Chapter C: E. Boughton

_Answer._—The statistician in the Department of Agriculture estimates the total number of cattle in all the States and Territories in January, 1882, as 35,891,870, of which number 12,611,632, or a little more than 35 per cent, were milch cows. This estimate, so far as the number of cattle in the Territories, Colorado, and Texas are concerned, is largely conjectural.

JULES SANDEAU AND “GEORGE SAND.”

MENDOTA, Ill.

Who was Jules Sandeau, who is said to have given Madame Dudevant
the now famous nom de plume of “George Sand?” Why did she take that
name?

ALICE.

_Answer._—Leonard Sylvain Jules Sandeau, a French novelist and dramatic writer of some distinction, was born at Anbusson, France, Feb. 19, 1811. He studied law in Paris, but subsequently turned his attention to literature. In 1831 he became acquainted with Madame Dudevant, who lived with him in three small rooms in the Quai Saint Michel at a yearly rental of 300 francs. She it was who induced him to enter upon a literary career. In 1832 they produced together “Rose et Blanche,” a novel in five volumes, signed “Jules Sand.” It was received by the public with encouraging favor. Before she returned to Nahant she conferred with Sandeau respecting a new romance, each of them to write half of it. Fearing that he would neglect the work when she was not at hand to spur him to his task, she wrote the whole of “Indiana,” published the same year, in which her splendid genius rose far above anything in “Rose et Blanche.” Returning to Paris, she found that Sandeau had not written a line. Handing him her manuscript, she exclaimed: “Read that.” He did so, and declared it to be such a masterpiece that he could not review it. She wished to retain the name of “Jules Sands,” but as he had taken no part in the work, he positively declined to allow it. Appealing to their mutual friend, De Larouche, he advised her to take for a Christian name the name of the patron saint of the day, St. George, retaining the name “Sands,” a piece of advice which she instantly adopted. M. Sandeau afterward produced numerous novels and dramas, conspicuous among which are “Mdlle. de la Sergliere,” in two volumes, 1848, dramatized in 1851—generally esteemed his best novel; “La Maison de Penarvan,” 1858, dramatized in 1858; “Le Gendre de M. Poirier,” written in connection with Emil Angier, 1854—his best comedy. In 1853 he became keeper of the Mazurin Library, and in 1858 was elected a member of the French Academy, one of the highest distinctions to which a Frenchman can aspire. He died April 24, 1883.

MAXIMILIAN AND CARLOTTA.

CORNING, Iowa.

Please give a short biography of the Empress Carlotta and the late
Emperor Maximilian of Mexico.

LILLIAN ELDRIDGE.

_Answer._—Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph, Archduke of Austria, younger brother of Francis Joseph I., the present Emperor of Austria-Hungary, and now generally referred to as the Emperor Maximilian I. of Mexico, was born in 1832. He was liberally educated, with a mind enriched by extensive reading, wide travel, and intercourse with many of the leading spirits of Europe. In 1857, on July 27, he married the sister of the present King of the Belgians, Charlotte Marie Amelie, born June 7, 1840. This amiable, beautiful, and highly intellectual lady was reared by her father, Leopold I., of Belgium, the most progressive of European sovereigns, with the greatest care, until she adorned every court she moved in. In 1861, taking advantage of the troubled condition of Mexico and the civil war in the United States, France, Spain, and Great Britain commenced hostilities against Mexico, ostensibly to enforce certain pecuniary claims. But in 1862, when the real purpose of the French manifested itself, the British and Spanish forces withdrew, and the French declared war, proclaiming the intention to liberate the Mexican people from the tyranny of their President, Benito Juarez. They overran the eastern and central part of Mexico, captured the capital—receiving more or less support from the clerical party among the natives—and finally set up a provisional government, headed nominally by General Almonte, but really under dictation of the invaders. An “Assembly of Notables,” so called, convened at Mexico, July 10, 1863, decided by a vote of 281 to 19 in favor of a “limited hereditary monarchy,” with a Catholic prince for sovereign, under the title of Emperor. At the instigation of Napoleon, who had already begun to realize the folly of his undertaking to subdue the whole of Mexico and hold it in subjection to his own will, seeing that the Republicans of Mexico were still organized and were continually harrassing the usurpers, the scepter of this new government was proffered to Maximilian. Not until all but the four northern provinces were in possession of the French forces and their Mexican recruits did he accept this uneasy crown. On May 29, 1864, the Emperor and Empress landed at Vera Cruz and on June 12 they made their public entry into the capital amid a brilliant military and civic display, accompanied by many signs of popular welcome. Before winter the Imperialists had gained possession of all the chief places in every State in the so-called empire. However, the fugitive President of the desperate republic still maintained a species of guerilla warfare in various places, and the sympathies of the people of the United States were with them. No sooner was the great civil war in this country ended than this sympathy began to make itself felt very sensibly. On Nov. 6, 1865, Secretary Seward directed the American Minister at Paris to represent to Napoleon III. that the presence of the French army in Mexico was a “cause of grave reflection to the government of the United States,” and that the latter could on no account allow the establishment of an imperial government, based on foreign aid, in that country, or recognize there any other than republican institutions. This increased the unpopularity of the war in France. Napoleon took warning, and in the summer of 1866 withdrew his forces. Deserted by his European allies, Maximilian’s empire hastened to a most melancholy end, so far as himself and the Empress were concerned. Charlotte went to Europe to enlist aid, but in vain. Her husband’s perilous position, added to the bitter disappointment and mortification of her failure, at last dethroned her reason. Maximilian refused to leave with the last French detachment, though urged to do so. He felt bound in honor to remain and share the fate of his Mexican supporters. At the head of 10,000 men he made a brave defense of Queretaro against the republicans under General Escobedo. On the night of May 14, 1867, the stronghold of his position was betrayed into the hands of his foes by the Emperor’s most trusted friend, General Lopez. Even then he refused the opportunity proffered him by his immediate captor to escape in civilian’s dress, lest it might compromise this generous foe. Along with Generals Miramon and Mejia, he was tried by court-martial, and on the 19th of July the three were shot. “Poor Carlotta,” as she is sorrowfully called, has never fully recovered her reason, although cared for with the greatest tenderness by her royal brother.

