, and much else which is plainly excluded from literature by the definitions given above.

“OLD GRIMES.”

MARION, Ind.

Your correspondent, C. N. H., of Chicago, says: “For several years I have seen notices, or sketches, of ‘Old Grimes,’ generally without age, date, and other items to identify the real ‘Old Grimes’ as I knew him. Ephraim Grimes was born about 1770, in Connecticut.” C. N. H. further states, after giving something of his history, that he finally “landed at Fort Covington, N. Y., where he remained, making shingles, until about 1834, when his son came and took him to Connecticut.”

Now, I wish simply to say that I am sure that Ephraim “Grimes,” born in 1770, and living and making shingles in 1834, was not, as C. N. H. declares, the real “Old Grimes” about whom was composed the song:

Old Grimes is dead, that good old soul. We ne’er shall see him more; He used to wear a long blue coat All buttoned down before.

I heard this old song sung when I was a lad going to school, about 1825. So that if “Old Grimes” was dead in 1825 your correspondent is mistaken in stating that he has seen and known the “real Old Grimes.” Again, the real “Old Grimes” is said, in the rhyme, to be a “good old soul;” but C. N. H. states that “Ephraim Grimes was a dealer in counterfeit money, was convicted, imprisoned, and had the tip of his right ear taken off and was banished the State.” Not a very “good old soul,” was he?

H. H. H.

Answer.—The article above referred to, as from “C. N. H.,” was not published in Our Curiosity Shop. Beyond doubt the subject of the rhyme quoted was not the Grimes who died in Connecticut in 1834. The original Grimes was first immortalized by the English poet Crabbe, who was born in 1754 and died in 1832. Grimes was the subject of one of his tales in rhyme. Later, the American poet Albert G. Greene, of Rhode Island, wrote the humorous ballad which has rendered “Old Grimes” familiar to every American boy and girl.

LORD CHANCELLOR AND CHIEF JUSTICE.

MATTOON, Ill.

What are the duties of the Lord Chancellor of England, and of the Lord Chief Justice? Tell something of the courts over which they preside.

READER.

Answer.—The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain is the highest legal authority in the kingdom, the confidential adviser of the sovereign, and in rank precedes all except the members of the royal family and the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is a political officer, and one of the Cabinet, the President of the Supreme Court of Judicature, and also a member of the Privy Council, a Court of Appeal composed of the Lord Chancellor, the Judges of the High Court of Justice, and four other judges. He is created without writ or patent, by the simple delivery of the great seal, of which he becomes the keeper, and during his term of office he acts as prolocutor for the sovereign in Parliament.

The High Court has five divisions: The Queen’s Bench—the Supreme Court of Common Law—presided over by the Lord Chief Justice of England, assisted by four “puisne justices;” the Chancery, presided over by the Master of Rolls and three vice chancellors; the Common Pleas, by the Lord Chief Justice of Common Pleas, and four “puisne justices;” the Court of Exchequer, by the Lord Chief Baron and four “puisne barons;” the Court for Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty cases, by a president, judge, and admiralty advocate, Queen’s proctor, and admiralty proctor.

RIVERS, RAILROADS, AND MINES.

BERLIN, Neb.

Please to give the coal area, product of gold and silver, and number of miles of river navigation and railroads in the United States and in other countries.

PETER THOMAS.

Answer.—The coal area of the world is distributed as follows, according to a late estimate made by the geologist Le Conte:

Square Miles.

United States 192,000 British America 18,000 Great Britain 12,000 Spain 4,000 France 2,000 Germany 1,800 Belgium 518 Rest of Europe 100,000 China 2,000 Japan 5,000

The estimated production of gold and silver from 1800 to 1880 is, according to “The West in 1880,” as follows:

U.S. $1,780,000,000 Australia 1,260,000,000 Spanish A $900,000,000 Other coun’ts 330,000,000

The railroads of the world were distributed thus in 1880:

Square Miles.

United States 93,000 Canada 6,145 Rest of N. America 1,738 Germany 21,275 Great Britain 17,696 France 15,375 Russia 14,698 Austria 12,160 Spain and Portugal 5,260 Scandinavia 5,167 Italy 5,096 Belgium and Holland 3,910 Turkey, etc 1,870 Switzerland 1,650 South America 6,830 Africa 5,897 Australia 4,350 India 8,611 Rest of Asia 1,203

We have not within reach the number of miles of river navigation, except by the tedious process of adding the navigable waters of all the rivers and streams of the world. It may be said, however, that the corps of United States civil engineers has estimated that there are 20,000 miles of navigable waters, or waters that can easily be rendered navigable, in the Mississippi system, and in the St. Lawrence system there are about 15,000 miles more, under the control of the United States alone and with Canada.

COPYRIGHTED ILLUSTRATIONS.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Is it right or permissible for one paper to copy engravings or cuts appearing in another paper or magazine? If not, why?

CONSTANT READER.

Answer.—Not if the paper, magazine, or book is copyrighted in this country, as most American illustrated papers, magazines, and books are. The copyright law is intended to give artists and publishers exclusive control of their productions. The right course to take to get the privilege of using copyrighted works of any kind is to negotiate with the publishers, who will, in some cases, make very moderate terms, particularly for the use of wood-cuts and other engravings that are several years old. There is no law against pirating the illustrations published in European periodicals, and this is done in this country by photo-engraving and other means, to an unlimited extent. Last winter an enterprising contemporary astonished all Chicagoans by loading our newsboys with illustrations of the still flaming ruins of the Newhall House, Milwaukee, before noon of the day of the conflagration. It turned out that the illustration was a photo-engraving of the ruins of a London theater, pirated from the London Illustrated News.

CHRISTADELPHIANS.

PEWAUKEE, Wis.

Please give a description of the sect called Christadelphians.

H. G. PURINTON.

Answer.—This sect is one lately organized in America. The principles of the church are thus briefly stated: The Old and New Testaments are equally important; those who love God in this life He will restore to immortality; others He will annihilate; there is no personal devil; Christ is the son of God, deriving from Him moral perfection, but from his mother a human nature. He appeared upon the earth as a prophet; He now mediates between God and man as a priest; he will again appear on earth to reign as a king of the house of David.

A BEAUTIFUL HYMN.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.

The lines asked for in THE INTER OCEAN of Nov. 3, beginning:

“Those everlasting gardens, etc.”

are from the concluding stanza of Sir John Bowring’s hymn, “From the Recesses of a Lowly Spirit.” I found it as No. 2,546, in Foster’s Cyclopedia of Poetical Illustrations. It is set to a beautiful chant in Baker’s Church Music.

R. B. POPE.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD.

MIDLAND, Wis.

How long has it been since the “Glacial Period” ended? How far south did the glaciers extend.

D. W. BROWN.

Answer.—It would be a rash geologist who would undertake to say how many years it has been since the Glacial Period. Geological periods cannot be reckoned by years with any approach to certainty. Even the dates of geological events in the “Recent,” or “Human Period,” immediately following the Glacial Period, cannot be arithmetically computed. The order of their succession is about all that can be established with reasonable certainty. Such events belong, practically speaking, to an era of which it has been said: “Then time was not.” In America evidences of glacial action extend as far south, at least, as Washington and the Ohio River; in Europe to 50 degrees north latitude, and in some places down to 45 degrees.

LOUIS PHILIPPE.

ARGYLE, Minn.

In what year did Louis Philippe ascend the throne? Give a brief history of his life and death.

J. G. LEGRANGE.

Answer.—Louis Philippe, son of Louis Philippe Joseph, Duke of Orleans, was born at Paris in 1773, and, having held the title of Lieutenant of the Kingdom since the abdication of Charles X., as a result of the revolution of July, 1830 ascended the throne of France Aug. 9, 1830. During the first revolution, in which he fought on the side of the people, he became suspected of aspiring to the throne, and, his arrest having been ordered, he sought refuge for himself and sister in Switzerland. There for a time he taught under the assumed name of Chabaud-Latour. Later he visited Northern Europe and America, and in 1800 settled at Twickenham, near London. Upon the restoration of the royal family, he returned to Paris, and recovered his estates. Though coldly received by his suspicious kinsman, Louis XVIII., he was extremely popular elsewhere, and in recognition of his plain manners and attention to the bourgeoisie he received the title “Citizen King.” His reign was prosperous, and his wise government did much to restore France to a state of quiet industry. But suddenly the cry arose for a reform in the electoral system, and receiving no friendly response from the King or ministry, the people grew rebellious. The King used military force, the people became their own army, and Feb. 24, 1848, Louis Philippe fled from Paris, with his faithful minister, Guizot. He and his queen were concealed in Normandy for a few days, and then passed on a British steamboat to Newhaven, Eng., as Mr. and Mrs. Smith. He died quietly at Claremont in 1850.

POSTAL EXPENDITURES NORTH AND SOUTH.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

It was stated not long ago, in Our Curiosity Shop, that the postal expenses in the Southern States have long exceeded the postal revenue from the same States, while in the Northern States the opposite is true. I challenge you to show that this was the case before the late civil war.

A CONFEDERATE.

Answer.—That is not at all hard to show. It has been the case pretty much ever since the government was formed. In the Northern States the postal revenue has almost always been in excess of the expenditures, while the reverse has been true in the South. In 1846-7 the transportation of the mails throughout New England cost $256,464, while the postal revenue collected in those States amounted to $443,648. The expense of mail transportation in New York and Pennsylvania was only $384,719, while the postal revenue collected amounted to nearly double that amount, say $746,933. In Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, during the same time, the expenditures aggregated $770,044, while the amount received for postage was but $311,569, or less than half as much. At the same time Alabama paid in less than $50,000, while the expenditures were over $136,000; and Texas returned but $3,246 for an expenditure of $24,102; though Wisconsin, in which the expenditure reached but $15,043, returned to the general postoffice $56,703, and Iowa, then in its infancy, came within less than $500 of meeting all the cost of her postal service. This is a fair sample of how it was before the war.

WEALTHIEST STATES.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Will you kindly state in Our Curiosity Shop which State in the Union is considered to be the richest? Say if Pennsylvania does not rank the highest in the aggregate of products. If not, what State does? and what is Pennsylvania’s rank?

ENQUIRER.

Answer.—According to the census of 1880 the four States showing the highest assessed valuation of real estate and personal property are: New York, $2,651,940,006; Pennsylvania, $1,683,459,016; Massachusetts, $1,584,756,802; Ohio, $1,534,360,508. Assessed valuations are so far from being the true values of property, and there is such divergency in the practice of the various States—some assessing at nearly the true value, others at scarcely 25 per cent of it, and most of them at rates ranging between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of it—that there is no great amount of satisfaction in a comparison based on these valuations. For example, the total assessed valuation of personal property for the State of New York is $322,657,647, when it is generally believed that four men, Mr. Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, Russel Sage, and Augustus Belmont, together, own very nearly this amount in bonds, mortgages, and other personal property.

As to the value of their chief products, the States holding the highest rank are as follows:

Number of Value of States. establishments. products.

New York 43,739 $1,080,696,596 Pennsylvania 31,232 744,818,445 Massachusetts 14,352 631,135,284 Illinois 14,549 414,864,673 Ohio 20,699 348,298,390

In agriculture: Value of Value of all States. live stock. farm products.

Illinois $132,437,762 $203,980,137 New York 117,868,283 178,025,695 Ohio 103,707,730 156,777,152 Iowa 124,715,103 136,103,473 Pennsylvania 84,242,877 129,760,476

In mining: Value of product of Value of States. precious metals. non-precious metals

Pennsylvania .......... $65,559,576 Colorado $19,249,172 1,041,350 California 18,301,828 ......... Nevada 17,318,909 ......... Michigan 25,858 14,279,437 Illinois .......... 8,911,279 Ohio .......... 8,077,488

From the above it appears that in the aggregate value of their agricultural, manufacturing, and mining products, New York leads all the other States, with a total of over $1,381,000,000; Pennsylvania follows, with $1,024,000,000; Illinois marches third, with over $760,000,000; Massachusetts fourth, with over $676,000,000; and Ohio fifth, with nearly $617,000,000.

PENSION-ATTORNEY’S FEES.

TIPTON, Iowa.

Is it true that a pension attorney cannot lawfully charge more than $10 for his services in procuring a pension? If so, when was this law passed? It used to be $25: at least that was what pensioners around here paid.

OLD SOLDIER.

Answer.—Prior to June 20, 1878, it was lawful for an attorney to make a contract with a pension claimant for $25 as a fee, which amount was paid by the Commissioner of Pensions, or on his order, when the pension was allowed, out of the first pension payment. It was wholly contingent upon the successful prosecution of the claim. In 1878 Mr. Bentley, then Commissioner of Pensions, arrayed himself against claim attorneys, and procured the enactment of the present law, approved June 10, 1878, making it unlawful for an attorney to receive a greater sum than $10 for his services in procuring a pension. This amount the attorney can collect from the applicant and keep, whether the claim is allowed or not. It is doubtful whether Mr. Bentley’s well intended endeavors to benefit applicants through this law have not resulted in more harm than good, as hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants have paid attorneys this $10 in advance, and therefore the latter, having nothing more to gain, have merely filed the applications, and left the cases to take the regular red-tape course, and be thrown out for informalities or for want of a little additional testimony, which defects the attorneys would have strived to cure if the fee had remained at $25, and been wholly contingent on the allowance of the pensions.

HEADLIGHT OIL.

ALDEN, Iowa.

Please give the composition and properties of “headlight oil,” such as is used by the railroad companies in lanterns and headlights.

P. M. EDWARDS.

Answer.—Strictly speaking, headlight oil of the first quality is what its discoverer, Joshua Merrill, named mineral sperm. It is an illuminating oil intermediate between kerosene and neutral lubricating oil, the specific gravity of kerosene being .804, that of mineral sperm .847, and that of lubricating oil .883. The boiling points of these are respectively, 350 deg. Fahr., 425 deg., and 575 deg. It is volatile only at very high temperature, therefore, and cannot be ignited at less than 300 deg. Fahr., which is one reason why it is preferred to kerosene, particularly on railroad cars and locomotives and ocean steamers. The headlight oils in common use do not conform strictly to the above descriptions, being, some of them, only a fine quality of kerosene. The chemical constituents of refined petroleum are hydrogen and carbon, in the proportions of 75 of the former to 85 of the latter. We have not the precise chemical formula for headlight oil.

UNITED STATES NATIONAL CEMETERIES.

BUCYRUS, Ohio.

How many United States National cemeteries are there, and where are they? What salaries are paid to superintendents? Are they kept in good condition?

OLD SOLDIER.

Answer.—The National cemeteries consecrated to the remains of the fallen patriots of the late civil war are all well cared for by salaried superintendents, and are examined from time to time by competent inspectors, whose duties require them to report any neglect. Every grave is marked with a headstone; the grounds are handsomely laid out; the walks, winding among the green swarded lots, are neatly graveled; and shade trees, ornamental shrubs and flower beds are tastefully arranged to beautify these “God’s acres,” sacred to the Nation’s dead. The cemeteries west of the Missouri contain the graves of a good many soldiers who have died since the rebellion, in the regular army service on the frontiers. There is an United States National cemetery near the City of Mexico, consecrated to the gallant fellows who fell at Chapultepec, and Contreras, and in other brilliant actions of the war with Mexico. The locality of the awful massacre of General Custer and his entire command by the Indians, led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, is marked by a National cemetery and a suitable monument. The following is a full list of the National cemeteries, with the salaries of their superintendents:

Cemeteries. Salaries.

Mobile. Ala. $840 Little Rock, Ark. 900 Fort Smith, Ark. 840 Fayetteville, Ark 780 Soldiers’ Home, D. C. 900 Battle Ground, D. C. 720 Barrancas, Fla. 780 St. Augustine. Fla. Andersonville, Ga. 900 Marietta, Ga. 900 Camp Butler, Ill. 780 Mound City, Ill. 900 Quincy, Ill. Rock Island, Ill. Crown Hill, Ind. 720 New Albany, Ind. 780 Fort Gibson, I. T. 780 Keokuk, Iowa 780 Ft. Leavenworth, Kan. 840 Fort Scott, Kan. 840 Cave Hill, Ky 720 Camp Nelson, Ky. 900 Danville. Ky. Lebanon, Ky. 720 Lexington, Ky. 840 Logan’s Cross Roads, Ky. 840 Mill Springs, Ky. Alexander, La. 840 Baton Rouge, La. 480 Chalmette, La. 900 Port Hudson, La. 900 Annapolis, Md. 780 Antietam, Md. 900 Laurel, Md. Loudon Park, Md. 720 City of Mexico, Mex. 900 Corinth, Miss. 900 Natchez, Miss. 900 Vicksburg, Miss. 900 Jefferson Barracks, Mo. 900 Jefferson City, Mo. 780 Springfield, Mo. 780 Custer Battlefield, M. T. Fort McPherson, Neb. 720 New Berne, N. C. 840 Raleigh, N. C. 840 Salisbury, N. C. 900 Wilmington, N. C. 840 Beverly, N. J. 720 Finn’s Point, N. J. 720 Cypress Hills, N. J. 720 Woodlawn, N. J. Gettysburg, Pa. 900 Philadelphia, Pa. 840 Florence, S. C. 840 Beaufort, S. C. 900 Chattanooga, Tenn. 900 Ft. Donelson, Tenn. 780 Knoxville, Tenn. 840 Memphis, Tenn. 900 Nashville, Tenn. 900 Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. 900 Stone River, Tenn. 900 San Antonio, Texas 720 Brownsville, Texas 840 Alexandria, Va. 840 Arlington, Va. 900 Balls Bluff, Va. City Point, Va. 840 Cold Harbor, Va. 780 Culpeper, Va. 840 Danville, Va. 780 Fort Harrison, Va. 720 Fredericksburg, Va. 900 Glendale, Va. 720 Hampton, Va. 900 Poplar Grove, Va. 900 Seven Pines, Va. 720 Richmond, Va. 900 Staunton, Va. 720 Winchester, Va. 720 Yorktown, Va. 780 Grafton. W. Va. 720

In all, there are 315,555 graves under the supervision of the Quartermaster General, according to a late report, only 172,409 of which had been identified.

