Chapter C: P. Wilton

_Answer._—It is expressly declared in the homestead law that “no lands acquired under the provisions of this chapter shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the issuing of the patent therefor.” There is no such provision in the pre-emption law. Lands acquired under the latter law are protected from previous judgments only by the State or Territorial homestead and exemption laws.

BEST PEDESTRIAN RECORD FOR 100 MILES.

OREGON. Ill.

Oblige a reader and settle a dispute by stating whether 100 miles
has ever been made by any walker or runner in a day of ten hours.
Also give the quickest time for 100 miles, walking, and the same
distance running.

H. W. FARAGHER.

_Answer._—The best record for 100 miles walking, in this country, is 18 hours, 53 minutes, 4 seconds, by D. O’Leary, of Chicago; the best in England is 18 hours, 8 minutes, 15 seconds, by William Howes, London. The best record for 100 miles running, in this country, is 13 hours, 26 minutes, 30 seconds; the best in England is 13 hours, 47 minutes, and 50 seconds.

AGASSIZ, THE NATURALIST.

SPENCER, Iowa.

Please give a biographical sketch of Professor Agassiz.

R. A. COATS.

_Answer._—Louis John Rudolf Agassiz, the son of a Swiss Protestant clergyman, was born near Lake Neuchatel, May 28, 1807. After completing his academical course, he studied medicine at Zurich, Heidelberg, and Munich, preparatory to becoming a physician. Meanwhile Spix and Martins had returned from Brazil with a valuable collection of fossil fishes; and when, in 1826, the death of Spix made it necessary to select some one to continue the classification of his specimens, the choice fell upon Agassiz, who had already shown great ability in zoological research. Thus suddenly, at the age of 18, he began what was to be his life-long study. His next work was the study of the fresh water fishes of Central Europe, of which he published a history in 1839. In 1834 he paid his first visit to England, drawn thither by the tempting field of investigation in the fossils of the Devonian rocks. At about this time Agassiz commenced a new classification of fishes, based upon the character of the skin. Four years later he accepted a professorship at Neuchatel; and while there published his works on “Fishes of Central Europe.” “Mollusca,” and “Glaciers.” The last named work was the result of his study with Charpentier, during the year 1840. In 1847 he came to the United States, and became Professor of Zoology and Geology in Harvard. His life in this country was characterized by increased vigor as a writer. Failing health made a change of climate necessary in 1865, and with his wife and a company of assistants he visited Brazil. Later he explored the Southern Atlantic and Pacific shores of North America, gathering much valuable material for future study. His last great work was the establishment of a school for the study of marine zoology, on the island of Penikese, the gift of Mr. John Anderson, of New York, who also donated $50,000 as a permanent endowment. Professor Agassiz’s death occurred Dec. 14, 1873.

POSTMASTERS GENERAL AND THE CABINET.

FAIRBURY, Ill.

State who was the first Postmaster General of the United States,
and who was the first Postmaster General admitted to a seat in the
Cabinet.

E. E. MCDOWELL.

_Answer._—From the organization of the Federal Government down to the year 1829, the Postmasters General were not recognized as members of the Cabinet. The first Postmaster General under the present Constitution was Samuel Osgood, of Massachusetts, appointed by President Washington, Sept. 26, 1789. He was regarded as the head of a bureau. On the accession of President Jackson he nominated William T. Barry, of Kentucky, to the office of Postmaster General, and invited him to a seat in the Cabinet, since when the head of the Postoffice Department has been considered a member of the Cabinet

TO DISTINGUISH SEX OF FOWLS.

KEARNEY, Neb.

Is it possible to distinguish the sex of fowls by the noises they
make?

SUBSCRIBER.

_Answer._—An experienced poultry-raiser gives the following rules, which he says a close observer can soon learn to apply without mistake: The drake wheezes, the duck quacks. The Guinea cock and hen both have a peculiar, disagreeable chatter, but the hen sometimes says “buckwheat” or “go back” which the cock never does. The peacock can be distinguished, even when only a few months old, by the foxy red pinion feathers of his wings. In the case of turkeys, the breastbone of the cock is turned out at the front point, while that of the hen is straight. As to geese, the gabble of the common, the Embden and the Toulouse ganders is faster, finer, and higher than that of the goose, which is a slow, low bass; and the screech of the gander is fine, loud, and clear, while that of the goose is a rough bass. Both gander and goose of the English gray geese have a coarse screech and gabble, but the screech of the goose is lazy and seems to be partly broken, making two sounds, while the gander gives one clear, loud screech without any break in it. The screech of the African gander is loud and hoarse, while that of the goose is clear and stops abruptly, as if bitten off at the end. The Chinese gander gives one loud, clear screech, but that of the goose seems to be broken, making two different sounds, as if the first were made by forcing her breath out and the other by drawing it back.

INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE.

ST. PAUL, Minn.

What is meant by “an international date line?”

CONSTANT READER.

_Answer._—Every person traveling around the world from west to east, with his watch or chronometer set to the time of the place at which he started, will note that the sun comes to his meridian, or noon, four minutes earlier than his chronometer time for every degree passed over, one hour for every 15 degrees, and twenty-four hours for 360 degrees, the total circuit of the earth. In other words, every one who completes such a journey gains a day, and to dispose of this superfluous day so as to make his reckoning correspond with that of his starting place, he must call the day on which he gets back (or on which he passes some certain point or meridian line) and the next following day of the week and month by the same name and date; thus having two Mondays, for example, together. On the other hand, every person traveling from east to west loses a day in making a complete circuit of the earth, and to correct his calendar must skip one day of some week.

