OUR CURIOSITY SHOP. (continued 3)

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

States and Acres Acres

Corporations. Granted. Certified.

Illinois 2,595,053 2,595,053

Missouri 2,985,160 1,828,005

Iowa 6,795,527 3,940,270

Michigan 4,712,480 3,328,987

Wisconsin 4,808,486 2,672,803

Minnesota 9,992,041 6,925,351

Kansas 9,370,000 3,851,536

Pacific Railroad 159,486,766 8,831,687

Total 215,203,807 42,847,403

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

POPULATION OF THE GLOBE.

Unionville, Iowa.

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

A. J. R.

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

Europe 327,743,400

Asia 795,591,000

Africa 205,823,200

America 100,415,400

Australia and Polynesia 4,232,000

Polar regions 82,500

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

DRINKING FROM SKULLS.

Burlington, Iowa.

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

Wm. A. T.

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

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

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

GENERAL WILLIAM W. AVERELL.

Etna, Mo.

Give a short sketch of General Averell.

M. M. Shanes.

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

PRINCE GORTSCHAKOFF AND THE UNION.

Chicago, Ill.

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

O. N. Adams.

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

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

WOOD USED AS FUEL.

Moline, Ill.

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

D. Morgan.

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

Uses. Cords. Value.

Domestic use 140,537,439 $306,950,040

Railroads 1,971,813 5,126,714

Steamboats 787,862 1,872,083

In mining and amalgamating precious metal 358,074 2,874,593

Other mining operations 266,771 673,692

Manufacture of brick and tile 1,157,522 3,978,331

Manufacture of salt 540,448 421,681

Manufacture of wool 158,208 425,239

Grand total 145,778,137 $321,962,273

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

States. Cords. Value.

Alabama 6,076,754 $8,727,377

Arizona 170,017 724,572

Arkansas 3,922,400 5,095,821

California 1,748,062 7,693,731

Colorado 426,719 1,638,783

Connecticut 525,639 2,371,532

Dakota 422,948 2,028,300

Delaware 177,306 751,311

District of Columbia 26,902 80,706

Florida 609,046 1,230,412

Georgia 5,910,045 8,279,245

Idaho 09,910 383,689

Illinois 5,200,104 14,136,662

Indiana 7,059,874 13,334,729

Iowa 4,090,649 14,611,280

Kansas 2,095,438 7,328,723

Kentucky 7,994,813 13,313,220

Louisiana 1,944,858 4,607,415

Maine 1,215,881 4,078,137

Maryland 1,152,910 3,170,941

Massachusetts 890,041 4,613,263

Michigan 7,838,904 13,197,240

Minnesota 1,669,568 5,873,421

Mississippi 5,090,758 7,145,116

Missouri 4,016,373 8,633,465

Montana 119,947 460,638

Nebraska 908,188 3,859,843

Nevada 155,276 972,712

New Hampshire 567,719 1,964,669

New Jersey 642,598 2,787,216

New Mexico 169,946 1,063,360

New York 11,290,975 37,599,364

North Carolina 7,434,690 9,019,569

Ohio 8,191,543 16,492,574

Oregon 482,254 1,254,511

Pennsylvania 7,361,962 15,067,651

Rhode Island 154,953 706,011

South Carolina 3,670,959 11,505,997

Tennessee 8,084,611 10,674,722

Texas 4,883,852 10,177,311

Utah 171,923 418,289

Vermont 782,338 2,509,189

Virginia 5,416,112 10,404,134

Washington 184,226 499,904

West Virginia 2,241,069 3,374,701

Wisconsin 7,206,126 11,863,739

Wyoming 40,218 224,848

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

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

In Pennsylvania 1.72 $2.05 $3.52

In New York 2.22 3.32 7.37

In Illinois 1.70 2.27 4.90

In Iowa 2.45 3.57 8.75

In Kansas 2.14 3.50 7.49

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

LARGEST AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES.

Keokuk, Iowa.

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

Reader.

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

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

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

BUTTER PRODUCT OF A GOOD COW.

Peoria, Ill.

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

Young Housekeeper.

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

VACCINATING IMMIGRANTS.

Washington, Ill.

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

A Doubter.

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

Number Number

Stations. inspected. vaccinated.

Pitts. Ft. W. & Chi. R. R. 17,347 2,539

Lake S. & M. S. R. R. 14,011 2,285

Mich. C. R. R. 22,330 6,145

Grand Trunk R. R. 9,356 1,875

Balt. & Ohio R. R. 10,688 2,348

Indianapolis 13,746 1,635

St. Louis 7,361 368

Total 94,839 17,195

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

BRIDGES AND RHYTHMIC VIBRATION.

St. Paul., Minn.

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

A. M. G.

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

THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR.

