of 0.9427, containing 45 per cent of absolute alcohol for each 100
pounds of grain; wheat, 40 to 45 pounds of spirits; barley, 40; oats,
36; rye, 36 to 42; buckwheat, 40. Now, 40 pounds of such spirits
equal 3½ (3.5) gallons of government-proof spirits. Taking corn at
56 pounds per bushel, rye at 56 pounds, wheat at 60, barley at 48,
oats at 32, and buckwheat at 52, these grains should afford the
following quantities of proof spirits per bushel: Corn and rye, each,
1.96 gallons, or almost 2 gallons; wheat, 2.1 gallons; barley, 1.68
gallons; oats, 1.12 gallons, and buckwheat, 1.82 gallons.
U. S. LOANS IN 1860.
MINONK, Ill.
Did this government borrow money during James Buchanan’s
administration? If so, at what interest? What interest did the
government pay for money borrowed to carry on the Mexican war?
_Answer._—In June, 1860, Congress authorized the loan of $20,000,000,
and in October, $1,000,000, at 5 per cent, was put upon the market;
but, owing to the Presidential election of that year and the
consequent change in the aspect of politics, the final amount issued
was but $7,022,000. On Dec. 17 a law was passed permitting the issue
of $10,000,000; $5,000,000 was offered, and but $500,000 was bid, at
12 per cent. Other offers at 24 to 36 per cent were rejected. By the
31st of December most of the remainder had been taken by banks and
bankers upon certain conditions securing the interest. In January,
1861, the remaining $5,000,000, under the act of December, was
awarded as follows: $10,000 at 8¾ per cent, $30,000 at 9 per cent,
$10,000 at 9¼ per cent, $140,000 at 9½ per cent, $67,000 at 9¾ per
cent, $721,000 at 10 per cent, $265,000 at 10¼ per cent, $543,000
at 10½ per cent, $1,267,000 at 10¾ per cent, and $1,947,000 at 11
per cent. Feb. 8 Congress passed another bill, authorizing a loan of
$25,000,000, at 6 per cent interest, to run not less than ten nor
more than twenty years, the stock to be sold to the highest bidder.
The amount offered was $14,355,000, of which all below 90 per cent
were rejected, and the stock as awarded ranged from 90½ to 96 per
cent. The tariff bill, which was passed March 2, authorized a loan
of $10,000,000, and restored the highest protective character to the
tariff. During the Mexican war, in 1847, the government made loans to
the amount of $9,415,250 at 6 per cent interest.
VAUXHALL GARDENS.
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa.
I remember reading, when a boy, in a Baltimore paper, an account
of the destruction by fire of the art gallery of Vauxhall Garden,
London, and I think it stated also “with a loss of all the valuable
paintings.” Please state in what year that conflagration occurred,
Any information regarding this garden would be of interest to many,
I am sure.
JOSEPH ROGERS.
_Answer._—Vauxhall Garden, named from its site in “La Salle
Faukes,” was first opened to the public in 1660, and was for nearly
two centuries the favorite resort for a large class of London
pleasure-seekers. It was laid out with beautiful walks, fountains,
booths, and buildings, and was nightly thronged by a gay and
brilliant company, eating and drinking, while they gossiped or made
love to the sound of constant music. But toward the latter part of
the eighteenth century the garden fell into disrepute, through the
increasing laxity of many of its patrons, and on July 25, 1859, the
garden was forever closed, its site being soon covered with streets
and buildings. We cannot find the date of the fire you mention. It is
consoling, however, to know that few, if any, of the paintings had
great merit. A vivid description of Vauxhall is given in Thackeray’s
“Vanity Fair.”
ARMY—RIVERS, AND HARBORS.
CHICAGO, Ill.
A friend asserts that the cost of the United States army is nearly
fifty million dollars a year? I say it is not much more than half
that amount. What does Our Curiosity Shop say?
JOHN ALLEN.
