Chapter M: L. Percival

_Answer._—Mr. P. P. Bliss, the popular composer of sacred lyrics, and evangelistic vocalist, perished at Ashtabula, Ohio, in the terrible railroad disaster consequent on the fall of the Ashtabula bridge on the night of Dec. 29, 1876. Two engines and eleven cars, with about 160 passengers, were precipitated into the creek, seventy feet below. The wreck immediately took fire, and before help could reach the scene more than a hundred persons had perished through the fall or the flames, or were so badly injured that they afterward died. A terrible snowstorm and intense cold added to the sufferings of the survivors. In the midst of this scene of horror and distraction Mr. Bliss and his wife both lost their lives. It is by no means certain that Mr. Bliss could have escaped if he had abandoned his wife. If he could have done so, but perished in the effort to rescue her, such an act was heroic, and none but an idiot would class him with suicides.

STATESMEN AND MARTIAL HEROES.

OCONTO, Mich.

Name five of the greatest American statesmen of early times, and as
many or more of their greatest successors; also name the principal
military and naval heroes of our country, and oblige several
readers.

CARRIE STROUD.

_Answer._—Five of the greatest American statesmen concerned in the founding of this Republic were Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, and John Adams. Seven of the most distinguished successors of these grand men were DeWitt Clinton, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, William H. Seward, Abraham Lincoln, Thaddeus Stevens, and Charles Sumner. Twelve of the ablest generals this country can boast are Washington, Gates, and Green, of the revolutionary war; Jackson and Harrison, of the war of 1812; Scott and Taylor, of the Mexican war, and Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, and Meade, of the war for the Union. Ten of our greatest naval heroes are Paul Jones, of the revolutionary war; Perry, MacDonough, Porter, Decatur, Hull, Bainbridge, and Chauncey, of the war of 1812, and Farragut and Porter, of the last war.

PUBLIC LANDS IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY.

GLORIETA, N. M.

Is there any government land open to pre-emption or homestead in
Washington Territory. If so, is any of it suitable for agricultural
purposes?

MONTEZUMA.

_Answer._—Out of an estimated area of 44,796,160 acres of public lands in Washington Territory in the beginning, only 17,757,033 acres, or about one-third, had been surveyed up to June 30, 1882, and a considerable part of this third is still open to purchase or entry under the general or special land laws. In Washington Territory, California, Oregon, and Nevada there are great areas of timber and stone lands for sale under the law of June 3, 1878, at $2.50 per acre. The “Desert Lands Act” of March 3, 1877, provides for the sale of certain lands which can be cultivated only by artificial irrigation, at 25 cents an acre. After deducting these tracts, mineral lands, coal lands, and saline lands, there are still millions of acres of lands in Washington Territory subject to pre-emption and entry under the homestead law, and much of this land is well adapted to agriculture and grazing.

OLDEST SETTLEMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES.

PARKERSBURG, Iowa.

1. What was the first European settlement made in the United
States, and what was the name of the first child of European
parents born in this country? 2. What is the length of the Niagara
River, and what large islands are there in it?

HOMER L. FORBES.

_Answer._—1. The oldest permanent European settlement within the present limits of the United States was made at Saint Augustine, Fla., in 1565. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, Captain Francisco de Coronado, and Don Antonio de Espejo, explorers of New Mexico, occupied, temporarily, various points in that region between the years 1540 and 1583. The latter of these took possession of a native pueblo, or town, called Tuoas, or Taos, in the latter year, or thereabouts, and named it La Ciudad de Santa Fe, which was identical in site with the present capital of New Mexico. Forts, colonies, and missions were established in various places in New Mexico by Juan de Ouate, who was sent there for that purpose between 1595 and 1590. The next at Jamestown, Va., in 1607, and the next at Albany, N. Y., in 1614. It is not known who was the first child of European parents born within the United States. 2. The Niagara River is thirty-three miles long. There are no large islands in it except Grand Island and Goat Island, but there are numerous smaller ones.

THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What was the seat of government during the revolutionary war? Who
took the place of President, as head of the government?

JANE EVANS.

