Chapter V: T. Houston

_Answer._—The children of first cousins are second cousins. A’s child is “first cousin removed” to A’s first cousin, while he is second cousin to the son or daughter of A’s first cousin.

FINDING LATITUDE AT SEA.

GARRISON, Iowa.

Referring to the explanation of the method of determining latitude by observations on the pole star, given in a recent issue of Our Curiosity Shop, I venture to submit the following indication of the common method by which sailors ascertain their latitude at sea. It is true that latitude may be determined by means of a carefully observed altitude of the polar star, providing the apparent time of observation can be ascertained within a few minutes. This method might frequently be used at sea when the horizon is well defined if the star were of the first magnitude; but being only of the second or third it is difficult to determine the altitude with certainty. For this reason the usual method of finding the latitude at sea is by taking the altitude of the sun when on the meridian. The latitude of a place, being its distance from the equator, is measured by the arc of the meridian contained between the zenith and the equator; hence, if the distance of the sun from the zenith when on the meridian and the declination be given the latitude is easily determined.

B. F. HUSSEY.

AUTHORS, EDITORS, AND MANUSCRIPTS.

MT. HOPE, Kan.

Kindly explain the editorial rules governing the receipt and
treatment of manuscript offered for publication, whether intended
for newspapers, periodicals, or books. Suppose, too, that an author
should send the manuscript of a book to a publisher on the promise
that it would be returned if not accepted, how long ought it to
be before he should be notified of its receipt and acceptance or
rejection?

W. S. W.

_Answer._—There is no definite general rule for these matters beyond the common understanding that the editor must attend first of all to the regular routine of his office, and manuscript must wait, until he has time to read it. In the case of contributions to a periodical, it is understood unless contributors specifically request the return of their contributions and inclose postage stamps for this purpose, that the editor, if he does not use them, is at liberty to consign them to the waste basket. It is not unusual for contributions to literary magazines and standard reviews to lie on the editors’ tables for a month or six weeks before the verdict “accepted” or “rejected” is pronounced. A glance at a contribution, even the mere subject, indicates to the editor whether the article is likely to suffer by delay. Stories and many other contributions will keep; current news and kindred matters will not. These manuscripts must be read at once; those must wait; and how long, only the editor is in the position to determine. Even after articles are accepted the same law prevails, and the circumstances of each particular issue determine what is to be used and what “held over.” It frequently happens that editorials which have cost the editor serious labor, and are actually in type, are crowded out by unexpected events which must take precedence, and are held back by a succession of such events until too stale to be used, and the writer is forced to write “kill” over against the children of his own heart and brain. Many a disgusted contributor would feel less mortified and indignant at the rejection of his offering if he could understand all the circumstances of the case. The contribution rejected to-day might have been gladly accepted had it come a day sooner. An article accepted yesterday and paid for, perhaps never appears; why, only the editor can explain. Even champagne tastes flat after it has stood a few moments; witticisms are still-born if not ushered in at the right instant. The book-publisher is subject to similar influences, but not in the same degree as the editor of a newspaper or review. But many a book manuscript has been rejected because out of season. Many another has been rejected because the writer was impatient and the editor, rather than keep him in such a mood and unwilling to take the responsibility of publishing what he had not read with critical care, has relieved himself by returning it “with thanks.” It is no slight matter for an editor to read and so digest a book, in which the publisher is asked to invest from $1,000 to $5,000, as to enable him to pronounce a favorable judgment with confidence. Of course long and carefully prepared manuscripts, especially books, are entitled to more consideration than ordinary newspaper contributions; and should never be destroyed until the authors have been courteously notified that they are not wanted, and have had ample time to send for them. In the supposed case of the above question, acknowledgment of receipt of the book manuscript should have been mailed as soon as it came to hand, unless it was received by express or as registered mail matter, and from thirty to sixty days, according to the length and nature of the book would not be too long to grant the editor or publisher before expecting a decision. Except in special cases, editors of newspapers do not receipt by mail for contributions sent to them.

RAILROAD MILEAGE.

OSHKOSH, Wis.

Please give a few statistics in reference to railroad construction
in the United States and in the more important foreign countries.

W. L. FROST.

_Answer._—The number of miles of railroad in the world constructed prior to Jan. 1, 1881, was 226,442, of which sum 93,671 miles were within the United States. Germany had built 21,037 miles; Great Britain and Ireland, 17,696; France, 15,287; Russia, 13,571; Austria-Hungary, 11,471; British India, 8,615; Canada, 6,891; Italy, 4,999, and Spain, 4,264. During the year 1881 the railway mileage of this country increased to 104,813 miles, to which the year 1882 added 10,821 miles, making a grand total of 115,634 miles. To build these great highways and properly equip them about $5,750,000,000 have been expended. Iowa during the past year took the lead, having constructed 953.37 miles, and Texas followed close after with 817 miles of new road.

A FEW AMERICAN WORTHIES.

MANSON, Iowa.

Please name five or more of the greatest of the following classes
of Americans: Orators, poets, historians, inventors.

GEORGE BELL.

_Answer._—Any answer to such a question is largely a matter of personal opinion. Among political orators Patrick Henry, James Otis, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Thomas Pike, Sergeant Smith Prentiss, John C. Calhoun stand among the most illustrious. As to pulpit orators, it would be invidious to name one without designating at least fifty who are evidently of the same rank. Our great poets have not been many. First among them have been and still are, as regards fame, William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, George Denison Prentice, and Nathaniel P. Willis. Whittier, T. Buchanan Read, Holmes. Lowell, Miller, Holland, Saxe, Morris, Mrs. Sigourney, are poets not soon to be forgotten. Irving, Sparks, Prescott, Bancroft, are among our most eminent historians. Fulton, inventor of the steamboat; Morse, inventor of the first practical electric telegraph; Whitney, inventor of the cotton-gin, and Howe, inventor of the first successful sewing machine, are among the first of the ten thousand American inventors who have done the world noteworthy service. Edison and several hundred other inventors, who have improved upon the inventions of their predecessors until they have doubled, trebled, and in some instances quadrupled their value to the world, are quite as worthy to be remembered.

RAILROAD LAND GRANTS.

OSHKOSH, Wis.

Give us the total amount of public lands granted by the United
States to aid in the construction of railways, and oblige a
subscriber.

W. L. FROST.

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

States and Acres Acres
Corporations. Granted. Certified.

Illinois 2,595,053 2,595,053
Missouri 2,985,160 1,828,005
Iowa 6,795,527 3,940,270
Michigan 4,712,480 3,328,987
Wisconsin 4,808,486 2,672,803
Minnesota 9,992,041 6,925,351
Kansas 9,370,000 3,851,536
Pacific Railroad 159,486,766 8,831,687
——————————— ——————————
Total 215,203,807 42,847,403

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

POPULATION OF THE GLOBE.

UNIONVILLE, Iowa.

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

A. J. R.

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

Europe 327,743,400
Asia 795,591,000
Africa 205,823,200
America 100,415,400
Australia and Polynesia 4,232,000
Polar regions 82,500

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

DRINKING FROM SKULLS.

BURLINGTON, Iowa.

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

WM. A. T.

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

“Call it a soldier’s cup;
Our Duchess, I know, will pledge us, tho’ the cup
Was once her father’s head, which, as a trophy,
We’ll keep till death.”

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

“Would I had ten thousand soldiers’ heads,
Their skulls set all in silver, to drink healths
To his confusion who first invented war.”

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

GENERAL WILLIAM W. AVERELL.

ETNA, Mo.

Give a short sketch of General Averell.