A TRULY REMARKABLE EGG.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.

SIR: Having read a short time since in your columns an account of a “Wisconsin hen” having laid a double egg, I enclose the following:

“About fifteen years ago a Mr. Green, of Toledo, Ill., had a hen which laid an egg as large as a goose egg. Inside the outer shell was another perfect egg inclosed in a shell, and between the two shells, two yolks and two whites. It is needless to remark that the hen died in a few hours. There are a number of people now living in or about Toledo who can vouch for the truth of this story.

L. W. A.”

FOREIGN POSTAGE.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Please state the rates of postage between this country and Europe as far back as possible, but particularly the rates in force twenty years ago.

J. M.

Answer.—It is not easy to ascertain the rates of postage between the United States and each of the States of Europe for the whole period of our history, nor would the information repay the research. The Whig Almanac for 1849 gives the following rates of foreign postage prevailing at that time: Letters, per half ounce, to Bremen, paid or unpaid, if mailed at New York, 24 cents; within 300 miles of New York, 29 cents; over 300 miles, 34 cents. If to Prussia, 12 cents additional; to Hamburg, 6 cents additional; to Austria, 18 cents; Bavaria, 22 cents; Switzerland, 21 cents; Egypt, 37 cents—each additional, per quarter-ounce letter. To Denmark, 22 cents; Sweden, 39 cents; St. Petersburg, Russia, 24 cents—each additional, per half ounce. To British West India Islands, by British West India mail steamers, 25 cents per half ounce; to Martinique, Havana, Porto Rico, St. Thomas, or other islands not British, 50 cents; to Chagres, Panama, Valparaiso, or any port on the Pacific coast, 75 cents. The same year the postal difficulties with Great Britain and her colonies were adjusted by the adoption of a uniform rate of sea and port postage not to exceed 24 cents, the inland rates (5 cents to 10 cents here and 2 cents to 4 cents in Britain) being added. In 1860 the following foreign postal rates prevailed for one-half ounce; to France and Algeria, by French mails, 30 cents; to the German states, 30 cents; to Great Britain, 24 cents, except from Washington, Oregon, and California, (29 cents); to Bremen, 10 cents; to Hamburg, 10 cents; to Frankfort or Wurtemburg, 22 cents; to Luxemburg, 25 cents; to Holland and the Netherlands, 42 cents; to Austria, 30 cents; to Russia, 29 cents; to Prussia, 30 cents; to the Papal States and Tuscany, 35 cents; to Spain, 42 cents; to Portugal, 42 cents; to Denmark, 35 cents; to Sweden, 42 cents; to Norway, 46 cents; to the West India Islands, (not British) 34 cents for less than 2,500 miles, and 44 cents for more than 2,500 miles: to the British West India Islands, 10 cents for 2,500 miles or less, and 20 cents for any greater distance; to the two Sicilies, 30 cents; to Parma and Modena, 33 cents; to Lombardy, 33 cents; to the Sardinian States, 38 cents. In 1865 the postage was about the same; but after the formation of the postal union, in 1874, an uniform postage was adopted of 5 cents on prepaid, and 10 cents on unpaid letters, weighing not more than one-half ounce, between all members of the union; newspapers not exceeding 4 ounces, 2 cents; books and all other printed matter and patterns of merchandise, not exceeding 8¾ ounces, at the rate of 2 cents per 2 ounces; postal cards, 2 cents.

HIGH TARIFF AND CHEAP GOODS.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa.

In a recent political dispute the free-trader declared that the consumer pays all the tariff. How can the protectionist answer this?

INQUIRER.

Answer.—This question has been answered, substantially, several times before, but the following extract from the speech made before the Fair Trade Congress, Leamington, by Robert P. Porter, formerly editor of Our Curiosity Shop, author of “The West in 1880,” and member of the late United States Tariff Commission, is so much in point that it is given here:

“In the cotton industry need I say that we have practically robbed England of 50,000,000 of customers, increased the number employed in our mills to 200,000 persons, and, in the last two decades, doubled the value of the product. Imports of cotton goods have steadily declined from 227,000,000 yards in 1860 to 23,000,000 yards in 1881, while exports reached the same year 150,000,000 yards. Has the consumer been injured? No! With the exception of a few special lines which we do not manufacture, cotton goods are as cheap, and even cheaper, with us than in England. A more remarkable progress has been made in the silk industry, which before the Morrill tariff gave employment to 5,000 persons; in 1880 it employed over 30,000, a six-fold increase. The importation of silk goods has remained stationary since 1860 at about £6,000,000, the production of our own mills increasing from £1,200,000 in 1860 to over £8,000,000 in 1880. Yet the cost of the manufactured goods to the consumer, estimated on a gold basis, has steadily declined at a much greater rate than the cost of the raw material.”

Further on Mr. Potter says: “I have this year made a careful comparison of the average earnings of labor in the important branches of industry in Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, and Holland, with the average earnings of the same class of workers in the United States. In prosecuting this inquiry I have visited the industrial centers of these countries, and am prepared to further substantiate my conclusions with details if necessary. I find that in the United States wages are from 60 to 150 per cent higher in the various industrial pursuits than they are in the mentioned European countries. At the same time the difference between the purchasing power of a dollar in free trade and protection countries is absurdly exaggerated by the Cobden Clubites. In Germany and France (under protective tariffs), especially in the former country, the workmen can live far cheaper than in England. The purchasing power of a dollar, so far as the wants of the working man is concerned, when the cost and quality of food is taken into consideration, is about the same in the United States as in England, though wages are often 100 per cent higher in America.”

HALBIG, THE SCULPTOR.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Please give a sketch of John Halbig, the sculptor.

OTTO F. H. MASCH.

Answer.—John Halbig was born in Bavaria in 1814, and educated at the Munich Academy, where he is now professor of statuary. Since 1846 he has modeled more than 1,000 works, chiefly busts. The most noted is the lions at the Gate of Victory, Munich. In 1873 the King of Germany ordered him to make a colossal group representing the crucifixion, to be placed on a lofty mountain peak overlooking Oberammergau, the village where the “Passion Play” is so religiously represented.

HELEN AND THE TROJAN WAR.

DANA, Ill.

1. Will Our Curiosity Shop tell me how to pronounce the name of the President of France, and what his salary is? 2. Who was Helen? I heard a gentleman say that, when looking at a certain lady, he could easily believe in Helen’s smile and the siege of Troy. Please tell me about her.

IGNORAMUS.

Answer.—1. Gravy. His salary is 600,000 francs ($120,000), and an additional 300,000 francs for household expenses. 2. Helen, according to tradition, was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, the wife of Tyndareus, King of Sparta, and was so extremely beautiful that at the age of 10 she was stolen by two mighty Greeks, from whom her brothers, Castor and Pollux, rescued her. Later Tyndareus bound her suitors to the number of about thirty to save her, in case of another abduction. She became the wife of Menelaus, King of Lacedæmon, but, during his absence from home, Paris, a prince from Troy, in Asia Minor, induced her to elope with him. Thereupon Menelaus called upon the thirty to fulfill their oath, and with a large army they sailed against Troy, laid siege to it, and were victorious after ten years. There are conflicting stories of her fate.

WHEAT IN OHIO AND NEBRASKA.

TRIADELPHIA, Ohio.

Which years, the odd or even, have produced the most wheat in Ohio for the last ten years? State same for Nebraska.

P. M. P.

Answer.—The following table, compiled from the reports of the Agricultural Department, Washington, gives the estimated wheat crops of Ohio and Nebraska for the ten years closing with 1882, in bushels. How much support these figures give to the notion that the even years bear better crops than the odd ones, or vice versa, the reader can estimate for himself:

Ohio Av. yield Nebraska Av. yield Year. wheat crop. per acre. wheat crop. per acre.

1882 45,453,600 14,947,200 1881 38,520,000 13.3 13,840,000 7.1 1880 49,790,475 17.3 12,922,677 8.5 1879 36,591,750 19.3 13,043,590 11.3 1878 33,120,000 18.0 13,872,900 13.1 1877 26,000,000 15.0 5,640,000 15.0 1876 21,750,000 11.8 4,330,000 11.5 1875 17,500,000 9.5 3,400,000 9.8 1874 25,993,000 15.0 3,619,000 11.6 1873 18,567,000 12.0 3,584,000 15.5

Certainly, in the case of Ohio, the aggregate yield of even years surpassed that of the odd years, and the same was true in all but one pair of years for Nebraska. As regards the average yield per acre, the even years were not so uniformly better than the odd ones, and this is the only test measure. But the following table, from the same source, showing the average yield of wheat per acre for the whole United States, for the ten years from 1872 to 1881 inclusive, is calculated to explode the notion that the oddness or evenness of the year makes any difference:

Av. yield Year. per acre.

1872 11.9 1873 12.7 1874 12.3 1875 11.0 1876 10.4 1877 13.9 1878 13.1 1879 13.8 1880 13.1 1881 10.1

One of the most interesting facts to note in the above table is the rapid increase of wheat raising in Ohio, which is due in large degree to the improved methods in farming—deep plowing, use of fertilizers, tile drainage, and so forth. Another matter worthy of special notice is the large increase of the Nebraska wheat crop, owing to the steady extension of the cultivated area of that State. The falling off in the average yield per acre points to the lesson that Nebraska must learn from the example of Ohio—the necessity for improved cultivation as the country grows older.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

HILLSBORO, Iowa.

When was the Democratic party first organized? How long did it ever hold unbroken control of the government?

W. N. GALES.

Answer.—The birth of the Democratic party, or “Jacksonian Democracy,” as it used to be called, dates from the disruption of the old Democratic-Republican party, consequent upon the election of John Quincy Adams as President Soon after the Inauguration of Adams in 1825 the Adams and Clay factions of the Democratic-Republican party separated from it. The Jackson and Calhoun factions rallied around these men, and the Presidential election contest of 1828 was fought on almost purely personal issues. Jackson was elected President over Adams by 178 electoral votes to 83, although the popular vote stood 647,231 for Jackson and 509,097 for Adams. At the same time Calhoun was elected Vice President by 171 electoral votes to 83 for Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania. Before the next Presidential canvass Jackson and Calhoun had become inimical to each other; the “Jackson men” carried the day, and, through the first National Democratic Convention—held in Baltimore in May, 1832—nominated Jackson for re-election, and Van Buren in place of Calhoun for Vice President. Dating from Jackson’s first term, the Democrats held unbroken control of the Executive office until the end of Van Buren’s term, in all twelve years, which is the longest period of consecutive Democratic administration of our Federal Government. The next longest was from March 4, 1853, to the bankruptcy of the National Treasury and the civil war, reached before its close, eight years later.

FIRST WHITE CHILD BORN IN CHICAGO.

PEKIN, Ill.

I was born in Chicago, Oct. 1, 1827, and my elder brother tells me there were but four houses there at that time, and two of them belonged to Frenchmen. I claim the honor of being the first white child born at that place. I am the son of Reuben and Hannah Reed.

LEVI REED.

Answer.—The first white child born in Chicago was a girl, Ellen Marion Kinzie, sister of the late Colonel John H. Kinzie. According to the testimony of Mrs. Whistler, wife of Lieut. William Whistler, this was in December, 1804. Mrs. Whistler was the mother of the first white boy born in Chicago, Merriweather Lewis Whistler. He first saluted the light in old Fort Dearborn in the autumn of 1805. He was drowned at the age of 7, at Newport, Ky. Your brother is certainly mistaken as to the number of houses in Chicago in 1827, for a series of reminiscences dictated by the early pioneer, John H. Fonda, quoted in Hurlburt’s “Chicago Antiquities,” says that when Fonda visited Chicago in 1825, though it was then but an Indian agency and trading post, the place contained “about fourteen houses.”

INSTITUTIONS FOR FEEBLE-MINDED CHILDREN.

EVANSTON, Ill.

What State provisions are there for the benefit of feeble-minded persons? Give the number of the blind, deaf, and feeble-minded in this State.

CATHARINE DONNOVAN.

Answer.—According to the report of the Commissioner of Education, the number of idiots and feeble-minded children in Illinois in 1889 was 4,170; of blind, 2,615; of deaf mutes, 2,202. The United States makes no provision for these classes. That is left to State legislation. State institutions for the feeble-minded are located at Syracuse, N. Y.; Columbus, Ohio; Faribault, Minn.; Glenwood, Iowa; Frankfort, Ky., and Lincoln, Ill. At Columbus, Syracuse, and Faribault children are taught the elementary branches, and have various occupations for physical exercise; at Glenwood much attention is given to kindergarten training; at Frankfort, to physical development. In our State institution the children are divided into ten classes, the three highest being graded, and, in addition to the common branches, they are taught vocal music and calisthenics:[;?] also sewing, gardening, and other occupations.

ARTICHOKES.

JUNIATA, Neb.

Please state the value of artichokes as food for hogs. How should they be raised?

JOHN COWAN.

Answer.—At one time artichokes were supposed to be very watery and injurious food for swine, but a careful analysis has proved that they are not less nutritious than potatoes. In the Western States they grow wild in great quantities, and the roots are greedily devoured by the hogs. The Brazil variety should be extensively cultivated in a well-drained soil, as it is hardy and easily raised. The American Encyclopedia of Agriculture gives the following instructions for cultivating them: “Furrow the ground four feet apart and plant the tubers an inch below the surface and about ten inches apart, covering about two inches. Keep free from weeds with the ordinary two-horse corn-cultivator. Dig in the fall and leave the tubers to be rooted out by the hogs in autumn, winter, and spring. They bear great heat and drought, and are excellent food for horses, cows and sheep in winter if used in connection with food and salt.

UNITED STATES MILITIA.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What is the total militia force of the United States, organized and unorganized?

N. SNYDER.

Answer.—The organized militia force of the United States, according to the latest returns made to the Adjutant General of the United States army, as given in the report of the Chief of Ordnance to the Secretary of War, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880, was as follows: Total non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, 117,037. Add 145 general officers, 921 general staff officers, 1,605 regimental field and staff officers, 8,869 company officers, and the aggregate is 125,906. Of these, New York had the largest number, 20,280; Arkansas the next largest, 16,377, South Carolina the next, 11,805; Pennsylvania the next, 9,750; Ohio the next, 8,374, and Illinois the next, 7,394. These figures are altered somewhat now, but cannot be given accurately. The number of men subject to military duty, but unorganized, on June 30, 1880, was 6,516,758.

MISSISSIPPI NAVIGATION.

DES MOINES, Iowa.

Give your Iowa readers a few facts as to the navigation of the Mississippi River. About what proportion of the time is it closed by ice or on account of low water?

Answer.—Averaged for the nine years from 1865 to 1873, the depth of water below St. Louis was eight feet or over for about one-half the year, and less than four feet not quite three and one-half days a year. The time that navigation was arrested by ice in the ten seasons from 1870 to 1880 averaged thirty-five days a year; and the time that barges could not be loaded to eight feet draft on account of low water or ice, during the seven years ending with 1880, averaged about one hundred and twenty-six days a year. In the canals around the Mississippi rapids and between the Mississippi and the lakes, navigation is suspended above five months each year. To appreciate the significance of the above figures as to depth of water, it must be borne in mind that, where the depth of water is eight feet and over, grain is transported at less than half what it costs when the depth is four feet. There are years when navigation below St. Louis is not obstructed by ice all winter through; as for example, in the winters of 1868-69, 1873-74, 1875-76, while in the rigorous winter of 1877-78 the river was closed at St. Louis seventy days. Between St. Louis and Quincy navigation is obstructed by ice about four months every year, and by low water about thirty-five days more, while between Quincy and St. Paul navigation is practically closed about half of every year either on account of ice or low water.

MILLAIS’ PICTURE OF THE HUGUENOT.

DENVER, Col.

Kindly inform us through Our Curiosity Shop what is the significance of the handkerchief in Millais’ picture of “The Huguenot.” I have gone to the limit of my resources and can find no allusion whatever to any such badge.

F. G. WOODBRIDGE.

Answer.—On the eve of the bloody massacre of French Protestants, which commenced in Paris in the dead of night of Aug. 24, 1572, the Duke of Guise, to prevent the assassination by mistake of any of his own party, the Catholics, issued a secret order that every Catholic bind a strip of white linen around his arm, as a badge to be known by. This incident is vividly depicted in Millais’ celebrated painting of “The Huguenot,” where the Catholic maiden, who is aware of this secret order, seeks to save her bold Protestant or “Huguenot” lover by pledging him to wear her handkerchief around his arm until they meet again.

NORTH AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION.

FAIRFIELD, Iowa.

What is the object of the poultry association, formed in Ohio some time ago? Is it merely for speculative purposes, or has it a public mission to perform? Who are the officers and who can become members?

