Chapter I: Preface

So well known now is this little annual cyclopedia of facts in agriculture, manufactures, commerce, politics, literature, science and the arts, that this sixth volume of OUR CURIOSITY SHOP needs no preface, except to make due acknowledgments to the many who have aided the editor with information, and to explain to such of its readers as are not yet fully advised of this fact, that these pages constitute but a part of the several columns of questions and answers published every week in the DAILY, SEMI-WEEKLY and WEEKLY editions of THE INTER OCEAN. To have all such answers for the year, one must be a regular subscriber to, and reader of, the paper. Hundreds of disputes, raised in political gatherings, in debating societies, in Sunday schools, in social and sporting circles, at the village postoffice when waiting for the mail, on railway cars, in club rooms, around pioneer camp-fires, and in all kinds of places are referred to THE INTER OCEAN for amicable settlement. When none of the several thousand books on the shelves of THE INTER OCEAN and the Chicago Public Library give response to such questions, original sources of information are appealed to; and, again therefore, the grateful acknowledgments of the editor of OUR CURIOSITY SHOP are very heartily made to the Heads of the several executive departments at Washington and many of their chiefs of bureaus, to State and city officials, to his obliging associates of THE INTER OCEAN staff, and to that daily companion and efficient assistant, his daughter.

Every answer given here is in response to at least one person enough interested to call it forth. Not one started up at the editor’s own bidding, but each of them might use the speech put into the mouth of King Philip of Pokanoket, when summoned to meet the General Court of New Plymouth: “You sent for me, and I am here.” So, being here in response to popular call, the editor hopes this volume will have as cordial a welcome as the public has accorded to its predecessor of last year, of which, already, the second edition is nearly exhausted, and to the still earlier volumes of 1878 to 1882, inclusive. It is now a matter of regret that the volumes of 1878 and 1879 were not stereotyped, as all succeeding volumes have been; since that fact renders it impossible for the Publishers to supply the repeated calls for the entire series of six volumes. Readers will take note that the first two are out of print, but all the others will be supplied as fast as called for.

THE EDITOR.

OUR CURIOSITY SHOP.

NATURE’S STORM SIGNALS.

Recent questions and answers in Our Curiosity Shop about the aurora borealis and the Government Signal Service have moved S. H. Ruple, M., M. D., of Oquawka, Ill., to give the result of his observations as follows:

Falling weather follows the aurora borealis, because the lower stratum of the atmosphere at such a time is sufficiently rarified for the manifestation of aqueous vapor, as is indicated by the evolution or liberation of so great a quantity of electricity as is necessary to produce conspicuous and extensive “northern lights.” A continuous south wind, in most localities, will in a few days cause rain, because by its warmth it rarifies the cooler and denser atmosphere of more northern or elevated localities, and reduces its capability of sustaining moisture. A continuous north wind dispels all rain signs for the time being. This is no new theory. Solomon, 3,000 years ago, put it on record in Western Asia. (Prov. xxv., 23.) And a careful observation during twenty-five years has convinced me that it is true for this age and country as well as for his. Flaky clouds, or low-running ones, from any direction but the north, denote rain or snow. Salmon, leaden, or silvery colored clouds denote falling weather; bright red, clear. When the sunset is followed by bright lances or streaks of light of various hues radiating from the point where the sun disappeared, continuing across the heavens and converging to a common point in the opposite horizon, there exists a storm-cloud in line with the sun, though it may be so distant as to be for awhile entirely hidden from view by the rotundity of the earth. If the rays of light are evenly divided north and south of the line between the observer and the radiating point, and continue so till they have faded out, the cloud is approaching. A few years since the writer, becoming interested in an exhibition of this phenomena, sat up to watch the results of his calculations. About 1 a. m. the storm (a moderate cyclone) reached the Mississippi River, about five miles north of his residence, having, according to telegraphic reports, crossed the State of Iowa in five hours and a half. When “heat lightning” is visible you may be sure that there is a storm-cloud in the same direction, though you may neither see it nor hear the thunder. When the lightning is continuous and very brilliant the storm may be regarded as a violent one. In this event the track of the destructive elements may be from 100 to 200 miles away. Some five years ago the writer’s attention was called, a little after dark, to an extraordinary display of heat lightning in the southern horizon, and he ventured the opinion that a devastating cyclone was traveling eastwardly, probably in the vicinity of St. Louis. Though residing in Oquawka, Ill., fourteen miles above Burlington, Iowa, within twenty-four hours THE INTER OCEAN, ever watchful and intelligent, was in his hands with telegraphic reports corroborating his theory and predictions. Jefferson Barracks were reported damaged by the cyclone, and across in Illinois a whole village was laid waste and several lives lost. This was, to say the least, pretty accurate guessing. If the old pioneers of Colorado, traveling at the rate of twenty-five miles a day, had to toil from five to seven days after catching their first view of the snow-cap of Pike’s Peak before gaining the mountain foot hills, how far off may not one see the intensely white, dazzling, and flashing illumination capping a cloud that is from three to five miles above the earth.