BOSS COINS OF AMERICA.

GALESBURG, Ill.

Our Curiosity Shop has given a list of American silver coins that
command a high premium; now please give a list of high-price copper
coins of the United States, and colonial pieces. At least name all
the “boss” coins, silver and copper.

NUMISMATIST.

_Answer._—As shown in the table of United States silver coins now obtainable only at a high premium, which has already been given in Our Curiosity Shop, the “boss dollar,” the rarest of all, is that of 1804, price $400 to $500, according to condition; the “boss half-dollar” is that of 1796, with sixteen stars, price $20 to $27.50—although that of 1796, with only fifteen stars, and that of 1797, each command nearly the same premium; $20 to $25. The “boss quarter-dollars” are those of 1823 and 1827, each quoted at $15 to $25. The “boss dime” is that of 1804, quoted at $4 to $6. The “boss half-dime” is that of 1802, worth $25 to $40. The “boss cent,” the rarest of all the cents, is that of 1799, quoted at $4 to $6; a higher rate of premium even than that of the “boss dollar.” The “boss half-cent” is that of 1796, worth $5 to $8, or from one thousand to sixteen hundred per cent more than its face.

The following are the United States cents that are worth 50 cents apiece and upward:

Year. Description. Good. Fine.

1793—Cent, wreath, stars, and bars on edge $2.00 $3.50
1793—Cent, with chain ameri 2.75 5.00
1793—Cent, chain, America on the reverse 1.75 3.75
1793—Cent, clover leaf under bust 1.50 2.50
1793—Cent, liberty cap, rare 3.00 6.00
1793—Cent, dot after date, and legend “Liberty” 3.00 5.00
1795—Cent, thick planchet, edge lettered 75 1.00
1799—Cent, the rarest of the cents 4.00 6.00
1804—Cent, very rare 3.00 5.00
1839—Cent, over date of 1836 75
1855—Pattern cent, flying eagle, copper 60 70
1856—Nickel cent, flying eagle 1.50 2.00
1858—Nickel cent 50
1873—Two-cent piece 50 75

Next we give United States half-cents, valued at 50 cents and upward:

Year. Description. Good. Fine.

1793—Half-cent, rare $1.75 $2.50
1793—Half-cent of smaller planchet 1.50 3.00
1794—Half-cent of several varieties 40 50
1795—Half-cent, lettered edge 75 1.00
1795—Half-cent of thin planchet 40 60
1796—Half-cent, the rarest of all 5.00 8.00
1797—Half-cent, several varieties 50 75
1802—Half-cent 50 75
1811—Half-cent 60 75
1831—Half-cent 2.50 3.50
1836—Half-cent 2.50 3.50
1840 to 1848 inclusive—Half-cent 2.50 3.50
1849—Half-cent, small date 2.50 3.50
1849—Half-cent, large date 05 10
1852—Half-cent 2.50 3.50

The coins minted by any of the American colonies and now at a high premium are as follows:

Year. Description. Good. Fine.

1786—Cent, Vermontensium Respublica $0.40 $0.68
1786—Cent, Vermonts Respublica 30 50
1788—Cent, Nova Cesarea, horse head to left 75 1.25
1788—Mass. half-cent, 40 65
1787—New York “Excelsior” cent 2.00 3.00
1783—Chalmer’s Annapolis shilling and sixpence 2.50 3.00
1652—Oak Tree shilling and sixpence 3.00 4.00
1852—Pine Tree shilling and sixpence 3.00 4.00
1722—Rosa American half-cent 60 75

“A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME.”

CHICAGO, Ill.

A friend says that the saying “A little bird told me so,” is in
the Bible, but she don’t know where. Is she right? If so, please
explain it.

ONE OF YOUR GIRLS.

_Answer._—This mild expression for “I won’t betray my informer,” is not a literal quotation, but is undoubtedly borrowed from Ecclesiastes, chapter x, verse 29: “Curse not the King, no, not in thy thoughts: and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.”

METEORIC STONES.

WYOMING, Wis.

When and where did the largest meteoric stone, of which there is
any record, fall? Please give a description of the meteoric stone
that fell in Iowa a few years ago.

WILLIAM YALE.

