OUR CURIOSITY SHOP. (continued 7)

CONCRETE OR GROUT HOUSES.

Fountain, D. T.

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

Wm. M. Fisk.

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

LAS VEGAS HOT SPRINGS.

Batavia, Iowa.

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

E. C.

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

BASKET WILLOW

Loveland, Col.

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

I. H. Davis.

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

CHEAP PROCESS OF SILVERING METALS.

West Liberty, Iowa.

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

A. H. Cox.

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

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

THE GUILLOTINE.

Fairmont, Neb.

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

W. P. Jacks.

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

ASSESSMENT OF DEPOSITS.

Andover, D. T.

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

Subscriber.

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

GOVERNORS OF ALABAMA.

Greenville, Ala.

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

Sea.

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

BACCHUS—TRADE MARKS.

Wilmington, Ill.

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

L. F. Hazelton.

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

APOCRYPHA AND THE SACRED CANON.

Algona, Ill.

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

Laura A. Barslon.

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

CHURCH REFORMATION—PAPAL INFALLIBILITY.

Danville, Ill.

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

John Short.

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

A COMPARISON OF NATIONS.

Media, Kan.

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

J. H. Vick.

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

Countries— Commerce. Manufactures.

United States $1,505,000,000 $4,440,000,000

Great Britain 3,460,000,000 3,790,000,000

France 1,660,000,000 2,425,000,000

Germany 1,920,000,000 2,135,000,000

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

Carrying

Countries— Mining. Agriculture. Trade.

United States $360,000,000 $3,000,000,000 $830,000,000

Great Britain 325,000,000 1,200,000,000 805,000,000

France 60,000,000 2,000,000,000 810,000,000

Germany 105,090,000 1,700,000,000 845,000,000

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

THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES.

Algona, Iowa.

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

Laura A. Barslow.

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

SHOOTING NIAGARA.

Kansas City, Mo.

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

Controversy.

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

THE SUN’S STAY IN THE NORTH.

Gilman, Ill.

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

Young Reader.

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

AREA OF PALESTINE.

Osceola, Iowa.

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

C. M. F.

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

DATES OF CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.

Newton, Kas.

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

C. A. Herrick.

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

SENATOR SHARON.

Manly Junction, Iowa.

Please give a brief sketch of Senator Sharon.

A Subscriber.

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

THREE BLACK FRIDAYS.

Odessa, Neb.

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

Ed. S. Jelley.

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

FORFEITURE OF HOMESTEAD.

Camargo, Ill.

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

G. H. Snedaker.

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

LIQUOR DRANK IN ILLINOIS.

Carlinville, Ill.

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

T. E. D.

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

Number Receipts Gross

entering. if beer. receipts.

2,863 $190 $250

2,806 187 250

1,979 132 176

1,820 121 160

1,741 116 155

1,685 112 150

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

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

Average

No. of receipts

Saloons per REMARKS.

day.

10 $150 Chapin & Gore’s, Monroe st.;

or Hannah & Hogg, Madison st.;

$200 Batchelder’s, Mahler & Gale.

50 $75 “Dutch” Henry, House of David,

or Hansen’s, Dunhams, and

$100 Chapin & Gore’s branches,

and dens on “the Levee.”

100 $50 The ordinary down-town saloons

and very good saloons

in outlying districts.

2,000 $30 Decent saloons in extreme

or and north, south, and west portions

over $25 of city, Rolling Mill and

Stock Yards districts; mostly

beer trade.

1,000 $15 The same as the above, with

to to smaller trade, or houses in

1,200 $20 hard neighborhoods, with no

legitimate trade, but which

wait for victims to be

“steered” into them.

300 $10 Little German beer saloons in

to sparsely settled districts,

500 containing simply an ice-box

and a keg of beer. Do a

“can” trade mostly.

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

No. of Average daily Receipts

saloons. receipts. for year.

10 $175 $838,750

50 85 1,551,250

100 50 1,825,000

1,000 30 10,950,000

1,000 25 9,125,000

1,090 15 5,967,750

500 10 1,825,000

3,750 $32,082,750

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

Population. No. of License.

saloons.

Anna 1,500 9 $500

Aurora 13,500 25 500

Apple River 650 2 300

Bloomington 23,000 32 600

Cabery 325 3 400

Carmi 2,500 12 300

Charleston 3,250 6 800

Chandlerville 700 3 500

Chenoa 1,100 5 300

Dongola 700 4 300

Elmwood 1,700 3 800

Galesburg 12,000 18 600

Gillespie 800 8 450

Hillsboro 2,000 3 800

Joliet 14,500 60 500

Kenny 600 2 500

Lamoille 500 1 300

Minier 650 3 300

Mason City 2,000 4 750

Mattoon 7,000 8 800

Moline 9,000 30 300

Mount Morris 900 1 500

Noble 400 1 300

Odell 1,000 2 750

Ohio 400 3 475

Oswego 700 2 300

Paris 5,500 8 800

Rockford 15,000 20 500

Rochelle 2,000 4 433

Savanna 1,500 10 500

Strawn 400 3 300

Tiskilwa 800 2 400

Washburn 500 3 300

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

THE DIAMOND.