Suppose it were universally agreed that this correction of the navigator’s reckoning should be made at the 180th degree of longitude west and east from Greenwich, Eng., then this would be the international date line. Unfortunately, now, there is no such universally accepted line, although most merchant vessels of all nations do make the correction at the meridian above named. So it often happens that sailors in the Pacific Ocean, because their vessels reach the 180th meridian coming eastward on Sunday enjoy two Sundays together, and going westward have two weeks without any intervening Sunday. It has been proposed to fix by international agreement upon this or some other line for this correction of dates so as to make all ship calendars agree, but thus far a silly national pride and other insufficient reasons have prevented such an agreement. The meridian of Rome, as the center from which Christian civilization was disseminated both towards the East and West, has been proposed by some. It has the advantage of being nearly upon the meridian of the most of the great observatories of Europe—those of Modena, Verona, Naples, Palermo, Padua, Venice, Munich, Leipsic, Prague, Berlin, Gotha, Copenhagen, Uraniburg, and Christiana. This would locate the 180th degree of longitude in Behring Straits.

If such a line could be determined, and local calendars the world over be made to correspond, it would dispose of such absurdities in reckoning as exist now, when it is a fact that during five hours of every day there are three different dates in use in different parts of the world. For example: From 5:10 o’clock a. m. to 10:10 o’clock a. m. of to-day, Sept. 17, 1883, at Chicago, the inhabitants of the Navigator Islands, in the Pacific, are in the early part of their Sept. 18, while those of the Philippine Islands, about sixty degrees further west, adhering to their old calendar, are finishing Sept. 16. That is to say, from the time any given day of the week and month begins at the earliest place of reckoning to the time it ends at the latest place is about fifty-three hours. This is accounted for by the fact that places discovered and receiving civilization by Eastern communication from Europe, and those receiving it by Western communication, took their dates from opposite directions without allowing for the day lost in circumnavigating the globe in the one direction and the day gained in circumnavigating it in the other. The Philippine Islands were discovered by Magellan, sailing westward, and conquered by a Spanish expedition dispatched from the west coast of Mexico, which accounts for the use there of a dating later by a day than that of the neighboring island of Hong Kong, on the China coast, and the Japanese islands; in fact, the latest dating of any place on the globe.

CERTAIN RIGHTS OF MARRIED WOMEN.

FORT WORTH, Texas.

Is there any State in the Union where a man is not compelled to
divide his property with his wife in case they separate? 2. What is
the proper pronunciation of “dude?”

E. G. HOWARD.

_Answer._—All States, except California and Indiana, give the wife a dower right in her husband’s property. In case of voluntary separation, she may agree to waive a part, or all, of her right; or the husband may concede more than her dower right, and in case the agreement is reduced to writing and properly acknowledged, it is binding upon both parties, the separation being in other respects in conformity with law. In case of a divorce for the wife’s fault, she loses her dower right. If it is for the husband’s fault, the court will maintain her dower rights and also award her alimony proportioned to her husband’s income, to be paid by him at stated periods. 2. Pronounce it dood.

QUERIES ABOUT NEBRASKA.

TABOR, Iowa,

Please inform one of your readers what portion of Nebraska is
open to homesteaders. Please give some facts in regard to water
and drought. I am told there are valuable lands, well watered,
in Custer County. Any facts concerning the lands of Central and
Western Nebraska will be gladly received.

HOME-SEEKER.

_Answer._—Most of Nebraska between Ft. Kearney and the western State line is open to homesteaders, but perhaps the greatest immigration at this time is to the Niobrara Valley. The Platte Valley is also very fertile. The agricultural country extends 180 miles west of the Missouri River, and produces great harvests of grain, flax, hemp, and all vegetables: while south of latitude 42 degrees the common small fruits grow in abundance. When Central Kansas and Nebraska are settled, what is now generally regarded as the “great corn belt” will be under cultivation. The portion of the State devoted to grazing comprises 23,000,000 acres, generally well watered, with Ogallala as a center. Except in the valleys, the water lies from 100 to 200 feet below the surface of the ground, and is obtained by boring. The sandy tracts are subject to drought, but where the subsoil is dry clay the ground is usually moist. Custer County is settling rapidly, although it has the reputation of being sandy, and adapted for the most part only to grazing. The mean temperature of the State is in winter from 22 to 30 degrees, and in summer from 70 to 74 degrees. The rainfall (greatest in May and June) averages about thirty inches in all but the extreme northwestern corner of the State.

FEUDALISM.

TOLONO, Ill.

Please give the definition of feudalism?

H. B. HASKELL.

_Answer._—Feudalism is the state of society in which all landed property is considered as belonging to the crown. It is apportioned by the Kings to the nobles, as feudatories, upon condition that they render annually a certain amount of military service. These proprietors may, in turn, partition their lands to sub-tenants in consideration of like military service.

Feudal proprietors at first held their lands from a superior for life; later as an inheritance. The great feudatories lived in fortified castles, surrounded by villages of peasants who tilled their lands. In all matters of jurisprudence they exercised supreme authority over their dependents. To other feudatory lords each might stand in the relation of friend or foe, though he met with them as peers in the periodical councils of the realm. Among the services required from their dependents or vassals, were military service, when called upon, contribution toward the expenses of war, toward ransom of their lord if taken captive, toward marriage expenses of his son, and dowry of his daughter.