_Answer._—An immense aerolite, or meteoric stone, fell near Ægospatami, in Asia Minor, in 467 B. C., which was described by Pliny as being as large as a wagon. There is a remarkable one in the Smithsonian Institution, weighing 1,400 pounds, which fell in Mexico about A. D. 1500. The largest meteoric masses on record were heard of first by Captain Ross, the Arctic explorer, through some Esquimaux. These lay on the west coast of Greenland, where they were subsequently found by the Swedish Exploring Expedition of 1870. One of them, now in the Royal Museum of Stockholm, weighs over 50,000 pounds, and is the largest specimen known. Two remarkable meteorites have fallen in Iowa within a few years past. On Feb. 12, 1875, a very brilliant meteor, in the form of an elongated horseshoe, was seen throughout a region of at least 400 miles in length and 250 breadth, lying in Missouri and Iowa. It is described as “without a tail but having a sort of flowing jacket of flame. Detonations were heard, so violent as to shake the earth and to jar the windows like the shock of an earthquake,” as it fell, at about 10:30 o’clock p. m., a few miles east of Marengo, Iowa. The ground for a space of some seven miles in length by two to four miles in breadth was strewn with fragments of this meteor, varying in weight from a few ounces to seventy-four pounds; the aggregate of the parts discovered being about five hundred pounds.

On May 10, 1879, at about 5 o’clock p. m., a large and extraordinarily luminous meteor exploded with a terrific noise, followed at slight intervals with less violent detonations, and struck the earth in the edge of a ravine, near Estherville, Emmet County, Iowa, penetrating to a depth of fourteen feet. Within two miles other fragments were found, one of which weighed 170 pounds and another 32 pounds. The principal mass weighed 431 pounds. All the discovered parts aggregate about 640 pounds. The one of 170 pounds is now in the cabinet of the State University of Minnesota. The composition of this aerolite is peculiar in many respects; but, as in nearly all aerolites, there is a considerable proportion of iron and nickel.

A SKELETON IN EVERY CLOSET.

MADISON, Wis.

What gave rise to the expression, “There is a skeleton in the
closet,” and just what does it mean?

ALICE.

_Answer._—There is an old story that a soldier once wrote to his mother, who complained of her unhappiness, asking her to get some sewing done by some one who had no care or trouble. Coming in her search to one who, she thought, must be content and happy, this lady took her to a closet containing a human skeleton. “Madam,” said she, “I try to keep my sorrows to myself, but know that every night I am compelled by my husband to kiss this skeleton of him who was once his rival. Think you, then, I can be happy?” The inference is certainly too clear to need interpretation.

FINANCES OF CONFEDERATE STATES.

AMES, Iowa.

What was the amount of the Confederate debt at the close of the
war? Was their currency a legal tender for all debts? How much did
they issue? How much, if any, remained in the Confederate treasury
at the close of the war?

CASEY AND UNDERHILL.

_Answer._—1. According to the “Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government,” by Jefferson Davis, the foreign debt of the Confederate States at the close of the war was £2,200,000, or about $11,000,000. Besides this, the debt at home, on the books of the Register of the Treasury on Oct. 1 1864, amounted to $1,147,970,208. Davis estimates that balances in the hands of absent officers would have reduced the total public debt to $1,126,381,095, of which $541,340,090 consisted of funded debt and the balance unfunded debt, or treasury notes. What further debt was created between Oct. 1, 1864, and the downfall of the Confederacy in April, 1865, it is not easy to ascertain. Judging from the expenditure of the six months next preceding Oct. 1, 1864, the debt must have been increased at least $450,000,000. Davis says: “The appropriations called for by the different departments for the six months ending June 30, 1865, amounted to $438,416,504,” which, taken together with the amount of unexpended appropriations and the small proportion raised by taxation, confirms our estimate, so that the total home and foreign debt of the Confederacy at the close of the war, omitting any claims for advances made by individual States, must have been about $1,587,000,000. 2. The treasury notes of the Confederacy were made receivable for all public debts or taxes except export duty on cotton. The terms of at least one issue, as given by Mr. Davis, “receivable for all debts or taxes except the export duty on cotton,” would constitute them a legal tender. 3. In December, 1863, this currency in circulation in those States amounted to “more than $600,000,000.” A considerable part of this was funded in Confederate bonds, but new issues or reissues swelled the amount again to about the old figures before the war closed. 4. Just how much specie remained in the hands of the Secretary of the Confederate Treasury when Johnston surrendered is not known, but it must have been a trifling sum; for when Jefferson Davis committed the treasury chest to General Joe Johnston’s safe-keeping, according to that officer’s statement on pages 408 and 409 of his “Narrative of the Rebellion,” it contained but $39,000 in silver, a considerable part of which he took and divided among his troops. The fleeing members of the Cabinet, no doubt, got away with the most of the gold and foreign bills.

SAN FRANCISCO TO AUSTRALIA.

OSCEOLA, Neb.

Will you please state the distance and rates of fare between San
Francisco and Sydney? If not too much trouble give the same for
all the principal ports in the Sandwich Islands, New Zealand, and
Australia.

J. M. LOGAN.

_Answer._—The following table gives the distances and rates of fare for all ports in Sandwich Islands, Australia, and New Zealand touched at by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company’s steamers:

Miles. San Francisco to Cabin. Steerage.

2,100 Honolulu $75.00 $30.00
6,050 Auckland 200.00 100.00
6,625 Wellington 230.00 120.00
6,795 Lyttleton 235.00 122.50
7,000 Port Chalmers 240.00 125.00
7,200 Sydney 200.00 100.00
7,740 Melbourne 210.00 105.00
7,650 Brisbane 220.00 110.00
7,500 Rockhampton 235.00 117.50
8,245 Adelaide 223.75 117.50
7,600 Hobart Town 232.00 118.00

THE DEMOCRATIC ROOSTER.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Give the origin of the rooster as a Democratic emblem.

