resulting in the death from drowning and injuries of over forty men,
women, and children, and the serious injury of nearly forty others.
Its immediate cause was the overcrowding of the bridge by spectators
of an immersion service of the Baptist Church of that city. The real
cause was the faulty construction of the bridge, which was an iron
structure, known as a Truesdell truss. It was a wagon and root bridge
of five spans, each about 120 feet long. Both shore spans fell into
the water while the three middle ones, resting entirely upon stone
piers, remained suspended by the wrought-iron members of the main
cords from six to eight feet below their proper place, dropped down
between the piers. The number of persons on the first span that went
down was variously estimated to be from 150 to 200, representing a
weight of not more than 30,000 pounds. A Truesdell bridge, erected
over Fox River at Elgin, fell in December, 1868. This was rebuilt by
Mr. Truesdell. On Monday, July 5, 1869, a crowd of about 300 persons
gathered on the bridge to witness a tub race, when the east span, 68
feet in length, fell, precipitating about one hundred men, women, and
children into the water. Fortunately the stream was but about four
feet deep at this time, and no persons were drowned and but two or
three deaths followed from injuries received.
CONGRESSMAN GEORGE W. JULIAN.
NEODESHA, Kan.
Was the Hon. George W. Julian a Republican? Describe in brief his
life.
E. K. KRONE.
_Answer._—George Washington Julian was born in Centerville, Ind., May
5, 1817. After receiving a common school education he was admitted
to the bar in 1840. He was chosen a member of the Legislature in
1845. From 1849 to 1851 he represented his district in Congress. The
Pittsburg convention nominated him on the Free Democratic ticket
for Vice President with John P. Hale for President. In 1856 he was
prominent among the organizers of the Republican party. In 1861
he was re-elected to Congress, where he continued to do excellent
service for several terms.
GEOLOGICAL DIVISIONS OF TIME.
Please give the geological divisions of time, beginning with the
present, and a brief explanation of each.
N. JAY DEEMS.
_Answer._—The divisions of time established by geologists are based
upon the formations of strata and the advents of different forms of
animal life. The history of the earth is divided into five “eras,”
seven “ages,” twenty-two “periods,” and the last two periods are
subdivided into seven epochs. These divisions, proceeding from the
fifth downward to the first, are as follows: 5. Psychozoic era,
age of man, human period, and recent epoch. 4. Cenozoic era, age
of mammals—embracing the quaternary period, which comprehends the
terrace, Champlain, and glacial epochs, and the tertiary period,
which comprehends the pliocene, miocene, and eocene epochs. 3.
Mesozoic, or middle, era, the age of reptiles, the cretaceous,
jurassic, and triassic periods. 2. Paleozoic era, the carboniferous
age, or age of acrogens and amphibians; the Devonian age, or age of
fishes; the silurian age, or age of invertebrates, or mollusks—the
names of the fourteen periods into which these ages are divided are
not in common use. 1. Archaean, or eozoic era; the archaean age, and
the Huronian and Laurentian periods. For an explanation of the terms
used in this division consult Webster’s or Worcester’s unabridged
dictionaries, and study the clear illustration accompanying the word
“Geology” in the former work.
SUBMARINE CABLES.
EVERGREEN, Iowa.
How many telegraph cables cross the Atlantic, and where? How many
ocean cables are there in all?
GUY SMITH.
_Answer._—There were in 1879 seven telegraph cables between Europe
and America—five from Ireland, one from France, and one from Portugal
to Brazil. Since then a new cable has been laid between New York and
Flores, in the Azores, from which one extension runs off to France,
England, and Holland, and another to Fayal, San Miguel, and Lisbon,
embracing in all 7,300 miles. The longest line before this latter was
the French cable, 2,585 nautical miles. There are now some 225 ocean
cables in all parts of the world, of the aggregate length of over
68,000 miles.
“I” AND “WE” IN JOURNALISM.
DAYTON, Ohio.
1. What is the rule of THE INTER OCEAN as to the use of
the pronouns “I” and “we” in the office and in editorial
correspondence? 2. What is your rule respecting a contributor’s
using “we” when referring to himself?
J. W. H.
_Answer._—1. The use of the word “we,” under all circumstances, is
deprecated. Senator Conkling once said: “Only three classes of people
are allowed to say ‘we:’ Kings, editors, and men with a tape-worm.”
In this office “THE INTER OCEAN” is used instead of “we.” 2.
Correspondents use “I,” when necessary, but are instructed to be as
impersonal as possible. “Your correspondent” is preferred.
PROVIDENCE SPRING—ANDERSONVILLE PRISON.
GILMAN, Iowa.
Is it true that in the Andersonville prison pen, during the late
civil war, at a time when the water in the creek had become very
scarce and foul and the captive Unionists were dying from this
cause, a spring suddenly burst out of the hillside? If this is
a fact, state some of the particulars, giving the date of the
occurrence.
H. W.
_Answer._—It is a fact, and, whether it was a “special providence”
or not, as most, if not all, of those wretched prisoners believed,
it served all the purposes of one, as much as the miracle in the
desert of Sinai, when Moses smote the rock, and the waters gushed
forth which saved the thirst-stricken hosts of Israel. Of the origin
of this spring John McElroy, who spent fourteen months in Southern
prison pens, gives substantially the following account: “Toward the
end of August, 1864, the water in the creek was indescribably bad.
Before the stream entered the stockade it was rendered too filthy for
any use by the contaminations from the camp of the guards, situated
about half a mile above. Immediately upon entering the stockade
its pollution became terrible. The oozy seep at the bottom of the
hillsides drained directly into it all the filth from a population of
33,000. Imagine the condition of an open sewer through the heart of
a city of that many people, and receiving all the offensive products
of so dense a population into a shallow, sluggish stream a yard
wide and five inches deep, heated by the burning rays of the sun at
the thirty-second parallel of latitude.’ The prisoners dug wells in
the swampy earth with their pocket-knives to a depth of 20 to 30
feet, pulling up the earth in pantaloon-legs. But a drought came on
and these wells, which at the best were not free from pollution,
began to fail. To approach too close, even by a hair’s breadth, to
the “dead-line” on the west side of the stockade, where the creek
entered, in the effort to get water as free from filth as possible,
was to sign one’s death warrant, which the whizzing bullet of the
heartless guard executed instantly. “More wicked and unjustifiable
murders were never committed than those almost daily assassinations
at the creek,” says the historian. Sickness had multiplied in this
horrible prison-pen until the wretched victims of such barbarism sat
face to face with despair constantly. At this awful extremity what
was the astonishment and gratitude of the camp one morning, when
it was discovered that “during the night a large, bold spring had
burst out on the north side, about midway between the swamp and the
summit of the hill, and pouring out was a grateful flood of pure,
sweet water, in an apparently exhaustless quantity.” This was the
morning of Aug. 13, 1864. The overjoyed Union prisoners christened it
“Providence spring,” the fitting name by which it is still known.
CATTLE IN THE UNITED STATES.
JETMORE, Kan.
State the total number of cattle in the United States, and what
percentage of them are milch cows.
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.