_Answer._—It says that you are nearer right than your friend. It is
likely that he gets his notion from noting the total expenditures
for the “military establishment” as given in Secretary Folger’s
report a few days ago, amounting to $48,911,382.93. Let him look at
the items and he will see such ones as this, “Improving rivers and
harbors,” $13,639,381.27 included under the above head. Owing to the
important bearing of the transportation question and the condition
of our harbors upon the subject of National defense; in deference
to the State rights advocates of early times; and also because of
the prevailing confidence in the ability of the engineer corps of
the United States army, the appropriations made by Congress for the
improvement of the National water-ways have, as a rule, been expended
under the direction of army engineers. Below are given all the items
that enter into the grand total of nearly fifty millions which your
friend erroneously charges up as the annual cost of the United States
army. This is a statement for the fiscal year closing June 30, 1883:
Pay Department $12,659,814.60
Commissary Department 2,062,922.17
Quartermaster’s Department 13,179,792.45
Medical Department 377,647.82
Ordnance Department 1,861,826.37
Military Academy 144,332.46
Improving rivers and harbors 13,639,381.27
Contingencies 26,676.19
Expenses of recruiting 100,646.45
Signal Service 294,466.54
Expenses of military convicts 93,085.37
Publishing official records of the rebellion 33,486.68
Support of National Home for Disabled Volunteers 1,122,088.03
Support of Soldiers’ Home 162,928.48
Construction of military posts, roads, etc. 268,707.69
Fortifications 174,312.72
National cemeteries 211,156.55
Fifty per cent arrears of army transportation 296,379.38
Construction of military telegraphs 48,989.00
Bounty to soldiers, act of July 28, 1866 75,214.30
Expenses of arctic exploring expedition 53,000.00
Bounty to volunteers 244,550.91
Mississippi River Commission 165,000.00
Reimbursing the State of Missouri 234,580.10
Reimbursing the State of Oregon. 70,268.08
Claims for quartermasters’ and commissary supplies 311,062.75
Refunding to States expenses in raising volunteers 454,163.07
Operating and care of canals 199,200.00
Horses and other property lost in the service 105,061.60
Purchase of the Arlington estate 125,000.00
Miscellaneous 115,641.90
——————————————
Total military establishment $48,911,382.93
The first five of the above items, aggregating a little over thirty
million dollars, constitute almost the entire expenditure on account
of the existing army and its operations during the year named.
ESTIMATING WEIGHT OF CATTLE.
HASTINGS, Neb.
Give us a rule, if there is any, for calculating the weight of
cattle by measuring them.
A. C.
_Answer._—No rule will lead to anything more than an approximation
to the actual weight. Every stock-raiser should have his own scales.
The following is as good a rule as any for estimating the weight of
animals by measure: Multiply the girth in inches, taken immediately
behind the shoulder blade, by the length in inches from the square
of the buttock to the point of the shoulder blade, and divide the
product by 144, which gives the number of superficial feet. If the
animal has a girth of 3 to 5 feet, multiply the number of superficial
feet by 16, and you will have its approximate weight. If the girth
is 5 to 7 feet multiply by 23, and if 7 to 9 feet multiply by 31.
If less than 3 feet girth, as in the cases of small calves, hogs,
sheep, etc., multiply by 11. Allowance must be made for the build
of the animal, conditions of fattening, etc. The above rule is
for grass-fed cattle; it being estimated that in the cases of
grass-fatted sheep, calves, and kine, or steers, each superficial
foot, when the girth is 3 feet or under, represents a weight of 11
pounds; when 3 to 5 feet, 16 pounds; when 5 to 7 feet, 23 pounds,
and when 7 to 9 feet, 31 pounds. Thus an ox measuring eight feet
girth and seven and a half feet in length should weigh about 8x7½x31
pounds, or, say 1,860 pounds. Under this rule it is customary to
deduct one-twentieth of the whole for half-fatted cattle; from 15 to
20 pounds on a cow having had calves, and if not fat an equal amount.
SMUT IN WHEAT.
ILIA, N. Y.
What is the cause of smut in wheat, and what is a sure preventive?
G. F.
_Answer._—Smut is a fungus with very minute spores, that feeds upon
the grain, replacing or destroying the organs upon which it feeds.
The best preventive used is a pound of blue vitriol in two gallons
of water. But it is not enough to sprinkle this over the wheat. Put
the grain into enough of the solution to cover it, and stir slowly
to allow the light material to rise. Skim, and at the end of an hour
spread the wheat on a dry floor, and sprinkle it with quick-lime,
previously so slacked with chamber lye as to leave the lime in
powder. So continue until you have all the wheat treated. In this
state it may be heaped, and remain several days before sowing, if
the heap be occasionally turned. If the wheat remains damp, it must
be still further dried, so it will pass easily from the drill, if
it is to be drilled. The above plan is recommended by the “American
Encyclopedia of Agriculture” as the only certain preventive. Yet even
this may fail sometimes.
FIRST REVOLVING TURRET.