_Answer._.—There was no permanent seat of government. The articles of confederation provided that “Congress shall have power to adjourn at any time within the year and to any place within the United States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration than the space of six months.” When suffered to have its own way Congress sat, during the war, in Philadelphia, but the “red coats” were as keen to go to Congress as the average modern politician, and the patriots, to avoid a row over contested seats, adopted a sort of methodistic itinerancy, minus the method. Congress was in session at Philadelphia in December, 1776, when, seeing that the British were likely to force themselves upon the hospitality of that city, it adjourned to Baltimore. It returned to Philadelphia, but after the American defeat at Brandywine, Sept. 11, 1777, it adjourned to Lancaster, and then to York, Pa. From the first session to the last the Continental Congress met as follows: At Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1774, and May 10, 1775; at Baltimore, Dec. 20, 1776; at Philadelphia, March 4, 1777; at Lancaster, Pa., Sept. 27, 1777; at York, Pa., Sept. 30, 1777; at Philadelphia, July 2, 1778; at Princeton, N. J., June 30, 1783; at Annapolis, Md., Nov. 26, 1783; at Trenton, N. J., Nov. 1, 1784; at New York, Jan. 11, 1785, which continued to be the seat of Congress until the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. There was no executive head of the United States under the articles of confederation. These provided that Congress should have authority to appoint a “Committee of the States,” to consist of one delegate from each State, to sit in the recess of Congress. The President of Congress came the nearest to being an executive chief, but he and the above committee, the “Board of War,” and certain other special committees or boards were each charged with the execution of law according to specific provisions in the act itself. Of these Presidents of the Continental Congress the following shows the names and the time of their election:

Payton Randolph, of Virginia, elected Sept. 5, 1774.

Henry Middleton, of South Carolina, Oct. 22, 1774.

Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, May 10, 1775.

John Hancock, of Massachusetts, May 24, 1775.

Henry Laurens, of South Carolina, Nov. 1, 1777.

John Jay, of New York, Dec. 10, 1778.

Sam Huntington, of Connecticut, Sept. 28, 1779.

Thomas McKean, of Delaware, July 10, 1781.

John Hanson, of Maryland, Nov. 5, 1781.

Elias Boudinot, of New Jersey, Nov. 4, 1782.

Thomas Mifflin, of Pennsylvania, Nov. 3, 1783.

Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, Nov. 30, 1784.

Nathaniel Gorham, of Massachusetts, June 6, 1786.

Arthur St. Clair, of Pennsylvania, Feb. 2, 1787.

Cyrus Griffin, of Virginia, Jan. 22, 1788.

FIVE SUNDAYS IN FEBRUARY.

CHICAGO, Ill.

In 1880 February had five Sundays. When will this occur again? This
question was asked in one of the Chicago dailies recently, and
received several different answers, none of which were right, or I
am in error.

INQUIRER.

_Answer._—Usually this event occurs every twenty-eight years, or at the close of each solar cycle of twenty-eight years; but owing to the fact that the year 1900 will not be a leap year (for reasons explained in Our Curiosity Shop not many weeks ago), it will be forty years before February contains five Sundays, or not until the year 1920.

FORMING STATES OUT OF OTHER STATES.

FAIRFIELD, Ill.

Can a State be formed out of part of another State? If not, how was
West Virginia organized within the original limits of Virginia?

BYRON.

_Answer._.—Article 4, section 1, clause 1, of the Constitution of the United States declares that “No new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.” The erecting of West Virginia into a State was an incident of the late war. While the convention in session at Richmond resolved to take Virginia out of the Union, the Unionists of West Virginia called a convention that assembled at Wheeling May 13, 1861, composed of delegates from twenty-five western counties of the State. This convention passed resolutions denouncing secession and providing for a convention of all the counties of Virginia adhering to the National Government. Delegates representing forty counties convened in Wheeling on June 11, repudiated the acts of the rebel convention, and on June 20 elected Francis H. Pierpont Governor of what they denominated the “reorganized State of Virginia.” A Legislature was elected, which met in Wheeling on July 2. This body elected two United States Senators to take the place of the Virginia Senators which had gone over to the Confederacy. It also provided for an election, to be held on the 24th of the following October, to decide upon the formation of a new State, the eastern part of the State being in possession of the rebels. The people, by a large majority, declared in favor of a new State, and, at the same time, chose delegates to a convention to meet at Wheeling Nov. 24, which convention framed a State Constitution, which was ratified by the people May 3, 1862. May 13 the Legislature—which claimed, it must be remembered, to represent the whole State of Virginia, as it certainly did represent all the loyal part—approved the formation of the new State under the name of West Virginia, and Dec. 31, 1862, provided for its admission to the Union. It was held by distinguished jurists that the government at Richmond having placed itself outside of the Constitution by the treasonable act of secession, the only legal legislative body within the State was the one in session at Wheeling, which consented to the organization of the new State, and that the terms of the Constitution contained in the clause above quoted had been met. When Virginia was reconstructed she was admitted on the understanding that West Virginia was a separate State.