ADELINA PATTI.

KANKAKEE, ILL.

Decide whether Adelina Patti is a native of this country, and
settle a dispute. Also, please tell her true maiden name and the
main facts of her life.

Cymbeline.

_Answer._—Adelina Patti’s real name before her marriage was Adele Juana Maria Patti. She is a native of Spain, being born at Madrid April 9, 1843. She inherited her talent to some degree from her mother, Mme. Barilli Patti, a prima donna of no mean reputation. It is stated that she sang “Norma” at the Grand Theater, Madrid, on the evening before Adele’s birth, and, as she lost much of the power and sweetness of her voice after that event, she always maintained that it had gone from her into the child. Adele has been claimed as an American, because the family came to this country the next year after her birth, and her brilliant fame dawned upon her in New York City. At the age of 9 she made her first appearance before the public, and made the tour of Canada with Strakosch and Ole Bull. She made her debut in New York City March 3, 1854, at Paul Jullien’s concert, in the City Assembly rooms. Then she accompanied Gottschalk, the great pianist, to the West Indies. It was at this time that she sung in costume with Signor Barilli at Havana the duet in the “Barber of Seville” with such effect that the audience became excited to such a pitch and clamored so wildly for her to reappear that she ran away in a fright, and nothing could persuade her to return. Returning to New York she was more popular than ever. It was in November of 1859 that the managers of the Academy of Music, New York, after a long period of unprofitable engagements which threatened to end in financial ruin, brought forward Adelina Patti as Lucia. The result was an immense success. From that time she was the pet of the metropolis.

She made her debut in London as Amina in “La Somnambula” in 1861. In England and on the Continent she soon won her way to the first rank among prima donnas. Devotees of the opera, of all ranks, showered favors upon her. The Emperor of Russia, in 1870, conferred on her the Order of Merit. Her voice is an unusually high soprano of rich, bell-like quality, and remarkable evenness of tone, to which qualities she adds purity of style and high artistic finish. Equally at home in the tenderness of deep passion and the sprightly vivacity of light comedy, she has also sung with success in oratorio. She was married in London July 29, 1868, to the Marquis de Caux, an almost impecunious scion of the old French nobility. It was an unhappy alliance and has ended in a divorce granted by the French courts to the Marquis, in 1876. According to French law she is not entitled to marry, but, nevertheless, she now claims to be legally married to Nicolini.

VOTING—RIGHTS AND RESTRICTIONS.

MOUND, La.

1. Are there not States where citizens over 21 years of age are
not permitted to vote without a property qualification? 2. If so,
has the representation of such States in Congress been reduced
in proportion, as would seem to be required by the United States
Constitution? 3. Do the peeresses entitled to seats in the English
House of Lords ever occupy them and vote as members of that body?

W. R. JOHNSTON.

_Answer._—1. Yes, and we gave their names in these columns recently. Rhode Island is the most exacting one of them. 2. No. 3. Yes.

COLUMBIA RIVER.

ONARGA, Ill.

To settle a dispute, please state the precise place where the
Columbia River rises. Also give its length, and tell how far it is
navigable.

HUGH E. SUTTON.

_Answer._—The Columbia River rises in a trivial lake on the Western slope of the Rocky Mountains, in latitude 50 deg. 31 min. north, and longitude 116 deg. west of Greenwich. It is a swift, tortuous stream, cutting its way through many wild, deep gorges, or canons, and obstructed by numerous rapids and falls, until it reaches the foot of the Cascades, a series of rapids where it makes its way through the Cascade Mountains. Here the scene on either hand is most impressive, rising in places to the height of sublimity. From where the Clarke River fork enters to the sea the Columbia forms the boundary between Oregon and Washington Territory. Its total length is variously estimated, the best authorities making it between 1,400 and 1,450 miles. It is navigable for sea-going vessels of 300 tons burden to the head of tide water, at the foot of the Cascades, 160 miles, and steamboats ply on it above this, both below and above the narrow known as the Dalles, in all 485 miles more.

THE POET LOWELL.

POPLAR CREEK, Ill.

Please give an account of the life of James Russell Lowell.

H. L. WILSON.

_Answer._—During the war with Mexico there appeared a series of humorous poems by Hosea Biglow, aimed against the war and slavery, which made not a little stir, not only in literary circles but in all classes of society. The real author was James Russell Lowell, a native of Boston, and already known as a poet through his “Legend of Brittany,” published in 1844. In 1854 he succeeded Longfellow as Professor of Modern Languages at Harvard. During 1857-62 he was editor of the “Atlantic Monthly,” and 1863-72 of the “North American Review.” In 1869 he published a volume of poems and in 1870 a second volume, followed in 1871 by “My Study Windows.” Four years ago he became United States Minister to the Court of St. James. In literature Mr. Lowell has attained to well-deserved distinction on both sides of the Atlantic, and as a diplomatist he has acquitted himself with honor.

HALLOWEEN.

LANSING, Mich.

Give the origin and history of Halloween and describe some of the
sports.

A READER.