POULTRY RAISER.

Answer.—Probably the organization referred to in the above question is what calls itself the North American Poultry Association. Its declared purpose is “to take united action in the extension of the business of producing poultry and eggs for market, and for the mutual protection and advancement of the interests of producers.” This it proposes to do by showing people that “poultry-raising is more profitable than any other branch of stock-raising;” by keeping its members informed as to the best markets for poultry and eggs at different seasons of the year; by uniting to get the lowest shipping rates; by efforts to protect each other from dishonest poultry dealers or commission men; by imparting to one another useful information as to cures for diseases of fowls, and improvements in feeding and taking care of them. Whether some of the principal members are using this organization for selfish purposes to any reprehensible degree, as has been charged by one or more correspondents, we are not prepared to affirm or deny. Some of them are engaged in raising and selling fancy fowls and eggs at high prices, but as that is one of the declared objects of the association, it may only prove that it is fulfilling its mission. Any one in any part of the United States or Canada who wishes to become a member is invited to send $2 to the Treasurer, with a request that his name be presented to the association for admission to membership, the money to be returned in case he is not elected. In the opinion of some correspondents, the reason for demanding this prepayment is very obscure. Hoping to obtain official enlightenment as to the character of this association, THE INTER OCEAN addressed an inquiry to W. L. Chamberlain, Secretary of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture, to which he returned the following reply, which renders us unwilling to publish the names and postoffice address of officers of the so-called association:

“COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov., 1883.—Dear Sir: Yours relative to American Poultry Association, of——, Ohio, to hand. We have no official knowledge of any such association, as no reports from it are made to this department, as there are from all the other various agricultural organizations of the State. Inquiry at the Secretary of State’s office fails to reveal any incorporation of said association. Might also add that we have no personal knowledge of the association in question. Respectfully,

W. I. CHAMBERLAIN, “Secretary Ohio State Board of Agriculture.”

LAKE TAHOE.

RICHMOND, Ind.

What are the dimensions of Lake Tahoe, why is it so admired, and how near is it to the Central Pacific Railroad?

TRAVELER.

Answer.—Lake Tahoe is a lovely sheet of water at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and fourteen miles southward from Truckee, on the Central Pacific Railroad. It is about 6,250 feet above the ocean, and is environed by scenery full of picturesque loveliness. The length, according to the latest authorities, is 35 miles, its width about 15 miles, and its depth 1,500 feet. Its waters are clear as crystal, cold as ice, and full of trout. Pleasure steamers ply on it in summer. Its outlet is the Truckee River. The surrounding scenery, the perfect transparency of its waters, the fishing, and the delicious atmosphere render it a favorite summer resort.

THE NATIONAL CAPITOL.

MONTICELLO, Ind.

When was the Capitol of the United States begun; when finished; and what was its cost? Give its dimensions.

JAMES COBLE.

Answer.—The southeast corner-stone of the Capitol was laid Sept. 18, 1793, “by Brother George Washington, assisted by the Worshipful Masters and Free Masons of the surrounding cities, the military, and a large number of people.” The north wing was ready for occupancy in 1800, the south wing in 1808; but both were partially destroyed by the British in 1811. The foundation of the main building was laid in 1818 (March 24), the restoration of the wings having been commenced three years earlier; and the whole was completed in 1827. July 4, 1851, the corner-stone of the south extension was laid by President Fillmore, and this was finished in 1857. The north extension was occupied by the Senate in 1859. The present dome, commenced in 1855, was completed eight years later, and Dec. 12, 1863, the American flag floated from its summit. Thus far the cost of the entire building has been $13,000,000—main building, $3,000,000; dome, $1,000,000; extensions, $8,000,000; miscellaneous items, $1,000,000. The length of the entire building is 751 feet 4 inches; its greatest breadth, 324 feet; and it covers a little over 3½ acres. The distance from the ground to the top of the dome is 307½ feet; the diameter of the dome, 135½ feet.

MONEY AND GOODS BY TELEGRAPH.

SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa.

What is the method of sending money by telegraph; and about what does it cost? Is it true that telegraph companies will fill orders for household supplies? If so, explain how it is done, and oblige several

SUBSCRIBERS.

Answer.—It is not telegraph companies, but express companies that do such business. One of the leading express companies will send money from any one of its important city or village agencies to another at the following rates, in addition to the cost of telegraph service: For sums of $100 or less, 1 per cent; for sums between $100 and $200, $1.25; between $200 and $300, $1.50; between $300 and $400, $1.75; between $400 and $500, $2; for larger sums special rates, to be learned only of agents. The same company will purchase goods for family consumption, without extra charges; and will advance the money for orders not exceeding $5 each, provided deposit is made with the agent at the office from which order is sent. Similar accommodation is provided for by other express companies.

ALCOHOL IN A BUSHEL OF GRAIN.

LAFAYETTE, Ill.

How much pure liquor can be made from a bushel of corn, rye, wheat, or barley, as a general rule?

CHARLES OSENBAUGH.

Answer.—Corn affords 40 pounds of spirits of the specific gravity of 0.9427, containing 45 per cent of absolute alcohol for each 100 pounds of grain; wheat, 40 to 45 pounds of spirits; barley, 40; oats, 36; rye, 36 to 42; buckwheat, 40. Now, 40 pounds of such spirits equal 3½ (3.5) gallons of government-proof spirits. Taking corn at 56 pounds per bushel, rye at 56 pounds, wheat at 60, barley at 48, oats at 32, and buckwheat at 52, these grains should afford the following quantities of proof spirits per bushel: Corn and rye, each, 1.96 gallons, or almost 2 gallons; wheat, 2.1 gallons; barley, 1.68 gallons; oats, 1.12 gallons, and buckwheat, 1.82 gallons.

U. S. LOANS IN 1860.

MINONK, Ill.

Did this government borrow money during James Buchanan’s administration? If so, at what interest? What interest did the government pay for money borrowed to carry on the Mexican war?

Answer.—In June, 1860, Congress authorized the loan of $20,000,000, and in October, $1,000,000, at 5 per cent, was put upon the market; but, owing to the Presidential election of that year and the consequent change in the aspect of politics, the final amount issued was but $7,022,000. On Dec. 17 a law was passed permitting the issue of $10,000,000; $5,000,000 was offered, and but $500,000 was bid, at 12 per cent. Other offers at 24 to 36 per cent were rejected. By the 31st of December most of the remainder had been taken by banks and bankers upon certain conditions securing the interest. In January, 1861, the remaining $5,000,000, under the act of December, was awarded as follows: $10,000 at 8¾ per cent, $30,000 at 9 per cent, $10,000 at 9¼ per cent, $140,000 at 9½ per cent, $67,000 at 9¾ per cent, $721,000 at 10 per cent, $265,000 at 10¼ per cent, $543,000 at 10½ per cent, $1,267,000 at 10¾ per cent, and $1,947,000 at 11 per cent. Feb. 8 Congress passed another bill, authorizing a loan of $25,000,000, at 6 per cent interest, to run not less than ten nor more than twenty years, the stock to be sold to the highest bidder. The amount offered was $14,355,000, of which all below 90 per cent were rejected, and the stock as awarded ranged from 90½ to 96 per cent. The tariff bill, which was passed March 2, authorized a loan of $10,000,000, and restored the highest protective character to the tariff. During the Mexican war, in 1847, the government made loans to the amount of $9,415,250 at 6 per cent interest.

VAUXHALL GARDENS.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa.

I remember reading, when a boy, in a Baltimore paper, an account of the destruction by fire of the art gallery of Vauxhall Garden, London, and I think it stated also “with a loss of all the valuable paintings.” Please state in what year that conflagration occurred, Any information regarding this garden would be of interest to many, I am sure.

JOSEPH ROGERS.

Answer.—Vauxhall Garden, named from its site in “La Salle Faukes,” was first opened to the public in 1660, and was for nearly two centuries the favorite resort for a large class of London pleasure-seekers. It was laid out with beautiful walks, fountains, booths, and buildings, and was nightly thronged by a gay and brilliant company, eating and drinking, while they gossiped or made love to the sound of constant music. But toward the latter part of the eighteenth century the garden fell into disrepute, through the increasing laxity of many of its patrons, and on July 25, 1859, the garden was forever closed, its site being soon covered with streets and buildings. We cannot find the date of the fire you mention. It is consoling, however, to know that few, if any, of the paintings had great merit. A vivid description of Vauxhall is given in Thackeray’s “Vanity Fair.”

ARMY—RIVERS, AND HARBORS.

CHICAGO, Ill.

A friend asserts that the cost of the United States army is nearly fifty million dollars a year? I say it is not much more than half that amount. What does Our Curiosity Shop say?

JOHN ALLEN.

Answer.—It says that you are nearer right than your friend. It is likely that he gets his notion from noting the total expenditures for the “military establishment” as given in Secretary Folger’s report a few days ago, amounting to $48,911,382.93. Let him look at the items and he will see such ones as this, “Improving rivers and harbors,” $13,639,381.27 included under the above head. Owing to the important bearing of the transportation question and the condition of our harbors upon the subject of National defense; in deference to the State rights advocates of early times; and also because of the prevailing confidence in the ability of the engineer corps of the United States army, the appropriations made by Congress for the improvement of the National water-ways have, as a rule, been expended under the direction of army engineers. Below are given all the items that enter into the grand total of nearly fifty millions which your friend erroneously charges up as the annual cost of the United States army. This is a statement for the fiscal year closing June 30, 1883:

Pay Department $12,659,814.60 Commissary Department 2,062,922.17 Quartermaster’s Department 13,179,792.45 Medical Department 377,647.82 Ordnance Department 1,861,826.37 Military Academy 144,332.46 Improving rivers and harbors 13,639,381.27 Contingencies 26,676.19 Expenses of recruiting 100,646.45 Signal Service 294,466.54 Expenses of military convicts 93,085.37 Publishing official records of the rebellion 33,486.68 Support of National Home for Disabled Volunteers 1,122,088.03 Support of Soldiers’ Home 162,928.48 Construction of military posts, roads, etc. 268,707.69 Fortifications 174,312.72 National cemeteries 211,156.55 Fifty per cent arrears of army transportation 296,379.38 Construction of military telegraphs 48,989.00 Bounty to soldiers, act of July 28, 1866 75,214.30 Expenses of arctic exploring expedition 53,000.00 Bounty to volunteers 244,550.91 Mississippi River Commission 165,000.00 Reimbursing the State of Missouri 234,580.10 Reimbursing the State of Oregon. 70,268.08 Claims for quartermasters’ and commissary supplies 311,062.75 Refunding to States expenses in raising volunteers 454,163.07 Operating and care of canals 199,200.00 Horses and other property lost in the service 105,061.60 Purchase of the Arlington estate 125,000.00 Miscellaneous 115,641.90 —————————————— Total military establishment $48,911,382.93

The first five of the above items, aggregating a little over thirty million dollars, constitute almost the entire expenditure on account of the existing army and its operations during the year named.

ESTIMATING WEIGHT OF CATTLE.

HASTINGS, Neb.

Give us a rule, if there is any, for calculating the weight of cattle by measuring them.

A. C.

Answer.—No rule will lead to anything more than an approximation to the actual weight. Every stock-raiser should have his own scales. The following is as good a rule as any for estimating the weight of animals by measure: Multiply the girth in inches, taken immediately behind the shoulder blade, by the length in inches from the square of the buttock to the point of the shoulder blade, and divide the product by 144, which gives the number of superficial feet. If the animal has a girth of 3 to 5 feet, multiply the number of superficial feet by 16, and you will have its approximate weight. If the girth is 5 to 7 feet multiply by 23, and if 7 to 9 feet multiply by 31. If less than 3 feet girth, as in the cases of small calves, hogs, sheep, etc., multiply by 11. Allowance must be made for the build of the animal, conditions of fattening, etc. The above rule is for grass-fed cattle; it being estimated that in the cases of grass-fatted sheep, calves, and kine, or steers, each superficial foot, when the girth is 3 feet or under, represents a weight of 11 pounds; when 3 to 5 feet, 16 pounds; when 5 to 7 feet, 23 pounds, and when 7 to 9 feet, 31 pounds. Thus an ox measuring eight feet girth and seven and a half feet in length should weigh about 8x7½x31 pounds, or, say 1,860 pounds. Under this rule it is customary to deduct one-twentieth of the whole for half-fatted cattle; from 15 to 20 pounds on a cow having had calves, and if not fat an equal amount.

SMUT IN WHEAT.

ILIA, N. Y.

What is the cause of smut in wheat, and what is a sure preventive?

G. F.

Answer.—Smut is a fungus with very minute spores, that feeds upon the grain, replacing or destroying the organs upon which it feeds. The best preventive used is a pound of blue vitriol in two gallons of water. But it is not enough to sprinkle this over the wheat. Put the grain into enough of the solution to cover it, and stir slowly to allow the light material to rise. Skim, and at the end of an hour spread the wheat on a dry floor, and sprinkle it with quick-lime, previously so slacked with chamber lye as to leave the lime in powder. So continue until you have all the wheat treated. In this state it may be heaped, and remain several days before sowing, if the heap be occasionally turned. If the wheat remains damp, it must be still further dried, so it will pass easily from the drill, if it is to be drilled. The above plan is recommended by the “American Encyclopedia of Agriculture” as the only certain preventive. Yet even this may fail sometimes.

FIRST REVOLVING TURRET.

LACON, Ill.—Reading an article in Our Curiosity Shop some time ago set me to thinking of some papers of my former husband, H. G. Hamlin, showing that in 1842 he and a Mr. Nathan I. Styles assisted Mr. Theodore L. Timby, who afterward secured the first patent for a turret-ship, to build a model. After much consulting and experimenting, in 1843 they changed their plan and built a working model called a “revolving battery for offensive and defensive warfare on land and sea,” expense not to exceed $1,800. It was finished in June, 1843. The said model consisted of a circular icon tower, about five feet high and eight feet in diameter, with three decks, and pierced on each deck for thirty-five guns, with two perfect engines worked by steam to cause the said tower to revolve. The cost when finished was $2,230. Said model was built in Syracuse, N. Y., and I saw it on exhibition. I will here copy a letter from F. E. Spinner (I cannot copy his signature):

“It is found on inquiry at the Navy Department that the government pays no one for the use of the patent for the revolving turret. It seems that the company with which Mr. Ericsson is connected has paid a Mr. Timby $100,000 for the use of the patent, and Mr. Hamlin and Styles never received $1.”

After knowing this, Mr. Hamlin applied to Timby for his share; he denied that Mr. H. ever had any interest in it. This was in 1863. He had the papers all made out for his claim, but was taken with congestion of the lungs, and died in a few days.

I heard Mr. Timby say that he conceived the idea when he was only 18 years of age. I don’t like the way he treated his partners, but I like to give credit where credit is due. Mr. Ericsson deserves much of his country for his energy and perseverance in making the application when he did.

Please excuse all blunders, as I am an old woman, almost 74 years of age, and this is the first time I ever wrote to an editor. My present husband is nearly 81. We intend to read THE INTER OCEAN as long as our sight will permit.

MRS. WM. MAXWELL.

CLIFF DWELLINGS IN SONORA.

WHITEWATER, Wis.

Is it so that there has been a recent discovery of ancient dwellings in Sonora cut in the sides of the mountains, in solid rock? If so, is it known who made them?

ABORIGINE.

Answer.—There are some remarkable ruins about four miles southeast of Magdalena, Mexico, in the State of Sonora, which have of late attracted a good deal of notice. There is among these one pyramid, with a base of 4,320 feet square and an elevation of 750 feet. It has a winding roadway, leading by an easy grade from bottom to top, wide enough for carriages. This is several miles long. In the sides of this mountain, as one ascends, he passes hundreds of chambers cut in the solid rock, with walls, floor, and ceiling hewn to an even precision truly remarkable. These chambers vary in size from five to ten, sixteen, and even eighteen feet square. There are no windows and but one entrance, which is always from the top. The height of the ceiling, usually, is eight feet. The walls are covered in places with hieroglyphics and figures of men and animals. In some places feet and hands of human beings are found cut in the rock. Who constructed these dwellings is not now certainly known. Some claim that they were the ancestors of the ancient Aztecs or Toltecs. It is not improbable that they are the remains of ancient Zuni tribes.

GOVERNORS OF INDIANA.

GREENCASTLE, Ind.

Will the Curiosity Shop give me the names of the Governors of Indiana from 1800 to the present time and the time when each was in office.

C. E. JACKSON.

Answer.—Territorial Indiana had but three Governors: William H. Harrison, 1800-1811; John Gibson, 1811-1813; Thomas Posey, 1813-1816. Admitted to the Union in 1816, its first State Governor was Jonathan Jennings, who served until 1822. His successors were William Hendricks, 1822-1825; James B. Ray, 1825-1831; Noah Noble, 1831-1837; David Wallace, 1837-1840; Samuel Bigger, 1840-1843: James Whitcomb, 1843-1848; Paris G. Dunning, 1848-1849; Joseph A. Wright, 1849-1857; Ashbel P. Willard, 1857-1861; Oliver P. Morton, 1861-1867; Conrad Baker, 1867-1873; Thomas A. Hendricks, 1873-1877; James D. Williams, 1877-1881; Albert G. Porter, 1881-1885.

LOYAL CONFERENCE—DIAMONDS.

OHIO, Ill.

