Chapter M: D. G

_Answer._—The most direct route from New Orleans would be via the Southern Pacific and Sonora Railways to Guaymas, 353 miles southwest of Benson, on the Southern Pacific, where one can take steamer about the 15th or 16th of each month for Mazatlan, the principal port of Sinaloa, on the Gulf of California. Sugar cane, oranges, figs, and other semi-tropical and tropical fruits flourish in Sinaloa; particularly in the Valley of the Rio del Fuerte. Mazatlan furnishes a market for the products of the country, or one can ship to San Francisco or New York direct, via the California and Panama steamers.

FUSIBILITY OF ALLOYS.

HUDSON, M. T.

Why does it takes a hotter fire to melt pewter than lead?

J. B. L.

_Answer._—Pewter is an alloy, composed of tin and lead, sometimes with a little copper or antimony or bismuth, combined in different proportions, according to the purposes it is to serve. Plateware, which has a bright, silvery luster when polished, is composed of 100 parts of tin, 8 parts of antimony, 2 parts of bismuth, and 2 of copper. Brittannia ware is said to be an alloy of equal parts of brass, tin, antimony, and bismuth. Now it is characteristic of alloys that they are always more easily fusible than the least fusible metal entering into their composition, and some of them, strange to say, are more fusible than the least fusible of their constituents. For instance, although bismuth alone requires a heat of 476 degrees Fahrenheit to fuse it, lead 600 degrees, and tin 442 degrees, an alloy of these metals composed of five or eight parts of bismuth, two or five parts of lead, and three of tin, melts at 198 to 200 degrees; and an alloy of sodium composed of sodium and potassium in certain proportions melts at 80 degrees, although sodium alone requires 194 degrees and potassium 124 degrees to fuse them. The explanation is not fully determined, but it is to be found in the laws of chemical affinity. Different metals expand at different rates in the same degree of heat, which tends to separate the atoms; and electrical currents are produced which magnify the heat applied externally.

AUTHOR OF SCHONBERG-COTTA FAMILY.

LAKE CITY, Iowa.

Who is the author of “Schonberg-Cotta Family?” Give a short sketch
of the same, and tell the correct pronunciation of Schonberg-Cotta.

AGGIE.

_Answer._—The authoress of “Schonberg-Cotta Family” is Mrs. Elizabeth Rundle Charles, only child of the late Hon. John Rundle, member of Parliament for Tavistock. She was born about 1826; received a liberal English education; was encouraged in literary work by her father; and has written a number of works of fiction of high moral tone, including the two historical fictions “Schonberg-Cotta Family” and the “Diary of Kitty Trevylyan,” intended to recall the early struggles of the two great reformers, Luther and Wesley. Among her other works are “The Martyrs of Spain and Liberators of Holland.” It is almost impossible to denote the German pronunciation of “o” in Schonberg without oral illustrations. Webster says that to utter this sound one must place the organs in the position for o long and then try to utter the sound of e in met. All the other syllables in the compound word, Schonberg-Cotta, are to be pronounced nearly as in English, except that the e in berg is almost like a long.

GOLD AND SILVER IN THE SEA.

PEORIA, Ill.

Is the expression, “There is gold in the sea,” only a poetic
fiction or is it true? As a friend says that there is gold and
silver in some kinds of sea water?

A CONSTANT READER.

_Answer._—Sea water is impregnated with certain chemical salts, including chlorides, sulphates, bromides, iodides, and carbonates, some of which have the power of dissolving gold and silver or holding them in solution. The chemist Sonstadt has recently shown that sea water contains nearly one grain of gold to the ton of water, held in solution by iodide of calcium; and it has been known for some years that the old copper stripped from the bottoms of ships is often so rich in silver taken from the sea that it pays a profit on the cost of smelting it. It is estimated that the ocean holds in solution at least 2,000,000 tons of silver. Assuming this to be the metric ton of 2,204.6 pounds, the above total is equivalent in weight to 77,448,000,000 American standard dollars—nearly seven times the total silver product of the world from the earliest times to the close of 1879, or $11,315,000, as estimated by that eminent statistician, the Russian councillor, Otreschkoff. A large discount might be made from these estimates, and yet there would be enough left, aside from all the treasures of sunken Spanish galleons and oriental argosies, to demonstrate that the saying, “There is gold in the sea,” is not merely a poetic fancy.

