communication from Mr. Milton C. Springer, the efficient and obliging
Chief Deputy Internal Revenue Collector of this district, showing
changes in the law relating to the sale of leaf tobacco by the
producer:
“The law (see section 3.244, United States Revised Statutes,
paragraph 7) defines a retail dealer in leaf tobacco as a person
whose business it is to sell leaf tobacco in quantities less than an
original hogshead, case, or bale; or who sells directly to consumers;
or to persons other than dealers in leaf tobacco, who have paid
a special tax as such, or to manufacturers of tobacco, snuff, or
cigars who have paid a special tax, or to persons who purchase in
original packages for export.
“Section 2 of the act of March 3, 1883, provides that on and after
May 1, retail dealers in leaf tobacco shall pay two hundred and fifty
dollars ($250), and thirty cents for each additional dollar on the
amount of their monthly sales, in excess of the rate of five hundred
dollars ($500) per annum. Provided that farmers and producers of
tobacco may sell at the place of production tobacco of their own
growth and raising, at retail directly to consumers to an amount not
exceeding $100 annually. This proviso, as in the case of all provisos
to general provisions of law, must be construed literally:
“1. The sales must be made at the place of production.
“2. They must be made strictly to consumers and to no other persons.
“3. The tobacco must be of the growth and raising of the farmer or
producer who makes the sales.
“4. The sales must be of leaf tobacco in the form and condition
of leaf as it is ordinarily dried and cured for the market. If
the tobacco is ‘twisted by hand or reduced into a condition to be
consumed, or in any manner other than the ordinary mode of drying and
curing prepared for sale or consumption, even if prepared without
the use of any machine or instrument and without being pressed or
sweetened,’ it is liable to a tax of 8 cents a pound. (See section
14, act of March 1, 1879).
“5. If the farmer or producer sells ordinary leaf at retail directly
to consumers, as hereinbefore stated, to an amount exceeding $100
annually, he becomes liable to pay a special tax as retail dealer
in leaf tobacco. He also becomes liable if he violates any of the
conditions of the said proviso, as herein stated.”
RAIN-GAUGE AND TEMPERATURE.
OSBORNE CITY, Kan.
1. How should a rain-gauge be set in order to register rainfall
correctly? 2. At what hours per day are the observations of
thermometer taken to get a mean temperature?
S. B. F.
_Answer._—There are different kinds of rain-gauges, and instructions
for using accompany each instrument. As a rule the mouth of a
rain-gauge is larger than the graduated chamber which measures the
fall. For special observations different forms of gauges are used,
horizontal, inclined, or vertical. For ordinary observations the
mouth of the instrument should be horizontal. Instructions of the
United States Signal Service direct observers to set the rain-gauge
“whenever practicable, with the top of the funnel-shaped collector
twelve inches above the surface of the ground, firmly fixed in a
vertical position. When a position at the level of the ground cannot
be found with a sufficiently clear exposure, the gauge will be placed
on the top of the instrument-room or roof of the building occupied by
the observer, who will measure the height above the ground and report
it to the Chief Signal Officer. The measuring-rod is graduated in
inches and tenths of an inch, and the proportion between the cylinder
and funnel is as ten to one, so that ten inches upon the rod
correspond to one inch of actual rainfall.” “Snow will be melted and
measured, and reported in the same manner as rain. If for any reason
it cannot be melted, the depth will be measured, and ten inches of
snow reported as one inch of rainfall.” There is a great difference
in measure of rain at several elevations above the ground, not wholly
explainable. Professor Phillips found the fall of rain at York,
England, for the year 1833-34 to be 14.16 inches at 213 feet from
the ground; 19.85 inches at 44 feet; and 25.71 on the ground. Daily
mean relative humidity observations, according to the United States
Signal Service, are obtained by dividing 7 a. m., 2 p. m., and 9 p.
m. observations by three; the monthly means by dividing the sum of
the daily means by the number of the days in the month. 2. The daily
mean temperature is obtained by dividing the sum of the 7 a. m., 2 p.
m., and twice the 9 p. m. observations by four.
When a rain-gauge is not at hand, a perfectly cylindrical pan or tub
may be used to measure the rainfall, but it should be elevated at
least a foot above the level lawn or roof.
NEAREST APPROACH TO THE POLE.
CHICAGO, Ill.
What is the nearest that any explorer has got to the north pole?