A READER.

_Answer._—We are indebted to Mr. W. F. Slater, of Hyde Park, for the following reply to this inquiry: During the Jackson and Van Buren administrations the party used the hickory pole and broom as a Democratic emblem of victory. In the memorable campaign of 1840 the Indianapolis _Sentinel_ (Democratic) was published, with Mr. Nat Bolton as editor, and George Pattison as assistant. In the town of Greenfield resided Mr. Chapman, life-long Democrat, and at that time the postmaster, but no connection with the Chapman that subsequently published the _Sentinel_. Mr. Chapman wrote a desponding letter to Pattison, and Pattison, in his answer, endeavored to encourage his fellow-townsman, and wound up his letter with, “Crow, Chapman, crow!” The letter fell into Whig hands and was published in the campaign paper of the Whig party, _The Spirit of 1876_. In 1842 and 1844, when the Whig party met with defeat, the rooster came into universal use as the Democratic emblem of victory.

TO CHINA AND JAPAN.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa.

Please supplement your answer of last week giving distances
and rates of fare from San Francisco to the Sandwich Islands,
Australia, and New Zealand, by giving the distances and rates of
fare to Japan, China, and East India ports.

IOWAN.

_Answer._—The following table shows the distance, fares in American gold, etc., per Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company’s vessels, from San Francisco to points named:

———————+————————————————————+————————+——————————+———————
Miles. | San Francisco to— | Cabin. | Steer’ge | Chinese
———————+————————————————————+————————+——————————+———————
4,800 | Yokohama, Japan |$250.00 | $85.00 | $51.00
5,100 | Hiogo, Japan | 268.00 | 75.00 | 58.00
5,500 | Nagasaki, Japan | 285.00 | 111.00 | 63.50
6,000 | Shanghae, China | 305.00 | 125.00 | 71.00
6,400 | Hongkong, China | 300.00 | 100.00 | 51.00
7,850 | Singapore, India | 380.00 | |
8,250 | Penang, India | 400.00 | |
9,900 | Calcutta, India | 450.00 | |
———————+————————————————————+————————+——————————+———————

Children under 12 years, one-half rates; under 5 years, one-quarter rates; under 2 years, free. Servants accompanying their employers, two-thirds of cabin rate, without regard to age or sex. Round trip tickets, good for twelve months, 12½ per cent from regular rates.

CORN CROPS OF ILLINOIS AND IOWA.

AYR, Neb.

To settle a dispute, please tell which State raises the most
corn—Illinois or Iowa.

J. A. SULLIVAN.

_Answer._—Illinois leads all the States in the amount of corn raised. In 1882 the Illinois crop was 187,336,900 bushels, and the Iowa crop was 178,487,600 bushels. According to the same authority, the Statistician of the Agricultural Department, the average annual corn crop of Illinois for the five years ending with 1879 was 260,230,740 bushels, and that of Iowa was 163,789,120 bushels. The corn crop of Illinois in 1880, as given in the census, was 325,792,481, and that of Iowa was 275,024,247 bushels.

BEE-SWARMING.

H. J. Dunlap, Esq., of Champaign, Ill., who has made bee-culture a study, after a few words of comment on the brief answer given to “Topsy’s” question on the swarming of bees, published in Our Curiosity Shop three or four weeks ago, gives us his own views on this subject as follows:

New brood is hatched early in the season—in case of plentiful stores before the earliest blossoms—while the first swarm may not leave the hive until July, or even later; the condition of the honey flowers in bloom having much to do in determining the time. [In the Southern States it often leaves in April or May, and in this latitude usually in May or June.—ED]. The first swarm is composed of old and young bees indiscriminately, and of drones. In from six to ten days a young queen is hatched. Sometimes several hatch at the same time, but all are destroyed except one, the queens engaging in deadly combat in which one or the other is the victor. The bees destroy the remaining queen cells as soon as a queen is hatched. In a day or two the virgin queen flies out to meet the male, or drone, and after copulation returns to her hive, where she usually remains until the next season, when she leads out a swarm. In some seasons, when honey is plenty, she may go out with a swarm, and even third swarms are thrown off, but such seasons are almost certain to be poor ones for honey, the swarms becoming so depleted in number that they are unable to avail themselves of the later blossoms, even if these are well-stored with honey. The second swarm thrown off will necessarily be composed mostly of young bees, but the inference that swarming continues so long as there are young queens to lead them out is erroneous.

DEATHS FROM CONSUMPTION.

Please tell what States furnished the largest percentage of
consumptives, according to population, and settle a dispute.

B. F. FEATHER.

_Answer._—The following table shows the total population of States reporting the greatest number of deaths from consumption in the last census year, and the number of deaths per 10,000 inhabitants:

States. Population. Died of No. per
consumption. 10,000.

New York 5,082,871 12,858 25
Pennsylvania 4,282,891 8,073 19
Massachusetts 1,783,085 5,207 30
Ohio 3,198,062 5,912 18
Illinois 3,077,871 5,146 16
Tennessee 1,542,259 3,767 24

This shows that whereas the deaths from consumption in the census year were 16 for every 10,000 inhabitants in Illinois, they were 25 per 10,000 in New York State, and 30 per 10,000 in Massachusetts, the highest ratio in the country. Maine stood next with 29 per 10,000, while Rhode Island lost 25, New Hampshire 25, New Jersey 23, Connecticut 21, California 21, Virginia 20, North Carolina 15, and Michigan the same as Illinois, 16, while Florida lost not quite 10, and Minnesota not quite 11 per 10,000.

