Part 10

CHINESE PROVERBS.--The Chinese are indeed remarkably fond of proverbs. They not only employ them in conversation--and even to a greater degree than the Spaniards, who are noted among Europeans for the number and excellence of their proverbial sayings--but they have a practice of adorning their reception rooms with these sententious bits of wisdom, inscribed on decorated scrolls or embroidered on rich crapes and brocades. They carve them on door-posts and pillars, and emblazon them on the walls and ceilings in gilt letters. The following are a few specimens of this sort of literature: As a sneer at the use of unnecessary force to crush a contemptible enemy, they say: "He rides a fierce dog to catch a lame rabbit." Similar to this is another, "To use a battle-ax to cut off a hen's head." They say of wicked associates: "To cherish a bad man is like nourishing a tiger; if not well-fed he will devour you." Here are several others mingling wit with wisdom: "To instigate a villain to do wrong is like teaching a monkey to climb trees;" "To catch fish and throw away the net," which recalls our saying, "Using the cat's paw to pull the chestnuts out of the fire;" "To climb a tree to catch a fish" is to talk much to no purpose; "A superficial scholar is a sheep dressed in a tiger's skin;" "A cuckoo in a magpie's nest," equivalent to saying, "he is enjoying another's labor without compensation;" "If the blind lead the blind they will both fall into the pit;" "A fair wind raises no storm;" "Vast chasms can be filled, but the heart of man is never satisfied;" "The body may be healed, but the mind is incurable;" "He seeks the ass, and lo! he sits upon him;" "He who looks at the sun is dazzled; he who hears the thunder is deafened." i.e., do not come too near the powerful; "Prevention is better than cure;" "Wine and good dinners make abundance of friends, but in adversity not one of them is to be found." "Let every man sweep the snow from before his own door, and not trouble himself about the frost on his neighbor's tiles." The following one is a gem of moral wisdom: "Only correct yourself on the same principle that you correct others, and excuse others on the same principles on which you excuse yourself." "Better not be, than be nothing." "One thread does not make a rope; one swallow does not make a summer." "Sensuality is the chief of sins, filial duty the best of acts." "The horse's back is not so safe us the buffalo's"--the former is used by the politician, the latter by the farmer. "Too much lenity multiplies crime." "If you love your son give him plenty of the rod; if you hate him cram him with dainties." "He is my teacher who tells me my faults, he my enemy who speaks my virtues." Having a wholesome dread of litigation, they say of one who goes to law, "He sues a flea to catch a bite." Their equivalent for our "coming out at the little end of the horn" is, "The farther the rat creeps up (or into) the cow's horn, the narrower it grows." The truth of their saying that "The fame of good deeds does not leave a man's door, but his evil acts are known a thousand miles off," is illustrated in our own daily papers every morning. Finally, we close this list with a Chinese proverb which should be inscribed on the lintel of every door in Christendom: "The happy-hearted man carries joy for all the household."

MASON AND DIXON'S LINE.--Mason and Dixon's line is the concurrent State line of Maryland and Pennsylvania. It is named after two eminent astronomers and [Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'mathemeticians'] mathematicians, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, who were sent out from England to run it. They completed the survey between 1703 and 1707, excepting thirty-six miles surveyed in 1782 by Colonel Alex. McLean and Joseph Neville. It is in the latitude of 39 deg. 43 min. 26.3 sec.

GREAT FIRES OF HISTORY.--The loss of life and property in the willful destruction by fire and sword of the principal cities of ancient history--Nineveh, Babylon, Persepolis, Carthage, Palmyra, and many others--is largely a matter of conjecture. The following is a memorandum of the chief conflagrations of the current era:

In 64, A. D., during the reign of Nero, a terrible fire raged in Rome for eight days, destroying ten of the fourteen wards. The loss of life and destruction of property is not known.

In 70 A. D., Jerusalem was taken by the Romans and a large part of it given to the torch, entailing an enormous destruction of life and property.