SUBSCRIBER.
_Answer._—The nearest approach to the north pole, 83 degrees 20
minutes 26 seconds was made May 12, 1876, by a sledge party sent off
from one of the two vessels of the Nares expedition, fitted out by
the British Government. The point is almost exactly half the distance
from Chicago to New York City by the shortest railroad route.
OUR BROAD REPUBLIC.
GARDEN CITY, Kan.
Has the United States any territory outside of the States and
Western Territories, Alaska, and District of Columbia?
E. C. W.
_Answer._—No; unless this government should conclude to reduce
to possession the lands discovered in the Arctic and Antarctic
regions by Dr. Kane, Dr. Hayes, Commodore Wilkes, and other American
explorers. Several of these bold discoverers planted the American
flag in the ice of those inhospitable lands and gave names to coasts
and islands of large extent, so situated that if “Uncle Sam” insists
on his title he can now boast, with “John Bull,” that the sun never
sets on his possessions.
JOHN RUSKIN’S ST. GEORGE’S COMPANY.
PETOSKEY, Mich.
Be kind enough to give a sketch of the life of John Ruskin. Did he
not attempt to found a society or colony on a novel plan and fail
of success?
E. I. L.
_Answer._—John Ruskin, the eminent English art critic, commenced
the publication, in 1871, of a monthly periodical, entitled _Fors
Clavigera_, addressed particularly to workingmen, and urging them
to join him in forming an organization to be known as “St. George’s
Company,” for the purpose of developing among the working classes
a greater love of the beautiful and raising the common standard
of architecture and home surroundings in rural life. He protested
against “the tyranny and defilement of machinery” in country life. He
set apart about $35,000 (£7,000), the tenth of his private fortune,
to promote the success of this society, of which he was chosen Grand
Master. The workingmen responded but poorly to all his appeals, and
the undertaking is regarded as a failure. A sketch of Ruskin’s life
is contained in Our Curiosity Shop of 1880, page 85.
AN EXCEPTIONAL VICE PRESIDENT.
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
What would be done in case of the failure of the people to elect a
Vice President?
A POSSIBLE CANDIDATE.
_Answer._—Just what was done in the only instance since the adoption
of the twelfth amendment to the Constitution when such a failure has
occurred. In 1836, no one having received a majority of the votes
cast for Vice President, Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, was chosen
by the United States Senate, he being one of the highest on the list
of persons voted for by the people.
CENTRAL AMERICA.
BLALOCK, Ore.
1. What is the present political condition of Central America? 2.
Are the States united under one federal government, or are they
independent of each other?
W. MARIMER.
_Answer._—After much civil strife the people are becoming accustomed
to republican forms of government, and educational and commercial
advantages are increasing; though it must be said that the progress
is not rapid. At present the country is quiet. 2. Until 1839 the
republics of Central America were united into a confederation; but
now each is an independent republic, governed by a president and
at least one legislative body, chosen by universal suffrage. As a
rule the president is elected for four years, but few have held this
office for an entire term. These States consist of Guatemala, Costa
Rica, Nicaragua, San Salvador, and Honduras.
EXPLORERS OE THE SOUTHWEST.
WICHITA, Kan.
Our Curiosity Shop has told us of the first American explorers who
crossed the Northern part of the United States, now please tell us
who were the first Americans to cross the continent on or about the
line of the Union Pacific Railroad, or south of that? Name some
work on the explorers of the Southwest that is instructive and
reliable, but not expensive.
A SUBSCRIBER.
_Answer._—It was long believed, and is still generally supposed,
that, after Lewis and Clarke, General John C. Fremont, then a Captain
of Engineers in the United States Army, with a small force, guided
by the famous Kit Carson, was the first explorer who crossed the
continent within the present boundaries of the United States. This he
did in 1843, following much of the way the route afterward adopted
by the Union and Central Pacific Railroads. However, Mr. William
E. Curtis, in his intensely interesting little book entitled “A
Summer Scamper Along the Old Santa Fe Trail, and Through the Gorges
to Zion,” shows conclusively that, while the world is indebted to
Fremont for the first maps and published descriptions of the country
between Central Colorado and the California coast, hunters and
trappers had wound their way through these savage wilds years before
him, and that as early as Jan. 20, 1824, a bold adventurer by the
name of Sylvester Pattie, a Virginian, and his son, with a party of
five other men, left the Missouri River in company with a trading
party for Santa Fe, and some three years later groped his way down
the Gila River into California; where he visited San Francisco, then
an insignificant Mexican trading post and Jesuit mission station.
