Chapter C: S. Hasbrouck, Mendon, Mich.—The ancient language of the Irish was

of Celtic origin, and specimens of it are still extant in old legal documents. As a living written language it no longer exists, but a corruption of it is still spoken among the natives of the mountain districts.

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S. M., Moline, Ill.—Northwestern Arkansas has been partially described in another part of “Our Curiosity Shop” to-day. The more common trees are the poplar, oak, pine, sycamore, ash, elm, and hickory. This part of the State is watered by the White and Arkansas rivers, and their tributaries. The principal railroads are the St. Louis and the Little Rock and Fort Smith. Upon the former the important towns are: Van Buren, population, 1,029; Fayetteville, population, 1,788, and Bentonville, population, 784; on the latter, Ozark, population, 824, and Clarksville, population, 656.

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A. B., Chicago—At the census of 1880 the “West Side” division of this city had the largest population. The Fourteenth Ward contained the most inhabitants, 56,464; the First Ward, the business center, the fewest, 14,770.

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E. H. Topper, Greensburg, Pa.—Historians disagree as to the number in Xerxes’ army when he invaded Greece, but no one of them was ever so insane as to assert that he had 35,000,000 men. According to Herodotus, the whole number of fighting men in the military and naval force was nearly 2,500,000. He supposes, and it was evidently a wild guess, that with the raw recruits picked up in passing through the territories of Thrace, Macedonia, Magnesia, and other half-savage districts, who hoped to share in the spoils of Greece, and the servants and camp followers, there was a total multitude of about 6,000,000 persons. Other Grecian writers regard this as a gross exaggeration.

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James Dunnoon, Davenport, Iowa—The extent of the Victoria Nyanza, or great fresh water lake at the head of the Nile, is a little more than that of Lake Huron and a trifle less than that of Lake Michigan. It does not vary in size 1,000 square miles from either.

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De Lesseps, Peoria, Ill.—The average height of the Atlantic Ocean at the Isthmus of Darien above the Pacific is given in “Haswell’s Engineer’s Pocket-book” as 6.56 feet.

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W. I. Pratt, Tuscola, Ill.—The nickname “gentle shepherd” belonged to the Hon. George Grenville (born in 1712), and originated thus: He was a Whig, and while urging a tax upon cider, asked his opponents where they would have it. Becoming excited, he exclaimed: “Let them tell me where; I repeat it, sir, tell me where;” when Pitt, who was one of the opposition, raised a laugh by repeating the words of an old song, “Gentle shepherd, tell me where.” Your other questions we cannot answer.

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N. Johnson, Peoria, Ill.—The three most level States in the Union are Delaware, Louisiana, and Illinois; the latter being more broken than either of the others.

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Readers, Chicago—John Wilkes Booth was shot in a barn near Bowling Green, Va., April 26, 1865 twelve days after the assassination—while resisting arrest—by Boston Corbett.

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