1. I was told that some religious body of persons—as a conference—cheered on hearing the news of a political achievement. What body was it, and where? 2. Is there a tariff on diamonds brought into this country? 3. Are the women of Utah allowed to vote at general elections?

NELSON SHIFFLET.

Answer.—In several instances during the late war the Methodist Episcopal Church Conferences cheered and sang the doxology when news of great victories for the Union was announced; and in religious meetings of several denominations the announcement of President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was received with shouts or cheers and songs of thanksgiving. 2. Glaziers diamonds are on the free list, but on other diamonds, cut or uncut, there is a duty of 25 per cent ad valorem. 3. Utah women have the right of suffrage in all Territorial elections. None of the Territories have any voice in the Presidential elections.

STATE OFFICERS OF WISCONSIN.

SHARON, Wis.

1. What steps must be taken before a Territory can be admitted to the Union as a State? 2. Please name the different State officers of Wisconsin, the salary of each, and when each term began and will end.

A READER.

Answer.—The answer to your second question would fill one or two columns of our paper, and we must, therefore, refer you to the Secretary of State, Madison, Wis. The following is a list of the present State officers:

Governor, J. M. Rusk $5,000 Lieutenant Governor, S. S. Fifield 1,000 Secretary of State, E. G. Timme 5,000 Treasurer, E. C. McFetridge 5,000 Attorney General, L. F. Frisby 3,000 Adjutant General, C. P. Chapman 500 Superintendent Public Schools, Robert Graham 1,200 Secretary Agricultural Society, C. Babbitt 2,000 Commissioners of Lands, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and Attorney General, ex-officio Insurance Commissioner, P. L. Spooner, Jr 3,000 Railroad Commissioner, N. P. Hanger 3,000 State Librarian, J. R. Berryman 1,500 Chief Justice, Orsamus Cole 5,000 Associate Justices, W. P. Lyon, H. S. Orton, David Taylor, and J. B. Cassady, each 5,000 Clerk, Clarence Kellogg, $5 per day and fees.

The terms of the first four officers named, and of the Superintendent of Public Schools, began Jan. 2, 1882, and will end Jan. 7, 1885; the Adjutant General is appointed by the Governor, as is also the State Librarian; the Secretary of the State Agricultural society is elected by the board; the term of the Insurance Commissioners began Jan. 5, 1882, and will end Jan. 5, 1885. Your first question has been answered recently as well as we can do it.

MAINE LIQUOR LAW.

MT. AYR, Iowa.

Please tell us what the Maine liquor law is, and its effects. Are the Prohibitionists generally satisfied with the law?

M. J. DONAHOE.

Answer.—The “Maine law,” briefly stated, is this: The sale of all intoxicating liquors shall be controlled exclusively by a special agent, appointed by the State; and he shall superintend their lawful sale for medicinal, mechanical, and manufacturing purposes. All other persons are prohibited from selling any liquors, except unadulterated cider and wine, and from manufacturing for unlawful sale. The authorized commissioner, violating the law, shall be fined not less than $30, and imprisoned for not more than three months. A common seller shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $250, with imprisonment for from three to four months. Any one receiving injury from an intoxicated person may sue the one who sold the liquor. The lessee or owner of the saloon is also liable. As to the effect of the law, we quote from the address of Governor Dingley to the Legislature, in 1875: “The statistics (in the Attorney General’s report) show that during the past year, in the Supreme Court alone, there have been 276 convictions, 41 commitments to jail, and $30,898 collected in fines under these laws—more of each than in any other year, and four times as many convictions and ten times as many fines as in 1866, when the general enforcement of these laws was resumed after the close of the war. It is significant, also, that during these nine or ten years of gradually increasing efficiency in the enforcement of the laws against dram-shops, the number of convicts in the State Prison has fallen off more than one-fourth.” Governor Sidney Perham, in his message to the Legislature in 1872, says; “The present law, when it is enforced, is, so far as I can judge, as effective in the suppression of the traffic as are other criminal laws against the crimes they are intended to prevent.” And Governor Chamberlain, in his message of 1870, said; “The laws against intoxicating liquors are as well executed and obeyed as the laws against profanity, unchastity, and murder.” These are a few of the testimonies given to the efficiency of the Maine law. As a rule prohibitionists are satisfied with the efficiency, but not the sufficiency, of the legislation. Still the cause of temperance has been greatly aided by the Maine legislation, and the progress has probably been as great as could be expected.

GREAT SALT LAKE.

FREDONIA, N. Y.

What is the extent of Great Salt Lake? Has it any outlet? Are the waters salt enough to make good salt? Is Salt Lake City on the margin of the lake, or some distance off? Is it navigable?

Answer.—Great Salt Lake is a remarkable body of water, in some respects the most remarkable in the world. Like the Dead Sea and the Aral Sea, in Asia, it has no outlet. Its extent is given variously by different authors. One explanation of this may be the generally conceded fact that the rainfall of the region between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada is increasing, and the average level of Salt Lake seems to be steadily rising, so whereas one authority states the length of the lake as about ninety miles and the breadth as from twenty to thirty-five miles, another says it is seventy miles long and forty-five broad. One says its area is about 3,200 square miles, and another says it is between 3,000 and 4,000 square miles. One says it is about 4,200 feet above sea level, while another says it is 4,250 feet above, and still rising, and a still later statement sets it at 4,260 feet above tidewater. One gives the mean depth at 12 feet, and another at about twenty feet. Its maximum depth is variously given at sixty feet and seventy-eight feet. It contains numerous rocky islands, the longest of which, Antelope, is fifteen miles long. Some of these islands are used as sheep pastures. The Bear, the Weber, and the Jordan rivers empty into this lake, and are for the most part absorbed by the sandy plain or evaporated by the dry air of the Great Fremont Basin. Only the Bear River is navigable, and that near its mouth. A line of steamers plies between Corinne, on the north shore, and Black Rock, on the south. Its waters contain about 20 per cent of common salt; some salt is manufactured from this natural brine, and there is no doubt that in time this industry will develop here into great importance. Unlike the Dead Sea, this lake abounds with animal life, insects, shrimps, etc., but not, like the Aral Sea, with fish. The United States Fish Commission has undertaken the experiment of stocking it with certain salt-water fish, and with some prospect of success. Salt Lake City is about eleven miles from the lake in a straight line, and fifteen miles by the traveled road.

INDIAN EDUCATION.

CARLINVILLE, Ill.

An Indian-hater in this neighborhood asserts very positively that the attempts made to educate the Indians are all time and money thrown away. What figures can you give us to disprove this assertion?

A READER.

Answer.—The last report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs furnishes proof positive that “Indian-hater” is either utterly unprepared to make assertions on this subject, or wilfully misrepresents the facts. Last year there were 5,113 Indian pupils being taught at boarding-schools, and 5,014 in day-schools. There are seventy-eight boarding-schools upon Indian reservations, having in all 4,396 pupils, and in these industrial training has been carried on so successfully that the pupils have cultivated 1,526 acres, raising 18,334 bushels of corn, 4,952 bushels of oats, 19,340 bushels of vegetables, and have made 1,171 tons of hay, and 4,325 pounds of butter. Of the boarding pupils in schools not on reservations, 641 have attended the Indian training-schools at Hampton (109), Carlisle (390), and Forest Grove (151), and 106 have been distributed among various white schools in the States. At Hampton, since 1878, the government has contributed in all $52,000, and private charity $81,000, or, taking the existing number of students as the standard for the five years, $244 per year per student. In these training schools the industrial and mechanic arts are kept in the foreground, and the main object is to inspire the minds of the young Indians with habits of faithful, continuous work. During the past year Carlisle, in addition to much other work, has turned out ten spring wagons to be sent to Indian agencies, and Carlisle and Hampton propose to furnish during the present fiscal year 2,000 pair of shoes, 3,350 dozen articles of tinware, 22 dozen bridles and halters, and 450 sets of harness. An effort is made to teach every Indian girl pupil sewing and housework and the boys farming and mechanical trades. The various religious societies have expended $74,689 in aid of the government work of education strictly, besides $70,142 expended on their own missionary work. This is besides $13,278 contributed by them in aid of Forest Grove and Carlisle training schools, the $26,668 in aid of the pupils at Hampton, $30,504 expended by the societies on their own seminaries, academies, and missions among the five civilized tribes, and $24,149 devoted to schools and missions in Alaska. The Commissioner pays a high tribute to the value of this religious aid.

CHINESE PROVERBS.

LASALLE, Ill.

I have just read that the Chinese are exceedingly fond of proverbs, and make great use of them. That many of these proverbs are full of lofty sentiment and wisdom. Can the Curiosity Shop give us a few of them as specimens?

A REGULAR READER.

Answer.—The Chinese are indeed remarkably fond of proverbs. They not only employ them in conversation—and even to a greater degree than the Spaniards, who are noted among Europeans for the number and excellence of their proverbial sayings—but they have a practice of adorning their reception rooms with these sententious bits of wisdom, inscribed on decorated scrolls or embroidered on rich crapes and brocades. They carve them on door posts and pillars, and emblazon them on the walls and ceilings in gilt letters. In 1875, W. Scarborough published a collection of 2,720 Chinese proverbs; and these are but a small part of the great collections to be found in the “Jeweled Mirror for Illumining the Mind,” “The Coral Forest of Ancient Matters,” and other Chinese works. The following are a few specimens of this sort of literature, taken from “The Middle Kingdom,” by S. Wells Williams, for many years Secretary of the United States Legation at Peking, and several times de facto United States Minister. As a sneer at the use of unnecessary force to crush a contemptible enemy, they say; “He rides a fierce dog to catch a lame rabbit.” Similar to this is another, “To use a battle-ax to cut off a hen’s head.” They say of wicked associates: “To cherish a bad man is like nourishing a tiger; if not well fed he will devour you.” Here are several others mingling wit with wisdom: “To instigate a villain to do wrong is like teaching a monkey to climb trees;” “To catch fish and throw away the net,” which recalls our saying, “Using the cat’s paw to pull the chestnuts out of the fire;” “To climb a tree to catch a fish,” is to talk much to no purpose; “A superficial scholar is a sheep dressed in a tiger’s skin;” “A cuckoo in a magpie’s nest,” equivalent to saying, “he is enjoying another’s labor without compensation;” “If the blind lead the blind they will both fall into the pit;” “A fair wind raises no storm;” “Vast chasms can be filled, but the heart of man is never satisfied;” “The body may be healed, but the mind is incurable;” “He seeks the ass, and lo! he sits upon him;” “He who looks at the sun is dazzled; he who hears the thunder is deafened,” i. e., do not come too near the powerful; “Prevention is better than cure;” “Wine and good dinners make abundance of friends, but in adversity not one of them is to be found.” “Let every man sweep the snow from before his own door, and not trouble himself about the frost on his neighbors’ tiles.” The following one is a gem of moral wisdom: “Only correct yourself on the same principle that you correct others; and excuse others on the same principles on which you excuse yourself.” “Better not be, than be nothing.” “One thread does not make a rope; one swallow does not make a summer.” “Sensuality is the chief of sins, filial duty the best of acts.” “The horse’s back is not so safe as the buffalo’s”—the former is used by the politician, the latter by the farmer. “Too much lenity multiplies crime.” “If you love your son give him plenty of the rod; if you hate him, cram him with dainties.” “He is my teacher who tells me my faults, he my enemy who speaks my virtues.” Having a wholesome dread of litigation, they say of one who goes to law, “He sues a flea to catch a bite.” Their equivalent for our “coming out at the little end of the horn” is, “The farther the rat creeps up (or into) the cow’s horn, the narrower it grows.” The truth of their saying that “The fame of good deeds does not leave a man’s door, but his evil acts are known a thousand miles off,” is illustrated in our own daily papers every morning. Finally, we close this list with a Chinese proverb which should be inscribed on the lintel of every door in Christendom; “The happy hearted man carries joy for all the household.”

SHINTUISM—BUDDHISM—CONFUCIANISM.

CASTLETON, Ill.

Please give us a statement in the “Curiosity Shop” of what is known as Shintuism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, as now existing in China and Japan.

W. H. JORDAN.

Answer.—Shintuism, Sintuism, Sintoism, or Sin-syuism, is the prevailing religion of Japan, the worship of the sun-goddess, Ten-sio-dai-sin. The descendant and viceregent on earth of this deity is the Mikado, who is therefore worshiped as a demi-god. Two ecclesiastical judges, with monks and priests, complete the hierarchy, and the latter minister at innumerable shrines and temples, raised for the worship of the chief deity and a legion of canonized heroes and benefactors. In these temples there is no idol visible, but on the shrine is a mirror, symbolizing purity. Sintuism requires pre-eminently heart purity and general temperance, and as aids to these prescribes pilgrimages to holy places, observance of holy days, and mortification of the body. Buddhism, one of the oldest existing religions, traces its origin 2,460 years back, to Siddhartha, or Buddha, a Hindoo prince. Its two most prominent doctrines are the transmigration of the soul and the cursed condition or total depravity of human existence in its natural state. The first teaches that at death every soul immediately assumes another body, corresponding in form and habitation to the previous character of the spirit. If noble, it may become a divinity, or dwell in some high place upon the earth, while the wicked wander as reptiles and vermin, or inhabit the hells in the interior of the earth. The least term of suffering is 10,000,000 years, of happiness 10,000,000,000 years. But however long or short, it must have an end, and the soul enters a new body. Buddha himself, it is said, has passed through every form of existence. The second doctrine is embodied in the “Four Sublime Verities:” Pain exists; its cause is desire; it may be ended by Nirvana; the way to Nirvana is a rise through eight gradations, from simple faith to complete regeneration. Theoretically this religion has no priests nor clergy nor public religious rites. Every man is his own priest and confessor, and the monks are ascetics only for their own advancement in holy living; but, in fact, Buddhist countries swarm with priests, or religious teachers, so reputed. Confucianism is epitomized in the following words of the great teacher: “I teach you nothing but what you might learn yourselves, viz., the observance of the three fundamental laws of relation between sovereign and subject, father and child, husband and wife; and the five capital virtues—universal charity, impartial justice, conformity to ceremonies and established usages, rectitude of heart and mind, and pure sincerity. Confucius did not profess to have received any revelation from “Shan-te”—the Supreme Ruler—or to have any clear conceptions of Him, although he acknowledged the existence of such a being, and taught that His will as learned by studying and practicing the wisdom of the ancients by the light of nature, should be implicitly obeyed, as the only means of living virtuously and happily and avoiding both in this life and the life to come the penalties of evil-doing.

MERMAID TAVERN AND CLUB.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Please give in the Curiosity Shop a description of the famous club founded by Sir Walter Raleigh and called the “Mermaid Club.” I have searched in vain for information on this subject.

FANNIE MACK.

Answer.—Tradition states that Sir Walter Raleigh, before his unfortunate engagement with Cobham, gathered a number of his most eminent friends in “The Mermaid,” and there instituted what was known as the “Mermaid Club.” “The Mermaid” was a tavern so situated as to have three entrances—on Bread, Cheap, and Friday streets, and was the favorite resort of the leading actors and literary men in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; but the Raleigh club was acknowledged to combine “more talent and genius than ever met together before or since.” Here Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher, Selden, Carew, Donne, and Shakespeare met for convivial enjoyment, and this was the scene of the famous disputes between Jonson and Shakespeare, the two eminent dramatists.

THE BLACKSMITH KING.

QUINCY, Ill.

Did any king crown the blacksmith king of all trades, as illustrated in the heading of the Industrial Worker? If so, what is the story?

JAMES ALBERTS.

Answer.—In reply to this query we received the following explanation from the editor of the paper mentioned: Our heading illustrates an old Scriptural and Masonic legend, that of “Solomon and the Iron-worker,” otherwise known as “Tubal Cain.” The scene is the celebration of the completion of the great temple at Jerusalem. It has been announced that on this occasion the one who of all others has been most instrumental in the erection of the sacred structure shall be given the chief seat of honor, and the guests are horrified to perceive that the lowly blacksmith has, unobserved, placed himself in it. Loud murmurs arise, and a movement is made having for its object his ejectment. Nothing daunted, the man rises and declares his supremacy over all the other artificers, in that he wrought all their tools, and without his work they could have done nothing. The correctness of his position is thus proven to the satisfaction of the king, complaints are silenced, and all honor accorded the humble smith. The dignity of labor, however unpretending, is thus demonstrated. The Rabbinical legend of which we have here traced a sketch, is full of beauty in its entirety, giving in detail the challenge of the assembled guests, the defense of the man, and the speech of the king.

NEBRASKA STATE NORMAL.

WAHOO, Neb.

What are the principal facts as to the State Normal School of this State? How long has it been in operation? What is the amount of the normal school fund? What is the amount of the annual appropriation to meet current expenses? What results have been obtained? Please answer and throw as much light as possible upon this subject, about which there is a good deal of discussion going on in this part of Nebraska just at the present time.

SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.—The State Normal School of Nebraska is located at Peru, near the Missouri River, about fifty miles north of the Kansas line. This is a town of 567 inhabitants, according to the census, accessible only by a branch of the Burlington and Missouri Railroad. It secured the location of the school by a donation of site and other inducements at a time when the population of the State was only about 100,000. It graduated its first class, consisting of two members, in 1870. The total number of graduates to date is 73. Total enrollment last year, 318—the largest number in the history of the school. The normal endowment fund, in notes and bonds, aggregated $16,308.35 last year, and the income from all sources in 1881 amounted to $2,423.58. The total appropriation asked of the last Legislature, was as follows, the several items being represented by the principal as “absolutely necessary to the efficient working of the school for each of the next two fiscal years:”

Salaries for teachers, per year $11,000 Fuel and lights, per year 1,000 Repairs, per year 500 Board’s expenses, per year 500 Janitor’s wages and help, per year 500 Apparatus, per year .............. 500 Printing, stationery, advertising, per y’r. 300 Furniture, per year 300 Wells and cisterns, per year 200 Imp’ts of grounds and buildings, per y’r. 200 Incidentals, per year 200 Postage and postal expenses, per year 100 Expense special inst’n and lectures, p. yr. 100 ——————— Total $15,400

The total amount granted averaged about $14,300 a year.

BLACK HAWK’S TOWER.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.

Where is Black Hawk’s Tower, and what is it like? Is it built of masonry or earth?

A. H. C.

Answer.—It is a natural rock near the Falls of Rock River, near the southeastern angle of Rock Island bluffs, a few miles from the city of Rock Island. It commands an extensive view of the surrounding country for ten miles up the Rock River Valley, and northward nearly eight miles to the Mississippi. Black Hawk’s chief village was situated in the forks of the Mississippi and Rock River, just below this, and this wooded rock formed a natural lookout tower for him on the side most open to attack. The name was given to it by the pioneers.

WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING.

CHARLES CITY, Iowa.

Please give a short account of the life and writings of Dr. Channing.

MRS. R. W. MAY.

Answer.—The great apostle of Unitarianism, as he has been called, was born at Newport, R. I., April 7, 1780, and in his 15th year entered Harvard University. In 1798, on his graduation day, he delivered an oration that captivated the whole audience, and foretold his future fame as an orator and writer. While teaching in Richmond, Va., he became impressed with the evils of slavery, and deemed the surest cure for all such abuses to be the spread of Christianity. Returning to Harvard, he began his theological studies, acting at the same time as regent of the university. In 1803 he assumed the pastorate of Federal Street Church, Boston, and at once became known as an eloquent and brilliant orator, as well as an efficient minister. His finest oration, perhaps, is the one delivered upon the fall of Napoleon, in 1814, and entitled “The Goodness of God in Delivering the Christian World from Military Despotism.” In 1820 he received the title of Doctor of Divinity from Harvard. Two years later, while visiting in Europe, he met Coleridge, who said of him, “He has the love of wisdom and the wisdom of love.” His “Remarks Upon the Life and Character of Napoleon Bonaparte,” which appeared in 1828, did much to spread his fame throughout the civilized world. His greatest theological work is, probably, the “Evidences of Christianity.” An earnest minister of the Unitarian Church, he was always a sincerely devout Christian. A friend of the anti-slavery and temperance movements, when they had but few, his last public speech was in commemoration of the abolition of slavery in the British West Indies. His death occurred in 1842, and his body was laid in the cemetery of Mount Auburn.

SIR WILLIAM WALLACE.

POSTVILLE, Iowa.

1. Please give a sketch of Sir William Wallace, the Scottish patriot. 2. In what year was the Crimean war.

MAUD MURLIN.

Answer.—William Wallace was the youngest son of a knight of good family in southwestern Scotland. The place of his birth is uncertain, but the date was probably about the middle of the reign of Alexander III. When Edward offered pardon to the Scottish leaders, after the subjugation of Scotland and the surrender of Baliol, Wallace was excepted by name, being ordered to surrender unconditionally. This he refused to do, and for many years eluded the search of those who coveted the handsome price put upon his head. In 1305, however, he was seized and carried to London, and there, after a mock trial, on the 23d of August, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered, as a traitor. But his cause lived, and a year later Robert Bruce was crowned at Scone, King of independent Scotland. 2. The Crimean war lasted nearly two years, from 1854 to 1856.

“HOBSON’S CHOICE.”

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa.

Please tell us the origin of the expression,“Hobson’s choice.”

F. W. WILDER.

Answer.—The Atlantic Monthly for December, 1883, contained the following: “The explanation of the proverbial saying about ‘Hobson’s choice’ is given by Steele in the Spectator, No. 509,” The passage referred to is this: “Tobias Hobson was the first man in England that let out hackney horses. * * * When a man came for a horse he was led into the stable where there was a great choice, but Hobson obliged him to take the horse which stood nearest to the stable door: so that every customer was alike well served, according to his chance, from whence it became a proverb, when what ought to be your election was forced upon you, to say, ‘Hobson’s choice.’”

CALIFORNIA.

FONDA, Iowa.

Will you be kind enough to give your readers a description of California—the climate and resources of the different parts of the State, and the price of land to each; what places are best adapted to fruit trees, and what fruits grow there, and the amount of teachers’ wages?

HENRY JOHNSON.

Answer.—The State of California is divided into three entirely distinct sections: the coast region, the valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and the deserts. Owing to the irregularity of the surface, only about one-third of the State is arable, and in northern California the crops are wholly dependent upon the rainfall. In the southern part of the State the land is irrigated by numerous streams. The chief products of California are wheat, barley, fruit, timber, and gold; the raising of cattle and sheep is also profitable business. The coast region is fertile and beautiful, abounding in vineyards and orchards. The climate, varying from 51 degrees to 75 degrees in summer, and in winter seldom colder than 15 degrees, is well suited to the cultivation of such fruits as apples, peaches, pears, oranges, lemons, almonds, olives, and figs. In this region also, is the great gold belt, most of the mines being on the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas. All of the gold, however, is not found here, as the earliest mining was on the southeastern slope, and the precious metal is distributed over the most of the State. The valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers occupy the country between the coast range and the Sierras. This fertile region is devoted to farming and grazing, and produces more barley than is raised in any other State, while its wheat harvests increased 133 per cent from 1860 to 1870. Here, during the rainy season, the mercury falls to 45 deg., and seldom rises higher than 85 deg. In the Colorado desert the difference between the mean temperature of January and July is greater, being some 45 deg., while the mean annual temperature ranges from 68 to 75 deg. Little land here is arable, owing to the lack of irrigation. California has an excellent public school system, closely resembling that of Massachusetts. In 1880 the average monthly pay of male teachers was $79.50; of female teachers, $64.73. Land in California is by no means cheap. The fruit lands are scarce, and for the most part in the hands of private individuals; when well cultivated and irrigated they sell for $150 to $300 per acre. Grain lands in Northern and North Central California sell for $50 to $100 per acre, though some at a great distance from railroads and rivers may be bought for $20 to $30. Grazing lands vary in price from $1.25 to $10 per acre, according to locality. There are fruit lands in Southern California, far from Los Angeles and any good market, which can be had for from $30 to $50 per acre.

THE “BRANDED HAND.”

BEAVER CITY, Neb.

Please give an account of the “Man with the Branded Hand,” who died a few years since. Why was he branded, and what was the name of the miscreant who officiated?

B. W. HAWKINS.

Answer.—The man who has become so famous was Jonathan Walker, captain of a small vessel off the Florida coast. He was born at Harwich, Mass., March 22, 1799, and died at Lake Harbor, Mich., April 20, 1878. June 23, 1844, though quite ill, and daily expecting death, he attempted to carry seven slaves to Nassau, in the British island, New Providence; but, when only a short distance out, he was challenged by the sloop Catharine, and taken back to Key West. There he was brought before a justice of the peace, and committed first to jail, and afterward to the filthy hold of a steamboat that carried him to Pensacola, where a new trial awaited him. This time, when he was imprisoned, a chain of half-inch iron secured him to a huge ring bolt, being fastened at the other end to a shackle around his ankle that weighed half a ton. Owing to his feeble health his sufferings were excruciating, but his further sentence read thus; “One hour in the pillory, pelted with unmerchantable eggs; one year in prison for each slave—seven in all; $600 for each slave, and all the costs; and to be branded on the right hand with a large S, by a redhot branding-iron.” But he bore his tortures without flinching, and lived to be restored to his family after much unjust litigation. We do not know who may have officiated at the branding; but Ebenezer Dorr, of Maine, was at that time the United States Marshal for that district. A beautiful monument to the memory of Captain Walker has been erected in Muskegon, Mich.

THE OLDEST ARCHITECTURAL RUINS.

DES MOINES, Iowa.

What is the oldest architectural work known to exist?

SCHOLAR.

Answer.—Perhaps it is safe to say, with the editor of the “People’s Cyclopedia,” that it is the remarkable rock-cut temples at Ipsambul of Abousambul, in Nubia, on the left bank of the Nile. The largest temple contains fourteen apartments hewn out of the solid rock. The first and largest of these is 57 feet long and 52 feet broad, and is supported by two rows of massive square pillars, four in each row, and 30 feet high. To each of these pillars is attached a standing colossus, or human figure, of enormous proportions, reaching to the roof, overlaid with a kind of stucco and painted with gaudy colors, apparently as brilliant now, after the lapse of over 4,000 years, as when first laid on. In front of this temple are seated four still larger human figures, two of them being 65 feet in height—presumed to represent Rameses the Great, more frequently termed Sesostris, whose marvelous military exploits are depicted in drawings and paintings on the temple walls.

PRODUCTION OF SPIRITS.

HURON, D. T.

Is the production of spirits increasing or decreasing? Some temperance advocates maintain that it is growing less, owing to the efforts of the various temperance organizations.

ANTI-SALOONIST.

Answer.—The best answer to this question is contained in the latest report of the Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Folger says: “The quantity of spirits produced and deposited in distillery warehouses during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1883, is less than the production of 1882 by 31,839,853 gallons, and of 1881 by 43,741,842 gallons.” He distributes this decrease as follows:

Decrease in production of— Gallons.

Bourbon whisky 20,913,422 Rye whisky 4,440,123 Alcohol 4,482,965 Gin 23,366 Highwines 2,260,428 Miscellaneous 241,385 —————————— Total decrease 32,361,689

Increase in production of— Gallons.

Rum 97,876 Pure neutral or Cologne spirits 423,960 ——————— Total Increase 521,836 —————————— Net decrease 31,839,853

There were remaining in distillery warehouses at the dates below specified distilled spirits as follows:

Dates. Gallons.

June 30, 1883 80,499,993 June 30, 1882 89,962,645

There should come out of bonded warehouses, under the present law, and pay tax, distilled spirits as follows:

Dates. Gallons.

By June 6, 1884 26,104,531 By July 6, 1884 3,495,512 —————————— Total 29,600,043

It is to avert taking this large amount of spirits out of warehouse and throwing it upon the market more rapidly than it is called for that the distillers are so lustily petitioning Congress to postpone the date of withdrawal. Several causes have conspired to bring about the decrease in production of spirits above shown, of which the vigor with which the temperance movement has been pushed of late years is indisputably one.

ART, HISTORICAL, AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

BATTLE CREEK, Mich.

I am satisfied that many keen observers of climatic changes and other scientific phenomena, and many old residents of this country who are in possession of historical information of pioneer times which should be preserved, would communicate what they know to societies interested in such matters if THE INTER OCEAN would only publish a list of some of the most important of such societies. “Will not Our Curiosity Shop favor us with such a list? Also, give the names of a few of the most noted societies or academies of Europe.

AMATEUR.

Answer.—Taking the world at large there are many hundreds of societies for the promotion of science, literature, or the arts. It is not worth while to enumerate more than a few of those in foreign countries. In France they have the famous Institute of France, with its four academies, viz: The French Academy, the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Fine Arts. There is the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin; the Academy of Science at Manheim; the Electoral Bavarian Academy of Sciences at Munich; the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg; the Academy of Sciences at Stockholm; the Royal Academy of Sciences at Copenhagen; the Royal Academy of Sciences at Amsterdam; the Academy of Sciences at Madrid; the de Screti. or Academia Secretorum Naturæ, at Naples; the Royal Academy of Sciences at Turin; the Academy of Sciences at Lisbon; the Royal Academy, London; and the Royal Irish Academy. Then there are academies for the advancement of literature in nearly all European countries. There were no fewer than 171 of these in Italy alone as early as the sixteenth century, many of which still exist. Then there are many academies of archæology and history, such as the Academy of Herculaneum, Italy; the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, constituting one of the four academies of the Institute of France, as above shown; the Celtic Academy, and others. There are academies of medicine and surgery in various parts of the old world. As to painting, sculpture, and music, they have such powerful auxiliary societies as the Royal Academy of Arts, the Royal Academy of Music, and the Academy of Ancient Music, in London; the Academy of Painting and Sculpture and the Royal Academy of Music, in Paris; and similar academies at Rome, Turin, Madrid, Berlin, Munich, and elsewhere. There are geographical societies at all the principal capitals of Europe. Of these the most conspicuous are the Royal Geographical Society, London, the Geographical Society of France, Paris, the Geographical Society of Berlin, and the Royal Asiatic Society, London, with branches at Calcutta and Shanghai.

For the practical purposes stated above, and other laudable causes, which are certainly worthy of encouragement, the following list of some of the most important societies in the United States is of much greater consequence to readers of THE INTER OCEAN:

Academy of Sciences, Chicago. Albany Institute, Albany, N. Y. American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston, Mass. American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. American Association for Advancement of Science, Salem, Mass. American Association for Advancement of Social Science, Boston, Mass. American Bible Society, New York. American Colonization Society, Washington. American Geographical Society, New York. American Institute, New York. American Museum of Natural History, New York. American Numismatic and Archæological Society, New York. American Oriental Society, New Haven, Conn. American Peace Society, Boston, Mass. American Philological Society, New York. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia. American Public Health Association, Washington. American Society of Civil Engineers and Architects, New York. American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, New York. Anthropological Society, Washington. Board of Trustees of Peabody Academies and Model Schools, New Orleans. Buffalo Historical Society, Buffalo, N. Y. Chicago Historical Society, Chicago. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Conn. Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York. Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pa. Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Ga. Iowa Historical Society, Iowa City, Iowa. Lowell Institute, Boston, Mass. Maine Historical Society, Brunswick, Me. Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Md. Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Mass. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minn. National Academy of Design, New York. National Academy of Sciences, Washington. New England Historic-Geneological Society, Boston, Mass. New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord, N. H. New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, N. J. New York Academy of Sciences, New York. New York Historical Society, New York. Ohio Philosophical and Historical Society, Cincinnati. Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. Peabody Academy of Sciences, Salem, Mass. Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Md. Pennsylvania Historical Society, Philadelphia. Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence, R. I. Smithsonian Institute, Washington, South Carolina Historical Society, Charleston, S. C. Southern Historical Society, Richmond, Va. Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society, Richmond, Va. Vermont Historical Society, Montpelier, Vt. Washington Philosophical Society, Washington. Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio. Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Madison, Wis. Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wis.

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Please give a short biography of William E. Gladstone.

C. B.

Answer.—The Hon. William Ewart Gladstone was born of Scottish parents in Liverpool, Dec. 29, 1809. He received a thorough education at Eton and Oxford, graduating from both with the highest honors. In 1832 he entered politics, being returned for Newark. He early joined himself with the Conservative party, under the leadership of Robert Peel, in which his abilities were soon recognized by that distinguished statesman, who gave him the position of Junior Lord of the Treasury in 1834, and in the following year made him Under Secretary of State; but with Peel’s retirement he relinquished that office, in 1841, when Peel again became Premier, Gladstone served under him as Vice President, and afterward as President of the Board of Trade, in which capacity he derived much information concerning the commerce of the nation. He left the Conservative party in his support of Peel’s free-trade policy, and again retired in 1845. In 1859 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord Palmerston’s administration, which office he held to his credit until 1866. Two years afterward he was elevated into the premiership; but his defeat in 1874 resulted in the elevation of his great rival, Disraeli. He then resolved to remain out of politics; but the policy of Beaconsfield in the Eastern question called forth his earnest disapprobation, and again brought him before the people in opposition to the administration. The year 1880 signalized his triumph, a triumph which was universally acknowledged as the result of his own personal popularity and sterling qualities. Gladstone has always been recognized as a man of strong character, who has conscientiously endeavored to advance the interests of the nation and people. In oratory he possesses the wonderful faculty of making statistics eloquent. He quickly perceives a difficulty, and with wise discernment unravels it. The past three years have only added honor to his name, and it is to be hoped that so favorable a beginning may be the dawn of a fruitful administration, and that ere long the vexed Irish question or questions will be solved forever.

INTERNAL REVENUE.

MADISON Wis.

Let us know how the receipts from internal revenue in 1883 compare with those in 1882, and oblige an opponent of the proposition to take off the tax on spirits and tobacco. Add cost of collecting the same.

JAMES.

Answer.—The total receipts under the internal revenue laws for the two fiscal years ending June 30, 1882, and June, 1883, were as shown in the table below;

Objects taxed. 1882. 1883.