LACON, Ill.—Reading an article in Our Curiosity Shop some time
ago set me to thinking of some papers of my former husband, H. G.
Hamlin, showing that in 1842 he and a Mr. Nathan I. Styles assisted
Mr. Theodore L. Timby, who afterward secured the first patent
for a turret-ship, to build a model. After much consulting and
experimenting, in 1843 they changed their plan and built a working
model called a “revolving battery for offensive and defensive warfare
on land and sea,” expense not to exceed $1,800. It was finished in
June, 1843. The said model consisted of a circular icon tower, about
five feet high and eight feet in diameter, with three decks, and
pierced on each deck for thirty-five guns, with two perfect engines
worked by steam to cause the said tower to revolve. The cost when
finished was $2,230. Said model was built in Syracuse, N. Y., and I
saw it on exhibition. I will here copy a letter from F. E. Spinner (I
cannot copy his signature):
“It is found on inquiry at the Navy Department that the government
pays no one for the use of the patent for the revolving turret. It
seems that the company with which Mr. Ericsson is connected has paid
a Mr. Timby $100,000 for the use of the patent, and Mr. Hamlin and
Styles never received $1.”
After knowing this, Mr. Hamlin applied to Timby for his share; he
denied that Mr. H. ever had any interest in it. This was in 1863.
He had the papers all made out for his claim, but was taken with
congestion of the lungs, and died in a few days.
I heard Mr. Timby say that he conceived the idea when he was only
18 years of age. I don’t like the way he treated his partners, but
I like to give credit where credit is due. Mr. Ericsson deserves
much of his country for his energy and perseverance in making the
application when he did.
Please excuse all blunders, as I am an old woman, almost 74 years of
age, and this is the first time I ever wrote to an editor. My present
husband is nearly 81. We intend to read THE INTER OCEAN as long as
our sight will permit.
MRS. WM. MAXWELL.
CLIFF DWELLINGS IN SONORA.
WHITEWATER, Wis.
Is it so that there has been a recent discovery of ancient
dwellings in Sonora cut in the sides of the mountains, in solid
rock? If so, is it known who made them?
ABORIGINE.
_Answer._—There are some remarkable ruins about four miles southeast
of Magdalena, Mexico, in the State of Sonora, which have of late
attracted a good deal of notice. There is among these one pyramid,
with a base of 4,320 feet square and an elevation of 750 feet. It
has a winding roadway, leading by an easy grade from bottom to top,
wide enough for carriages. This is several miles long. In the sides
of this mountain, as one ascends, he passes hundreds of chambers cut
in the solid rock, with walls, floor, and ceiling hewn to an even
precision truly remarkable. These chambers vary in size from five to
ten, sixteen, and even eighteen feet square. There are no windows and
but one entrance, which is always from the top. The height of the
ceiling, usually, is eight feet. The walls are covered in places with
hieroglyphics and figures of men and animals. In some places feet
and hands of human beings are found cut in the rock. Who constructed
these dwellings is not now certainly known. Some claim that they were
the ancestors of the ancient Aztecs or Toltecs. It is not improbable
that they are the remains of ancient Zuni tribes.
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA.
GREENCASTLE, Ind.
Will the Curiosity Shop give me the names of the Governors of
Indiana from 1800 to the present time and the time when each was in
office.
C. E. JACKSON.
_Answer._—Territorial Indiana had but three Governors: William H.
Harrison, 1800-1811; John Gibson, 1811-1813; Thomas Posey, 1813-1816.
Admitted to the Union in 1816, its first State Governor was Jonathan
Jennings, who served until 1822. His successors were William
Hendricks, 1822-1825; James B. Ray, 1825-1831; Noah Noble, 1831-1837;
David Wallace, 1837-1840; Samuel Bigger, 1840-1843: James Whitcomb,
1843-1848; Paris G. Dunning, 1848-1849; Joseph A. Wright, 1849-1857;
Ashbel P. Willard, 1857-1861; Oliver P. Morton, 1861-1867; Conrad
Baker, 1867-1873; Thomas A. Hendricks, 1873-1877; James D. Williams,
1877-1881; Albert G. Porter, 1881-1885.
LOYAL CONFERENCE—DIAMONDS.
OHIO, Ill.
1. I was told that some religious body of persons—as a
conference—cheered on hearing the news of a political achievement.
What body was it, and where? 2. Is there a tariff on diamonds
brought into this country? 3. Are the women of Utah allowed to vote
at general elections?
NELSON SHIFFLET.