Arrested as spies by the jealous Mexicans, and imprisoned, it was
some time before these daring adventurers obtained their release
and secured a passage from San Diego to Vera Cruz, whence they got
back to the United States. “The Summer Scamper” and another book
by the same author, “Children of the Sun,” both by The Inter Ocean
Publishing Company, are full of spirited sketches of the early
explorers of the Southwest, graphic descriptions of the scenery of
this wonderful region, and observations on its natural resources
and the progress of the civilization which is invading it from all
directions.
LIVINGSTONE, THE EXPLORER.
Albia, Iowa.
Please give a brief account of Dr. Livingstone’s life and
explorations.
J. H. ROWLES.
_Answer._—David Livingstone was a Scotchman, born in Lanarkshire in
1817, and when a boy worked in a cotton factory. In 1840 he landed in
Port Natal, Africa, as a medical missionary of the London Missionary
Society, and became an associate of the Rev. Robert Moffat, whose
daughter he afterward married. For sixteen years he labored earnestly
in the mission work, and during that time discovered Lake Ngami
(1849), and crossed the continent from the Zambesi to Loando, a
journey which occupied eighteen months. While in England, in 1857,
Livingstone published his “Missionary Travels and Researches in South
Africa.” Returning to Africa he devoted himself to exploration, and
in 1865 resolved to find the source of the Nile. During the remainder
of his life he was often not heard from for months, and it was during
one of these protracted absences that Mr. Stanley began his travels
to search for him, and found him in great destitution at Ujiji. Dr.
Livingstone died while exploring the river system of the Chambeze
in the belief that these were the head waters of the Nile, having
reached Ulala, beyond Lake Bemba, in 1873. In 1874 his body was
interred in Westminster Abbey.
SUBDIVISIONS OF GOVERNMENT SECTIONS.
VENTURA, Mich.
1. In subdividing a township into sections, to what part of the
township do the fractional sections belong? 2. Sections sometimes
overrun or fall short in the subdivision of quarter sections into
“forties” by the County Surveyor: Is this overplus or deficit
divided equally among the “forties,” or is it all thrown into one
side?
CHARLES OWENS.
_Answer._—1. The sections on the northern and western boundaries of a
township are fractional—i. e., they do not contain exactly 640 acres.
The small fragments of these fractional sections are called “lots,”
and they are numbered from 1 upward in each section. 2. The course
that surveyors are directed by the regulations of the General Land
Office to pursue in the subdivision of sections is to run straight
lines from the quarter section corners established by the United
States survey to the opposite corresponding corners, and the point
of intersection of lines so run will be the common corner to the
several quarter sections, or, in other words, the legal center of the
section. In the subdivision of fractional sections, where no opposite
corresponding corners have been or can be fixed, the subdivision
lines should be ascertained by running from the established corners
due north, south, east, or west lines, as the case may be, to the
water-course, Indian boundary line, or other external boundary of
such fractional section. Where the lines marked in the field by the
United States Deputy Surveyors are not due north and south or east
and west lines, “mean courses” must be adopted. Where there is no
opposite section line the subdivision line must be run parallel
to the section line that is marked. The purpose is to divide the
overplus or deficit arising from the unavoidable irregularities and
errors of the United States survey as nearly equal as possible among
the minor subdivisions of the section.
TEA, COFFEE, AND WHISKY.
When and by whom were tea, coffee, and whisky first used as a
beverage?
H. G. CLAYTON.
_Answer._—The use of tea among the Chinese, from whom it has extended
to all parts of the world, cannot be traced with certainty further
back than to 350 A. D., or thereabouts. This use did not become
general in China until about A. D. 800. It was first introduced into
Europe by the Dutch in 1610. How long coffee has been used in Arabia,
its native country, is not certainly known. It was introduced into
Egypt in the sixteenth century. The first coffee house in Europe
was established in Constantinople in 1551. The first person to make
it known to Western Europe seems to have been Leonhard Rauwolf, a
German physician, a great traveler. Once introduced, the use of this
delightful beverage extended rapidly. Coffee houses sprung up in all
the chief cities. The first one in London was opened by a Greek in
Newman’s court, Cornhill, in 1652; the first one in France was opened
in Marseilles in 1671; the first one in Paris in 1672. The earliest
manufacture of whisky is generally referred to the middle of the
sixteenth century, but there are some reasons for believing that it
had an earlier origin. It was made by the Gaels from barley, which
still yields the best quality, and was called by them _uisge beatha_,
later _usque baugh_, _the water of life_—of which first word “whisky”
is a corruption.
