carried not over 30 miles, 6¼ cents; less than 80 miles, 10 cents;
less than 150 miles, 12½ cents; less than 400 miles, 18¾ cents; over
400 miles, 25 cents. Provisions for mailing newspapers were made
as follows: Newspapers, under 100 miles or within the State where
published, 1 cent; over 100 miles and out of the State, 1½ cents.
By the act of March 3, 1845, the rates were modified as follows: For
each letter weighing less than half an ounce, if carried less than
300 miles, 5 cents; over 300 miles, 10 cents; each additional half
ounce, double rates; drop letters delivered from the office where
posted, 2 cents. The newspaper rates were: For papers containing
less than 1,900 square inches, 1 cent each, if delivered within the
State where printed and mailed, or out of the State but within 100
miles of publication office; for any greater distance, 1½ cents each;
if conveyed less than 30 miles, free. Papers measuring over 1,900
square inches were charged magazine postage. Magazines, pamphlets,
and other printed works were charged 2½ cents for the first ounce,
and 1 cent for each additional ounce or fraction of an ounce, for
any distance whatever. Bound books were unmailable. Carriage by
private individuals on mail carriages, or by express, thenceforward,
was prohibited. Two years later transient newspaper rates were
raised to 3 cents, and prepayment was required; postage on unsealed
circulars was raised from 2 cents to 3; newspaper postage to Oregon
and California was placed at 4½ cents, and letters, via Chagres and
Panama, 40 cents; between post towns in California, 12½ cents.
In 1849 the postage on transient newspapers was reduced to ordinary
rates, but prepayment was maintained.
In 1851 the single letter was defined by weight instead of by piece,
at a half ounce or under, and rates were greatly cheapened, as
follows: For a single letter under 3,000 miles, 3 cents, if prepaid;
otherwise, 5 cents; over 3,000 miles, 6 cents, or 12 cents. The
postage on newspapers, which had been almost prohibitory in the early
days, and had been maintained at high rates until this time, was now
(1851) greatly reduced, as will be seen by comparing the following
quarterly charges with the charges per copy given above:
Weekly newspapers, to actual subscribers in the county, free; under
50 miles and out of county where published, 5 cents a quarter; over
50 and under 300 miles, 10 cents; over 300 and under 1,000 miles,
15 cents; over 1,000 and under 2,000, 20 cents; over 2,000 and
under 4,000, 25 cents; over 4,000, 30 cents. Postage on transient
newspapers and circulars was also proportionately reduced, and books
under 32 ounces were admitted to mail at 1 cent an ounce if prepaid,
if not prepaid 2 cents.
Slight changes were made in 1852 and 1855, but it was reserved for
the Congress of 1863 to make the next great step forward by making
the rate of postage on all domestic letters uniform throughout the
Union, at 3 cents for each half ounce or fraction thereof. At the
same time the quarterly postage on newspapers and periodicals sent
to subscribers, and not exceeding 4 cents, was made uniform for all
distances, at the following rates; Weekly, 5 cents; semi-weekly,
10 cents; tri-weekly, 15 cents; six times a week, 30 cents; seven
times, 35 cents. But in 1868 the law was so amended as to allow
weekly newspapers to go to regular subscribers in the county free.
No modification of domestic letter rates occurred after this until
the new postal law of this year, which went into effect Oct. 1,
reducing the single letter rate to 2 cents. An important change as
to newspapers and periodicals was made in 1872, requiring prepayment
in advance either at the mailing or the delivery office. In 1874 it
was made payable at mailing office exclusively, and a still more
important change was made in the reduction of the rate on such matter
to only 2 cents per pound or fraction thereof.
Stamps and stamped envelopes were first introduced in 1851, the
registry of valuable letters in 1855, the carrier delivery system in
1863, the money-order system Nov. 1, 1864, the postal-cards, at 1
cent each, in 1872.
The foreign postal rates not being subject to the will of this
government only, but being a matter of international agreement, will
be treated in a separate article.
STEAM PLOWS.
WEBSTER CITY, Iowa.
When and where were steam plows first used? How are they
constructed, and how many acres will they plow per hour?
H. C. B.
_Answer._—An apparatus for steam plowing was first patented in the
United States Nov. 19, 1833, by E. C. Bellinger, of South Carolina.