Distilled spirits $69,873,408.18 $74,368,775.20 Tobacco 47,391,988.91 42,104,249.79 Fermented liquors 16,153,920.42 16,900,615.81 Banks and bankers 5,253,458.47 3,748,994.60 Adhesive stamps— Bank checks 2,318,455.14 1,946.272.10 Friction matches 3,262,258.00 2,920,545.20 Patent medicines, etc. 1,978,395.56 2,186,236.16 Penalties 199,830.04 305,803.57 Collections not otherwise provided for 81,559.00 71,852.43 ——————————————— ——————————————— Total $146,523,273.72 $144,553,344.86

The increase of revenue from spirits during the last fiscal year was $4,495,367.02; from fermented liquors was $746,695.39: the decrease from tobacco, $5,287,739.12; and from banks and bankers, $1,504,463.87. The total decrease of internal revenue from all sources up to June 30, 1883, was $1,969,928.86. This decrease was due mainly to the removal of certain taxes and the reduction of others effected by the legislation of the last Congress. The cost of collecting the internal revenue in the last year above named was $5,113,734.88. Owing to the recent action of the President consolidating collection districts, which dispenses with the services of a number of collectors, and other curtailments rendered possible by the legislation of the Republican Congress of 1881-1883, the estimated cost of collecting internal revenue during the current fiscal year is $4,999,190, and from present indications the actual cost will be considerably less than this.

INTEREST PAID BY PACIFIC R. R. COMPANIES.

COLUMBUS, Neb.

What amount, if anything, have the Pacific Railroad Companies repaid on account of interest on their bonds advanced by the General Government?

ANTI-MONOPOLIST.

Answer.—We are not prepared to give the whole amounts, but during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1883, the total amount received by the Secretary of the United States Treasury toward repayment of Pacific Railroad bonds, of various names and descriptions, guaranteed by it, was $1,556,866.90, an increase of $716,312.53 over the sum received on this account during the next previous year. During the same period the sum of $1,322,103.11 was collected for the various Pacific railway sinking funds toward liquidation of their bonds. This was $525,831.69 more than during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882.

SALT REVENUE OF NEW YORK STATE.

MUSKEGON, Mich.

Please let us know what income New York State has derived from salt since the manufacture was brought under State control, or monopoly, whichever you please to call it.

A MICHIGAN SALT.

Answer.—The following statistics on this subject, derived from official sources, have been compiled for these columns by David H. Mason, Esq., who is authority on questions of revenue obtained from industrial products, either by Federal or State authorities. It should be observed in this connection that the State of New York supplies the brine to the manufacturers at the cost here indicated. That is to say, for example, for the thirty-six years, 1846 to 1881, inclusive, it supplied the brine for all salt made, and collected in return therefor 1 cent for every bushel of salt produced within the State.

Salt expenditures and revenues of New York in undermentioned years:

Rate Duties Expenditures. per bu. received.

1843 $29,816.72 6c $187,650.00 1844 33,286.58 6c 240,213.24 1845 30,407.77 6c 225,741.48 —————————— —— ——————————— $93,511.07 $653,604.72 Deduct expenditures 93,511.07 ——————————— Net revenue $560,093.65

The total net revenue to the State from this industry from 1818 to 1881, inclusive, was as follows:

Net revenue—

1818 to 1824, 7 years $452,393.39 1825 to 1845, 21 years 2,900,916.50 1846 to 1881, 36 years 706,319.58 ————————————— Sixty-four years $4,059,629.47

The State tax of 12½c per bushel was levied previous to 1834: from that time to April 20, 1846, the tax was 6c per bushel; since then 1c.

Another statement—

1818 to 1833, 16 years, 12c per bu. $1,746,719.45 1834 to 1845, 12 years, 6c per bu. 1,606,590.44 1846 to 1881, 36 years, 1c per bu. 706,319.58 ————————————— Net revenue in 64 years $4,059,629.47

THE ORIGINAL MONITOR.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Is not the statement recently made that the original Monitor, which fought the rebel ram Merrimac, is still afloat a mistake? I am of the impression that she foundered at sea.

OLD CITIZEN.

Answer.—You are quite correct. According to G. V. Fox, at one time Assistant Secretary of the Navy, “At 1 o’clock a. m., Dec. 31, 1862, Cape Hatteras bearing N. N. E., distant twenty miles, this little Monitor—whose fame, ‘following the sun and keeping company with the hours, had circled the earth,’ found a resting place at the bottom of the ocean.”

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Prohibition.

[2] Liberal.

[3] Independent Republican.

[4] Independent Democrat.

[5] Independent.

[6] Readjuster.

[7] By union of anti-Prohibition Republicans with Democrats. Lieutenant Governor and Legislature went Republican.

[8] By union of Democrats, Greenbackers, and Independents.

[9] By fusion of Democrats and Greenbackers.

[10] By combination of Readjusters and Republicans.

[11] Republican, elected for term of one year, beginning May 29, 1883.

[12] This is what is known as “Police London,” its broadest definition. The London covered by “Mortality Bills” contained but 3,831,719 inhabitants.

[13] Glasgow and its suburbs.

[14] Dublin County, most of the population of which is in Dublin and its suburbs.

MISCELLANEOUS ANSWERS

AND

EXECUTIVE AND CONGRESSIONAL DIRECTORY.

R. D. M., Edwardsburg, Mich.—THE DAILY INTER OCEAN first took that name in March, 1872.

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S. L. Moore, Prior Lake, Minn.—General Sheridan was married to Miss Irene Anna Rucker, daughter of General D. H. Rucker, U. S. A., June 3, 1875, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Foley, of Chicago.

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A School Girl, Westville, Ill.—The Russians held Alaska by the right of Behring’s discovery, in 1741, and the subsequent settlement of the territory. In 1799 Paul VIII. granted this land to the Russo-American Fur Company. The charter of the corporation was renewed in 1839, but finally expired in 1863, and in 1867 Alaska was ceded to the United States for $7,200,000.

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Willis Hollings, Albany, Ill.—Greenwich, situated upon the right bank of the Thames, six miles southeast of London Bridge, is a favorite suburb of Londoners, on account of its fine parks and picturesque views. Its meridian was selected as the one from which to reckon standard time because from it navigators generally, the world over, are in the practice of reckoning time and longitude.

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G. H. S., McLean, Ill.—Snow-shoes consist of a flat wooden frame, of lanceolate form, from four to seven feet long, and from eight to fourteen inches in width at the broadest part. This frame is filled with wicker-work or thongs, and furnished with straps upon the upper side, for the feet. The sole may be wholly of wood. By the extreme length and breadth the shoe is prevented from sinking in the snow.

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S. S. H., Smith Center, Kan.:—“The Little Old Sod Shanty on the Claim” was composed by Mr. F. E. Jerome, and first published in the Smith County Pioneer in 1878, and refers to a claim one mile from Smith Center.

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John Stuart, Lyneville, Wis.—The ordinary expenditures of the United States Government for the year 1881 amounted to $178,204,146.41.

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Constant Reader, Chicago—The first negro slave owned in Chicago, it is believed, was Black Jim, the property of John H. Kinzie, brought here by him in 1804.

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A Subscriber, Morris, Ill.—“Johnson’s Universal Cyclopædia” says that Miles Standish lost his wife, Rose, during the first winter in America.

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Daisy, Emporia, Kan.—The sections of one mile square are the smallest tracts, the out-boundaries of which the law requires to be actually surveyed. The minor subdivisions are defined by law, and the Surveyors General, in protracting township plats from the field notes of sections, designate them in red ink, the lines connecting being imaginary.

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Mary Maxwell Call, Fulda, Minn., evidently agrees substantially with another correspondent, whose communication on this subject was published a few days ago, as to the origin of the saying “All is lovely and the goose hangs high.” She writes: “It is a corruption of the sentry call, ‘All is lovely and the goose honks high,’” meaning, the weather is pleasant and the high flying of the geese indicates that it will continue so. She thinks, therefore, that it is not “slang.” Webster, however, does not recognize “honk” as an English word in good standing, though we are not sure but he should do so.

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W. F. Smith, Manning, Iowa.—The steeple of Trinity Church, New York City, is 284 feet in height.

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W. H. L., Springfield, Ill.—“Lady’s Day” is the name given in England to “Annunciation Day,” which always comes on the 25th of March. In France it is known as Notre Dame de Mars. This year it and Easter Sunday corresponded.

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James Wilson, Pontiac, Ill.—Journeymen printers on Chicago morning dailies are paid 40 cents, on evening and weekly papers and book work 37 cents per 1,000 ems. Job printers get from $18 a week, the minimum, to $21. The expenses of living are greater in the city than in the country; this is one reason why wages should be higher in the city. Another is that most of the work on a daily paper must be done at night.

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W. D. Doane, Kokomo, Col.—The government farms out the seal fur fisheries of Alaska to a commercial company for a stipulated revenue, and under strict laws regulating the business.

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C. L. Gilbert, Eau Claire, Wis.—“The Fall of Jerusalem” was written by Henry Hart Milman, who lived from 1791 to 1868.

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L. Brock, Oswego, Kan.—Patented articles must bear notice of some kind that they are patented, and date of patent.

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S. M. Sinclair, Marshalltown, Iowa.—Homesteaders and pre-emptors must file their claims in person. They cannot legally do it by proxy of any kind.

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James Allen, Chicago—The name of the village at the mouth of the Mississippi, Balize, is the Spanish for beacon. A beacon-light has shone here from early times.

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George S. L., Attica, N.Y.—The deepest artesian well in the world is at Sperenburg, about twenty miles from Berlin, Prussia. It is 4,194 feet deep.

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“Lunatic,” Vermont, Ill.—The nineteenth century began Jan. 1, 1801, and will end with Dec. 31, 1900.

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F. P., Amherst, Wis.—The Michigan Central Railroad was completed to Ypsilanti, Feb. 3, 1838; to Jackson, Dec. 30, 1841.

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J. F. Clymer, Silver Lake, Ind.—The total colored population of the United States in 1880 was 6,580,793.

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M. B. Hilts, Towanda, Ill.—The present capital of West Virginia is Charleston. Wheeling was the capital until recently.

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Charles Shick, Imogene, Iowa.—In the contest between John C. Heenan and Tom Sayers for the championship of the prize-ring, Sayers carried off the belt.

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Harry, Creston, Iowa.—Dealings in “futures” or “puts and calls” are contrary to the laws of Illinois. These laws have not been strictly put in force. There is a disposition to do that now.

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Mr. Thompson, Monona, Iowa—There are about 320 acres inclosed in the Union Stock Yards, Chicago.

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G. M. Ford, Chicago.—The total imports of the United States for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882, amounted to $767,111,964; the total exports to $799,959,736.

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C. Allen, Rock Island, Ill.—The great earthquake which destroyed so many lives in the Island of Scio in 1881 occurred on the 3d of April. About 4,000 persons perished.

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Subscriber, Emmetsburg, Iowa—Chore is a corruption of the old English noun char or chare, derived from the verb to char or to chare, signifying to work by the day, take one’s turn at doing jobs, instead of working as a regularly hired servant.

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A. Annubehale, Chicago.—None but native Americans are eligible to the office of President of the United States; but children of American citizens residing abroad are legally regarded as natives of this country so far as this and all other civil rights are concerned.

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G. W. Carter, Blair, Neb.—The fastest mile recorded of a running horse was made by Ten Broeck at Louisville, Ky., May 24, 1877, in 1:39¾. The fastest mile recorded of a trotting horse was made by Maud S. at Rochester, N. Y., Aug. 17, 1881, in 2:10¼.

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J. S. Ewell, Adrian, Ill.—The term “thoroughbred” means bred to a high point from stock of good pedigree. It may be applied to any species of animals, although, owing to the extensive breeding of horses for speed, there has resulted what is now a distinct class known as “thoroughbreds.”

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Blonde and Brunette, Chicago—The phrase “Bread is the staff of life” is attributed to Dr. Jonathan Swift. It is in his “Tale of the Tub.” It is not a Bible phrase. The original of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is still alive. He has published an autobiography. He was in Chicago not many months ago. His name is Rev. Josiah Henson.

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Non-voter, Rockford, Ill.—The fact that you are not a citizen and are, therefore, a non-voter does not exempt you from payment of poll-tax in case you do not wish to work out your assessment on the highways. The public roads are enjoyed by citizens and aliens alike, and—so are the taxes for keeping them in proper order.

* * * * *

C. T. Smith, Braddyville, Iowa—The United States Government has erected a line of towers in Illinois on about the meridian of Urbana, and similar towers in other places, including the one near South Bend, Ind., for the purpose of effecting a more accurate survey of the country, and for other scientific purposes.

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D. W. Barlow, Nettleton, Mo.—Honey-dew is a sweet substance found on the leaves of certain trees and plants in small drops, like dew. There are two kinds of honey-dew, one which exudes from plants, and the other which is deposited on leaves by an insect called the aphis, or vine-fretter.

* * * * *

H. M. Eastman, Fourche, D. T.—The oldest form of religion now extant is the Hebrew religion. The next oldest, probably, are Parseeism, or the religion of Zoroaster, and Brahmanism. All of these have changed materially as regards ceremonial, but in doctrine they are essentially consistent with the faith of their founders.

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“306,” Dana, Iowa—General P. H. Sheridan was at Sedan, by courtesy of the King of Prussia, at the time of the surrender of Napoleon III. and Marshal MacMahon’s army. At the opening of the battle, according to the account of the correspondent of the New York Tribune, written on the field, “the King, Count Bismarck, General Von Roon, the War Minister, General von Moltke, and Generals Sheridan and Forsythe stood in a group overlooking the principal field of attack.”

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Leonard Bauman, Clarence, Iowa—The most productive salt region of the United States is the Saginaw salt district, Michigan. The most famous and productive salt mines in the world are those of the rock salt region of Wieliczka, in Gallicia, a province of Polish Austria. Great chambers have been excavated in the solid salt, some of them fully 150 feet in height, and of immense length and breadth. One of these is fitted up as a chapel dedicated to St. Anthony.

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An Engineer, Des Moines, Iowa—The assertion that State prisons are filled with criminals of good education is a gross exaggeration. Unhappily, the laws of all the different States do not provide for full and carefully kept statistics, but in all cases where such statistics are kept they go to show that, as a rule, ignorance is the accompaniment, if not the foster parent, of crime. For the most reliable report on this subject write to the Commissioner of Education, Washington, D. C., asking for copy of the paper of Dr. Wickersham, read at a recent session of the National Teachers’ Association.

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P. L. Stevens, Montfort, Wis.—Coal oil is much better as a preservative of fence posts than kerosene oil, which is more expensive and is not so effective.

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Peter Sanborn, Chicago.—Every soldier who, prior to June 22, 1874, had made a homestead entry of less than 160 acres, may enter so much more as, when added to the quantity previously entered, shall not exceed 160 acres.

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S. G. Salisbury, Independence, Kan.—You are right in the opinion that the President may call the militia from one State to another.

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Subscriber, Chicago.—The great single span of the Brooklyn bridge is 1,595½ feet, or about one-half longer than the great span in the Cincinnati suspension bridge, which is 1057 feet.

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F. V. Noggle, Galien, Mich.—Probably the deepest mine in the world in actual working is a shaft in the Rosebridge colliery, near Wigan, Eng., which is 2,445 feet deep.

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C., Muscatine, Iowa—According to the laws of Iowa, one-third of the estate, real and personal, of a wife who dies without issue and intestate goes to her husband as dower, and the rest goes to her parents or heirs on the parents’ side.

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A Subscriber, Pittsburg, Ind.—1. The total number of troops called for by the President during the late civil war was 2,763,670 men, and there were 2,772,408 men furnished, besides 86,724 paid commutations, making an aggregate of 2,859,132 men.

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A. O. A., Cambridge, Wis.—The total tobacco crop of the United States in 1880, as given by the statisticians of the Bureau of Agriculture, was 446,296,889 pounds, valued at $36,414,615. The crop of 1881 was 449,880,014 pounds, valued at $43,372,336.

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A Farmer, Cresco, Iowa.—Trichinæ may sometimes be seen with the naked eye, appearing as minute specks. They average in size one-seventy-eighth of an inch in length and one-thirtieth in breadth, and it does not require a very powerful microscope to disclose them.

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R. A. Santer, Hitesville, Iowa.—To kill white willow, cut it close to the ground in February or March to encourage the wood growth, and then cut again about the middle of the following August. If any of them sprout after that, keep them cut back and the roots must perish.

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Minnie Brumfield, Perry, Iowa.—“Sheridan’s Ride” was written by Thomas Buchanan Read, one of the most delightful of American poets.

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John Nail, Xenia, Ill.—Your question has been answered very recently. A husband and wife cannot, both, make pre-emption or homestead entries. A married woman can do so only where she is held to be the virtual head of the family, as in case of the insanity or imprisonment of her husband, or abandonment.

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A Subscriber, Hobart, Ind.—The proportion of butter in milk varies with the breed of cattle and their food. The average is about 5 per cent in good milk. It is nearer 6 per cent in the milk of Jersey cows on good feed. The proportion of butter in cream also varies considerably. It will average about 5½ pounds of butter to ten of cream.

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C. S. Hasbrouck, Mendon, Mich.—The ancient language of the Irish was of Celtic origin, and specimens of it are still extant in old legal documents. As a living written language it no longer exists, but a corruption of it is still spoken among the natives of the mountain districts.

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S. M., Moline, Ill.—Northwestern Arkansas has been partially described in another part of “Our Curiosity Shop” to-day. The more common trees are the poplar, oak, pine, sycamore, ash, elm, and hickory. This part of the State is watered by the White and Arkansas rivers, and their tributaries. The principal railroads are the St. Louis and the Little Rock and Fort Smith. Upon the former the important towns are: Van Buren, population, 1,029; Fayetteville, population, 1,788, and Bentonville, population, 784; on the latter, Ozark, population, 824, and Clarksville, population, 656.

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A. B., Chicago—At the census of 1880 the “West Side” division of this city had the largest population. The Fourteenth Ward contained the most inhabitants, 56,464; the First Ward, the business center, the fewest, 14,770.