RAILROAD RELINQUISHMENT TO SETTLERS.

MELROSE, M. T.

Two men had a hearing about a claim within the limits of the
railroad land grant, and the General Land Office decided that
neither could hold it. One of the parties procured from the
Northern Pacific Railroad a relinquishment, which was sent to the
General Land Office, and a patent was issued to this person. Now,
had the Northern Pacific Railroad the right to relinquish its title
in this way? Please give the law.

DAVID EVANS.

_Answer._—By an act of Congress approved June 22, 1874, according to the statement of “Copps’ American Settler’s Guide,” it is provided that in the adjustment of all railroad land grants, whether made directly to any State for railroad purposes, or to any corporation, if any of the lands granted be found in the possession of an actual settler, whose entry or filing has been allowed under the pre-emption or homestead laws subsequent to the time at which, by the decision of the Land Office, the right of said road was declared to have attached to such lands, the grantees, upon a proper relinquishment of the lands so entered or filed for, shall be entitled to select an equal quantity of other lands in lieu thereof from any of the public lands not mineral, and within the limits of the grant, not otherwise appropriated at the date of selection. And any such entries or filings thus relieved from conflict may be perfected into complete titles as if such lands had not been granted. Lands so relinquished are rated at only $1.25 per acre. An inducement is thus offered to railroad companies to relinquish in favor of the settlers, and receive other lands in lieu of those surrendered. Not only this, but when the superior right of the company is ascertained, and it is found that the claim of the settler is such that it would be admitted were the railroad claim extinguished, the General Land Office will, in all practicable cases, direct the attention of the officers of the company to the fact, and request an explicit answer whether or not the land will be relinquished. At the same time it is well for the party interested to seek for himself the relief indicated, by direct application to the railroad authorities, and thereby aid in securing a speedy adjustment.

DEATHS FROM ACCIDENT.

CHICAGO, Ill.

About how many persons die from injuries by railroad collisions and
other accidents every year? Also, give the number of suicides.

CRIPPLE.

_Answer._—The total number of deaths due to accidents, violence, suicide, etc., as reported for the last decennial census, was 35,932, divided as follows:

Burns and scalds 4,786
Exposure and neglect 1,299
Homicide 1,336
Injuries by machinery 120
Railroad accidents 2,349
Suffocation 2,339
Sunstroke 557
Drowned 4,320
Gunshot 2,289
Infanticide 40
Suicide by shooting 472
Suicide by drowning 155
Suicide by poison 340
Suicide, other causes 1,550
Deaths by other injuries 13,980

From the above, it appears that the total number of deaths from suicide, 2,517, exceeded the total from railroad accidents, and that the latter amounted to 65 in every 1,000 deaths from accidents and violence.

SUBMARINE TORPEDOES.

HARPER, Kan.

How are torpedoes, for blowing up vessels, constructed and used?

CHARLES G. BOONE.

_Answer._—There are several kinds of naval torpedoes. They may be classed, as fixed—submarine mines—and locomotive. Of the first sort there are two classes, viz., the self-acting and those which must be exploded by the electric battery operated from the shore or some other means of direct ignition.

An example of the self-acting sort may be described as follows: Take a hollow iron cone; fill this in part with gunpowder, say 150 to 250 pounds, but not enough to overcome the buoyancy of the cone. In the top of this charge of gunpowder bury an iron case containing lime, and in it a thin glass tube filled with sulphuric acid. Connect this tube or vial with an iron rod running through the top of the torpedo cone, up to within a short distance of the surface of the water. From this upright rod let other rods, called feelers, extend horizontally in every direction; let the whole be anchored in the channel to be defended, so that these feelers will be so near to the surface that passing vessels will be likely to come in contact with one or more of them; in which case the shock will break the frail glass tube containing the sulphuric acid, which latter, acting chemically on the lime, will instantly generate sufficient heat to explode the charge and destroy the vessel. For a sample of the other class of fixed torpedoes, imagine a submarine magazine filled with gunpowder, or—better still for this purpose, gun-cotton, because water does not injure it—planted in a channel, connected with the shore by an insulated copper wire attached to a battery. Let a small piece of wire be soldered to the metal case of the torpedo, and unite this, in the priming chamber, with the shore wire by a fine piece of platinum. The moment the operator on shore connects the wire with the battery the current, meeting the resistance of this contracted bridge of platinum, heats it to incandescence and explodes the charge. By planting several parallel lines of such torpedoes across a channel, at no great distance apart, in such a way that the mines in one row stand opposite the open spaces in another, it is rendered extremely hazardous for a hostile vessel to attempt to pass. Of the locomotive submarine explosives, one of the most formidable is the Whitehead fish torpedo, the construction of which is more or less a secret, sold by the inventor to the English, Austrian, and Russian navies. The shape of the case is, as the name implies, that of a fish, and it is propelled by a screw driven by compressed air. From a peculiar carriage on shore, or more frequently on board a vessel, it is discharged in a direct line for the enemy’s ship, and is exploded by impact. It is a terribly destructive engine when it happens to strike, but its aim is uncertain. The American torpedo, of similar description in many respects, Harvey’s, is believed to be a more reliable and effective engine.