It was not received with sufficient favor by farmers or planters to
encourage the manufacture of the machines. In England, Francis Moor
took out a patent as early as 1769 for an engine to plow, harrow, and
do other farm work without the aid of horses. Several other attempts
at inventing steam plows were made, but all to no practical purpose,
until 1810, when a Major Pratt patented a steam-plowing apparatus,
employing two engines stationed on opposite headlands, and drawing
plows by means of endless chains or ropes. An improved form of
this machine was patented by Mr. Heathcote, M. P., in 1832, which
is said to be the first that was ever worked successfully in the
field. Alexander McRea made improvements on Mr. Heathcote’s machine
in 1846 and 1849; still the practical results were insignificant
until in 1854, when John Fowler, also of England, brought forward an
improvement on the plans of Bellinger, Pratt, and others, since which
time various changes and additions have been made, and steam plowing
has gone into successful practice on many of the large estates of
Great Britain and in the East and West Indies; about 1,500 steam
plows being now in use in England alone.
Many attempts to invent a successful traction engine for steam
plowing have been made, particularly by Mr. J. Boydell, of England,
in 1846, Mr. Calloway and Mr. Pukis, of England, in 1851, and in this
country by Joseph W. Fawkes, by Henry Corning in 1850, David Russell
in 1855, B. Crawford in 1857, Judd Stevens in 1858, particularly, by
Thomas H. Burbridge, of St. Louis, in 1858, and Mr. W. R. Hinsdale,
of New York, about 1870, who invented a gang of three plows to go
with Messrs. Aveling and Porter’s traction engine, imported from
England by the late Mr. A. T. Stewart, to be used on his estate at
Garden City, Long Island.
The plan called cable traction, invented in part by Pratt, in
part by Bellinger, and improved by Fowler, has been operated with
greater success than any other. It consists of a single locomotive
engine, of from twelve to fourteen-horse power, with a windlass
under the boiler, around which passes a single steel-wire cable,
which, by means of hinged clips, lays hold of the cable with a grip
proportioned to the strain. This continuous cable, twice the width
of the plat to be plowed, passes around a sheave, or pulley-block,
fastened to a self-acting anchor placed on the opposite side of the
field from the engine. This “anchor” consists of a low truck on four
wheels, with sharp, disk edges, which cut so deep into the soil that
it will not drag when the traction is applied. A box loaded with
stones, or some other weight, on the outer side of this truck keeps
it from tilting when the power is applied to the plows. A sheave
on the truck gives motion to a drum which winds up another cable
attached to a post or anchor in the direction in which the furrows
are to succeed each other, so that the machine warps itself along
the headland on which it is stationed just as fast as the plowing
progresses, keeping at all times directly opposite to the locomotive
engine, which is moving down the opposite headland in the same
direction. The plows are attached to a balance frame, the especial
invention of Mr. Fowler, and are in duplicate, pointing to each
other, so that when the set at one end of the frame is at work the
opposite set is carried along the cable in the air. The plow frame is
hauled from one side of the field to the other, between the engine
and the movable anchor, by reversing the action of the windlass. It
is adapted to turning from two to eight furrows at once, according
to the power of the engine and toughness of the soil. The amount of
ground plowed by such a machine varies from three to eight acres a
day for a three-furrow gang, according to depth of furrow from twelve
inches to four inches. An eight-furrow gang will do a little more
than twice this amount of work per day.
For various reasons steam plowing is not practiced to any noticeable
extent in the United States, but it is probable that as the
advantages of this mode of turning up the soil to a depth not
practicable by animal draft, become better understood, and other
changes transpire, it will go into successful operation here as it
has done in England.
THE “BAD LANDS.”
ELDORA, Iowa.
Where is the district of country called the “Bad Lands?” Is it true
that it is very remarkable for fossil remains, and that wood or any
animal substance, if left there for a short time, becomes petrified?