In 1106 Venice, then a city of immense opulence, was almost, wholly consumed by a fire, originating in accident or incendiarism.

In 1212 the greater part of London was burned.

In 1606 what is known as the Great Fire of London raged in the city from September 2 to 6, consuming 13,200 houses, with St. Paul's Church, 86 parish churches, 6 chapels, the Guild Hall, the Royal Exchange, the Custom House, 52 companies halls, many hospitals, libraries and other public edifices. The total destruction of property was estimated at $53,652,500. Six lives were lost, and 436 acres burnt over.

In 1679 a fire in Boston burned all the warehouses, eighty dwellings, and vessels in the dock-yards; loss estimated at $1,000,000.

In 1700 a large part of Edinburgh was burned; loss unknown. In 1728 Copenhagen was nearly destroyed; 1,650 houses burned.

In 1736 a fire in St. Petersburg burned 2,000 houses.

In 1729 a fire in Constantinople destroyed 12,000 houses, and 7,000 people perished. The same city suffered a conflagration in 1745, lasting five days; and in 1750 a series of three appalling fires: one in January, consuming 10,000 houses; another in April destroying property to the value of $5,000,000, according to one historian, and according to another, $15,000,000; and in the latter part of the year another, sweeping fully 10,000 houses more out of existence. It seemed as if Constantinople was doomed to utter annihilation.

In 1751 a fire in Stockholm destroyed 1,000 houses and another fire in the same city in 1759 burned 250 houses with a loss of $2,420,000.

In 1752 a fire in Moscow swept away 18,000 houses, involving an immense loss.

In 1758 Christiania suffered a loss of $1,250,000 by conflagration. In 1760 the Portsmouth (England) dock yards were burned, with a loss of $2,000,000.

In 1764 a fire in Konigsburg, Prussia, consumed the public buildings, with a loss of $3,000,000; and in 1769 the city was almost totally destroyed.

In 1763 a fire in Smyrna destroyed 2,600 houses, with a loss of $1,000,000; in 1772 a fire in the same city carried off 3,000 dwellings and 3,000 to 4,000 shops, entailing a loss of $20,000,000; and in 1796 there were 4,000 shops, mosques, magazines, etc., burned.

In 1776, six days after the British seized the city, a fire swept off all the west side of New York city, from Broadway to the river.

In 1771 a fire in Constantinople burned 2,500 houses; another in 1778 burned 2,000 houses; in 1782 there were 600 houses burned in February, 7,000 in June, and on August 12 during a conflagration that lasted three days, 10,000 houses, 50 mosques, and 100 corn-mills, with a loss of 100 lives. Two years later a fire, on March 13, destroyed two-thirds of Pera, the loveliest suburb of Constantinople, and on August 5 a fire in the main city, lasting twenty-six hours, burned 10,000 houses. In this same fire-scourged city, in 1791, between March and July, there were 32,000 houses burned, and about as many more in 1795; and in 1799 Pera was again swept with fire, with a loss of 13,000 houses, including many buildings of great magnificence.

In 1784 a fire and explosion in the dock yards, Brest, caused a loss of $5,000,000.

But the greatest destruction of life and property by conflagration, of which the world has anything like accurate records, must be looked for within the current century. Of these the following is a partial list of instances in which the loss of property amounted to $3,000,000 and upward:

Dates--Cities: Property destroyed. 1802--Liverpool: $5,000,000 1803--Bombay: 3,000,600 1805--St. Thomas: 30,000,000 1808--Spanish Town: 7,500,000 1812--Moscow, burned five days; 30,800 houses destroyed: 150,000,000 1816--Constantinople, 12,000 dwellings, 3,000 shops: ---- 1820--Savannah: 4,000,000 1822--Canton nearly destroyed: ---- 1828--Havana, 350 houses: ---- 1835--New York ("Great Fire"): 15,000,000 1837--St. Johns, N. B.: 5,000,000 1838--Charleston, 1,158 buildings: 3,000,000 1841--Smyrna, 12,000 houses: ---- 1842--Hamburg, 4,219 buildings, 100 lives lost: 35,000,000 1845--New York, 35 persons killed: 7,500,000 1845--Pittsburgh, 1,100 buildings: 10,000,000 1845--Quebec, May 28, 1,650 dwellings: 3,750,000 1845--Quebec, June 28, 1,300 dwellings: ---- 1846--St. Johns, Newfoundland: 5,000,000 1848--Constantinople, 2,500 buildings: 15,000,000 1848--Albany, N. Y., 600 houses: 3,000,000 1849--St. Louis: 3,000,000 1851--St. Louis, 2,500 buildings: 11,000,000 1851--St. Louis, 500 buildings: 3,000,000 1851--San Francisco, May 4 and 5, many lives lost: 10,000,000 1851--San Francisco, June: 3,000,000 1852--Montreal, 1,200 buildings: 5,000,000 1861--Mendoza destroyed by earthquake and fire, 10,000 lives lost: ---- 1862--St. Petersburg: 5,000,000 1802--Troy, N. Y., nearly destroyed: ---- 1862--Valparaiso almost destroyed: ---- 1864--Novgorod, immense destruction of property: ---- 1865--Constantinople, 2,800 buildings burned: ---- 1806--Yokohama, nearly destroyed: ---- 1865--Carlstadt, Sweden, all consumed but Bishop's residence, hospital and jail; 10 lives lost: ---- 1866--Portland, Me., half the city: 11,000,000 1866--Quebec, 2,500 dwellings, 17 churches: ---- 1870--Constantinople, Pera, suburb: 26,000,000 1871--Chicago--250 lives lost, 17,430 buildings burned, on 2,124 acres: 192,000,000 1871--Paris, fired by the Commune: 160,000,000 1872--Boston: 75,000.000 1873--Yeddo, 10,000 houses: ---- 1877--Pittsburgh, caused by riot: 3,260,000 1877--St. Johns, N. B., 1,650 dwellings, 18 lives lost: 12,500,000

From the above it appears that the five greatest fires on record, reckoned by destruction of property, are:

Chicago fire, of Oct. 8 and 9, 1871: $192,000,000 Paris fires, of May, 1871: 160,000,000 Moscow fire, of Sept. 14-19, 1812: 150,000,000 Boston fire, Nov. 9-10, 1872: 75,000.000 London fire, Sept. 2-6, 1666: 53,652,500 Hamburg fire, May 5-7, 1842: 35,000,000

Taking into account, with the fires of Paris and Chicago, the great Wisconsin and Michigan forest fires of 1871, in which it is estimated that 1,000 human beings perished and property to the amount of over $3,000,000 was consumed, it is plain that in the annals of conflagrations that year stands forth in gloomy pre-eminence.

WEALTH OF THE UNITED STATES PER CAPITA.--The following statistics represent the amount of taxable property, real and personal, in each State and Territory, and also the amount per capita:

