A Dog that Knew a Tune.

Does your dog know a tune? In Trenton, New Jersey, two famous dogs are owned. One is said to be worth $200. Some months ago both were stolen. All attempts to find them were in vain, and money rewards proved unavailing. Recently the owner went to a barn where he thought they might be. He whistled, but got no response. He was just leaving the premises when he recalled that one of the dogs always showed unusual life and joy whenever he whistled the tune, popular years ago, under the title "Captain Jinks," who belonged to certain marines. He whistled this tune at a venture, and was at once rewarded by a vigorous whine which he readily recognized. The dog knew the tune, and the result was the recovery by the owner of his two valuable dogs, and the arrest of the thief who had stolen them.

The Largest Lens.

The largest telescopic lens ever made has just been completed in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. It cost $100,000, and is the property of the Chicago University, for use in the observatory on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. This lens is the greatest work of its kind ever undertaken in the world. Day and night, not a single minute has the lens been neglected. Every precaution was taken to insure its safety from damage, and now that the work is finished, it only remains to carefully ship it to its destination.

Once it safely arrives at Lake Geneva, the huge lens will be placed in the telescope of what is known as the Yerkes Observatory. The dome of the observatory is 110 feet high and ninety feet in diameter. Its weight is about 200 tons. It revolves on twenty-six sets of ball-bearing wheels, and is worked by electricity. Beneath the dome is a marble floor hung with counter-balance weights. This floor, ponderous as it appears, can be raised or lowered twenty-five feet, at the will of the observer, by the simple turning of a lever.

The Tables on Cabby.

One night, after Parliament adjourned, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, then Bishop of London, was driven to his home, Fulham Palace, by a cabby who, noting what a distinguished passenger he had, undertook to get from him a big fee. Determined not to be taken advantage of, Bishop Temple tendered the exact legal fare, two shillings, and refused to add even a modest tip.

Cabby did not protest. He tried flattery. He knew that most bishops of London had reason to expect promotion to Canterbury in the event of a vacancy in the primacy of all England. So he said, in a begging and martyrlike tone:

"Do you think the Archbishop of Canterbury, with his big salary, ought to ask a poor cabby to drive all the way to Fulham late at night, and then give him the pittance of two shillings only?"

"Decidedly not," returned the Bishop. "The Archbishop of Canterbury lives at Lambeth Palace, and the cab fare from Westminster to Lambeth is not two shillings, but only one shilling. Good-night."

From a Student in Adelaide.

I am a student in the University of Adelaide. One of our professors is Dr Stirling, who is much interested in Central Australian discovery. A short time since he told us some facts about an investigation he helped to make in connection with an exploring party, two or three years ago. Perhaps it will interest American readers, for I read that in your country there was a race of people who lived there before Europeans came. That race is dying out, is it not? The Australian aborigines are, at any rate. Here is the account related by Dr. Stirling, as I copied it in my note-book. He read it from a circular sent out by a scientific society, but he helped to prepare the circular, and he has helped also to explore some parts of unknown Australia.

"The present inhabitant of Australian wilds is a descendant of a stone age. He still fashions his spear from flint. History he knows none. He has no traditions even, and a poorer and more meagre language than any savage known even in Africa. He is a savage brute in the form of a man. He is jolly, laughs much, has a good eye, and has never yet been known to wash. He has no private ownership of land, save the dirt on his own body. He does not till the soil, but lives on roots and game. He lives in a climate that affords a 15° Fah. temperature, yet he never uses the skins of animals for clothing and rarely makes a fire. He goes about perfectly nude, and eats his food raw. He has no religious belief whatever, and has little or no sense of honor or of truth. Attempts to civilize him prove disastrous failures. He is being 'civilized' off the face of the earth, I am sorry to say, and soon only his flints will remain. I hope this will interest you."

F. B. Van Braagen. Adelaide.

It is of much interest. Please tell us about the University of Adelaide.

Kinks.

No. 59.—For Young Mathematicians.

We once knew a professor at college who declared that when a pupil had mastered addition he had mastered half of arithmetic. To prove his assertion he gave this: Put down one hundred, then one, then five, then one, and then one hundred. What is the result? "207," some one said. Was that right?

No. 60.—A Riddle.

I'm part of a city, and part of a ghost;

I'm part of a little, and part of the most;

I'm part of astrology, part of the light.

Part of the battle as well as the fight.