Vandalia, Ill.

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

T. M. K.

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

NATIONAL DEBTS OF FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN.

Chicago, Ill.

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

J. C. C.

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

THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA.

Chicago, Ill.

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

S. L.

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

VIRGINIA STATE DEBT.

Oxford, Iowa.

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

F. G. A.

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

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

POINTS OF A GOOD SHOT-GUN.

Fourche, D. T.

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

H. M. Eastman.

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

WEALTH OF THE UNITED STATES PER CAPITA.

Woodlawn, Mo.

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

Reader.

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

Total. Per capita.

Maine $235,978,716 362.09

New Hampshire 164,755,181 474.81

Vermont 86,806,755 261.24

Massachusetts 1,584,756,802 888.77

Rhode Island 252,536,673 913.23

Connecticut 327,177,385 525.41

New York 2,651,940,000 521.74

New Jersey 572,518,361 506.06

Pennsylvania 1,683,459,016 393.08

Delaware 59,951,643 408.92

Maryland 497,307,675 533.07

District of Columbia 99,401,787 845.08

Virginia 308,455,135 203.92

West Virginia 139,622,705 225.75

North Carolina 156,100,202 111.52

South Carolina 153,560,135 154.24

Georgia 239,472,599 155.82

Florida 30,938,309 114.80

Alabama 122,867,228 97.32

Mississippi 110,628,129 97.76

Louisiana 160,162,439 170.39

Texas 320,364,515 201.26

Arkansas 86,409,364 176.71

Kentucky 350,563,971 212.63

Tennessee 211,778,538 137.30

Ohio 1,534,360,508 479.77

Indiana 727,815,131 367.89

Illinois 786,616,394 255.24

Michigan 517,666,359 316.23

Wisconsin 438,971,751 333.69

Iowa 398,671,251 245.39

Minnesota 258,028,687 330.48

Missouri 532,795,801 245.72

Kansas 160,891,689 161.52

Nebraska 90,585,782 200.23

Colorado 74,471,693 383.22

Nevada 29,291,459 470.40

Oregon 52,522,084 300.52

California 584,578,036 676.05

Arizona 9,270,214 229.23

Dakota 20,321,530 150.33

Idaho 6,440,876 197.51

Montana 18,609,802 475.23

New Mexico 11,363,406 95.04

Utah 24,775,279 172.09

Washington 23,810,603 316.98

Wyoming 13,621,829 655.24

Total $16,902,993,543 337.00

THE OLDEST HISTORIANS.

Fourche, D. T.

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

H. M. Eastman.

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

FORMS OF LEAD CRYSTALS.

Burlingame, Kan.

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

C. A. Damon.

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

NATIONS OF THE GLOBE.

Silver Lake, Ind.

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

J. F. Clymer.

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

ENTERING LAND IN DAKOTA.

Huston, D. T.

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

H. S. Brown.

RECORDS OF THE BRITISH CELTS.

Dunlap, Iowa.

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

J. H. G. Rogers.

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

REPUDIATING STATES.

Bement, Ill.

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

J. C. Miller.

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

THE CAPITAL OF LOUISIANA.

Alden, Iowa.

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

Teacher.

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

ANGORA AND CASHMERE FLEECES.

Sedan, Kan.

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

T. S. R.

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

AN EARLY CALIFORNIAN COIN.

Chicago, Ill.

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

J. A. Bloss.

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

MOCHA COFFEE.

Mayville, D. T.

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

Edward Palmer.

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

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

INDEX OF PERIODICAL LITERATURE.

Chicago, Ill.

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

Mrs. M. B. W.

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

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

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

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

WHY 1900 WILL NOT BE A LEAP YEAR.

Tipton, Iowa.

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

Student.

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

LEGISLATION FOR THE PEOPLE.

Denver, Col.

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

C. S. Holley.

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

EARTHQUAKES.

Lay, Col.

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

Jacob Sloneker.

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

SOUTHEASTERN DAKOTA.

Plankington, D. T.

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

Thomas Jacka.

INCOME OF THE CZAR.

Fort Wayne, Ind.

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

S. S. Coleman.

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

GETTYSBURG AND WATERLOO.

Red Oak, Iowa.

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

Inquirer.

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

FRAUDULENT HOMESTEAD AND TIMBER CLAIMS.

LaCrosse, Wis.

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

Citizen.

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

ASSASSINATED ON GOOD FRIDAY.

Chicago, Ill.

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

Contestant.

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

THE DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.

Crab Orchard, Ill.

Who discovered Mexico?

Felix M. Burdett.

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

TITLE OF PRINCE OF WALES.

Hebron, Neb.

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

James Knox.

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

J. C. CALHOUN—WHIG PARTY.

Volga City, Iowa.