_Answer._—In several instances during the late war the Methodist
Episcopal Church Conferences cheered and sang the doxology when news
of great victories for the Union was announced; and in religious
meetings of several denominations the announcement of President
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was received with shouts or
cheers and songs of thanksgiving. 2. Glaziers diamonds are on the
free list, but on other diamonds, cut or uncut, there is a duty of 25
per cent ad valorem. 3. Utah women have the right of suffrage in all
Territorial elections. None of the Territories have any voice in the
Presidential elections.
STATE OFFICERS OF WISCONSIN.
SHARON, Wis.
1. What steps must be taken before a Territory can be admitted to
the Union as a State? 2. Please name the different State officers
of Wisconsin, the salary of each, and when each term began and will
end.
A READER.
_Answer._—The answer to your second question would fill one or two
columns of our paper, and we must, therefore, refer you to the
Secretary of State, Madison, Wis. The following is a list of the
present State officers:
Governor, J. M. Rusk $5,000
Lieutenant Governor, S. S. Fifield 1,000
Secretary of State, E. G. Timme 5,000
Treasurer, E. C. McFetridge 5,000
Attorney General, L. F. Frisby 3,000
Adjutant General, C. P. Chapman 500
Superintendent Public Schools, Robert Graham 1,200
Secretary Agricultural Society, C. Babbitt 2,000
Commissioners of Lands, Secretary of State,
State Treasurer, and Attorney General, ex-officio
Insurance Commissioner, P. L. Spooner, Jr 3,000
Railroad Commissioner, N. P. Hanger 3,000
State Librarian, J. R. Berryman 1,500
Chief Justice, Orsamus Cole 5,000
Associate Justices, W. P. Lyon, H. S. Orton, David
Taylor, and J. B. Cassady, each 5,000
Clerk, Clarence Kellogg, $5 per day and fees.
The terms of the first four officers named, and of the Superintendent
of Public Schools, began Jan. 2, 1882, and will end Jan. 7, 1885;
the Adjutant General is appointed by the Governor, as is also the
State Librarian; the Secretary of the State Agricultural society is
elected by the board; the term of the Insurance Commissioners began
Jan. 5, 1882, and will end Jan. 5, 1885. Your first question has been
answered recently as well as we can do it.
MAINE LIQUOR LAW.
MT. AYR, Iowa.
Please tell us what the Maine liquor law is, and its effects. Are
the Prohibitionists generally satisfied with the law?
M. J. DONAHOE.
_Answer._—The “Maine law,” briefly stated, is this: The sale of all
intoxicating liquors shall be controlled exclusively by a special
agent, appointed by the State; and he shall superintend their
lawful sale for medicinal, mechanical, and manufacturing purposes.
All other persons are prohibited from selling any liquors, except
unadulterated cider and wine, and from manufacturing for unlawful
sale. The authorized commissioner, violating the law, shall be fined
not less than $30, and imprisoned for not more than three months. A
common seller shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $250,
with imprisonment for from three to four months. Any one receiving
injury from an intoxicated person may sue the one who sold the
liquor. The lessee or owner of the saloon is also liable. As to the
effect of the law, we quote from the address of Governor Dingley to
the Legislature, in 1875: “The statistics (in the Attorney General’s
report) show that during the past year, in the Supreme Court alone,
there have been 276 convictions, 41 commitments to jail, and $30,898
collected in fines under these laws—more of each than in any other
year, and four times as many convictions and ten times as many
fines as in 1866, when the general enforcement of these laws was
resumed after the close of the war. It is significant, also, that
during these nine or ten years of gradually increasing efficiency
in the enforcement of the laws against dram-shops, the number of
convicts in the State Prison has fallen off more than one-fourth.”
Governor Sidney Perham, in his message to the Legislature in 1872,
says; “The present law, when it is enforced, is, so far as I can
judge, as effective in the suppression of the traffic as are other
criminal laws against the crimes they are intended to prevent.”
And Governor Chamberlain, in his message of 1870, said; “The laws
against intoxicating liquors are as well executed and obeyed as the
laws against profanity, unchastity, and murder.” These are a few
of the testimonies given to the efficiency of the Maine law. As a
rule prohibitionists are satisfied with the efficiency, but not the
sufficiency, of the legislation. Still the cause of temperance has
been greatly aided by the Maine legislation, and the progress has
probably been as great as could be expected.
GREAT SALT LAKE.
FREDONIA, N. Y.