A. J. P.
_Answer._—The “Bad Lands,” or “Mauvaises Terres,” of the old French
fur-traders’ dialect, are an extensive barren tract in Dakota,
Wyoming, and Northwestern Nebraska, between the North Fork of the
Platte and the South Fork of the Cheyenne River—west, south, and
southeast of the Black Hills. It lies mostly between the 103d and
105th degrees of longitude, with an area as yet not perfectly
defined, but estimated to cover about 60,000 square miles. There are
similar lands in the Green River region of which Fort Bridger is the
center, and in southeastern Oregon. The following description applies
directly to the district named in the question, so commonly known in
the Northwest as the “Bad Lands.” They belong to the Miocene period,
geologically speaking. “The surface materials are for the most part
white and yellowish indurated clays, sands, marls, and occasional
thin beds of lime and sandstone.” It is fitly described as one of
the most wonderful regions of the globe. It is held by geologists
that during the geological period above named a vast fresh water lake
system covered this portion of our continent, when the comparatively
soft materials which compose the present surface were deposited. As
these lakes drained off, after the subsidence of the plains further
east, resulting in the formation of the Missouri Valley, the original
lake beds were worn into canyons that wind in every conceivable
direction. Here and there abrupt, almost perpendicular portions of
the ancient beds remain in all imaginable forms, some resembling the
ruins of abandoned cities. “Towers, spires, cathedrals, obelisks,
pyramids and monuments” of various shapes appear on every side, as
far as the eye can range. Says Dr. Hayden, the earliest explorer of
this region, “Not unfrequently the rising or setting sun will light
up these grand old ruins with a wild, strange beauty, reminding
one of a city illuminated in the night, as seen from some high
point. The harder layers project from the sides of the canyons with
such regularity that they appear like seats of some vast weird
amphitheater.” Through all this country rainfall is very light, the
earth absorbs the most of what rain does fall, and water and grass
are very scanty. The surface-rock is so soft that it disintegrates
rapidly, covering the lower grounds in many places to a depth of
several feet with a soft, powdery soil unsuited to vegetation, into
which animals sink as in snow, while when wet it becomes a stiff mud
of impassable depth. The fitness of the Dakota name for this region,
signifying a land hard to travel over, cannot be called in question.
These lands are plainly unsuited for agriculture, and with rare
exceptions, here and there, are of little value for grazing purposes.
But they are one of the most astonishing treasuries of fossil remains
to be found anywhere. The soft clayey deposits are in some places
literally filled with the bones of extinct species of the horse,
rhinoceros, elephant, hog, camel, a deer that strongly resembled a
hog, saber-toothed lions, and other marvelous creatures, which have
rendered this section of the earth a study of the highest interest
to geologists of all lands. Fossil trees and shrubs and fruits
abound here. All these petrifactions are the result, in part, of
conditions that do not now exist in the same degree, and required no
one can tell how long. The soft clays of this region and the climate
are still peculiarly conducive to petrifying animal and vegetable
substances, but this process requires many years to convert such
substances to stone.
GRAIN PRICES AND ENGLISH CORN LAWS.
LISTOWEL, Can.
What was the price of grain in England for a few years preceding
and following the repeal of the corn laws?
H. MARTINSON.
_Answer._—From 1835 to 1855 the average prices in England of wheat,
barley, and oats, per imperial quarter of eight bushels, were as
follows. The corn laws were repealed in 1846.
Wheat, Barley, Oats,
Years. s. d. s. d. s. d.
1835 39 4 29 11 22 0
1836 48 6 32 10 23 1
1837 55 10 30 4 23 1
1838 64 7 31 9 22 5
1839 70 8 39 6 25 11
1840 66 4 36 5 25 8
1841 64 4 32 10 22 5
1842 47 3 27 6 19 3
1843 50 1 29 6 18 4
1844 51 3 33 8 20 7
1845 50 10 31 8 22 6
1846 54 8 32 8 23 8
1847 69 9 44 2 28 8
1848 50 6 31 6 20 6
1849 44 3 27 9 17 6
1850 40 3 23 6 16 5
1851 38 6 24 9 18 7
1852 40 9 28 6 19 1
1853 53 3 33 2 21 0
1854 72 5 36 0 27 11
1855 74 8 34 9 27 5
Reckoning the pound sterling at its present value at the United
States Custom House, it appears from the above table that an imperial
bushel of wheat was worth $1.18⅓ in England in 1839, $1.51 in 1845
(the year before the corn laws were repealed), $2.10 in 1847, owing
to the unusual scarcity in Europe and other special causes; about
$1.52 in 1848; that the following year it dropped to $1.22; and that
in 1855, owing to the Crimean war and other influences, it rose to
$2.25. The price continued to decline after 1855 until it reached
$1.33 in 1859. Then the opening of our civil war sent prices up
temporarily, but even before it closed they dropped to the lowest
point touched since the corn laws were repealed, viz., 40s 2d per
quarter, or $1.20 per bushel—still a shade higher than the price in
1839, six years before the repeal. The good effects of that repeal
must be looked for in other matters than in the reduction of prices
of grain: in the general revival of manufacturing industries, the
increase of the volume of trade, better wages, and many other items
of prosperity.