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

H. C. Davis.

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

GREAT FIRES OF HISTORY.

Fredonia, N. Y.

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

A Constant Reader.

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

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

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

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

In 1212 the greater part of London was burned.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dates. Cities. Property destroyed.

1802 Liverpool $5,000,000

1803 Bombay 3,000,000

1805 St. Thomas 30,000,000

1808 Spanish Town 7,500.000

1812 Moscow, burned five days; 30,800 houses destroyed 50,000,000

1816 Constantinople, 12,000 dwellings, 3,000 shops .....

1820 Savannah 4,000,000

1822 Canton nearly destroyed .....

1828 Havana, 350 houses .....

1835 New York (“Great Fire”) 15,000,000

1837 St. Johns. N. B. 5,000,000

1838 Charleston, 1,158 buildings 3,000,000

1841 Smyrna, 12,000 houses .....

1842 Hamburg, 4,219 buildings, 100 lives lost 35,000,000

1845 New York, 35 persons killed 7,500,000

1845 Pittsburg, 1,100 buildings 10,000,000

1845 Quebec, May 28, 1,650 dwellings 3,750,000

1845 Quebec, June 28, 1,300 dwellings .....

1846 St Johns, Newfoundland 5,000,000

1848 Constantinople, 2,500 buildings 15,000,000

1848 Albany, N. Y., 600 houses 3,000,000

1849 St. Louis 3,000,000

1851 St. Louis, 2,500 buildings 11,000,000

1851 St. Louis, 500 buildings 3,000,000

1851 San Francisco, May 4 and 5, many lives lost 10,000,000

1851 San Francisco, June 3,000,000

1852 Montreal, 1,200 buildings 5,000,000

1861 Mendoza destroyed by earthquake and fire, 10,000 lives lost ....

1862 St. Petersburg 5,000,000

1862 Troy, N. Y., nearly destroyed

1862 Valparaiso, almost destroyed

1864 Novgorod, immense destruction of property .....

1865 Constantinople, 2,800 buildings burned .....

1866 Yokohama, nearly destroyed 1865 Carlstadt, Sweden, all consumed but Bishop’s residence, hospital, and jail; 10 lives lost .....

1866 Portland, Me., half the city 11,000,000

1866 Quebec, 2,500 dwellings and 17 churches ......

1870 Constantinople, Pera suburb 26,000,000

1871 Chicago, 250 lives lost, 17,430 buildings burned, on 2,124 acres 192,000,000

1871 Paris, fired by the Commune 160,000,000

1872 Boston 75,000,000

1873 Yeddo, 10,000 houses ......

1877 Pittsburg, caused by riot 3,260,000

1877 St. Johns, N. B., 1,650 dwellings, 18 lives lost 12,500,000

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

Chicago fire, of Oct. 8 and 9, 1871 $192,000,000

Paris fires, of May, 1871 160,000,000

Moscow fire, of Sept. 14-19, 1812 150,000,000

Boston fire, Nov. 9-10, 1872 75,000,000

London fire, Sept. 2-6, 1666 53,652,500

Hamburg fire, May 5-7, 1842 35,000,000

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

LOSS OF THE LADY ELGIN.

Crete, Ill.

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

John Miller.

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

AUSTRALIA.

Colmar, Ill.

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

Charles L. Brickwell.

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

New South Wales 751,468

Queensland 213,525

South Australia 279,865

Victoria 862,346

Western Australia 29,708

Total 2,136,912

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

ALDERNEYS AND JERSEYS.

Scott, Ind.

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

A Subscriber.

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

LOTTERY MATTER UNMAILABLE.

Shell Rock, Iowa.

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

A Subscriber.

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

THE HIGH SEAS.

Union Grove, Wis.

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

Robert Roberts.

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

UNIMPROVED LANDS—IMMIGRATION.

Ganges, Mich.

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

H. H. H.

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

No. of Improved Total

States. farms. acres. acres.

Ohio 247,189 18,081,091 26,278,400

Michigan 154,008 8,296,862 37,705,600

Indiana 194,013 13,933,738 23,264,000

Illinois 255,741 26,115,154 36,256,000

Iowa 185,351 19,866,541 35,856,000

Nebraska 63,387 5,504,702 49,187,200

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

LAW AGAINST CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

Roscoe, Ill.

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

A Subscriber.

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

EMANCIPATION IN JAMAICA.

Shullsburg, Wis.

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

Richard Ivey, M. D.

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

BARNBURNERS AND HUNKERS.

Grand Rapids, Mich.

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

J. H. P.

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

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE.

Clinton, Mich.

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

Subscriber.

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

SAMUEL ADAMS, THE GREAT ORGANIZER.

Carbondale, Ill.

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

Charles L. H.

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