Chapter M: L. Scott, Boulder, Col.—1. The Chief Justices of the United States

since 1789 have been John Jay, John Rutledge, Oliver Ellsworth, John Marshall, Roger B. Taney, Salmon P. Chase, and the present incumbent, Morrison R. Waite. 2. The corner-stone of our first Federal Capitol was laid by George Washington Sept, 18, 1793. The corner-stone of the extension of 1851 was laid by Millard Fillmore.

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A. C., Streator, Ill.—Inauguration Day, of the 4th of March, on which the term of office of the President of the United States must necessarily begin, has occurred on Sunday fourteen times this century. It occurred so the last time on the occasion of President Hayes’ inauguration, and he quietly took the oath of office in the White House Sunday afternoon. The inauguration ceremonial at the Capitol took place the next day. Inauguration Day will not fall on Sunday again during this century.

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James Harman, Central City, Neb.—The total receipts from saloon licenses in this city in 1880 amounted to $182,226.40. The expenses entailed through pauperage, damage to property and person, increased cost of police, jails, etc., cannot be accurately determined. It is a matter of estimate.

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A Subscriber, Chicago.—In the Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Butler received 133,946 votes: Bishop, 119,997, and Almy, 2,137, making Butler’s plurality 13,949, and his majority 11,812.

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The ten-mile race at the State fair held at Minneapolis last fall was won by Miss Belle Cook, with five horses, in 20:02. Little Cricket won the twenty-mile race in 40:59.

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John Allen, Topeka, Kan.—The real name of “Mary Blake,” contributor to the _Century_, is Mrs. Blakesley.

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A. B. E.—The authoress of “Curfew Must Not Ring To-night” is Rose Hartwicke Thorpe.

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J. M. H., Stanberry, Mo.—The President pro tempore of the Senate draws the same salary as the Vice President when filling the same office. You are right as to the apportionment of members of Congress. The whole question is explained on page 75 of Our Curiosity Shop of 1882, in book form, costing 25 cents, postage included. It answers hundreds of such questions as you and your fellow-students are discussing. There is no instance of a State’s returning to the condition of a Territory, unless the rebel States were in that condition before they adopted their “reconstruction constitutions” just after the war, when they were under provisional governments. Your other questions have all been answered very recently.

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“She-cau-oh,” Chicago, Ill.—We give your note just as it comes to us: “Man-i-_to_-ba—that is not the way it is pronounced, but Ma-nit-a-_bah_. Chicago should be She-cau-_oh_ (Potawatome)—‘all gone,’ ‘far-off-place.’ Sioux, pronounce Sou. I could speak the Indian language better than the English once.—She-cau-_oh_.” It is too late in the world’s history to change the pronunciation of Chicago back to the original, and, for that matter, the pronunciation of Manitoba is hopelessly anglicized into Man-i-_tow_-ba. Still we thank you for your note, and will preserve it in our bound Curiosity Shop as another witness for the original pronunciation of all these names, and what is admitted to be one of the Indian meanings of Chicago, the others, vouched for by good authority, being “strong” and “wild onion,” the sense in each case being dependent on the connection.

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Ida, Milo, Ill.—1. George III. was King of England during the whole period of the American revolution. His Prime Minister from 1770 until after the surrender of Cornwallis was Lord North, and two other of the principal members of his Cabinet were Lords Gower and Weymouth. In 1779 the latter, seeing the hopelessness of the effort to subdue the Americans, resigned, but North continued in power until after the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown, when he resigned March 20, 1782, and was succeeded by the Marquis of Rockingham, who at once opened negotiations for peace.

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Alfred Gates, Lafayette, Ind.—The dower right of a married woman in her husband’s real estate has been abolished in Indiana and California. In States where married women are entitled to dower, it is the general rule that relinquishments of dower made by any such woman under 21 years of age are of no effect unless ratified by her after she has attained that age. Even in most States where women are “of age,” or become mistresses of themselves at an earlier age than 21, they cannot convey real estate until they have attained the full legal majority of 21 years.

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Martha J. McCoy, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.—If the paint is scaling off your recently painted house it proves that there is not much pure white lead and good boiled linseed oil in it. Unless one employs an honest painter and contracts for these substantial ingredients he is almost certain to get white lead adulterated with earths, sulphate of baryta, or other cheap materials, mixed with worthless substitutes for linseed oil. The lowest-priced paints are usually the dearest in the long run, particularly for outside work.

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Georgia L. Brown, West Salem, Wis.—1. The salary of the President was increased to $50,000 a year—making it the same as that of the Governor General of Canada—on the last day of the first term of President Grant, who drew pay according to this law from the beginning of his second term.

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S., Greenfield, Ill.—“Red Line Poets” is a trade name given to certain editions of selected poems printed on pages bordered with red lines. There are one or two English books of this description, and one or more American books. No two of them embrace the same list of authors. A Boston red-line edition contains only selections from Longfellow, Whittier, Bryant, Holmes, Lowell, and Emerson.

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Amateur Antiquary, Chicago, Ill.—“Empire State of the South” is a popular appellation for Georgia in allusion to its being the leading State in wealth and enterprise. Tennessee is sometimes called the “Big-bend State,” in allusion to the spoon-like bend of the Tennessee River. West Virginia is sometimes called the “Pan-handle State,” because it includes that singular strip of land between the Ohio River and the boundary of Pennsylvania.

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H. N. Kinney, Mantone, Ill.—The leading corn county of this State in 1881 was McLean, with a crop of 9,750,000 bushels; the next largest was Livingston, with 6,983,522 bushels. The same year Kankakee County produced 2,743,300 bushels.

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R. D. Silsby, Modale, Iowa.—Your friend is right in asserting that there are yellow and brownish varieties of cotton. The valuable Orleans cotton staples are naturally white, but there is cheap yellow and brownish staple used for nankeen cloth, and one sort known as Bourbon cotton.

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A Reader, Glenwood, Iowa.—1. The great Chicago fire of 1871 began Sunday evening, Oct. 8, and lasted until Tuesday morning. 2. Henry Wilson, the late Vice President, changed his name, by birth Colbath. Why, he always treated as a strictly private matter. His childhood was one of extreme poverty, and he was apprenticed when he was but ten years old.

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Normal Student, Stanbury, Mass.—There is no State in the Union where a man can vote before he is 21 years of age. However, if a man’s birthday is Feb. 1 he becomes of age Jan. 31, as the law takes no account of fractions of a day in a matter of this kind.

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