State: Total; Per capita. Maine: $235,978,716; $362.09 New Hampshire: 164,755,181; 474.81 Vermont: 86,806,755; 261.24 Massachusetts: 1,584,756,802; 888.77 Rhode Island: 252,536,673; 913.23 Connecticut: 327,177,385; 525.41 New Jersey: 572,518,361; 506.06 New York: 2,651,940,000; 521.74 Pennsylvania: 1,683,459,016; 393.08 Delaware: 59,951,643; 408.92 Maryland: 497,307,675; 533.07 District of Columbia: 99,401,787; 845.08 Virginia: 308,455,135; 203.92 West Virginia: 139,622,705; 225.75 North Carolina: 156,100,202; 111.52 South Carolina: 153,560,135; 154.24 Georgia: 239,472,599; 155.82 Florida: 30,938,309; 114.80 Alabama: 122,867,228; 97.32 Mississippi: 110,628,129; 97.76 Louisiana: 100,162,439; 170.39 Texas: 320,364,515; 201.26 Arkansas: 80,409,364; 176.71 Kentucky: 350,563,971; 212.63 Tennessee: 211,778,538; 137.30 Ohio: 1,534,360,508; 479.77 Indiana: 727,815,131; 367.89 Illinois: 786,616,394; 255.24 Michigan: 517,666,359; 316.23 Wisconsin: 438,971,751; 333.69 Iowa: 398,671,251; 245.39 Minnesota: 258,028,687; 330.48 Missouri: 432,795,801; 245.72 Kansas: 160,891,689; 161.52 Nebraska: 90,585,782; 200.23 Colorado: 74,471,693; 383.22 Nevada: 29,291,459; 470.40 Oregon: 52,522,084; 300.52 California: 584,578,036; 676.05 Arizona: 9,270,214; 229.23 Dakota: 20,321,530; 150.33 Idaho: 6,440,876; 197.51 Montana: 18,609,802; 475.23 New Mexico: 11,362,406; 95.04 Utah: 24,775,279; 172.09 Washington: 23,810,603; 316.98 Wyoming: 13,621,829; 655.24 -------------------------------------------------- Total: $16,902,993,543; 337.00

TABLE FOR MEASURING AN ACRE.--To measure an acre in rectangular form is a simple question in arithmetic. One has only to divide the total number of square yards in an acre, 4,840, by the number of yards in the known side or breadth to find the unknown side in yards. By this process it appears that a rectangular strip of ground--

5 yards wide by 968 yards long is 1 acre. 10 yards wide by 484 yards long is 1 acre. 20 yards wide by 242 yards long is 1 acre. 40 yards wide by 121 yards long is 1 acre. 80 yards wide by 60-1/2 yards long is 1 acre. 70 yards wide by 69-1/2 yards long is 1 acre. 60 yards wide by 80-3/8 yards long is 1 acre.

THE LANGUAGE OF GEMS.--The language of the various precious stones is as follows:

Moss Agate--Health, prosperity and long life. Amethyst--Prevents violent passions. Bloodstone--Courage, wisdom and firmness in affection. Chrysolite--Frees from evil passions and sadness. Emerald--Insures true love, discovers false. Diamonds--Innocence, faith and virgin purity, friends. Garnet--Constancy and fidelity in every engagement. Opal--Sharpens the sight and faith of the possessor. Pearl--Purity; gives clearness to physical and mental sight. Ruby--Corrects evils resulting from mistaken friendship. Sapphire--Repentance; frees from enchantment. Sardonyx--Insures conjugal felicity. Topaz--Fidelity and friendship; prevents bad dreams. Turquoise--Insures prosperity in love.

GREAT SALT LAKE AND THE DEAD SEA.--Great Salt Lake is a shallow body of water, its average depth being but a little more than three feet, while in many parts it is much less. The water is transparent, but excessively salt; it contains about 22 per cent of common salt, slightly mixed with other salts, and forming one of the purest and most concentrated brines in the world. Its specific gravity is 1.17. The water is so buoyant that a man may float in it at full length upon his back, having his head and neck, his legs to the knee, and both arms to the elbow, entirely out of water. If he assumes a sitting posture, with his arms extended, his shoulders will rise above the water. Swimming, however, is difficult as the lower limbs tend to rise above the surface, and the brine is so strong that to swallow even a very little of it will cause strangulation. The waters of the Dead Sea, on the other hand, are nearly black, and contain much sulphur and bitumen, as well as salt. It is also very deep, varying from thirteen feet near the south end of the lake to more than 1,300 feet in the northern part. Its buoyancy is quite equal to that of Great Salt Lake, for travelers say that a man can float prone upon the surface for hours without danger of sinking, and in a sitting position is held breast-high above the water.