Finally there is the torpedo used to such good advantage in several instances during our late war, particularly in the case of the sinking of the rebel ram Albemarle. It is rigged on the end of a spar carried in the bow of a launch, and sometimes on outriggers on either side, and is exploded by contact with the vessel to be destroyed, at some point several feet below the water-line.

ANCIENT VIRGINIA.

LA JUNTA, Col.

What were the original boundaries of Virginia, and how did it get
its name?

J. P. GRANGER.

_Answer._—There is no good ground for dispute over the question as to how Virginia got its name. This name was given by Queen Elizabeth at the request of Sir Walter Raleigh to the region discovered in 1584 by persons sent out by him. It was applied to what is now North Carolina, and was extended, with the progress of exploration, over the country northward as far as the present city of Bangor, Me., or to the 45th degree of north latitude, and southward to the 34th parallel. One colony after another was carved out of the original Virginia until it was reduced to the boundaries it had at the time of the Revolutionary war. It claimed jurisdiction over all the Northwest territory by virtue of its first charter, made to the London company, and by conquest from Great Britain during the war; but it ceded all its rights to the Federal Government in 1787, reserving only 3,709,848 acres to reward Virginia troops.

AMERICAN TREATIES WITH CHINA.

CHEBANSE, Ill.

How long before the passage of our infamous anti-Chinese
immigration law was it that our government forced its way into
China at the cannon’s mouth?

A SUBSCRIBER.

_Answer._—The first American treaty with China was made at Wang-hia, a suburb of Macao, July 3, 1844, by the Hon. Caleb Cushing, Minister Plenipotentiary for the United States, and Commissioner Ki-ying, on the part of the Chinese. It was soon after the close of the Anglo-Chinese war known as the “Opium war,” because it grew out of the persistent smuggling of opium into China by the East India Company, and resulted in the agreement of the Chinese Government to admit opium as an article of legitimate commerce. It also resulted in the opening of five ports to English trade. Thus the forcing of the Chinese “at the cannon’s mouth” was done by the English, against a sincere desire of the former both to keep out opium and to have nothing more to do with Europeans that they could possibly help. The negotiations between Mr. Cushing and Ki-ying were amicable and highly creditable to both nations from first to last. Strange to say, to the utter astonishment of the English, Mr. Cushing, with the arguments of reason only, gained many important concessions not contained in the British treaty, besides all that was conceded in that instrument. The next treaty between the United States and China was signed at Tientsin, China, June 15, 1858. It contained a number of important additional concessions, all obtained without any violence or serious warlike demonstration on the part of our own government, but coincident with the English and French treaties extorted from the Chinese by the bloody war that had been waged for the two preceding years. Had not the English and French waged that war it is quite certain that neither they nor the Americans would have gained any new concessions, and they might have had to yield some of those granted in the old treaties. But having been forced to make concessions to their hated foes, it must be said that the Chinese Government yielded to Americans equal rights and privileges in a manner which showed plainly that they had no desire to withhold anything from a friendly power which they had granted to their enemies. The first article of the treaty recites, among other things: “There shall be, as there always has been, peace and friendship between the United States and the Ta-Tsing (Chinese) Empire, and between their people respectively. They shall not insult or oppress each other,” etc. The next, known as the Burlingame treaty, was negotiated at Washington and ratified by the United States Senate July 16, 1868, when Mr. Anson Burlingame was here at the head of the first Chinese Embassy to this country. It was negotiated on the highest plane of American statesmanship, and breathes throughout the spirit of true republicanism, the spirit of the highest Christian civilization. It is sad to think that it was too high for the majority of our politicians to stand on, and has been lowered and narrowed to accommodate them in the present treaty, negotiated in 1880, at the dictation of Denis Kearney and the Sinophobists of California.

CATTLE IN UNITED STATES.

ELLSWORTH, Kan.

Will you please tell how many cattle there were in the United
States, according to the last census; also, the number for four
years past?

WM. ASHMEAD.

_Answer._—The census gives the number of working oxen in the United States in 1880 as 993,841; the milch cows as 12,443,120; other cattle as 22,488,550; total, 35,925,511. The Statistician of the Agricultural Department gives the numbers for the past four years as shown below:

Jan. 1, 1879—
Milch cows 11,826,400
Oxen and other cattle 21,408,100

Jan. 1, 1880—
Milch cows 12,027,000
Oxen and other cattle 21,231,000

Jan. 1, 1881—
Milch cows 12,368,653
Oxen and other cattle 20,937,702

Jan. 1, 1882—
Milch cows 12,611,632
Oxen and other cattle 23,280,238

THE GERMAN PATRIOT, BLUM.

MAZOMANIE, Wis.

Tell us something of Robert Blum, the German statesman, who was
shot in Vienna in 1848.

CARL FEHLANDT.

_Answer._—He was born at Cologne in 1807. He was well educated, served for a time in the army, which he left in 1830 to connect himself with the theater at Cologne, of which he became in time a director. Much of his time was given to literature and politics. In the latter he espoused the cause of liberalism. This was particularly the case after he moved to Leipsic, where he was first a director of the theater, then a bookseller and publisher. Here he founded the Schiller Society of Leipsic, was connected with the German Catholic movement, and was finally elected Vice President of the Provisional Assembly at Frankfort in 1848. In the National Assembly he became leader of the Left, or Radicals. He joined the popular movement in 1848, took a prominent part in the insurrection that broke out at Vienna at the time of the struggle for Hungarian independence, headed by Kossuth, and, being arrested, he was summarily shot, Nov. 9, 1848.