CONVICT LABOR.
RUTLAND, Ill.
If convicts can make a better article than those who are not
convicts, why should other mechanics complain? At least, why
shouldn’t the public be permitted to utilize the labor of convicts
for its own good?
WM. MARSHALL.
_Answer._—No doubt it is sound policy to make use of convict labor
for the public good and the improvement of the criminals themselves,
but the real question is, How is this to be done? Manufacturers and
honest mechanics complain that the present system of hiring out
convicts to contractors puts the labor of the untaxed criminals,
housed at the expense of the State, without families to support, and
free from all social and civil burdens, in unfair competition with
the labor or industrial products of honest workmen who have families
to maintain, taxes to pay, and social and civil duties to perform.
Whether the contract system can be so adjusted as to remove any just
ground of complaint of the nature here pointed out is a question that
is eliciting the earnest study of some of our most profound social
and political economists. We cannot discuss it in this place, nor
have we any dictum to proclaim. It must be said for the system that
it is the only one, with few, if any, exceptions, that has rendered
American penitentiaries self-sustaining.
MUSHROOM GARDENING.
CHICAGO, Ill.
Tell us how to raise mushrooms. Are they produced from seed or not?
W.
_Answer._—The mushroom spawn is sold in bricks, and should be used
in the following manner: Procure a quantity of good horse dung and
make it into a heap, which must be frequently turned for a fortnight,
until the rankness has disappeared. Then build it into beds twelve
inches in height and four feet wide, under a shed ten feet wide. This
will allow room for a walk through the center of the shed. Pack the
dung tightly, and cover it with long straw for ten days, when the
straw must be removed and an inch of fine loam spread upon the beds.
On this plant the spawn, which has been broken into pieces the size
of a walnut, in rows six inches apart, and cover with another inch of
mold, over which spread the straw. When the mold is too dry sprinkle
it with tepid water. In five or six weeks the young mushrooms should
appear.
BATTLE OF THE PYRAMIDS.
RAVANNA, Mo.
I have a picture entitled “The Battle of the Pyramids.” Where,
when, and by whom was that battle fought?
C. E. J.
_Answer._—The “Battle of the Pyramids” was fought at Embabeh,
opposite Cairo, Egypt, July 21, 1798, between the French, commanded
by Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Egyptian Mamelukes, commanded by Murad
Bey. The latter fought with desperate valor, but they were completely
bewildered by European tactics. The French infantry, formed into
squares, received the fierce charges of the magnificent Mameluke
cavalry, which swarmed around them, on their serried bayonets, while
a galling fire of grape and musketry virtually annihilated whole
divisions of their army. Out of an army of over 60,000 men Murad Bey
escaped with barely 2,500 horse, leaving 15,000 men on the field of
battle and the rest of his troops, their arms abandoned, fleeing
in utter rout in all directions completely disorganized. From the
circumstance that this battle was fought within sight of the famous
pyramids of Gizeh, near Cairo, it took the name above mentioned.
FIRES OCCASIONED BY LOCOMOTIVES.
ADELINE, Ill.
Are railway companies responsible for damage to farm property
occasioned by locomotives or must the farmer bear the loss.
ADELINE READER.
_Answer._—State laws require railway companies to use certain
precautions against fire from locomotive sparks or coals from ash
pan. If it can be shown that damage to property has resulted from
neglect of these laws or through culpability of railway employes,
the company is responsible. The spark extinguishers on locomotive
smoke stacks check the draft and on this account engines frequently
run considerable distances with them uncovered. Again they often
dump panfuls of live coals on the track, when the prairie grass
and stubble are like tinder and the wind is blowing a gale. Damage
done through such culpability is fairly chargeable to the railway
companies, and, if the facts can be proved, they can be made to pay
the loss.
SERGEANT MASON’S SENTENCE.
GALT, Mich.
What was Sergeant Mason’s sentence? Please answer and settle a
dispute. State main facts.
SUBSCRIBER.