_Answer._—For the origin and history of Halloween see Our Curiosity Shop for 1880, page 31. Some of the most common of the sports connected with it are these: If you go down the cellar stairs backwards or into a dark room, holding a lighted candle in one hand and a looking-glass in the other, the face of your “destiny” will appear over your left shoulder. Walk around the house three times with a broom over your right shoulder, and you will see the same person, or go down cellar backwards combing your hair and carrying a candle. These things must be done at exactly midnight. Let some one of a company “name” a number of apples, and drop them in a pail of water. Let each of the others try to take one out with the teeth alone, and so decide his or her fate. For other sports and superstitions associated with Halloween see “Chambers’ Book of Days.”

MARINE HISTORY—“OLD-TIMERS.”

FRANKFORT, Mich.

In answer to H. H. H., of Chicago, who asks in Our Curiosity Shop which is the oldest lake craft now in service, I will say: The oldest lake craft now in service is said to be the Racine, built at Cleveland in 1844; the next is Genesee Chief, 1846. Among some of the other old-timers still in service are the barge Seminole, 38 years old; Pilgrim, 35 years; Two Brothers, 37 years; Reindeer, 35 years; schooners Arcturus, 30 years; Cascade, 30 years; Elbe, 30 years; Sonora, 29 years; Clipper City, 29 years; Vermont, 30 years; Pilot, 35 years; Harriet Ross, age unknown. The oldest American vessel now coasting on the ocean is the bark Amethyst, built in 1822. The following will prove of interest to old Chicagoans, who will no doubt recollect the circumstances: The first craft built in Chicago was the sloop Clarisa, 1836; the first steamboats, James Allen, 213 tons; G. W. Dole, 162 tons burden, built in 1838. The first sail arrival at Chicago was the schooner General Tracy, from Detroit, in 1803. The first steamer arrival was the Superior, with United States troops, in 1832. The first tugboat in Chicago harbor was the Archimedes, a side-wheeler, exploded in 1852. The schooner Illinois was the first sail craft to enter the Chicago River over the bar, July 14, 1834. The schooners La-Grange, United States, Oregon, and Illinois were some of the pioneer packet vessels sailing between Buffalo and Chicago in 1830, carrying passengers and freight. The little steamer called Chicago plied on the river, and in 1836 carried the Governor and party up to Bridgeport, where the first shovelful of sand was dug for the canal.

In connection with the above, to show what a vessel can do in her time, I will mention as an example: The old packet ship Great Western, built over forty years ago, plying between New York and Liverpool, 1,800 tons burden. This vessel sailed twenty-nine years in the packet line without losing one of her crew; also during 116 trips she never lost a sail or spar. She has carried 30,000 passengers from Europe to America; 200 marriages, and 1,500 births occurred on board of her. Ten years ago she was sent to the Pacific Ocean, being a very successful craft. She caught fire and burned to the water’s edge in San Francisco during the past summer. For marine history of United States, see my articles in THE DAILY INTER OCEAN, May 10, 1882, July 28, etc.

CHARLES BURMEISTER.

TO POSTMASTERS.

FAIRMOUNT, Minn.

What is the object of the little patch of leather, open at the top,
riveted to the inside of some of the United States mail-bags, not
far from the top? I have inquired of several persons, including
postmasters at one or two places, but none of them seem to know.
Only about one in three or four mail-bags have it.

A FRIEND.

_Answer._—The small pouch you refer to is a pocket for any memorandum the postmaster may wish to send with the bag. In case a mail-bag anywhere in the Northwest needs repairs it should be sent to the Chicago Postoffice, which has a repair shop connected with it. The postmaster sending such a bag should put in this pouch a memorandum showing from what office it is sent. This is but one of many instances in which it serves a good purpose. It is to be found only in the new mail-bags.

STRONG DRINK OF THE HEBREWS.

VICTORIA, Neb.

We read that in the time of Samuel there were people who drank
no wine or any strong drink. Are we to suppose that they had any
stronger drink than fermented wine? Had they any distilled spirits?

READER.

_Answer._—By “strong drink” in the Old Testament we are not to understand distilled spirits, for alcohol was not discovered until the present era. The term refers to three beverages of the Jews—date honey, date or palm wine unfermented, and palm wine rendered intoxicating by fermentation, or by the admixture of stupifying ingredients while boiling. The latter was preferred, as fermentation made the wine bitter and harsh.

THE FATHERS ON PROTECTIVE TARIFF.

DAVENPORT, Iowa.

On what authority does Our Curiosity Shop class Washington,
Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and, still more strange to say, General
Jackson with the advocates of protective tariff?

FREE TRADER.

_Answer._—The first Congress that assembled under our present Constitution passed the first tariff. In the preamble to that act it is expressly affirmed that such tariff was necessary “to pay the public debt, provide revenue, etc., and for the protection and encouragement of American manufactures.” The necessity of such protection was urged in the messages of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison James Monroe, John Q. Adams, and Andrew Jackson. In his annual message of Dec. 15, 1802, among other proper objects of government, Jefferson enumerates the following; “To foster our fisheries as nurseries of navigation and for the nurture of man; and to _protect the manufactures_ adapted to our circumstances.” In his annual message of 1806, apprehending a surplus revenue, he says; “To what other objects shall these surpluses be appropriated, and the whole surplus of impost after the entire discharge of the public debt? Shall we suppress the impost (or tariff) and give that advantage to foreign over domestic manufactures?” He then suggests that on a few articles the impost might be wisely suppressed, but in regard to the great mass of them he says; “The patriotism of the people would prefer its continuance and application to the great purposes of public education, roads, rivers, canals, and other objects of public improvement.” In his message of Nov. 8, 1808, after referring with gratification to the increase of “internal manufactures and improvements,” he expresses the hope that such establishments of manufacturing industry “formed and forming, will, under the auspices of cheaper materials and substance, the freedom of labor from taxation with us, and of _protecting duties_ and _prohibitions_, become permanent.” Says President Monroe, in his inaugural address of March 5, 1817; “Our manufactures will likewise require the systematic and fostering care of the government. Possessing, as we do, all the raw materials, the fruit of our own soil and industry, we ought not to depend, in the degree we have done, on supplies from other countries. It is important, too, that the capital which nourishes our manufactures should be domestic, as its influences in that case, instead of exhausting, as it may do in foreign hands, would be felt advantageously for agriculture and every other branch or industry. Equally important is it to provide at home a market for our raw materials, as by extending the competition it will enhance the price and protect the cultivator against the casualties incident to foreign markets.”