A BRIBE-PROOF PATRIOT.

HAVANA, Mo.

Who was it who, when the British tried to bribe him, said: “Poor as
I am, the King of England is not rich enough to buy me?”

FLORENCE WYATT.

_Answer._—It was General Joseph Reed, a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress. When approached by one of three British commissioners, Governor Johnstone, with an offer of £10,000 and the most lucrative office in America, if he would use his influence to reunite the Colonies to Great Britain, he answered: “I am not worth purchasing, but, such as I am, the King of Great Britain is not rich enough to buy me!”

MASON AND DIXON’S LINE.

GRANGER, Mo.

What is Mason and Dixon’s line, and what were the provisions of the
Missouri compromise? Who were responsible for its repeal?

R. E. GLOVER.

_Answer._—Mason and Dixon’s line is the concurrent State line of Maryland and Pennsylvania. It is named after two eminent astronomers and mathematicians, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, who were sent out from England to run it. They completed the survey between 1763 and 1767, excepting thirty-six miles surveyed in 1782 by Colonel Alex. McLean and Joseph Neville. It is in the latitude of 39 deg. 43 min. 26.3 sec. Missouri was admitted to the Union only after a long protracted and violent discussion, growing out of a provision in the State constitution sanctioning slavery. A compromise was finally effected by which the new State was admitted with slavery, with a solemn agreement that there should be no more slave States formed out of territory north of the parallel of 36 deg. 30 min., the southern boundary of Missouri. In political discussions Mason and Dixon’s line was understood to mean both of the above lines and the Ohio River, or, in other words, the boundary between free and slave territory the country through. When Kansas was thrown open to settlement the Southerners were determined, despite the Missouri compromise, to try to make Kansas a slave State. Their Representatives in Congress, with the exception of a few Whigs, united in favor of a repeal of the compromise. With the help of the Douglas Democrats in the North and several pro-slavery Whigs, they carried their point. The consequence was the bloody struggles between the free-State and pro-slavery men in the early history of Kansas, which was practically the inauguration of the war of the rebellion, although the latter did not burst into full flame until after the election of President Lincoln and the secession of the Southern States.

RATES OF INTEREST COMPARED.

FREEPORT, Ill.

Please give your readers a comparison of the rates of interest in
England and the United States for several years back.

A. BORROWER.

_Answer._—Of course rates vary greatly in this country with locality. Where opportunities for profitable investment are in excess of capital, as in the Western States, rates are higher than at the great money centers. The following statement of the average rates of interest in New York City for each of the fiscal years from 1874 to 1882, inclusive, is taken from the report of the Comptroller of the Currency:

Call loans, Com’l paper,
Years. per cent. per cent.
1874 3.8 6.4
1875 3.0 5.8
1876 3.3 5.3
1877 3.0 5.2
1878 4.4 5.1
1879 4.4 4.4
1880 4.9 5.3
1881 3.8 5.0
1882 4.4 5.4

The average rate of discount of the Bank of England for the same years was as follows:

Per cent.
Year ending Dec. 31, 1874 3.69
Year ending Dec. 31, 1875 3.23
Year ending Dec. 31, 1876 2.61
Year ending Dec. 31, 1877 2.91
Year ending Dec. 31, 1878 3.78
Year ending Dec, 31, 1879 2.50
Year ending Dec. 31, 1880 2.76
Year ending Dec. 31, 1881 3.49
Fiscal year ending June 31, 1882 4.01

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa.