HOW “SCALPERS” MAKE MONEY.
GLASGOW, Ohio.
1. How can “scalpers” sell tickets at lower rates than railroad
companies? 2. Did Senator Wade vote for the impeachment of
President Johnson?
D. M. MCINTOSH.
_Answer._—The following are some of the many ways in which “scalpers”
or ticket-brokers supply themselves with tickets that they can afford
to sell at a reduction from the regular prices and still make a
profit: 1. They purchase at a discount partly-used through tickets
between the large cities, from travelers getting off at intermediate
cities and way stations. As the fares between the prominent Eastern
and Western railroad centers are usually proportionately lower than
to way stations, where there is no competition, travelers often
find that they can purchase through tickets at such prices as make
it more economical for them to get such tickets and sell the unused
mileage to the scalpers, even at a considerable discount, than to
pay full way-passenger rates. Second—During excursions many persons
use but half of a ticket, and sell the “return” to the “scalpers”
at a discount on full rates. Third—In railroad wars they can buy
quantities of tickets cheap to retail later, the railroad companies
selling tickets in large quantities at such times to speculators,
who transfer them to “scalpers” to sell at their convenience, when
the war is ended and rates have increased. Fourth—Sometimes, while
a railroad company is bound by contract not to sell at less than a
specified rate, it will offer to “scalpers” a commission large enough
to enable them to undersell the regular ticket agents, who are bound
by the agreements entered into between railroad companies to sell
only at fixed prices. 2. He did.
LIBERIA.
VINTON, Iowa.
Please give the principal facts in the history of Liberia.
A READER.
_Answer._—The negro republic of Liberia owes its origin and much of
its prosperity to American philanthropy and enterprise. Dec. 31,
1816, a body of energetic men organized themselves into the American
Colonization Society, with Henry Clay for President, their aim being
to establish an African colony for freed negroes. Not until six years
later did they succeed in inducing the African princes of Guinea to
favor their plan; but in 1821 a treaty was concluded by which they
obtained a tract of land 500 miles long and 50 miles wide on the
grain coast of Upper Guinea. Thereupon the society began at once the
exportation of colonists. To each man was given 30 acres, together
with the means for cultivating the land. The first town was Monrovia.
The form of government adopted was that of the United States, and
the country is universally recognized as an independent republic.
Since 1847, when the protection of the United States was withdrawn,
Liberia has enjoyed a certain prosperity, since more schools and
churches have been established in proportion to the population
than in Great Britain or America. But as to wealth and political
influence it has failed. Only about 19,000 negroes have emigrated
from our country, but surrounding tribes have been added gradually to
their territory, and the present population is estimated to number
1,068,000, of whom about 18,000 are Americo-Liberians. About 50,000
have learned the English language and 3,000 are Christians. The chief
products are sugar, palm oil, cocoa, cotton, coffee, arrow-root, and
rice.
THE ARGENTINE CONFEDERATION.
PILZEN, Neb.
Be so kind as to name the States composing the Argentine
Confederation, their areas and population, and a few of the chief
facts as to the government and condition of the country.
VESPER.
_Answer._—The Argentine Confederation is composed of a group of
fourteen States or Provinces, and four Territories, whose population,
according to the census of 1869, and estimated areas are as follows:
Provinces— Areas. Population.
Buenos Ayres, on the coast 63,000 495,107
Santa Fe, on the coast 18,000 89,218
Entre Rios, on the coast 45,000 134,235
Corrientes, on the coast 54,000 129,023
Rioja, Andes 31,500 48,746
Catamarca, Andes 31,500 79,962
San Juan, Andes 29,700 60,319
Mendoza, Andes 54,000 65,413
Cordova, Central 54,000 210,508
San Luis, Central 18,000 53,294
Santiago del Estero, Central 31,500 132,898
Tucuman, Central 13,500 108,904
Salta, Northern 45,000 88,933
Jujuy, Northern 27,000 40,362
—————— —————————
Total 515,700 1,736,922
Territories—
Gran Chaco 125,612 45,291
Missiones (1879) 23,932 32,472
Pampas 191,842 21,000
Patagonia 347,400 24,000
——————— ———————
Total 688,796 122,763
This shows a total population in 1869 of 1,859,685. The present
population is believed to be over 2,500,000. By the treaty of 1881
between the Argentine Confederation and Chili, the latter concedes
to the former all the territory east of the crest of the eastern
ridge of the Andes, including a small part of Terra del Fuego, and
the greater part of Patagonia. The form of government is republican.
