Chapter L: J. Martin. Bowling Green, Ky.—The following States cast their

electoral votes for Mr. Lincoln for his first term: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin.

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J. S. White, Paw Paw, Mich.—The largest ratio of colored population in Kansas in 1880 was in Bourbon County, being as 7,314 to 8,642, or nearly 47 per cent of the total. The next was in Christian County, where it was as 14,639 to 17,043, or a little over 45 per cent. The ratio in Fayette County was almost as great, say as 12,974 to 16,049, or over 44 per cent. There were no other counties where it was nearly so great.

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Subscriber, Blendon, Kan.—1. The Penitentiary at Sing Sing, N. Y., is a State institution. Prisoners convicted in Federal courts are sent there under an arrangement between State and Federal authorities. 2. Rip Van Winkle is the fictitious hero of one of Washington Irving’s “Sketch Book” tales, entitled the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” The popular play of the same name is the same story, with some alterations, as dramatized by Dion Boucicault.

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B. F. McCormick, Rock Valley, Iowa.—“Sunset Cox” takes this nickname from a really vivid but rather grandiloquent description of an Ohio sunset, which was widely copied into exchanges at the time it was written, many years ago. “Extra Billy Smith,” not “of New York,” but ante bellum Representative from Virginia, and subsequently Governor of that State when in rebellion, fairly won this name from his predilection for recommending and voting extras in appropriation bills.

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W. I. Pratt.—1. Thomas Green Fessenden was an early American author and journalist of wide reputation. He was born in New Hampshire in 1771; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1796; studied law, but made more reputation as a writer. His poem, “The Country Lovers,” was popular, as was also his humorous, satirical poem, “Terrible Tractoration.” He settled in Boston in 1804, where he became editor of the _New England Farmer_, He died in 1837.

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A Subscriber, Walnut, Iowa.—Whether persons who have been shipwrecked shall be carried free of charge upon other vessels is optional with the captains of said vessels. If landed in a strange country, they may seek aid from the consul representing their own government. The American consul is furnished with funds to help shipwrecked seamen only, but he is under obligation to do what he can for all American citizens in distress.

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Dicke, Dana, Ill.—There is no “Senator at large.” A “Representative at large” is one elected by the entire State, instead of a district, in those States failing to redistrict before the election following the reapportionment of Representatives according to the latest census. For instance, the four additional Representatives given to Kansas by the last Congressional apportionment were elected on a general State ticket and not from single districts. In Maine, where the number of Congressmen was reduced, the Legislature having failed to redistrict the State all the Representatives were elected on a general State ticket.

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David E. Gray.—1. The treaty of St. Ildefonso was an offensive and defensive alliance between the first French Republic and Spain, negotiated Aug. 19, 1796, resulting, among other things, in a war between these allied powers and England. 2. Oregon and Washington Territory fix the weight of a bushel of green apples at 45 pounds. Other States and Territories fix the legal weight of dried apples, but not of green apples, so far as we can discover.

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A Reader, Crete, Neb.—The greater weight of a body at the poles, as compared with its weight at the equator, is attributed, principally, to two causes, viz., the estimated shorter distance from the pole to the center of the earth; and the centrifugal force resulting from the revolution of the earth on its axis, which is zero at the poles and at its maximum at the equator.

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John Steele, Chicago—Yes, a fine watch may easily be ruined by too close approach to a powerful electrical machine. The hair-spring and balance wheel become magnetized, and it is difficult and costly to get them demagnetized.

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James McNulty, Chicago—The pitch of a roof is the ratio of its height divided by its span. Consequently a half pitch roof is one whose height is half its span, a quarter pitch one whose height is one-fourth the span, and so on. The answer you refer to was defective in omitting the word “span” after “foot.”

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Charles Seymour, Chicago, Ill.—The Emperor Maximilian I., of Mexico, had two foreign legions besides his French allies, one known as the “Belgic Legion,” the other as the “Austrian Legion.”

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O. Clark.—In the case of Wright vs. Wood it was decided that “four pre-emptors may combine to erect a house upon the corner common to their claims, but each pre-emptor must reside in his own part of the house.” If you will send your address and a postal-card we will answer your other question.

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Taylor Lee, Sammon’s Landing, Mich.—Great Abaco is an island in the Bahama group. It is about eighty miles long and twenty wide. Little Abaco, about twenty-eight miles long, is near it. They are both specially adapted to the raising of early vegetables for the great American markets. Being at the northern end of the Bahamas, they lie directly east of the most eastern projection of Florida. They belong to Great Britain.

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