Are there any lady members of either House of Parliament? How many
members are there in each House, and what are their titles?

J. A.

_Answer._—There are seven peeresses in their own right entitled to seats in the English House of Peers. These are the Baroness Emma Harriet Tyrwhitt; the Baroness Augusta Mary Elizabeth Cavendish-Bentwick; the Baroness Angela Georgiana Burdett-Coutts; the Countess Anne S. Leveson-Gower (Duchess of Sutherland); the Baroness Mary Elizabeth Boscawan; the Baroness Susan North; the Baroness C. E. H. D. Willoughby. Besides the ladies the House of Peers contains in all 509 members, viz.: Six princes of the blood; 3 archbishops; 20 dukes; 18 marquises; 114 earls; 26 viscounts; 24 bishops; 225 barons; 16 Scottish representative peers, elected for each Parliament; 28 Irish representative peers, elected for life. There are also 10 minor peers, who will be entitled to seats when they attain their majority. The House of Commons is composed of 639 members, of which 489 are representatives of counties, universities and towns in England and Wales; 60 are Scottish and 103 Irish representatives. The title of honorable is given to members of the House. Some of them have titles in their own right, as Lord Elcho, Earl Bective, Viscount Galway, Right Honorable Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, and so on.

BONE DUST AS A FERTILIZER.

ALMOND, Wis.

How are bones treated before being used for fertilizing purposes?
For what crops is bone-dust most used, and on what soils?

SUBSCRIBER.

_Answer._—First, they are generally boiled for the oil and glue or gelatine in them, which do not materially affect their value as fertilizers. They are then ground or crushed, without being previously burned. In this state this fertilizer is known as bone dust, and is sown broadcast at the rate of 50 to 100 pounds to the acre, as a rich manure for pasture, turnips, and small grain lands. In Cheshire, England, where the fine red sandstone loam had become comparatively sterile before the first of this century, through deficiency of phosphoric acid in the soil, caused by constant pasturage in dairy farming, they resorted to the use of calcined bone and bone dust, with the effect of doubling the product the first year. There they often lay on a half ton to a ton to an acre, which serves as a good dressing for sixteen to twenty years. The best way to ascertain whether a soil needs bone dust is to experiment for a year or two with a small plat of ground. The result will determine better than a chemical analysis whether a bone dust dressing will pay.

THE AGE OF SANTA FE.

ATCHISON, Kan.

Is Santa Fe the oldest of American cities, as the Santa Fe papers
claim?

A SUBSCRIBER.

_Answer._—Cabez de Vaca, a Spanish adventurer, was in New Mexico with his shipwrecked party as early as 1535. General Coronado, with a large military expedition, conquered the Zuni and Moqui towns, or pueblos, in 1540-41, and kept a journal, still in existence, which identifies the regions he overran as undoubtedly a part of this Territory. Don Antonio Espejo left Zacatecas in 1581 according to some authorities, but late in 1582 according to others, and visited what is now Santa Fe County, New Mexico, in July of 1583. He gave a fuller report than had ever been given before of the pueblos of this region, in which he estimated the population of the province of Taos as 40,000. The principal pueblo in this province was Tanos, afterward known as Tegra, and still later as Santa Fe. As an Indian town Santa Fe may be older than any other town in the United States, but as a European settlement St. Augustine, Fla., still carries the palm of antiquity, having been founded in 1565.

JOAQUIN MILLER’S REAL NAME.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What is “Joaquin” Miller’s real name, and what were the real and
assumed names of his divorced wife? The Chicago _Herald_ says his
name is Henry F. Miller, which I think is incorrect.

A. STEELE.

_Answer._—The real name of “Joaquin” Miller, author of the “Songs of the Sierras,” is Cincinnatus Heine Miller. His divorced wife’s maiden name was Minnie Theresa Dyer, and her literary pseudonym was “Minnie Myrtle.” It is said that the name “Joaquin” was given to Mr. Miller by “the boys” in his early California experience, when he was “roughing it,” from a real or fancied resemblance to a noted Spanish highwayman, and he adopted it as a pseudonym.

THE BLACKHAWK WAR.

BATTLE CREEK, Mich.

Who was the commander in the Blackhawk war? State some of the chief
facts as to that war.