In his message of Dec. 7, 1830, General Jackson says: “The power to impose duties on imports originally belonged to the several States. The right to adjust these duties, with the view to the encouragement of domestic branches of industry, is so completely incidental to that power, that it is difficult to suppose the existence of the one without the other.” He proceeds to say that the denial of the right of the Federal Government “to exercise this power for the purpose of protection would he to present the anomaly of a people stripped of the right to foster their own industry, and to counteract the most selfish and destructive policy which might be adopted by foreign nations. This surely cannot be the case. This indispensable power, thus surrendered by the States, must be within the scope of the authority on the subject expressly delegated to Congress. In this conclusion I am confirmed as well by the opinions of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, who have each repeatedly recommended the exercise of this right under the Constitution, as by the uniform practice of Congress, the continued acquiescence of the States, and the general understanding of the people.” In a letter to Dr. Coleman, of North Carolina, dated at Washington City, April 20, 1824, General Jackson wrote: “If we omit or refuse to use the gifts which Providence has extended to us, we deserve not the continuation of His blessing. He has filled our mountains and our plains with minerals—with lead, iron, and copper—and given us a climate and soil for the growing of hemp and wool. These being the great materials of our National defense, they ought to have extended to them adequate protection; that our manufacturers and laborers may be placed in a fair competition with those of Europe, and that we have within our country a supply of those leading and important articles so essential to war. I will ask what is the real situation of the agriculturist? Where has the American farmer a market for his surplus produce? Except for cotton he has neither a foreign nor a home market. Common sense at once points out the remedy. Take from agriculture in the United States 600,000 men, women, and children and you will at once give a market for more breadstuffs than all Europe now furnishes us. In short, sir, we have been too long subject to the policy of British merchants. It is time we should become a little more Americanized, and instead of feeding paupers and laborers of England, feed our own, or else in a short time, by continuing our present policy, we shall be rendered paupers ourselves.” In consonance with these sentiments, Jackson, together with Martin Van Buren and Silas Wright, the leaders of the Northern Democracy, and the great mass of the Jackson representatives from the free States, voted for the tariff of 1828, the highest protective tariff ever levied in this country before the war of the rebellion. In the next subsequent decade the Democratic party, led by the cotton States, and determined to defeat the Whig party led by the great Protectionist, Henry Clay, espoused free trade.

DON CARLOS.

KINGMAN, Kan.

Who and what was Don Carlos?

A READER.

_Answer._—1. There was a Don Carlos in the sixteenth century. He was the son of Philip II., of Spain; was born at Valladolid in 1545, and recognized as heir to the throne in 1560. But owing to his dullness at school, and distaste for study, the King deemed him unfit to reign over his subjects, and invited the Prince’s cousin, the Archduke Rudolf, to Spain, intending to educate him for the throne. Jealous of this usurper, Don Carlos conceived a strong dislike to all the King’s counselors, whom he plotted to destroy. But having foolishly divulged to his confessor that he intended to murder some one, that some one was suspected to be the King. The stupid Prince was tried and convicted of high treason, and left to the mercy of the King. Philip declared that he could make no exception in favor of such an ungrateful son, but there is found no formal record of any sentence of death. Don Carlos died soon afterward, at the age of 23. 2. The Don Carlos who has of late years been causing so much trouble in Spain, as a pretender to the throne, is the eldest son of the brother of King Fernando VII. His wife is Princess Marguerite, of Bourbon, daughter of Duke Carlos III., of Parma. He is a brother of the ex-Queen Isabella, and uncle to the present King.

EDUCATION AND CHRISTIAN BENEVOLENCE.

WEXFORD, Mich.

What proportion of the benevolent and educational institutions in
the United States are built and operated by Christians, and what by
infidels?

F. J. HALL.

_Answer._—In the report of the United States Commissioner of Education for 1880 the following statistics of schools in the United States not under State control are given: One hundred and sixty-two commercial and business colleges, generally self-supporting, and unconnected with, or not dependent on, Christian or other benevolent organizations or private benevolence. There were 232 kindergartens, most of which were private schools and self-supporting. Such as were charity schools, like the free kindergartens of certain cities, were supported, for the most part, by Christian benevolence. There were 1,264 “schools of secondary instruction,” such as seminaries and academies; 355 asylums for orphans, 142 theological schools, and 227 “institutions for the superior instruction of women.” Most of all four classes of schools were and still are under the direction of Roman Catholics, Protestants or Hebrews. Of the 364 universities and colleges, only eighty are marked non-sectarian, and to these institutions are attached nearly all the 310 theological, law, and medical schools. There are forty-nine schools of science, (mining, engineering, agriculture, etc.), endowed with the National land grants, apportioned to the several States under act of 1862, the States providing in nearly every instance the grounds, buildings, apparatus, etc., and supplementing the income of the endowment fund. Even many of these schools, such as Purdue University, Indiana, Illinois Industrial University, and others, are indebted to private individuals, or county and city subscriptions for handsome contributions in money, lands, etc. Then there are thirty-five schools and collegiate departments of science not endowed by the National land grants or State grants, but almost wholly the product of private benefactions, the benefactors in nearly all cases being pronounced Christian philanthropists. The benefactions to educational institutions of the United States, (mostly denominational), in the years ending with 1880, amounted to about $60,000,000.