_Answer._—Sergeant Mason, one of the soldiers detailed to guard
Guiteau, fired into his cell on Sept. 12, 1881, with the intention,
as he confessed, to kill him. He was tried by court martial early in
1882, and sentenced to be dismissed from the army, with loss of pay,
and to be imprisoned for eight years in the Penitentiary at Albany.
AUTHOR OF DYING CALIFORNIAN.
GRAND DETOUR.
Seeing no response to the question as to who is the author of the
poem entitled the “Dying Californian,” I wish to say that this poem
was written by Kate Harris, of Pascoag, R. I., now Mrs. Charles
Plass, of Napa City, Cal. It was suggested by hearing a letter which
was dictated by Brown Owens when dying, on his way to California. It
was read at his funeral services at Chepachet, R. I.
M. W. GILMAN.
THE CHRISTIAN ERA—WHEN FIRST USED.
1. When was the practice of reckoning time from the birth of Christ
instituted, and by whom? 2. What nations now reckon time according
to this era?
G.
_Answer._—Dionysius the Little, a learned monk, introduced the use of
this epoch in Italy in the sixth century. It began to be made use of
in Gaul and England about two centuries later. It is now followed in
nearly all Christian countries and in several Eastern nations.
THE TWELVE CÆSARS.
SAOPI, Minn.
Who were the twelve Cæsars?
M. H. MILLER.
_Answer._—The twelve Cæsars are Julius Cæsar and the eleven Emperors
following him, most of whom were from his family. Nerva was chosen by
the Senate, and was the first to select a successor without regard
to family. Following are the names and dates of the reigns of the
twelve: Julius Cæsar, 44; Augustus, 31 B. C.-14 A. D., Tiberius,
14-37; Caius, 37-41; Claudius, 41-54; Nero, 54-68; Galba, 68-69;
Otho, 69; Vitellius, 69; Vespasian, 69-79; Titus, 79-81; Domitian,
81-96. The title Cæsar was given to all of the Roman Emperors, until
the time of Hadrian, after whom Cæsar was the title of the heir of
the throne, and the title of the Emperor was Augustus.
SINKING BRIDGE PIERS.
FREEPORT, Ill.
Please explain the use of compressed air in sinking the caissons of
the great Brooklyn and New York bridge.
F. R. SMITH.
_Answer._—The method of sinking cylinders by use of compressed air
was invented by Mr. Triger, of England, in 1841, but has been carried
to greater results in the United States than anywhere else. Tubular
cast-iron shells are used to form a large hollow pile, which may be
forced downward by its own weight and superincumbent masonry built
on it as it descends. Compressed air is employed inside such shells
to force the water out at the bottom, where the pile or caisson is
open, while it is air-tight and water-tight at all other points. It
was formerly supposed men could not work under a pressure of more
than three atmospheres, which is required in most cases to keep out
water at a depth of sixty-five feet, but in the case of the St. Louis
bridge, caissons were sunk a depth of 110 feet below the surface.
So, in the case of sinking the Brooklyn bridge piers, the men at
work in the compressed air chamber, excavating the earth as the pier
descended, worked in an atmosphere from three to four times as heavy
as in the open air; a strain which they could endure but a short
while at a time, and which proved fatal in many instances.
PROPERTY OF ALIENS.
GRISWOLD, Iowa.
If a Welshman who has not been naturalized dies in this country,
who inherits his estate? Would the making of a will make any
material difference as to the control of his property?
FLORA K. SMITH.
_Answer._—Each of the States has its own laws in regard to the rights
of aliens. In Iowa aliens, that is persons of foreign birth who have
not been naturalized by their own act or that of their parents, may
acquire, inherit, hold, and dispose of property, real or personal,
precisely as if they were citizens. The same is true in most of the
States. In Pennsylvania alien friends may buy lands not exceeding
5,000 acres, nor in net annual income $20,000, and hold the same as
citizens may, but there are certain differences between them and
citizens in the matter of real estate conveyances, inheritance, etc.
A will prevents the property of an alien from escheating to the
State in case of non-appearance of heirs; and, as in the case of
citizens, transcends the statute and common law as to the division of
property among the heirs of persons who die intestate, i. e. without
testamentary wills.
LAND WARRANTS.
COVE, Oregon.
Is there anything to prevent a person from locating a land warrant
on public lands in this State? For what wars were land warrants
given, and what are they worth?
JAMES M. SELDERS.