With murder, however, I've nothing to do;

I shun all that's wicked, though not what's untrue.

In fathers and mothers I'm sure to be found;

In sisters and brothers I also abound.

I'm crossed in affection as well as in wealth;

I'm always with doctors, yet always in health.

I know naught of hunger, but suffer with thirst,

And I'm found with the best as well as the worst.

No. 61.—Word Square.

1. Spherical bodies. 2. To decamp. 3. To go beyond the limit. 4. A fish allied to the carp. 5. A Judean town. 6. Dull.

Questions and Answers.

Harold W. Jansen asks where mica comes from, saying he is interested in it because he and his sister fell to wondering about it while watching the tinsmith put up their coal-stove for the winter. Mica comes chiefly from North Carolina, and is found there in all sorts of blocks of various thicknesses and shapes, which can be split and resplit almost without limit, until it becomes the transparent pane of commerce.

The material is imbedded or scattered through the feldspar with which the surrounding mountains are covered. The veins are found between walls of slate. It is blasted from the surrounding rock by means of dynamite, and is freed from all impure matter by miners with chisel and pick. From the mines it is taken directly to the shops, where it is split into thin sheets and trimmed into regular forms, which are then ready for the market, the price varying according to the size of the sheets.

The average size will fit an ordinary parlor heater. In rare instances, sheets as large as twenty-four by eighteen inches are found; but there is seldom or never a demand for mica of this size, so the sheets have to be cut down.

A. W. A.: Fish are sensitive about the nose. They are also able to feel a shock in adjacent water. If a fish be buried in sand till only his tail be left exposed, a slight tap on any part of the tail will excite the fish and cause it to free itself, or attempt to do so. Salmon have been known to wear their snouts to the bone and their tails entirely away at digging in the sand and stones for a nest in which to spawn. This and other facts go to prove that fish, in spite of their sensitiveness about the nose and tail, do not feel pain, as from a hook in their gills or even in their stomachs. Fish that have been torn by a hook will often grab for a second bait, showing an inclination to feed, which they would scarcely do if suffering acute pain.

J. W. Anderson asks how fast the fastest bird is able to fly, and how high wild-geese are when one sees them in the form of an old-fashioned drag in the air above. The fastest flying bird is said to be the Virginia plover, which has been known to fly 225 miles per hour; but wild-geese, Baltimore orioles, and other migrants rarely average more than fifty miles per day. The height of the geese is sometimes as great as 10,000 feet, but ordinarily they fly about 4000 feet above the earth.—We regret the necessity of informing our old-time friend, C. Roy Baker, of Ohio, that we do not publish exchanges of bicycles, etc., and have no exchange column.—Leo Rehbinder: 844 Chapter charters have been granted, but many of the Chapters weary of well-doing. But our injunction has ever been to maintain your society as long as it yielded pleasure, and when it ceases to do so, disband it. The Order is a very large one, but we have no figures at hand of other orders. Ask your bookseller for titles of stories other than those published in this paper—S. B.: Address Thomas A. Edison, at Menlo Park, N. J.

"F. A. H." asks where he can learn mechanical draughting. At the Pratt Institute. The pay for beginners is small, say $6 per week. Apply to some draughtsmen for average rate of wages.—Edgar S. Pitkin asks about entrance to the Naval Academy at Annapolis. We have answered this question so many times that we fear old readers will tire reading of it. But we assure them that many want the information, and that to furnish helpful information is the purpose of this department. Sir Edgar should apply to his member of Congress for appointment, but he can learn when there will be a vacancy in his district by writing to the Secretary of the Navy, Washington. The age limit is fifteen to twenty. The appointment is from each Congressional district. There is doubtless a man at the academy now from your district. If so, when he goes out another will be taken in. The examination is very strict and difficult, but covers chiefly the common branches. The Secretary of the Navy will give exact information if a vacancy is to occur within a year. The conditions are too long to print here. The Congressman who makes the appointment generally has a preliminary examination, but it counts for nothing at Annapolis, and is usually found to be a very unsatisfactory way to select a man for the cadetship. An alternate is named. Both go to Annapolis and take the examination. If the appointee fails—and generally one-half fail—the alternate goes in, provided he passes.