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E. H. Topper, Greensburg, Pa.—Historians disagree as to the number in Xerxes’ army when he invaded Greece, but no one of them was ever so insane as to assert that he had 35,000,000 men. According to Herodotus, the whole number of fighting men in the military and naval force was nearly 2,500,000. He supposes, and it was evidently a wild guess, that with the raw recruits picked up in passing through the territories of Thrace, Macedonia, Magnesia, and other half-savage districts, who hoped to share in the spoils of Greece, and the servants and camp followers, there was a total multitude of about 6,000,000 persons. Other Grecian writers regard this as a gross exaggeration.

* * * * *

James Dunnoon, Davenport, Iowa—The extent of the Victoria Nyanza, or great fresh water lake at the head of the Nile, is a little more than that of Lake Huron and a trifle less than that of Lake Michigan. It does not vary in size 1,000 square miles from either.

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De Lesseps, Peoria, Ill.—The average height of the Atlantic Ocean at the Isthmus of Darien above the Pacific is given in “Haswell’s Engineer’s Pocket-book” as 6.56 feet.

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W. I. Pratt, Tuscola, Ill.—The nickname “gentle shepherd” belonged to the Hon. George Grenville (born in 1712), and originated thus: He was a Whig, and while urging a tax upon cider, asked his opponents where they would have it. Becoming excited, he exclaimed: “Let them tell me where; I repeat it, sir, tell me where;” when Pitt, who was one of the opposition, raised a laugh by repeating the words of an old song, “Gentle shepherd, tell me where.” Your other questions we cannot answer.

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N. Johnson, Peoria, Ill.—The three most level States in the Union are Delaware, Louisiana, and Illinois; the latter being more broken than either of the others.

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Readers, Chicago—John Wilkes Booth was shot in a barn near Bowling Green, Va., April 26, 1865 twelve days after the assassination—while resisting arrest—by Boston Corbett.

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L. D. Nickerson, Appleton, Wis.—The name of the author of “Ecce Homo” and “Ecce Deus” is John Robert Seeley.

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A Reader, Freeport, Ill.—The essential difference between a galvanic and a Faraday battery is that the former uses a connecting fluid between zinc and copper, and the latter uses the magnetic coil.

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“Anxious Mother”—Kansas has established a reform school for boys at North Topeka. The Nebraska Legislature has voted $10,000 to open an industrial reform school at Kearney.

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F. G. Day, Strahn, Iowa—Cole Younger is working out a life sentence in the Stillwater State Penitentiary, Minn.

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An Inquirer, Joliet, Ill.—Prince Gortschakoff skillfully retreated with his garrison from Sebastopol when beleaguered by the allied armies.

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Frank C. Mercer, Kansas City, Mo.—1. A troy ounce weighs 480 grains; an avoirdupois ounce, 437½ grains. 2. Aaron Burr was the third Vice President of the United States, having been elected with Thomas Jefferson in 1800.

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Samuel Burt, Girard, Kan.—The distillery having the largest capacity in the United States is located at Peoria, Ill. If the great distillery at Des Moines, Iowa, were fully equipped, as originally intended, it would be the largest in the world.

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L. D. Crotchett, Edwardsville, Kan.—1. The salary of United States Senators and Representatives is $5,000 each. 2. The Vice President and Speaker of the House each receive $8,000. 3. According to a decision of Attorney General Brewster, a Congressman is not a United States officer within the meaning of that term in certain statutes; but in the broader sense of the word he is an officer. See definition of officer in Webster’s Dictionary.

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B. Frank Hoover, Penrose, Ill.—The days you name are not made school holidays by statute, although they are legal holidays as regards commercial paper. Saturdays, New Years, Fourth of July, and Christmas are the only legal school holidays in Illinois, unless the board of directors agrees to grant other holidays, which it has power to do.

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M. L. Karney, Brodhead, Wis.—The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad pays Mr. Lawler twenty-five cents for every freight car, and fifty cents for every coach which he transports across the Mississippi upon his pontoon bridges at Prairie du Chien. The company has no other means of crossing at that place.

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J. H. Rhodes, Big Rock, Ill.—The Erie Canal, extending from Buffalo to Albany, has at the western end an eastern flow for a short distance—from Buffalo to Seneca River, then a western flow from Lodi to the Seneca River, and finally an eastern flow from Lodi into the Hudson River near Albany. The motion of the water is greatly moderated by the numerous locks, which serve to impede the current. The expense of constructing this canal was much less per mile than the cost of the Suez Canal.

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George W. Robbins, Peru, Neb.—The United States statutes are silent upon the subject of National holidays, except that they provide that as to negotiable paper, bills of exchange, promissory notes, etc., the effect of July 4, Dec. 25, and Thanksgiving Day shall be the same as that of Sunday, or the first day of the week.

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C. E. Stevenson, Bryant, Ill.—Sam Patch made his last and fatal leap at Genesee Falls, New York.

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P. A. Brooks, Mt. Vernon, Iowa.—The Constitution of the United States was framed by a convention of delegates from all the States except Rhode Island, held at Philadelphia in September, 1787. Tom Paine was not a delegate.

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J. R. Cripper.—Adelaide Neilson was a distinguished actress. She filled several successful engagements in this city, and died in Paris in 1852.

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R. S., Kill Creek, Kan.—The height of mountains is determined from the relative height of the barometer. Ascending from the sea level the air becomes lighter, and the mercury in the barometer falls. Civil engineers, knowing the height of the barometer at sea level, and also at the place whose height they desire to determine, are able to compute the elevation of the place. Other methods are sometimes used.

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Harry T. Ashton, Chicago—Emile Gaboriau is a man. 2. “Ouida” is the assumed name of Miss Louisa De la Rame, an English novelist of French extraction.

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V. G. Bush, Cayuga, Ill.—A young lady ceases to be a minor when she attains the age of 18. 2. Brokerage is computed on the face, or par value of stock.

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H. Joint, Logan, Kan.—The statutes of California declare the marriage of white and colored persons unlawful. The Constitution of the United States does not forbid it.

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Milton T. Cox, Fairmount, Ind.—The steamship Alaska, which made the quickest time on record from New York to Queenstown, viz., 6 days 18 h 37 m, sailed 2,925.7 miles. This may be considered a fair estimate of the sailing distance between the two places.

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Ex-Soldier, Kellerton, Iowa—1. Alcohol thermometers are used for observing temperature below 38 degrees, though ordinarily they are not as accurate as mercurial thermometers.

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John A. Hughes, Grapeland, Texas—For the election of members of the lower house of the General Assembly of Illinois the State is districted so that three members represent each district. Then every elector is permitted to cast three votes. He may give three to one candidate, one and a half to each of two, or one to each of the three.

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Subscriber, Belmond, Iowa—The real name of Eli Perkins is M. D. Landon.

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G. W. D., Chicago.—As nearly as one can judge from the names, about four-fifths of the Chicago saloon-keepers are foreign born. As to their politics, it is hard to tell where to place them, except in a local election, when a majority of them are sure to be in favor of low license and anti-Sunday legislation.

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F. M. P., Clipper, Iowa.—It is probable Saint John died at Ephesus during the reign of the Emperor Trajan. Jerome states that he was 100 years old, Suidas 120 years. There is no reference to the age of Job, save that he lived 140 years after his trials ended. 2. Molasses is a singular noun.

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R. P. Drake, Shenandoah, Iowa—The origin of the word dude, is not certainly known. It has been in English slang for a 100 years at least. It has not been widely used in this country until comparatively recently, but in Salem, Mass., and vicinity, it has held a place in local slang for many years.

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Subscriber, Houghton, Mich.—St. Patrick’s Day is the day set apart in the Romish calendar for special religious observances in honor of the founder of the Christian church in Ireland, canonized by the Church of Rome as St. Patrick. It is probably not the day of his birth, since it is generally conceded that it is impossible to determine that.

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Mrs. J. R. Dowling, Wheatland, Iowa.—After the death of the great Roman general and statesman, Cæsar became a title of all of the Roman emperors, and from them has passed into several other European countries to designate the chief ruler. In Germany it appears as Kaiser, and in Russia as Czar. 2. We have lately answered your other questions.

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E. C. W., Garden City, Kan.—The Dry Tortugas and several other islands off the Florida coast belong to the United States. The government has a military station, hospital, etc. on the Dry Tortugas, and sometimes sends convicts there.

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A. V. Bacon, Lansing, Minn.—The principal reasons for outgoing trans-Atlantic steamers from the United States bearing north, are: the influence of the gulf stream running from the southern extremity of Florida up the American coast, making to northeastward between New Foundland and Ireland; the higher latitude of the British Isles; and in certain seasons the prevailing winds. “Imaginary lines” have nothing to do with their choice of this course. If the form of the earth was the only thing to be considered, the steamers would sail on the great circle connecting the port of departure and the port of destination, both going and coming, because such a circle marks the shortest distance between the two points on the sphere. But winds and currents are more important than shortest distances.

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E. D. Vorhes, Peotone, Ill.—We believe Whittier is sometimes referred to as the “bachelor poet,” but we know of no living poet of distinction referred to as “the boy poet.” Isaac Watts wrote verses at a very early age, despite of all the attempts of his father to reform him of this weakness. Our own William Cullen Bryant, who was very fond of declaiming some of Watts’ hymns at 7, 6, and even 5 years of age, began to make verses of his own at 8 years, and wrote a poem for a school examination at 10 years, which was of sufficient merit to become a stock declamation in other schools. He wrote “The Embargo” and “The Spanish Revolution” when he was but 13. Henry Kirke White wrote good poetry before he was 15, and published a volume of poems when he was not quite 17. Other “boy poets” there have been, but who is the “boy poet,” so recognized, of this prosaic age?

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Fred Cooke, Butte City, M. T.—Probably New York State leads all others in the quantity and quality of marketable apples produced and in the prices realized.

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Adaline, Moline, Ill.—A lady writing to a person who does not know whether she is single or married should sign Mrs. or Miss ——, as otherwise the receiver cannot tell how to address his reply.

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A. P. Hargrave, Lowden, Iowa.—The rectangular system of survey was adopted by the United States Government May 20, 1785, several years before the adoption of the present constitution. It was put to practice first in Southwestern Ohio; the first principal meridian being run from the mouth of the Great Miami.

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Theodore Wiltz, Dana, Ill.—Yes, “a person who has resided in the United States but one year, and has only taken out his first naturalization papers can pre-empt or make a homestead entry in Dakota.” He does not need to reside in the country a year; fifteen minutes is long enough after he has formally declared his intention to become a citizen: so great-hearted and liberal is “Uncle Sam.”

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Charles W. Collins, Louisville, Wis.—In cases of simultaneous applications to enter under the homestead laws, the rule is as follows: Where neither party has improvements on the land, it should be sold to the one who bids highest. Where one has actual settlement and improvements and the other none, it should be awarded to the actual settler. Where both allege settlement and improvements, an investigation must be had, and the lands awarded to him who shows the prior actual settlement and substantial improvements, each as to be notice on the ground to any competitor.

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Inquirer, ——, Kan.—The law making it necessary for an officer of one State to have a requisition from the Governor of the same upon the authorities of another State before he can arrest and take therefrom any person charged with crime is designed to prevent persons from being transported to other States, in some cases far from home, friends, business interests, to be tried among strangers, without good evidence that a crime of some magnitude has been committed. Similar reasons, but of much less cogency, apply in support of laws limiting the authority of sheriffs and constables to the counties to which they belong, except when armed with special warrants.

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L. J. Martin. Bowling Green, Ky.—The following States cast their electoral votes for Mr. Lincoln for his first term: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin.

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J. S. White, Paw Paw, Mich.—The largest ratio of colored population in Kansas in 1880 was in Bourbon County, being as 7,314 to 8,642, or nearly 47 per cent of the total. The next was in Christian County, where it was as 14,639 to 17,043, or a little over 45 per cent. The ratio in Fayette County was almost as great, say as 12,974 to 16,049, or over 44 per cent. There were no other counties where it was nearly so great.

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Subscriber, Blendon, Kan.—1. The Penitentiary at Sing Sing, N. Y., is a State institution. Prisoners convicted in Federal courts are sent there under an arrangement between State and Federal authorities. 2. Rip Van Winkle is the fictitious hero of one of Washington Irving’s “Sketch Book” tales, entitled the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” The popular play of the same name is the same story, with some alterations, as dramatized by Dion Boucicault.

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B. F. McCormick, Rock Valley, Iowa.—“Sunset Cox” takes this nickname from a really vivid but rather grandiloquent description of an Ohio sunset, which was widely copied into exchanges at the time it was written, many years ago. “Extra Billy Smith,” not “of New York,” but ante bellum Representative from Virginia, and subsequently Governor of that State when in rebellion, fairly won this name from his predilection for recommending and voting extras in appropriation bills.

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W. I. Pratt.—1. Thomas Green Fessenden was an early American author and journalist of wide reputation. He was born in New Hampshire in 1771; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1796; studied law, but made more reputation as a writer. His poem, “The Country Lovers,” was popular, as was also his humorous, satirical poem, “Terrible Tractoration.” He settled in Boston in 1804, where he became editor of the New England Farmer, He died in 1837.

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A Subscriber, Walnut, Iowa.—Whether persons who have been shipwrecked shall be carried free of charge upon other vessels is optional with the captains of said vessels. If landed in a strange country, they may seek aid from the consul representing their own government. The American consul is furnished with funds to help shipwrecked seamen only, but he is under obligation to do what he can for all American citizens in distress.

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Dicke, Dana, Ill.—There is no “Senator at large.” A “Representative at large” is one elected by the entire State, instead of a district, in those States failing to redistrict before the election following the reapportionment of Representatives according to the latest census. For instance, the four additional Representatives given to Kansas by the last Congressional apportionment were elected on a general State ticket and not from single districts. In Maine, where the number of Congressmen was reduced, the Legislature having failed to redistrict the State all the Representatives were elected on a general State ticket.

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David E. Gray.—1. The treaty of St. Ildefonso was an offensive and defensive alliance between the first French Republic and Spain, negotiated Aug. 19, 1796, resulting, among other things, in a war between these allied powers and England. 2. Oregon and Washington Territory fix the weight of a bushel of green apples at 45 pounds. Other States and Territories fix the legal weight of dried apples, but not of green apples, so far as we can discover.

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A Reader, Crete, Neb.—The greater weight of a body at the poles, as compared with its weight at the equator, is attributed, principally, to two causes, viz., the estimated shorter distance from the pole to the center of the earth; and the centrifugal force resulting from the revolution of the earth on its axis, which is zero at the poles and at its maximum at the equator.

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John Steele, Chicago—Yes, a fine watch may easily be ruined by too close approach to a powerful electrical machine. The hair-spring and balance wheel become magnetized, and it is difficult and costly to get them demagnetized.

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James McNulty, Chicago—The pitch of a roof is the ratio of its height divided by its span. Consequently a half pitch roof is one whose height is half its span, a quarter pitch one whose height is one-fourth the span, and so on. The answer you refer to was defective in omitting the word “span” after “foot.”

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Charles Seymour, Chicago, Ill.—The Emperor Maximilian I., of Mexico, had two foreign legions besides his French allies, one known as the “Belgic Legion,” the other as the “Austrian Legion.”

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O. Clark.—In the case of Wright vs. Wood it was decided that “four pre-emptors may combine to erect a house upon the corner common to their claims, but each pre-emptor must reside in his own part of the house.” If you will send your address and a postal-card we will answer your other question.

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Taylor Lee, Sammon’s Landing, Mich.—Great Abaco is an island in the Bahama group. It is about eighty miles long and twenty wide. Little Abaco, about twenty-eight miles long, is near it. They are both specially adapted to the raising of early vegetables for the great American markets. Being at the northern end of the Bahamas, they lie directly east of the most eastern projection of Florida. They belong to Great Britain.

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L. J. Worden, Bowling Green, Ky.—The first railroad on which a locomotive was operated was the Merthyr-Tydvil Railway, England. This was in 1804. But the first railway built for general traffic was constructed by Pease and Stephenson in 1825. It was the Stockton and Darlington Railroad in England. For further particulars see Curiosity Shop of last year, in book form, page 101.

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E. Judkins, Alpowa, W. T.—1. The author of “The Beautiful Snow” is James W. Watson.

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C. L. N., Cresco, Mich.—1. The talent of the Scriptures, or Hebrew talent, has been variously estimated at from $1,645 to $1,916. 2. To take care of your live oyster ask advice of the Superintendent of State Fisheries, Lansing, Mich.

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D. S., Winters, Ill.—The inventor of Sharps’ rifles for military and sporting purposes was Christian Sharps, a scientific machinist, born in New Jersey in 1811, died in 1874. The manufacture of these rifles was begun at Hartford, Conn., in 1854.

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W. Bird, Bolivar, Mo.—The Maas (or Meuse, as it is called in the upper part of its course) is a river of Belgium and Holland, which, after uniting with the River Rhine, discharges into the North Sea not far from Rotterdam. During the winter months the Dutch travel and amuse themselves on skates and runners on the ice of their many canals, lakes, and rivers, these being their thoroughfares in winter as well as in summer. Owing to moderate temperature and an unexpected rise in the river in the winter of 1512, the ice suddenly gave way at a point on the Maas, near Rotterdam, and a large number of people, some say about 8,000, were precipitated into the water, where the most of them perished.