SIR JOHN FRANKLIN’S LAST RECORD.

CHEBANSE, Ill.

When, where, and by whom was the cairn discovered in which was the
last record of Dr. John Franklin?

A SUBSCRIBER.

_Answer._—The cairn containing the written record left by the Franklin exploring party was discovered at Point Victory on the coast of King William’s Island. This discovery was made in 1859 (fourteen years after Franklin’s death), by Lieutenant Hobson of the British yacht Fox, purchased and fitted out by Lady Franklin, and commanded by Captain Leopold McClintock. The principal facts stated in the record are that her Majesty’s ships Terror and Erebus spent the winter of 1845-6 at Beechey Island, off the southwest coast of North Devon, having ascended Wellington Channel to latitude 77 deg., and returned by the west side of Cornwallis Island. Lieutenant Gore and Charles F. De Voeux had left the ships with six men, on an exploring expedition, May 24, 1847, and on the 28th left this written statement of their journeyings. Franklin had sailed westward to longitude 98 deg., then up Wellington Channel—the course specially commended to him, but upon trying to reach the American coast he was prevented by the masses of ice sweeping southward through McClintock Channel. The record concludes with these words, in the handwriting of Captain Fitz James: “April 25, 1848—H. M. ships Terror and Erebus were deserted on 22d April, five leagues n. n. w. of this, having been beset since 12th September, 1846. The officers and crews, consisting of 105 souls, under the command of Captain F. R. M. Crozier, landed here in lat. 69 deg. 37 min. 42 sec. n., long. 98 deg. 41 min. w. Sir John Franklin died on the 11th June, 1847; and the total loss by deaths in the expedition has been to this date 9 officers and 15 men.” Captain Crozier added the important statement: “We shall start on to-morrow, 26th April, 1848, for Back’s Fish River.” This record proved the identity of Sir John Franklin’s party with a party seen by the Esquimaux pressing southward along Fish River to reach the settlements of the Hudson Bay Company. Later many skeletons were found on the south and west coasts of King William’s Island. It is certain, according to the recent reports of Captain Hall and Lieutenant Schwatka, that all of the party perished from hunger and exposure.

STEPHEN GIRARD.

James White, Fairfield, Pa.—Stephen Girard was born near Bordeaux, France, May 24, 1750; took to a seafaring life, became master of a sailing vessel, then owner of several ships in the American coasting and West India trade, in which business he amassed a fortune, the greater part of which was left to found and endow Girard College for Orphans, near Philadelphia, and other charitable institutions. He was regarded, at the time of his death, as the wealthiest man in the United States, although, compared with the money kings of the present time, he had but a moderate fortune, probably not to exceed $9,000,000. No one knows what William H. Vanderbilt or Jay Gould is worth, but it is safe to say that it is not less in either case than $150,000,000, and some say more than $200,000,000.

ELEVATION OF WESTERN SIGNAL STATIONS.

FAIRMOUNT, Ill.

Please give in Our Curiosity Shop the elevation above sea level of
Huron, D.T., St. Paul, Minn., Madison, Wis., and Chicago.

E. HALLADAY.

_Answer._—The best we can do is to give the elevations of the barometers of the United States Signal Service above sea-level at the several points specified, as computed for that service. That these are not certainly exact is admitted by the Chief of the Signal Service, who says, on page 1,178 of his report for 1881: “When the elevations of these planes above mean sea-level have been determined by the Coast and Geodetic Survey, it is expected that we shall be able to greatly improve on the elevations at present adopted.” The Signal Service barometer at Huron, D. T., stands at 1,300 feet above mean sea-level—marked (?) or doubtful. The barometer at St. Paul is 810.9 feet, at Madison 949.2 feet, at Chicago 660.9 feet, above sea level. The elevation of these barometers above the ground varies between thirty and seventy-five feet. As to your other question you are mistaken; Huron still appears in the “Weather Reports” printed in The Inter Ocean.

VALUES OF FOREIGN COINS.

HOUGHTON, Mich.

Can you not oblige us with a list of foreign coins and their values
in this country?

WILLIAM J. WREN.

_Answer._—The following table gives a list of foreign coins and their values, as proclaimed by the United States Treasury Department for the guidance of Custom House officers:

Countries. Standard monetary unit. Value in
U. S. cur.

Austria Florin, silver .40.6

Belgium Franc, gold and silver .19.3
5,10, and 20 franc coins.

Bolivia Boliviano, silver .82.3

Brazil Milris of 1,000 reis, gold .54.5

Canada Dollar, gold 1.00

Central America Peso, silver .83.6

Chili Peso, gold .91.2
Condor, doubloon, and escudo.

Denmark Crown, gold .26.8
10 and 20 crown pieces.

Ecqaudor Peso, silver .82.3

Egypt Pound of 100 piasters, gold 4.97.4
5, 10, 25, and 50 piastres.

France Franc, gold and silver .19.3
5, 10, and 20 franc pieces.

Great Britain Pound sterling, gold 4.86.6½
Sovereign and half sovereign.