Charles R. Botsford, 55 Liberty Street, New York, wants to belong to some amateur photograph club. Will the secretary of any such club desiring a bright member, either active or corresponding, write him?—John Desmond asks if the cruisers off the Cuban coast burn hard or soft coal. We presume his query is prompted by the fact that soft coal makes a black smoke that can be seen a long distance, because it ascends high above the water the instant it leaves the smoke-stack. When the Cuban trouble first began, the Spanish cruisers burned Cuban coal, and their smoke was seen plainly. The Spaniards noticed, however, that the vessels used by the insurgents to convey ammunition from Florida made almost no smoke at all. They inquired the reason, and soon began sending to Philadelphia for anthracite coal. So now the Spanish cruisers burn hard coal, and do not show themselves to the enemy hours before the hulls of their ships heave into view.

This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should address Editor Stamp Department.

The readers of the Round Table Stamp Column who intend going to Europe next summer will find the London Philatelic Exhibition very interesting. The exhibition opens July 22, and closes August 5. The stamps will be exhibited in classes: 1. Stamps of Great Britain; 2. Of British colonies; 3. Of Europe; 4. Of Asia and Africa; 5. Of America, etc. Each of these classes will be subdivided, and twelve gold, forty-three silver, and forty-eight bronze medals will be awarded to the best collections. In addition as special prizes, nine gold, nineteen silver, and ten bronze medals; besides a large number of additional medals and other prizes are offered by individual members for special exhibits. A few of the leading collectors in America intend competing for some of the prizes. It is estimated that stamps to the value of $2,000,000 will be on exhibition.

F. Lowe.—I congratulate you on the possession of the Tobago one shilling, in color of the sixpence. I referred to this stamp in the Round Table for November 10, and erroneously stated that the stamp was the first of a new issue. It turns out to be an error of the first water. It is quoted at all kinds of prices, from $5 upward. The chances are that a large block of them is in the hands of insiders. If so, $5 is a fair price.

W. W. Stockton.—The word Cave on your Ceylon stamp is a portion of the name of a firm. It is frequently found on stamps of the Straits Settlements.

E. LeRoy Pond, Terryville, Conn., wants to exchange U. S. stamps for those of Siam, Salvador, China, etc.

A. H. Green.—The English shilling is worth face only. I hope you will enjoy the next 892 numbers of the Round Table as much as you have the 892 numbers already published.

F. Mikelsky.—Apply to any dealer for onion-skin hinges. They cost 15c. per 1000.

J. A. Hall.—The U. S. charge 8c. for registering a letter, and if such letter is lost while in the hands of the post-office officials the U. S. will not recoup the loss. In Europe the various governments make allowance on letters lost by them. For instance, in England, by paying 4c. in addition to the ordinary postage, the sender of a letter lost in transmission can collect from the government $25. By paying 6c. in addition to the postage, an allowance of $50 is made if the letter is lost. Each 2c. in addition increases the amount $25.

J. H. Otrieh.—Russian locals are collected by a very few persons in this country. One of these collectors tells me that some of the rare Russian locals command as much as $100 and more. The common varieties, however, have very little value.

F. M.—I cannot give addresses in this column. Write to any of the dealers who advertise in the Round Table.

S. Heller.—You can buy 1000 different stamps in a packet for $10, or 1500 for $25. I do not know of any larger packets, but think one with 2000 stamps would cost at least $50 or $60.

B. Stow.—The Mr. Frederick Hill who has jast died at the age of ninety-four was a brother of Rowland Hill. He was connected with the London post-office for many years, and was pensioned in the year 1876.

A. W. Spencer.—The Alsace-Lorraine stamps were used by the German post-offices in France during the war of 1870. The earliest dated stamp known is September 6, 1870.

E. F. Herre.—The only rare small cent is the 1856 flying eagle. All the others are very common. The 1817 penny is worth 20c.

E. M. Gearhart.—The Olympian stamps can be bought of any dealer at double face value, unused, and at 1c to 25c. each, according to denomination if used. There are so many varieties of the Confederate stamps that I cannot give any more definite answer, until after examination. As millions of complete sheets were in the Southern post-offices at the time the civil war ended, they are very common with the exception of a few varieties. Neither the watermarked or the unwatermarked U. S. stamps of the present issue will ever be rare or even scarce, with the possible exception of the dollar stamps. The late issues of the U. S. envelopes are distinguished by the water-mark and the shape.

Philatus.

No other soap is found in so many homes.

The Procter & Gamble Co. Cin'ti.