Shenandoah, Iowa.

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

R. P. Drake.

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

AUTHORS OF CERTAIN POEMS.

Randolph, N. Y.

The title of the poem containing the couplet—

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

Leo Boardman.

GENERAL TOM THUMB.

Griswold, Iowa.

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

A Subscriber.

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

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

Urbana, Ill.

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

Nettie Ayers.

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

WEIGHT OF LUMBER.

Decatur, Ill.

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

Old Subscriber.

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

Weight in

Description pounds

Boards, 1, 1¼, and 1½ inch thick, surfaced on one side per thousand ft. 2,102

Boards, 1, 1¼, and 1½ inch thick, surfaced on two sides 2,068

Boards, 2 inches thick, surfaced on one side 2,000

Flooring, white pine, dressed and matched 1,890

Flooring, 4 inches wide, dressed and matched 1,793

Flooring, hard pine, dressed and matched 2,366

Ship laps, 8 inch 1,711

Ship laps, 10 inch 1,725

Ship laps, 12 inch 1,855

Ceiling, white pine, ⅜ inch 786

Ceiling, hard pine, ⅜ inch 950

Siding 865

Piece stuff, rough 2,560

Piece stuff, surfaced on one side 2,210

Thin, clear 1,380

Ceiling, ⅝ 1,120

Rough boards 2,524

Fence, hard pine 2,910

Fencing, 6 inch 2,433

Shingles, pine, per 1,000 248

Shingles, cedar, per 1,000 203

Lath, dry 502

ST. ANASTASIUS—APOSTLE OF HUNGARY.

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

W. I. Pratt.

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

EXECUTIVE AND DEPARTMENT SALARIES.

Augusta, Kan.

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

C. H. M.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WHEN THE SEASONS BEGIN.

Wenona, Ill.

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

C. M. Turner.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HENRY CLAY.

Hoosier, Pa.

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

A Subscriber.

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

FOUNDING OF YALE AND DARTMOUTH.

Melvin, Ill.

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

A. Buckholz.

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

SWARMING OF BEES.

Kewanee, Ill.

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

“Topsy.”

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

MARTIN LUTHER.

Urbana, Ill.

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

Nettie Ayres.

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

FALL OF WESTERN RIVERS.

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

J. H. Rhodes.

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

PRINCIPAL BATTLES OF THE REBELLION.

York, Neb.

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

J. I. Mosbarger.

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

SILVER COINS AT A PREMIUM.

Hebron, Ind.

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

Frank Richards.

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

UNITED STATES DOLLARS.

Reading. Chicago.

1794, flowing hair $30.30 $12.50

1795, flowing hair 1.50 1.25

1795, fillet head 1.65 1.25

1796, fillet head 1.65 1.25

1797, fillet head, 6 stars facing 1.75 1.75

1797, fillet head, 7 stars facing 2.00 1.25

1798, fillet head, 13 stars, small eagle 4.75 1.25

1798, fillet head, 15 stars, small eagle 6.00 2.00

1798, 13 stars, large eagle 1.35 1.15

1799, 5 stars facing 2.25 1.40

1799, 6 stars facing 1.25 1.15

1800, spread eagle 1.45 1.25

1801, spread eagle 1.75 1.50

1802, spread eagle 1.45 1.35

1802 over 1801, spread eagle 1.50 1.35

1803, spread eagle 1.50 1.25

1804, excessively rare, “boss dollar” 500.00 200.00

1836, C. Gobrecht’s name in field 6.00

1836, flying eagle 3.00

1838, flying eagle 12.00 15.00

1839, flying eagle 18.00 15.00

1851, liberty seated 18.00 15.00

1852, liberty seated 18.00 15.00

1854, liberty seated 5.50 2.25

1855, liberty seated 3.25 2.00

1856, liberty seated 2.25 1.50

1857, liberty seated 2.75 1.50

1858, liberty seated 20.00 15.00

U. S. HALF DOLLARS.

1794, flowing hair, fair 3.50 2.00

1794, flowing hair, good 5.00 3.25

1796, fillet head, 15 stars 20.00 15.00

1796, fillet head, 16 stars 20.00 16.00

1797, fillet head, 15 stars 20.00 12.50

1801, fillet head 3.50 2.00

1802, fillet head 3.50 2.75

1815, head to left, good 3.50 2.60

1815, head to left, fine 5.00 3.50

1836, liberty cap, milled edge 2.00 2.00

1836, liberty cap, milled fine 2.50 2.50

1838, liberty cap, having “O” mark underhead 7.00 3.00

1852, liberty seated 2.50 1.50

1852, liberty seated, fine 3.50 2.00

QUARTER DOLLARS.

1796, fillet head, fair 2.00 1.75

1796, fillet head, good 3.50 2.00

1804, fillet head, fair 1.50 1.25

1804, fillet head, good 2.00 1.50

1823, head to left, fair 15.00 13.50

1823, head to left, good 25.00 20.00

1827, head to left, fair 15.00 17.50

1827, head to left, good 25.00 20.00

1853, liberty seated, without arrows 5.00 2.50

TWENTY-CENT PIECES.