Greece Drachma, gold and silver .19.3
5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 drachmas.

German Empire Mark, gold .23.8
5, 10, and 20 marks.

India Rupee of 16 annas, silver .39.7

Italy Lira, gold and silver .19.3
5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 lire.

Japan Yen, gold and silver .99.7
1, 2, 3, 10, and 20 yen.

Liberia Dollar, gold 1.00.

Mexico Dollar, or peso, silver .89.4
Dollar, 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavo.

Netherlands Florin, gold and silver .40.2

Norway Crown, gold .26.8
10 and 20 crowns.

Peru Sol, silver .83.6

Portugal Milreis, 1,000 reis, gold 1.08.
2, 5, and 10 milreis.

Russia Ruble of 100 copecks, silver .66.9
Ruble, ¼, and ½ rouble.

Sandwich Islands Dollar, gold 1.00.

Spain Peseta of 100 centimes gold and silver .19.3
5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 pesetas.

Sweden Crown, gold .26.8

Switzerland Franc, gold and silver .19.3
5, 10, and 20 francs.

Tripoli Mahbub. 20 piasters, silver .74.3

Turkey Piaster, gold .04.4
25, 50, 100, 250, and 500 piasters.

United States Peso, silver .83.6
of Colombia

THE SOUTH AND PROTECTIVE TARIFF.

JONESBORO, Ark.

How is the South, and, particularly, how are Southern farmers,
benefited by the tariff?

S. W. MOREHEAD.

_Answer._—Just as other American farmers are. First, by escaping direct taxation for the support of the General Government, a form of taxation that always bears on farmers and the other industrial classes heavily, as illustrated in direct taxation for State and county purposes. The Southern politicians who framed the Constitution of the Southern Confederacy, a majority of them, ignored the protectionist policy of Washington, Madison, Clay, Lowndes, Bell, and other Southern statesmen of different political parties, and, as Jefferson Davis puts it, in his “Rise and Fall of the Confederacy,” “protective duties for the benefit of special branches of industry were altogether prohibited.” A tariff for revenue only, export duties, and direct taxation were relied on to supply the exchequer of the Confederacy. What does Mr. Davis say of the result as regards the last of these sources? On page 495 of Volume I. he writes: “Within six months after the passage of the war tax of Aug. 19, 1861, the popular aversion to internal taxation by the General Government had so influenced the legislation of the several States that only in South Carolina, Mississippi, and Texas were the taxes actually collected from the people. The quotas of the remaining States had been raised by the issue of bonds and State Treasury notes. The public debt of the country was thus actually increased instead of being diminished by the taxation imposed by Congress.” Where did most of the money come from that was raised by the Confederacy? Off the agricultural products of the South. As to the foreign loan, Davis says: “Each bond, at the option of the holder, was convertible at its nominal amount into cotton at the rate of sixpence sterling for each pound of cotton—say 4,000 pounds of cotton for each bond of a hundred pounds sterling.” The farmer was paid for the cotton in Confederate currency or bonds, as a rule, and any other cotton exported from the country was compelled to pay an export duty to help pay the interest on the foreign bonds. But not only does the policy of American protection tend to keep the amount raised by direct taxation down to a minimum (as now, when, except the internal revenue tax on whisky and tobacco, nearly the entire revenue of the Federal Government is collected off of imports), but it levies the tariff mainly on such articles as can be produced in this country, so compelling consumers of Southern cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, etc., to pay better prices for these articles, or foreign competitors to reduce their profits when selling to American consumers; while it admits, coffee, tea, and other home necessities that we cannot produce, free of duty. It lays a duty on iron and other ores, and so encourages the Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama miner to delve for the wealth beneath his feet. It taxes cotton goods, and so holds out an extra inducement over all that nature has done to encourage the South to erect cotton factories. The same is true in a thousand other lines of manufacture. In general, it attracts capital into the South to engage in mining and manufacturing; it keeps money at home; it builds up home markets; it develops natural resources; it quickens the inventive genius of the nation, and it diversifies industries, and so provides occupations adapted to the various talents of different persons. This last is what the South needs more, in proportion, than any other section of the Union. Diversity of occupation, like diversity of crops, is essential to the realization of the best results. In many cases the most expert mechanics would make inferior farmers. The girl who “loves dearly to attend cotton-looms” (as a female operative in the weaving department of the Southern Exposition at Louisville lately exclaimed) would not stay on a farm. Diversity of industry affords opportunity for every worker to make the most of his abilities. It is the safety-valve of labor, which prevents any one occupation from being overgorged with laborers. It is the great equalizer of wages. The South is only beginning to realize the importance of home manufactures. Georgia is alive to this matter; so are some portions of Kentucky. Other Southern States are awakening to it. If it be true that in some parts of the North the manufacturers are strong enough to stand without protection, it is not yet true of the same industries in the South, and the latter should demand that the tariff be maintained until she has acquired like strength. She has the cotton, iron, sugar, cheaper labor, and on account of the climate it costs the laborers less to live there than in the North. Why should she not rival France, of similar climate, in manufactures? Capitalists are asking “why not;” and capital is pouring into the South faster than ever before. It would be suicidal to drive this capital back. The South will be stupid if she exerts herself to keep her children shut up to agricultural pursuits and continues to spend more than half the value of her surplus products in sending them to market and bringing them back in a manufactured condition (as she always has done) instead of manufacturing them at home.