What is the extent of Great Salt Lake? Has it any outlet? Are the
waters salt enough to make good salt? Is Salt Lake City on the
margin of the lake, or some distance off? Is it navigable?
_Answer._—Great Salt Lake is a remarkable body of water, in some
respects the most remarkable in the world. Like the Dead Sea and the
Aral Sea, in Asia, it has no outlet. Its extent is given variously
by different authors. One explanation of this may be the generally
conceded fact that the rainfall of the region between the Rocky
Mountains and the Sierra Nevada is increasing, and the average level
of Salt Lake seems to be steadily rising, so whereas one authority
states the length of the lake as about ninety miles and the breadth
as from twenty to thirty-five miles, another says it is seventy miles
long and forty-five broad. One says its area is about 3,200 square
miles, and another says it is between 3,000 and 4,000 square miles.
One says it is about 4,200 feet above sea level, while another says
it is 4,250 feet above, and still rising, and a still later statement
sets it at 4,260 feet above tidewater. One gives the mean depth
at 12 feet, and another at about twenty feet. Its maximum depth is
variously given at sixty feet and seventy-eight feet. It contains
numerous rocky islands, the longest of which, Antelope, is fifteen
miles long. Some of these islands are used as sheep pastures. The
Bear, the Weber, and the Jordan rivers empty into this lake, and are
for the most part absorbed by the sandy plain or evaporated by the
dry air of the Great Fremont Basin. Only the Bear River is navigable,
and that near its mouth. A line of steamers plies between Corinne,
on the north shore, and Black Rock, on the south. Its waters contain
about 20 per cent of common salt; some salt is manufactured from this
natural brine, and there is no doubt that in time this industry will
develop here into great importance. Unlike the Dead Sea, this lake
abounds with animal life, insects, shrimps, etc., but not, like the
Aral Sea, with fish. The United States Fish Commission has undertaken
the experiment of stocking it with certain salt-water fish, and with
some prospect of success. Salt Lake City is about eleven miles from
the lake in a straight line, and fifteen miles by the traveled road.
INDIAN EDUCATION.
CARLINVILLE, Ill.
An Indian-hater in this neighborhood asserts very positively
that the attempts made to educate the Indians are all time and
money thrown away. What figures can you give us to disprove this
assertion?
A READER.
_Answer._—The last report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs
furnishes proof positive that “Indian-hater” is either utterly
unprepared to make assertions on this subject, or wilfully
misrepresents the facts. Last year there were 5,113 Indian pupils
being taught at boarding-schools, and 5,014 in day-schools. There are
seventy-eight boarding-schools upon Indian reservations, having in
all 4,396 pupils, and in these industrial training has been carried
on so successfully that the pupils have cultivated 1,526 acres,
raising 18,334 bushels of corn, 4,952 bushels of oats, 19,340 bushels
of vegetables, and have made 1,171 tons of hay, and 4,325 pounds
of butter. Of the boarding pupils in schools not on reservations,
641 have attended the Indian training-schools at Hampton (109),
Carlisle (390), and Forest Grove (151), and 106 have been distributed
among various white schools in the States. At Hampton, since 1878,
the government has contributed in all $52,000, and private charity
$81,000, or, taking the existing number of students as the standard
for the five years, $244 per year per student. In these training
schools the industrial and mechanic arts are kept in the foreground,
and the main object is to inspire the minds of the young Indians with
habits of faithful, continuous work. During the past year Carlisle,
in addition to much other work, has turned out ten spring wagons
to be sent to Indian agencies, and Carlisle and Hampton propose to
furnish during the present fiscal year 2,000 pair of shoes, 3,350
dozen articles of tinware, 22 dozen bridles and halters, and 450
sets of harness. An effort is made to teach every Indian girl pupil
sewing and housework and the boys farming and mechanical trades.
The various religious societies have expended $74,689 in aid of the
government work of education strictly, besides $70,142 expended
on their own missionary work. This is besides $13,278 contributed
by them in aid of Forest Grove and Carlisle training schools, the
$26,668 in aid of the pupils at Hampton, $30,504 expended by the
societies on their own seminaries, academies, and missions among the
five civilized tribes, and $24,149 devoted to schools and missions
in Alaska. The Commissioner pays a high tribute to the value of this
religious aid.
CHINESE PROVERBS.
LASALLE, Ill.
I have just read that the Chinese are exceedingly fond of proverbs,
and make great use of them. That many of these proverbs are full of
lofty sentiment and wisdom. Can the Curiosity Shop give us a few of
them as specimens?
A REGULAR READER.