1877 1.25

1878 1.50

DIMES.

1796, fillet head, fair .75 1.00

1796, fillet head, good 1.50 1.25

1797, 13 stars, fair 1.00 1.25

1897, 13 stars, good 1.75 1.75

1797, 16 stars, fair 1.00 1.25

1797, 16 stars, good 1.75 1.75

1798, fillet head, fair .75 1.00

1798, fillet head, good 1.00 1.50

1800, fillet head, fair .50 1.00

1800, fillet head, good .75 1.50

1801, fillet head, fair .75 1.00

1801, fillet head, good 1.00 1.50

1802, fillet head, fair 1.50 1.25

1802, fillet head, good 2.50 2.00

1803, fillet head, fair 1.25 .75

1803, fillet head, good 1.75 1.25

1804, fillet head, fair 4.00 1.75

1804, fillet head, good 5.50 2.00

1800, head to left 1.25 .60

1811, head to left .70 .60

1822, head to left, fair 1.50 1.50

1822, head to left, fine 2.00 2.00

1846, liberty seated 1.00 .50

HALF DIMES.

1794, flowing hair, fair 2.00 1.25

1794, flowing hair, good 3.00 2.00

1795, flowing hair, good .70 .50

1796, 15 stars, fillet head, fair 1.50 1.00

1796, 15 stars, fillet head, good 2.00 1.50

1797, 15 stars, fillet head, fair 2.50 .75

1797, 15 stars, fillet head, good 2.50 1.25

1797, 16 stars, fillet head, fair 1.50 .75

1797, 16 stars, fillet head, good 2.50 1.25

1800, fillet head, fair .40 .25

1800, fillet head, good .60 .50

1801, fillet head, fair 1.25 .75

1801, fillet head, good 2.00 1.25

1802, fillet head, fair 25.00 10.00

1802, fillet head, fine 40.00 30.00

1803, fillet head, fair 1.25 .75

1803, fillet head, good 2.25 1.25

1805, fillet head, fair 1.50 1.00

1805, fillet head, good 2.50 1.50

1846, liberty seated, without stars, fair 1.50 .50

1846, liberty seated, good 2.00 .75

1846, liberty seated, fine 2.00 1.00

SILVER THREE-CENT PIECES.

1863 .60 .25

1864 to 1869, inclusive .25

1870, large star in center .20

1871, large star in center .20

1872, large star in center .20

1873, large star in center .90 .60

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

THE SALVATION ARMY.

Belle River, Wis.

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

W.

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

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF BRITISH ARMIES.

Chicago, Ill.

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

Inquirer.

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

THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN.

Brushy Prairie, Md.

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

R. Ashley.

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

PALACE OF THE CÆSARS.

Mulberry, Ind.

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

J. J. R.

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

HOMEOPATHY IN THE UNITED STATES.

Cambridge, Ill.

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

W. N. Boyer, M. D.

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

NEBRASKA AND LINCOLN’S MONUMENT.

Fremont, Neb.

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

A. C. F.

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

LOW TARIFF AND FIAT MONEY.

Emporia, Kan.

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

E. D. Humphrey.

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

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

MEANING OF A AND AP IN SURNAMES.

Greenville, Ill.

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

Sea.

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

TROPICAL PLANTS IN LABRADOR.

Tingley, Iowa.

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

James S. Williams.

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

CURING BASKET WILLOW.

Winneconne, Wis.

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

F. Lightfoot.

JEAN PAUL RICHTER.

Oconomowoc, Wis.

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

A Reader.

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

INVENTOR OF COTTON GIN-WHITNEY.

Windsor, Ill.

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

Subscriber.

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

ISINGLASS.

Glenallin, D. T.

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

A. H. Chase.

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

MOCHA ISLAND.

Chicago, Ill.

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

Henry Collins.

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

A SPORTING TERM—HIGH-BINDER.

Aledo, Ill.

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

Joseph Whittaus.

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

UNITED BRETHREN.

Kingman, Kan.

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

A Subscriber.

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

EMBER DAYS.

Champaign, Ill.

What is understood by the ember days?

N. Zeigler.

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

VICTOR HUGO’S WORKS.

Vienna, Iowa.

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

H. S. Ellwanger.

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

PRESIDENTS OF THE SENATE.

Wausau, Wis.

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

N. A. S.

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

DAVID H. STROTHER—“PORTE CRAYON.”

Chicago, Ill.

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

James Butcher.

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

THE GUINEA PIG.

Waterville, Kan.

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

“Magnolia.”

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

DARIUS AND THE SCYTHIANS.

Geneva, Ill.

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

C. P. Dutton.

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

THE MISSISSIPPI AND MISSOURI RIVERS.

Yellowstone, Wis.

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

James Lyons.

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

WHY EASTER IS A MOVABLE FEAST.

Chicago, Ill.

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

Buscando.

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