If by “infidels,” you intend persons who disclaim all faith in Christianity, then it is doubtful if any of the above institutions were founded or are sustained to any degree worthy of mention, by an infidel. Even Girard, the founder of Girard College was not an out and out atheist or deist, though he was bitterly opposed to all existing sects, and had a strong aversion to the clergy of every denomination.

GENERAL E. R. S. CANBY.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.

Tell us something about General Canby.

A. B. D.

_Answer._—Edward Richard Spriggs Canby LL. D., was born in Kentucky in 1807, graduated at West Point in 1839, and spent the remainder of his life on the warpath. His first post was in Florida (1839-42), but he was little known until the war with Mexico, when he fought with such valor at Cherubusco and the City of Mexico as to win the brevets of major and lieutenant colonel. From 1849 to 1861 he served on the Pacific coast, in Washington, and Utah Territory, and against the Navajoes, and at the outbreak of the civil war took command in New Mexico, where he was brevetted brigadier general at Valverde. Two years later he was commander of the expedition which captured Mobile, and there won the title of brevet major general. Soon afterward Generals R. Taylor and E. K. Smith surrendered to him. In 1866 he was made a brigadier general in the regular army.

In 1869, having served in several important commissions, and being worn out, he voluntarily consented to take charge of the Department of Columbia; and there he was treacherously shot by the chief “Jack,” April 11, 1873, while trying to arrange for the removal of the Modocs from Northern California.

“PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES.”

BLUNT, D.T.

Please explain in the Curiosity Shop the meaning of the expression
“Precession of the Equinoxes,” and how the climate of the earth is
affected by this phenomenon?

ARTHUR SNOW.

_Answer._—As the plane of the earth’s orbit crosses the equator at an angle of about 23½ degrees, the attractive force of the sun, moon, and planets, constantly exerted upon the earth, has a tendency to tilt the pole away from the sun and to draw the equator toward it. As a consequence, the sun crosses the equator each time a little farther west than the point where it crossed the last time preceding, and where it would have crossed on its return if there were no disturbing force. Originally it was said that the equinoctial point, or place of crossing, went forward to meet the sun, and hence this phenomenon was called the precession of the equinoxes. But, from the fact that the equinoctial point really falls backwards on the celestial equator, toward the west, each time about 50 seconds of a degree, it is now very frequently termed the recession of the equinoxes. In consequence of this recession the seasons begin a little earlier each year, and it is estimated that in 12,800 years they will be reversed, our summer occurring when the sun is in the constellation that he now traverses in winter time. It requires about 25,000 years for the sun to complete one circuit of precession of the equinoxes.

COMET OF 1812 AND 1813.

LAKE FOREST, Ill.

Is it true that the comet now coming into view is the same as the
one of 1812? When will it become plainly visible to the naked eye,
and when will it be nearest the sun?

STAR-GAZER.

_Answer._—It is generally admitted that the comet discovered by Professor Brooks on the 5th of September last, and now visible, with the aid of a good opera or field glass, in the constellation Draco, between the “Great Dipper,” in Ursa Major, and the “Northern Cross,” in the Constellation Cygnus, is identical with the comet of 1812, which was believed by the superstitious to prognosticate our last war with Great Britain. It will reach perihelion, or the point in its orbit nearest the sun, Jan. 25. It will increase in brightness rapidly from the first of December, and be plainly visible to the naked eye by the middle of that month. At its brightest it will be brighter than in 1812, but it will not equal at any time the magnificent comet of 1882. The period, as calculated in 1812, was 70.6 years. As the interval between its perihelion time, Sept. 15, 1812, and its perihelion passage, Jan. 25, 1884, will be but 71.5 years, it is not strange astronomers—considering the imperfections of astronomical science and art then as compared with the state of astronomy now—are not surprised at this small error in this comet’s calculated orbital period.

LONGEVITY OF THE CIRCASSIAN RACE.

_Garden City_, Kan.

Is it a fact that the longevity of our race is on the increase? If
so, what are the data from which this conclusion is reached? Is our
physical strength on the increase, and what is the evidence? It has
been agreed to leave these questions to you. One of the parties
to the dispute is an ex-judge of the Supreme Court of one of the
greatest States in the Union.

J. W. HOLMES, M. D.

_Answer._—The above questions having been referred to one of the highest medical authorities in the West, a member of a State Board of Health, he replies as follows:

“It is a fact that the longevity of our race [i. e., the Caucasian or white race] is on the increase. Statistics published by the British Registrar show that during the last 150 years the average length of human life in the British Islands has been increased by nearly one-third. It is also true that the physique of the race is improving. I am sorry that I have not time to look up references for you; but any reasonably well-equipped life-insurance agent should be able to furnish them readily for the first question; and the _Journal of Anthropology_ would supply evidence enough for the second. Dr. Nathan Allen, of Lowell, Mass., has made the subject a special study.”