SOME FAMOUS WAR SONGS.--The slavery war developed several Union song-writers whose stirring verses have kept on singing themselves since the close of that great struggle. Two among them are best remembered nowadays, both men who wrote the words and composed the music to their own verses. Chicago lays claim to one, Dr. George F. Root, and Boston to the other, Henry C. Work. The song "Marching Through Georgia," as every one knows, was written in memory of Sherman's famous march from Atlanta to the sea, and words and music were the composition of Henry C. Work, who died not many months ago (in 1884). The first stanza is as follows: Bring the good old bugle, boys, we'll sing another song--Sing it with spirit that will start the world along--Sing it as we used to sing it, fifty thousand strong, While we were marching through Georgia.

Chorus--"Hurrah! hurrah! we bring the jubilee! Hurrah! hurrah! the flag that makes you free!" So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea, While we were marching through Georgia.

Among the other songs of Work the following are best known: "Kingdom Coming," or "Say, Darkey, Hab You Seen de Massa?" "Babylon is Fallen," "Grafted into the Army" and "Corporal Schnapps." This record would be incomplete were we to fail to mention some of the many ringing songs of George F. Root, songs which have made the name of Root famous in thousands upon thousands of households in the West. Some of these songs are: "Battle Cry of Freedom," "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp," "On, on, on, the Boys Came Marching," "Just Before the Battle, Mother," "Just After the Battle," "Lay Me Down and Save the Flag," "Stand Up for Uncle Sam, My Boys." The well known song, "Wrap the Flag Around Me, Boys," was composed by R. Stewart Taylor, and "When Johnny Cones Marching Home" by Louis Lambert.

THE COST OF ROYALTY IN ENGLAND.--Her Majesty:

Privy purse: £60,000 Salaries of household: 131,260 Expenses of household: 172,500 Royal bounty, etc.: 13,200 Unappropriated: 8,040 _________ £385,000

Prince of Wales: 40,000 Princess of Wales: 10,000 Crown Princess of Prussia: 8,000 Duke of Edinburgh: 25,000 Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein: 6,000 Princess Louise (Marchioness of Lome): 6,000 Duke of Connaught: 25,000 Duke of Albany: 25,000 Duchess of Cambridge: 6,000 Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz: 3,000 Duke of Cambridge: 12,000 Duchess of Teck: 5,000

SOME GREAT RIVERS.--From Haswell's little work for engineers and mechanics the following figures are taken, showing the lengths of the largest rivers on the various continents:

Name: Miles.

EUROPE. Volga, Russia: 2,500 Danube: 1,800 Rhine: 840 Vistula: 700

ASIA. Yeneisy and Selenga: 3,580 Kiang: 3,290 Hoang Ho: 3,040 Amoor: 2,500 Euphrates: 1,900 Ganges: 1,850 Tigris: 1,160

AFRICA. Nile: 3,240 Niger: 2,400 Gambia: 1,000

SOUTH AMERICA. Amazon and Beni: 4,000 Platte: 2,700 Rio Madeira: 2,300 Rio Negro: 1,650 Orinoco: 1,600 Uruguay: 1,100 Magdalena: 900

NORTH AMERICA. Mississippi and Missouri: 4,300 Mackenzie: 2,800 Rio Bravo: 2,300 Arkansas: 2,070 Red River: 1,520 Ohio and Alleghany: 1,480 St. Lawrence: 1,450

The figures as to the length of the Nile are estimated. The Amazon, with its tributaries (including the Rio Negro and Madeira), drains an area of 2,330,000 square miles; the Mississippi and Missouri, 1,726,000 square miles; the Yeneisy (or Yenisei, as it is often written) drains about 1,000,000 square miles; the Volga, about 500,000. In this group of great rivers the St. Lawrence is the most remarkable. It constitutes by far the largest body of fresh water in the world. Including the lakes and streams, which it comprises in its widest acceptation, the St. Lawrence covers about 73,000 square miles; the aggregate, it is estimated, represents not less than 9,000 solid miles--a mass of water which would have taken upward of forty years to pour over Niagara at the computed rate of 1,000,000 cubic feet in a second. As the entire basin of this water system falls short of 300,000 square miles, the surface of the land is only three times that of the water.