LEPROSY.

LIDELL’S GROVE, Ill.

Please state some facts regarding leprosy and the leper settlement
on the Hawaiian Islands. Is the same disease prevalent among the
Chinese in California? Are Caucasians liable to contract the
disease?

S. GRAY.

_Answer._—There is no other malady so loathsome and so dreaded among mankind as the terrible disease of leprosy. A little blotch appears, often on the face of the victim, which gradually extending covers the whole body. Scales drop from the sufferer; his limbs become frightfully swollen, his voice grows hoarse, his eyes almost burst from their sockets, as the irresistible decay saps his life’s blood. While thus afflicted the victim suffers no physical inconvenience, except the gradual loss of his limbs. His body is numb and he does not feel the hand of the destroyer; his appetite is as good as ever, and he sleeps with as much relish as he did when he was in health. But in Eastern countries that which is almost as unbearable as the disease itself is the leper’s exclusion from society, even from that of his nearest relatives. In most countries leprosy operates as a divorce of husband and wife. Although it does not fill the air with contagion, yet the possible inoculation by personal contact or by handling the same objects, has led to the banishment of lepers not only from communities but from their homes. Whatever discussion may still be maintained as to the contagiousness of leprosy there exists no reasonable doubt of its transmission by heredity or licentiousness. During the past twenty years and more the Hawaiian Islands have received a large influx of Chinese coolies of the basest sort through the coolie traffic. Many of these associated in the loosest manner with the lower classes of natives, and in 1868 the authorities awakened to the fact that leprosy was spreading at an alarming rate. They determined on the Asiatic remedy of isolation. The western portion of the island of Molokai was selected for this purpose, and here to-day are found over 2,000 lepers shut out from all hope of ever seeing their friends, unless the latter become similarly afflicted. Three times a week a steamer visits the island, carrying provisions and mail, and the latest victims. Among these sufferers is William Ragsdale, the first Governor of the colony. In California a few of the Chinese have been afflicted with the disease, but it is not considered prevalent among them. In Salem, Mass., there is a pitiable case. Charles Derby was living in the Hawaiian Islands, when a slight blotch on his left temple revealed to the experienced islanders the fact that they had among them another leper. To escape banishment, Mr. Derby sailed for San Francisco; but was offered no refuse there, that city following the example of Honolulu. He then went to Salem, where they knew nothing of the disease, and there remained until discovered by two medical students from the Hawaiian Islands. His swollen and decaying face presents a frightful appearance. What is to be done with him is a question which the Salem authorities have not yet decided upon.

THE MILITARY ROAD, ARKANSAS.

ORION, Miss.

By whom and for what purpose was the road known as the Military
Road, extending west of Memphis, Tenn., laid out? Where does it
terminate?

J. F. MC.

_Answer._—When the Creeks and Cherokees were being transferred to lands west of the Mississippi, under the command of General Jackson, this military road was constructed to facilitate the movement. The road terminates at Little Rock, Ark.

AURORA BOREALIS NOT A MODERN DISCOVERY.

LOWELL, Mich.

I am informed, on what appears to be good authority, that the
aurora borealis has been seen for only about two hundred years, and
that we have no record of its previous appearance. Is such the case?

W. A. D.

_Answer._—The aurora borealis is not a phenomenon peculiar to modern times. The ancients used to call it chasmata, bolides and trabes, names which expressed the different colors of the lights. The scarlet aurora was looked upon by the superstitious barbarians as an omen of direful slaughter; so it is not unusual for descriptions of bloody battles to contain allusions to northern lights. In the annuls of Cloon-mac-noise it is recorded that in 688 A. D., accompanying a terrible battle between Leinster and Munster, Ireland, a purple aurora lit the northern skies, foretelling the slaughter. To the Latins and Greeks of Southern Europe the phenomenon rarely appeared, and therefore their writings are almost, if not entirely, silent concerning it, yet it was not unknown to them.

WHERE WAS EDEN.

VIRGIL CITY, Mo.

In what part of the world was the Garden of Eden located?