Chapter 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?