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Joe Davidson, White Rock, Kan.—1. The District of Columbia contains an area of sixty-four square miles. 2. The yearly salary of the President is $50,000; that of the Vice President $8,000; of each of the members of the Cabinet $8,000; of Senators, $5,000 each, 20 cents per mile mileage, stationery $125, franking privilege, and expenses when serving on special committees; Representatives the same as Senators.

* * * * *

Leonard Smith, Atalissa, Iowa—The fastest time on record for any locomotive in this country (and we find no faster for any other) is fourteen miles in eleven minutes, made by locomotive Hamilton Davis and 6 cars on the New York Central Railroad in 1855. This was an average of a mile in 47⅐ seconds.

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Prosy, Busti, Iowa.—1. Rice was introduced into this country from Madagascar through the gift of a sack of rice by the captain of a vessel driven into Charleston, S. C., in 1694, to Thomas Smith, who planted it in his garden and distributed the seed.

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M. V., Suez, Ill.—“Gulliver’s Travels” were written by Jonathan Swift, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, Nov. 30, 1667; died in the same city, Oct. 19, 1745. The above named work was a series of humoristic satires on the weaknesses of human nature, the follies of society, and the foibles of certain individuals against whom Swift cherished personal antipathies.

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Phillip Blunn, Seward, Kan.—Fremont in early life was a bold, original spirit, as is fully shown by his daring and at times almost reckless adventures during the explorations by which he discovered the overland route to California and opened up the regions of the great Salt Lake and Upper California to American settlement. He chafed under the restraints of military discipline, and was charged with disobeying or exceeding his instructions, which he sometimes undoubtedly did: and in his case it nearly always turned out fortunately for the country. He was placed under military arrest and found “guilty of mutiny and insubordination” for acting as Governor of California by appointment of Commodore Stockton in 1846, contrary to orders of General Kearney. The “Old Pathfinder,” as he was subsequently called, rather gained by the event.

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Soper Bros. & Co., Chicago—In the destruction of the Southern Hotel, St. Louis, April 11, 1877, thirteen lives were lost and thirty-five persons seriously injured. The hotel was rebuilt, and was reopened to the public about one year ago last summer.

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P. L. F., Swan Lake, Dak.—1. There are two State Normal schools in Illinois—one at Bloomington and the other at Carbondale. 2. There is no part of the earth’s surface where the sun’s rays, if unobstructed by some intervening object, would not shine into a north window at some time in the year.

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M. L. Scott, Boulder, Col.—1. The Chief Justices of the United States since 1789 have been John Jay, John Rutledge, Oliver Ellsworth, John Marshall, Roger B. Taney, Salmon P. Chase, and the present incumbent, Morrison R. Waite. 2. The corner-stone of our first Federal Capitol was laid by George Washington Sept, 18, 1793. The corner-stone of the extension of 1851 was laid by Millard Fillmore.

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A. C., Streator, Ill.—Inauguration Day, of the 4th of March, on which the term of office of the President of the United States must necessarily begin, has occurred on Sunday fourteen times this century. It occurred so the last time on the occasion of President Hayes’ inauguration, and he quietly took the oath of office in the White House Sunday afternoon. The inauguration ceremonial at the Capitol took place the next day. Inauguration Day will not fall on Sunday again during this century.

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James Harman, Central City, Neb.—The total receipts from saloon licenses in this city in 1880 amounted to $182,226.40. The expenses entailed through pauperage, damage to property and person, increased cost of police, jails, etc., cannot be accurately determined. It is a matter of estimate.

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A Subscriber, Chicago.—In the Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Butler received 133,946 votes: Bishop, 119,997, and Almy, 2,137, making Butler’s plurality 13,949, and his majority 11,812.

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The ten-mile race at the State fair held at Minneapolis last fall was won by Miss Belle Cook, with five horses, in 20:02. Little Cricket won the twenty-mile race in 40:59.

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John Allen, Topeka, Kan.—The real name of “Mary Blake,” contributor to the Century, is Mrs. Blakesley.

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A. B. E.—The authoress of “Curfew Must Not Ring To-night” is Rose Hartwicke Thorpe.

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J. M. H., Stanberry, Mo.—The President pro tempore of the Senate draws the same salary as the Vice President when filling the same office. You are right as to the apportionment of members of Congress. The whole question is explained on page 75 of Our Curiosity Shop of 1882, in book form, costing 25 cents, postage included. It answers hundreds of such questions as you and your fellow-students are discussing. There is no instance of a State’s returning to the condition of a Territory, unless the rebel States were in that condition before they adopted their “reconstruction constitutions” just after the war, when they were under provisional governments. Your other questions have all been answered very recently.

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“She-cau-oh,” Chicago, Ill.—We give your note just as it comes to us: “Man-i-to-ba—that is not the way it is pronounced, but Ma-nit-a-bah. Chicago should be She-cau-oh (Potawatome)—‘all gone,’ ‘far-off-place.’ Sioux, pronounce Sou. I could speak the Indian language better than the English once.—She-cau-oh.” It is too late in the world’s history to change the pronunciation of Chicago back to the original, and, for that matter, the pronunciation of Manitoba is hopelessly anglicized into Man-i-tow-ba. Still we thank you for your note, and will preserve it in our bound Curiosity Shop as another witness for the original pronunciation of all these names, and what is admitted to be one of the Indian meanings of Chicago, the others, vouched for by good authority, being “strong” and “wild onion,” the sense in each case being dependent on the connection.

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Ida, Milo, Ill.—1. George III. was King of England during the whole period of the American revolution. His Prime Minister from 1770 until after the surrender of Cornwallis was Lord North, and two other of the principal members of his Cabinet were Lords Gower and Weymouth. In 1779 the latter, seeing the hopelessness of the effort to subdue the Americans, resigned, but North continued in power until after the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown, when he resigned March 20, 1782, and was succeeded by the Marquis of Rockingham, who at once opened negotiations for peace.

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Alfred Gates, Lafayette, Ind.—The dower right of a married woman in her husband’s real estate has been abolished in Indiana and California. In States where married women are entitled to dower, it is the general rule that relinquishments of dower made by any such woman under 21 years of age are of no effect unless ratified by her after she has attained that age. Even in most States where women are “of age,” or become mistresses of themselves at an earlier age than 21, they cannot convey real estate until they have attained the full legal majority of 21 years.

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Martha J. McCoy, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.—If the paint is scaling off your recently painted house it proves that there is not much pure white lead and good boiled linseed oil in it. Unless one employs an honest painter and contracts for these substantial ingredients he is almost certain to get white lead adulterated with earths, sulphate of baryta, or other cheap materials, mixed with worthless substitutes for linseed oil. The lowest-priced paints are usually the dearest in the long run, particularly for outside work.

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Georgia L. Brown, West Salem, Wis.—1. The salary of the President was increased to $50,000 a year—making it the same as that of the Governor General of Canada—on the last day of the first term of President Grant, who drew pay according to this law from the beginning of his second term.

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S., Greenfield, Ill.—“Red Line Poets” is a trade name given to certain editions of selected poems printed on pages bordered with red lines. There are one or two English books of this description, and one or more American books. No two of them embrace the same list of authors. A Boston red-line edition contains only selections from Longfellow, Whittier, Bryant, Holmes, Lowell, and Emerson.

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Amateur Antiquary, Chicago, Ill.—“Empire State of the South” is a popular appellation for Georgia in allusion to its being the leading State in wealth and enterprise. Tennessee is sometimes called the “Big-bend State,” in allusion to the spoon-like bend of the Tennessee River. West Virginia is sometimes called the “Pan-handle State,” because it includes that singular strip of land between the Ohio River and the boundary of Pennsylvania.

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H. N. Kinney, Mantone, Ill.—The leading corn county of this State in 1881 was McLean, with a crop of 9,750,000 bushels; the next largest was Livingston, with 6,983,522 bushels. The same year Kankakee County produced 2,743,300 bushels.

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R. D. Silsby, Modale, Iowa.—Your friend is right in asserting that there are yellow and brownish varieties of cotton. The valuable Orleans cotton staples are naturally white, but there is cheap yellow and brownish staple used for nankeen cloth, and one sort known as Bourbon cotton.

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A Reader, Glenwood, Iowa.—1. The great Chicago fire of 1871 began Sunday evening, Oct. 8, and lasted until Tuesday morning. 2. Henry Wilson, the late Vice President, changed his name, by birth Colbath. Why, he always treated as a strictly private matter. His childhood was one of extreme poverty, and he was apprenticed when he was but ten years old.

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Normal Student, Stanbury, Mass.—There is no State in the Union where a man can vote before he is 21 years of age. However, if a man’s birthday is Feb. 1 he becomes of age Jan. 31, as the law takes no account of fractions of a day in a matter of this kind.

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C. H. Martin, Cheboygan, Mich.—St. Patrick was sent by Pope Celestine as a missionary to Ireland, after being a monk in the celebrated monastery of Lerius, in France. His father was a deacon in the Church of Rome, and his mother was a sister of St. Martin of Tours.

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A Reader, Chicago.—In Wisconsin it is not necessary to take out a marriage license.

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A. G. Damson, Vienna, Ill.—W. H. Russell, war correspondent of the London Times during “the recent unpleasantness,” is called “Bull Run Russell” because of his overdrawn description of the first battle of Bull Run, and prediction of the speedy collapse of the Union as a consequence. He is still alive.

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Geo. T. L., Attica, N. Y.—The President of Mexico at this time is General Gonzales; installed Dec. 1, 1880, for four years. There is a Senate composed of the Vice President and two members of each of the twenty-seven States. The House of Representatives consists of one member for each 80,000 population, and in 1879 numbered 331. During the recess of Congress a Council of Government, composed of the Vice President and half of the Senate, sits, to advise the President.

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A. C., Englewood, Ill.—The silkworm spins its cocoon and passes into the torpid state of a chrysalis or pupa. If allowed to remain in this state too long it becomes active, begins to gnaw its way through the cocoon, and finally comes forth in the butterfly state. The cocoon is then of little value. But if, just before the chrysalis begins to grow active, the cocoons are dropped into boiling water the insect is instantly killed, and the silk is easily unwound and reeled for the market.

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B. B. Williams, Parsons, Kan.—The Golden Horn is the name of the inlet from the Bosphorus, which divides the city of Constantinople and constitutes its magnificent harbor.

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A. M. A., Union Grove, Ill.—When Governor Ford’s term as Governor expired, in 1846, he moved to Peoria and went into the practice of the law. He had been called from the office of Associate Judge of the Supreme Court to that of Governor, but although a good judge, he was not well suited for an advocate. Moreover, he had become addicted to overdrinking and during his gubernatorial term had made many violent enemies in his own party, some of whom spared no opportunity to wound him. He had retired from the Governorship “poorer than when he was inaugurated,” and failing to secure a remunerative practice against all the discouragements above mentioned, he fell into despondency, and died at Peoria in 1850 in indigent circumstances, but not “a pauper.”

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N. K. Pierce, Mentor, Kan.—The most elegant Pullman palace cars cost from $20,000 to $25,000, but such cars have been made in only a few special cases. The ordinary Pullman car costs from $11,000 to $15,000.

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Inquirer, LeRoy.—1. The American Almanac for 1883 states the total number of churches in the United States at 92,477, omitting the churches of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, which numbers about 8,000. 2. The membership of all the Protestant churches is stated at 8,974,400, and the “adherents” of the Roman Catholic church at 6,370,858, according to the Catholic Directory for 1882. Protestant churches enumerate only those who become members by profession of faith or letters from other churches; Roman Catholics enumerate all who have been baptized in their faith, either in infancy or after years. 3. Church attendance can only be estimated from church sittings, which average for the United States about two and a half times the membership. 4. The total number of newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals published in the United States in the census year is given as 11,314.

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Old Subscriber, Lincoln, Ill.—In most of the States the marriage of a female partner in any business firm dissolves the partnership.

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J. L. Orr, Glen Haven, Wis.—Evidently the north window of a house situated on the north pole would be a sky light. All side wall windows would look to the south.

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J. J. Stark, LaCygne, Kan.—1. The most celebrated picture of “Christ and the Last Supper” was painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1497. 2. Your second question we cannot answer.

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E. Finley, Pontiac, Ill.—The total precipitation of moisture for the year 1882 observed by the officer of the Signal Service at Riley, McHenry County, Ill., was 35.36 inches, or 1.46 inches above the annual average for twenty-one years.

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A. N. Smith, Davenport, Iowa—To destroy chicken lice keep the hen-house clean and well ventilated and sprinkle the dusting bins with carbolic acid.

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T. L., Winona, Minn.—You are wrong. B wins the wager, because “a son born to an American minister while his parents are on official duty abroad” is in the eye of the law as much an American as if born in this country, and is eligible to the Presidency of the United States.

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Mrs. S. E. E., Fredericksburg, Iowa—For some years there was no general agreement as to the time of observing “Decoration Day,” but when it became desirable to settle on a specific day to be kept every year, May 30 having been fixed upon by one or more Legislatures, it was adopted generally.

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Charles Hallas, Adrian, Minn.—1. Congress raised the salary of the President, by act of March 3, 1873, to $50,000 per annum, at the same time cutting off certain allowances made to former Presidents, aggregating several thousands a year. Before that act the salary of Congressmen of both houses had been $5,000 and mileage, but by this act they were raised to $7,500. By act of Jan. 20, 1874, the salaries of Congressmen were reduced to the old amount.

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C. J., Topeka, Kan.—It certainly is customary when ladies or gentlemen write to any one for information for them to inclose a postal stamp or postal card for the reply. It is quite as much as one should ask of a business man that he take time to give desired information. To request this much and expect him to pay postage on the reply is what is termed in the emphatic vocabulary of the slang-slinger, “cheeky.” The very fact that postage is such a trifle makes the omission to inclose it all the more inexcusable. But while postage is a mere trifle on the single letter, to a person in a public position, called on to answer thousands of questions in a year, the aggregate postage would be a serious matter were it not for the above rule.

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E. J. Bristo.—The whites of Virginia number 880,858; the colored population is 631,616. That State has one of the most healthful climates in the world. The water is excellent except in the swamp regions in the eastern part, and the soil of about two-thirds of the State is fertile except where worn out by long tobacco culture without proper use of fertilizers and alternation of crops. Virginia can produce anything that grows in the temperate zone.

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Wm. G. Miller, Arkansas City, Kan.; No method of manufacturing merchantable diamonds has ever been discovered. A French chemist claims to have made very minute crystals of diamond by an extremely expensive process, simply to prove that the thing is possible, but the crystals, whether diamonds or not, were of no value as gems or for any other commercial or mechanical purpose. For anything more on this subject see Our Curiosity Shop for 1882, page 147. Price per mail, 25 cents in paper covers and 50 cents in cloth.

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George H. Gifford, West Point. Neb.—1. The total net ordinary expenditures of the United States Government in 1880 amounted to $171,885,382.67. Figure out for yourself “the cost per minute.” It will be a delightful pastime for idle moments; editors have none.

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Jacob Vanaernam, Mount Morris, Wis.—In Illinois the State is districted for State representatives, so that three representatives are chosen from one district. Every voter may either give each of the three candidates one vote, or one of them all three of his votes, or he may give one and a half votes to each of two of them. This explains why you saw “half votes” in Illinois election returns. This system of voting is designed to place it in the power of a minority party to secure at least one out of three representatives, where by the old method all three representatives might be elected by the majority party.

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A. Tyler, DeWitt, Ill.—The Declaration of Independence was not adopted by Congress until the 4th of July, 1776, about 2 o’clock p. m., as fully explained in Our Curiosity Shop some weeks ago. It was not adopted on July 2. A resolution was adopted on that day asserting that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States,” but the Congress sat the rest of that day, all the next, and a part of the Fourth, discussing the Declaration before It was adopted. Some of the delegates to that Congress never signed it; others not until some time after July 4.

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W. L. Murphy, Tuscola, Ill.—1. The distance from St. Paul to Portland via the Northern Pacific Railroad is 1,911 miles; from Chicago to St. Paul is 409 miles, making the total distance to Portland 2,320 miles.

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M. R. Huntington, Chicago—The five longest rivers in the world are the following, named in the order of length from greater to less: The Missouri, measured from its source to the Gulf of Mexico; the Amazon; the Nile; the Yang-tse-kiang, China, and the Murray, Australia.

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A. C. Hess, Central P. O., Pa.—Ginseng is exported to China in large quantities, where it is in high repute as a medicine. It is used in pharmacy to some degree in this country and Europe. In 1880 our export of ginseng amounted to 391,083 pounds, valued at $533,042.

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C. F. S., Denmark, Iowa—The autographic process of telegraphing, which transmits a facsimile of the original dispatch, was first brought forward in 1848 by F. C. Bakewell, of London, England. It was improved by Abbe Casselli, of Florence; Lenoir and Meyer, of France, and Professor Sawyer, of Washington, D. C. It is not so economical, so expeditions, or so well adapted in some other respects to ordinary telegraphic purposes as the Morse system with modern improvements.

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A. J., Dern, Ind.—1. The eclectic school of medicine lays great stress on the avoidance of depletion, either by blood-letting or severe purging, and the use of agents calculated to build up the system. Vegetable remedies largely predominate in its medical agents.

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The inter ocean curiosity shop for the year 1883 (part 3 of 4)

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The inter ocean curiosity shop for the year 1883 (part 3 of 4)