FRENCH POOLS—PARIS MUTUALS.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Kindly explain “French pools,” or “Paris mutuals,” as used in
horse-racing circles.

R. L. K.

_Answer._—“French pools” are sometimes called “Paris mutuals.” This system of betting consists of selling tickets on each horse at a certain price. On the race-courses of this country the “mutuals” are $5 each. When the race is started the tickets are all added up in one large pool, and those who hold tickets on the winning horse divide the total pool, less 5 per cent to the pool-seller. For example, in a Paris mutual, tickets in the pool were sold as follows:

Horse. Tickets. Price. Total.
No. 1 10 $5 $50.00
No. 2 9 5 45.00
No. 3 4 5 20.00
No. 4 7 5 35.00
No. 5 8 5 40.00
———————
Total $190.00
Less 5 per cent 9.50
———————
Net amount for winners $180.50

Here there is a net amount of $180.50 to be divided equally between holders of tickets on the winning horse. In this case, if horse No. 3 wins, each of the four ticket-holders receives $45.12.

THE WIVES OF COLUMBUS.

CORTLAND, N. Y.

When was Columbus married and whom did he marry?

B. S.

_Answer._—Christopher Columbus was twice married. His first wife was Felipa Munnis Perestrelle, daughter of an able Captain of Prince Henry of Portugal, called the “Navigator.” He married her in 1471. His father-in-law’s charts, globes, etc., helped to mature his plans of discovery. Diego, who accompanied his father on the occasion when they were reduced to such straits that Columbus begged at the monastery of La Rabida for bread and water for the child, was the only issue of this marriage. This wife died in 1483 or thereabout. He next married Beatriz Enriquez, at Cordova, in 1487. She was the mother of his second son, Fernando Columbus, who in time became his father’s biographer.

POSTAGE ON MANUSCRIPT.

COOKSVILLE, Wis.

What is the postage rate on manuscript for books or newspapers?

INQUIRER.

_Answer._—Ruling 264, page 683 of the Postal Guide for 1883 says: “All manuscript matter designed for publication in books, magazines, periodicals, or newspapers is subject to letter postage, unless accompanied by proof-sheets or corrected proof-sheets of such manuscript, or of which such manuscript is a correction or addition.” Ruling 508, page 711, says: “‘Book manuscript’ is a term no longer used in the postal law. Manuscript accompanied by proof-sheets, and corrected proof-sheets relating to it, may pass in the mails as third-class matter in unsealed packages.” The rate for third-class matter is “1 cent for each two ounces or fractional part thereof.”

PERPETUAL ALMANACS.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.

Please give a rule for finding the day of the week on which any
historical event occurred when only the day of the month is given.

CHRONOLOGIST.

_Answer._—This is too much like a question in arithmetic for these columns, from which all arithmetical problems are ruled out. Several distinct classes of questions might come up under “Chronologist’s” query. One of the first considerations is to determine whether the historical date is given in “old style” reckoning or “new style,” as a separate rule must be applied in each of these cases. Another rule applies to dates before the Christian era. Leap years are taken into account in all these rules. Every example involves an arithmetical computation. There are “perpetual almanacs” that contain tables and rules for all such computations. There is a chart published in this city entitled “Almanac for All Time, Past and Future,” which answers all queries of this nature.

CHICAGO FLOWER MISSION.

CANTON, Ill.

What is the Flower Mission of Chicago? State the nature of its
work, and how to reach it by letter or express.

MRS. J. D.

_Answer._—The object of the Chicago Flower Mission is to collect and distribute flowers among the charitable institutions of the city; chiefly through the wards of hospitals. The influence of these cheery tokens of loving sympathy is believed to be most wholesome. The condition of the mind has, in most cases of disease, a great effect on the body. Nothing does more to recuperate the sick than a hopeful, cheerful spirit, and a lively love of life and earnest wish to recover. Flowers and their associations are delightful reminders of the world in its fairest phases, and woo the sick back to life with a tender eloquence akin to love. Letters or offerings of flowers addressed to the “President of the Chicago Flower Mission, Atheneum Building, Chicago,” will reach the mission.

LAND ENTRIES BY MARRIED WOMEN.

ROCHELLE, Ill.

Please tell whether a married woman can take up government land in
place of her husband, and oblige at least one of your readers,