The President is elected for six years by an electoral college,
composed of 133 representatives chosen by the several states. The
National Congress is composed of a Senate of twenty-eight members,
two from each state, or province, and a house of fifty members,
apportioned according to population. There are five ministers, viz.:
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Interior, Finance, War, and
Education. Each of the provinces has a governor and legislature
elected by a popular vote. A large part of this vast country consists
of rich, alluvial plains, called pampas, similar to the prairies
of this country, with a soil four or five feet thick, formed for
the most part, like our prairie soil, by the decay of luxurious
vegetation. Immense herds of cattle and sheep are raised on these
grand prairies, furnishing the principal exports, hides, tallow,
wool, and canned meats. In 1881 the horned cattle were estimated at
18,000,000 head, and the sheep at 100,000,000. The exports of the
country amounted to $56,497,423, and the imports to $54,029,545.
Most of this trade is between Buenos Ayres—the capital, having
a population of about 200,000, and European, chiefly English,
ports. Twelve lines of steamers run to Europe, making the trip in
an average period of twenty-nine days. The revenue for 1881 was
$24,349,450, derived almost wholly from import and export dues. The
expenditures amounted to $26,747,480, and the national debt has
grown to $107,681,639, a considerable part of which is represented
by recent public improvements: railways, bridges, roads, etc. There
are now about 1,600 miles of railway and 10,000 miles of telegraph
in the country. The laws recognize no difference between natives and
foreigners, and of late foreign immigration, mostly from Spain and
Italy, has been flowing in at a steadily increasing rate, amounting
now to about 50,000 per annum.
THE OLD CALIFORNIA MAIL.
CHICAGO, Ill.
By what route was the first California and Oregon mail, via the
Isthmus, carried; where was it first opened; what was the postage
on letters: and what was the distance run?
JOHN ALBRIGHT.
_Answer._—On the 1st day of December, 1848, the Falcon sailed from
New York to Chagres, stopping at Havana en route, and carrying the
first regularly established United States mail via the Isthmus. From
Chagres it was carried up the Chagres River, thence overland to
Panama, where it was taken by the California Steampacket Company’s
vessels to San Francisco, Cal., and Astoria, Oregon. The distance
between New York and Chagres, by this route, was given as 2,860
miles, and from New York to Astoria, 7,500 miles. The postage on
letters between places in Oregon and California and places on the
Atlantic was 40 cents for each half ounce, or fraction thereof; while
local postage between offices in Oregon and California was 12½ cents
per single letter.
MEASURING HAY.
WHITE LAKE, D. T.
How many cubic feet constitute a ton of hay, and what length of
time is required for it to settle sufficiently to make measurement
correct?
W. A. ROGERS.
_Answer._—Measuring is a very crude, unsatisfactory method of
estimating the weight of hay. There are times, however, when it
is impracticable to use the scales, and a close approximation to
the true weight will answer all purposes. Then, by taking into
consideration that fine, soft hay will pack more closely than a
coarser, stiffer quality, that when cut early in the season it will
become more solid than stiff, late-cut hay, that the degree of
dryness when stacked will affect the weight, that the compactness of
the lower part of a stack or lead is affected by the height, the time
it has stood, or distance and kind of roads it has traveled over, it
is quite possible for a person of ordinary experience and judgment
to make an estimate of the quantity in a load or mow. It is estimated
that, with all the above-mentioned conditions at an average, timothy,
in stacks of ten feet high and upward, measures about 500 cubic feet
to the ton; clear clover, between 600 and 700 cubic feet; new mown
hay, about 675 cubic feet; fine hay, well settled, 450 to 500 cubic
feet. To find the cubic feet in a circular stack, multiply the square
of the circumference by four one-hundredths (.04) of the height.
Below is given a set of rules for computing the number of cubic yards
in a ton of hay in the field, stack, or load, which can be easily
reduced to cubic feet by multiplying the result in cubic yards by 27:
1. The number of tons of meadow hay in windrows is the quotient of
the product of the length, breadth, and height, in yards, divided by
25.