RAILROADS IN ILLINOIS.

COOPERSTOWN, Ill.

How many companies are there owning railroads in Illinois?

E. P. R.

_Answer._—According to the commissioner’s report for 1880-81, there were during the year fifty-four railroad companies operating roads in Illinois. Poor’s “Manual” gives the names of sixty-five companies operating roads in the State in 1882. It is difficult to state how many companies own these roads, for every year many of them change hands by lease or sale. There are more companies owning roads than there are operating companies. For instance, during the years 1880-81 six railroads were merged into the Wabash system, another was purchased by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Company, and still another was leased for an indefinite period by the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago. Probably the next annual report of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission will show exactly how many proprietary companies are still in existence. We have no data for an answer to your other question.

FOREIGN IMMIGRATION.

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa.

From what countries is most of the immigration to the United
States? What proportion of the immigrants can read and write? Are
any of them well educated? What was the immigration last year?

F. P. F.

_Answer._—During the sixty years included between 1820 and 1880, the following countries were represented in the immigration to the United States, as here shown:

England 894,444
Ireland 3,065,761
Scotland 159,547
Wales 17,893
Netherlands 44,319
Poland 14,831
Portugal 9,062
Russia 38,316
Austria-Hungary 65,588
Belgium 23,267
Denmark 48,620
France 313,716
Germany 3,002,027
Greece 385
Spain 28,091
Sweden and Norway 306,092
Switzerland 83,709
Turkey 619
Italy 70,181
All other countries 1,161,875

Most of the immigrants from Sweden and Norway, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, and Scotland, are able to read and write; the majority of the others are illiterate. Many are very well educated, having enjoyed college privileges, and the advantages of travel. The total number of immigrants during 1882, was 788,992.

BASE OF THE METRICAL SYSTEM.

OMAHA, Neb.

Is it true that the unit of the metrical system is exactly the
ten-millionth part of a quadrant of the earth, measured on a
meridian? Please answer and settle a controversy.

AARON.

_Answer._—It is not true. After all the pains taken by scientists to obtain the exact measure of a quadrant of a meridian of the earth, it is now conceded that this problem is still unsolved. In the latter part of last century, certain French astronomers and geodetic surveyors persuaded the French Academy of Sciences that they had succeeded in measuring so much of such an arc as enabled them to accurately determine the whole arc by geometrical calculations. In this belief what is now known as the metric system of measures was constructed, and under the French Republic, in 1795, the existing standards of French measures were adopted, based on the meter, the ten-millionth part of the earth’s meridian quadrant as thus computed. According to this a meter is 39.368 American inches, or 39.37 English inches. But while later surveys have failed to determine the quadrant with absolute certainty, it is conceded that they have demonstrated the inaccuracy of the earlier surveys and computations, and what is now generally accepted as a very close approximation to an exact measure shows that the standard French meter falls short of the ten-millionth part of the earth’s meridional quadrant by its 1-5,400 part. That is, according to the progress of more extended geodetic measurements, brought down to 1875, the earth’s meridional quadrant exceeds 10,000,000 meters by about 1,850 meters. Nevertheless the International Bureau of Weights and Measures very wisely adheres to the original standard meter, represented by the platinum meter of the French archives as the fundamental unit of the metric system.

EXECUTING FOR WITCHCRAFT.

OSHKOSH, Wis.

Will our Curiosity Shop please tell us the facts about witchcraft
at Salem and elsewhere. Respecting Salem witchcraft, give causes,
number killed, cruelties practiced, and names and characters of the
men upholding the persecutions?

H. F. FEHLANDT.

_Answer._—The Salem witchcraft was only one of the results of the superstition, as old almost as man himself, that certain persons, through intimate connection with the spirit world, possess superhuman influence for evil over their fellow-men. The early Christians inherited the idea from their pagan forefathers, and in 1484 Pope Innocent issued a bull directing the inquisitors to search out and punish all guilty of such crimes. For nearly three centuries following the delusion reigned, so that in Germany alone more than 10,000 persons were executed in consequence of this bull, and in England, during the 150 years following the reign of Elizabeth, over 30,000 persons were sacrificed to this wild superstition. In fact witches were hung in the latter country as late as 1716, and in Scotland until 1722. Under these circumstances it is not strange that Englishmen in America partook of the fanatical excitement, and when in 1688 four children of John Goodwin, a respectable man in North Boston, began to show strange symptoms, immediately after receiving abuse from a disreputable Irish woman, the people should at once attribute them to witchcraft; the more so since three Bostonians had been hung already for that offense, and lately a book had been published in defense of the popular belief. Four years later the excitement culminated at Salem. The first alleged victims were in the family of Samuel Parris, a clergyman. His daughter, niece, and two other girls began to show symptoms like those of the Goodwin children, and accused Tituba, an Indian squaw in the family, of bewitching them, though she stoutly protested her Innocence. Soon the number of bewitched increased, and likewise the number of accused. The excitement grew, being constantly fanned by those who should have been foremost in checking it. None were safe from accusation, and many, to save their own lives, accused their dearest friends and relatives. When Sir William Phipps became Governor of Massachusetts, in May, 1692, his first act was the appointment of a court for Suffolk, Essex, and Middlesex, consisting of seven judges: William Stoughton, the Lieutenant Governor; Chief Justice Nathaniel Saltonstal, who refused to act, and was replaced by Jonathan Curwin; John Richards, Bartholomew Gedney, Wait Winthrop, Samuel Sewall, and Peter Sergeant. Cotton Mather and Samuel Parris were among the chief Instigators of the prosecutions that followed. Under this tribunal twenty persons were hung, fifty or more tortured into confession of guilt; the jails were filled, and hundreds more were under suspicion, when the reason of the community awoke to a realization of the injustice and barbarity of such proceedings, and fanaticism was soon succeeded by bitter remorse. There is not space here to enumerate many of the tortures employed to extort confessions. The lash, the stocks, binding the sufferers in painful postures, as with neck and heels together; starvation and thirst, and other barbarities were exercised, until hundreds falsely accused themselves, their friends and neighbors, and even their dearest relatives, to obtain release.

AN ARMY LEGION.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Please state how many men the Austrian and Belgic legions enlisted
for the service of Maximilian I. of Mexico, contained. I would like
to know somewhere near the number, whether it was 500 or 5,000 men.

CHARLES SEYMOUR.

_Answer._—It is impossible to give a definite answer to this question. The military term “legion” was not a very definite term, as regards numbers, even in the case of the old Roman legion, where it corresponded somewhat to the modern “army corps.” Sometimes it numbered 3,000 men and at others 6,000 or more. In 1792 the whole army of the United States was officially designated the “Legion of the United States” the Infantry regiments being styled “sub-legions.” This was not a popular organization and nomenclature with army men, and was soon abandoned. The term has been applied in modern times to divisions in the German, French, and other European armies, variously organized, and numbering from 2,500 to 5,000 men. It would be impossible, without reference to official records of Maximilian’s government, to say what number of Belgians and Austrians were enlisted in his service; but it was less than 10,000 all told, and most likely, judging from facts in our possession, not more than 7,000.

RAPHAEL’S SUPREME MADONNA.

WINCHESTER, Ill.

Where was the Sistine Madonna executed? Where and by whom was it
taken to Dresden?

MAGGIE HUSTON.

_Answer._—The “Madonna di San Sisto” was executed by Raphael as an altar-piece for the Church of St. Sixtus at Piacenza, in Northern Italy. It is perhaps the most widely known of Raphael’s works, and universally regarded one of his supreme efforts. Mrs. Jameson, renowned as an art critic, says of it; “For myself, I have seen my ideal once, and once only, there where Raphael—inspired, if ever a painter was inspired—projected on the space before him that wonderful creature which we style the Madonna di San Sisto.” It was painted between 1517 and 1520. We are not positive as to when and by whom it was removed to Dresden, but think it was during the reign of Frederick Augustus II., King of Saxony from 1797 to 1854. This King did more than any of his predecessors to embellish Dresden.

AUTHOR OF “THE FLAG OF OUR UNION.”

STANBERRY, Mo.

Will your Curiosity Shop give a short sketch of the author of the
poem entitled, “The Flag of Our Union”?

J. M. H.

_Answer._—George P. Morris was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1802. From early manhood he followed journalism, and was the originator of the two newspapers, _The Mirror_ and _The National Press_. For several years he was associated with N. P. Willis, and, under their united efforts, the _Mirror_ became a leading literary, magazine, having among its contributors Poe, Bryant, Halleck, and Paulding. In 1853 Morris and Willis edited “Prose and Poetry of Europe and America.” His reputation, however, chiefly rests upon his original poems, and of these the most familiar are “Woodman, Spare that Tree,” and “The Flag of Our Union.”

PENSIONS OF SOLDIERS OF 1812.

HAZELHURST, Miss.

Are the soldiers of 1812 entitled to pensions or land warrants? If
so, how may they obtain them?

H. J. BRAINARD.

_Answer._—By the act of Congress, approved March 9, 1878, any soldier of the war of 1812, or his widow, is entitled to a pension of $8 a month, provided he is not already receiving that amount, or more, as a pension; or, if receiving a pension of less amount, he is entitled to enough more to raise it to $8 per month. In addition he may claim 160 acres as a land warrant, granted to all soldiers who fought in the American army before 1855. For further information write to the Commissioner of Pensions, W. W. Dudley, Washington, D. C.

COUNTY LICENSES FOR DRAM-SHOPS.

HAMILTON, Iowa.

Can whisky be sold in Illinois outside of the corporate limits of a
city by the drink? Are they not limited, under government license,
to quantities of one gallon or more?

READER.

_Answer._—Spirituous liquors cannot be legally sold in quantities of less than one gallon in any part of Illinois without a license, either from city, incorporated town, or village or county authorities. Counties are empowered to license dram-shops outside of incorporated cities, towns, etc.

CERTAIN CANADIAN AND AMERICAN CITIES.

RIVERTON, Iowa.

1. What is the population of the four largest cities of Canada and
the four largest cities of the United States next the Canadian
border? 2. If a man having a family takes a homestead claim must he
forfeit his claim if his family refuse to accompany him?

SUBSCRIBER.

_Answer._—1. In Canada: Montreal, 140,863; Toronto, 86,455; Quebec, 62,446, and Hamilton, 35,065. In the United States: Cleveland, 155,946; Buffalo, 149,500; Detroit, 116,340; Toledo, 50,143. 2. No.