Part 1

QUEER QUESTIONS

AND

READY REPLIES.

A COLLECTION OF FOUR HUNDRED QUESTIONS IN HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, BIOGRAPHY, MYTHOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY, NATURAL HISTORY, SCIENCE, PHILOLOGY, ETC., ETC., WITH THEIR ANSWERS.

BY

S. GRANT OLIPHANT.

Fourth Edition.

BOSTON: NEW ENGLAND PUBLISHING COMPANY. 1888.

COPYRIGHT, 1886,

BY NEW ENGLAND PUBLISHING COMPANY.

TO

CARRIE G. NORRIS

THIS WORK IS GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED

BY THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

The design of this little work is to offer, in a convenient form, to the reading public of the country, much quaint and curious as well as interesting and instructive information in history, geography, biography, philosophy, science, philology, etc., to correct several popular fallacies, to promote accurate scholarship, and to tender an explanation of many expressions which occur in daily conversation.

Considerable time and pains have been given to the selection of the matter herein contained, and to the verification of the same. Care has been taken that no statement should be made which cannot be supported by good authority.

The information covered by the questions and answers is not generally known, even by intelligent and educated readers, and much of it has never before been published in a form accessible to the great mass of readers.

With the hope that it may prove an acceptable and _ready help_ to all intelligent readers, the author submits it to an appreciative and critical public. S. G. O. WOODSTOWN, N. J.

CONTENTS

A PAGE

Acting Vice-Presidents of the United States 159

Adam’s beard 93

African capital named from a United States President 76

Albany Regency, The 95

Alien and Sedition Laws, The 119

Amber 3

American Fabius, The 169

American Pathfinder, The 146

American Pope of Rome, The 30

Ancient account for the origin of amber 4

Ancient city that perished through silence 5

Ancient Mariner, The 65

Ancient name of the ring-finger 22

Animal noted for its large tail 72

Antarctic Continent discovered 38

Auld Reekie 134

Author of “Curfew must not ring To-night” 59

Author of “Greenbacks” 89

Author of the name America 21

B

Balm of Gilead 126

Banshee 66

Battle fought above the clouds 89

Battle of Herrings, The 137

Battle of Spurs, The 133

Beautiful Parricide, The 23

Beautiful Rope-maker, The 165

Bible of the Greeks, The 151

Bird with neither tail nor wings 6

Birthplace of two Presidents 40

Black Hole of Calcutta 136

Black Jack 136

Blue Hen State, The 88

Blue-Noses, The 163

Boundary between United States and Canada 14

Bravest of the brave, The 33

Breeches Bible, The 130

Bridge of Sighs, The 145

Brightest star visible 62

Bug Bible, The 104

Burial place of Columbus 102

Burial place of our Presidents 105

C

Causes of the American Revolution 116

Causes of the Civil War 119

Cave of the winds 40

Celluloid 104

Chains of Columbus 176

Children of Columbus 101

Christ of India, The 50

Cities without elections 28

City destroyed by an ill-timed jest 125

City of Elms, The 43

City of Magnificent Distances, The 134

City of Oaks, The 167

City of the Red Staff, The 28

City where burials are made above ground 141

Colony founded as a home for the poor 91

Color and portrait of our postage-stamps 40

Colossus of American Independence, The 91

Columbus’s line extinct 101

Confederate candle 80

Copperheads, The 171

Country in which grass grows upon trees 145

Country in which prayers are said by wheels 95

Country in which the clergymen are blacksmiths 25

Cousin Michael 131

D

Dark day, The 142

Day of Barricades, The 143

Day of Corn-sacks, The 170

Defects of the Confederation 118

Deliverer of Washington’s funeral oration 76

Derivation of Alaska 122

Derivation of Canada 124

Derivation of magnet 130

Devil’s Wall, The 81

Deviser of our decimal coinage 107

Diamond necklace affair 23

Discovery of the Pacific Ocean 82

Dynamite 99

E

Easter 25

Eight motions of the earth 172

El Dorado 144

Election on which the price of flour depended 77

Explorer of the Mississippi with La Salle 64

Explorer who drove a herd of hogs before him 72

F

Famous men killed by lice 168

Father of Ridicule, The 41

Fat man’s misery, The 11

“Fiery serpents” of Numbers xxi 8

First American bird taken to England 156

First Bible printed in America 138

First bloodshed in the Civil War 75

First bloodshed in the Revolution 52

First census of the United States 38

First circumnavigator of the globe 166

First Colonial Congress 117

First duel in the United States 13

First English book 147

First English child born in America 147

First English child born in New England 27

First flag of a republic set up in America 80

First gun of the Civil War 75

First land discovered by Columbus 21

First legislative assembly in America 74

First martyr to American liberty 59

First national political convention 87

First national political platform 88

First paper-makers 46

First post-offices 12

First President nominated by national convention 87

First purchaser of United States postage-stamps 159

First temperance society 145

First watches 168

First white child born in America 173

First woman hung in the United States 162

Foul-weather Jack 81

Floral emblem of the United States 172

Flying Dutchman, The 65

Franklin’s oft-quoted epitaph 55

French game-cock, The 95

G

Gate of Tears, The 175

Gems emblematic of the Twelve Apostles 111

General fired at fifteen times but unharmed 164

Goblets used as preservatives against poison 157

Golden number and how determined 115

Golomynka 53

Grandest funeral pageant ever known 54

Granite City, The 174

Great American Commoner, The 100

Ground Hog Day 105

H

Hæmadynamometer 4

Hagar’s well 63

Hairy men, The 115

Handsome Englishman, The 164

Heaviest metal 134

Hebrew manner of naming the books of the Bible 138

Height of Goliath 126

Highest spot inhabited by human beings 142

Highest tides known 25

History changed by a flight of birds 20

History of the poem “Sheridan’s Ride” 109

Holy Grail, The 80

Horse Latitudes, The 148

How all the greenbacks, etc., are destroyed 96

How Napoleon was paid for Louisiana 80

How the Red Sea gets its color 46

How the schooner obtained its name 43

How the swallow obtained its name 176

How to determine the years of a Congress 39

How umbrellas are put together 17

I

Indian chief made an English peer 36

Indians’ present to Penn’s widow 71

Indians with red hair and pale complexions 7

Inventor of decimal fractions 107

Inventor of the first steamboat 139

Inventor of the most perfect alphabet 53

Irish Night, The 67

Iron Duke, The 148

Island discovered by two lovers 10

Island of St. Brandon 148

Island of the Seven Cities 149

Ivan Ivanovitch 131

J

Japanese national beverage 37

Jersey blues, The 93

Jewish year corresponding to 1886 A. D. 49

John Bull 132

Johnny Crapaud 130

John of Gaunt 122

K

Keystone State, The 67

King who boasted of being a good cook 10

King who said “I am the state” 60

King who wrote an essay against tobacco 173

Kitchen Cabinet, The 52

Kosciusko’s mound 97

L

Lalla Rookh 151

Land of Steady Habits, The 151

Land of the Incas, The 138

Land of the Midnight Sun, The 77

Land of the Rising Sun, The 77

Largest clock in the world 11

Largest locomotive in the world 146

Largest stationary engine in the world 55

Last Union general killed in the Rebellion 73

Last words of Benedict Arnold 92

Last words of Columbus 101

Last writing of Columbus 102

Learned tailor, The 62

Left-handed marriage 1

Lightest metal 135

Light-horse Harry 95

Little Giant, The 54

Little Magician, The 72

Little Paris 16

Longest word in the English language 111

Lumber State, The 151

Luz 152

M

Maiden town, The 155

Maid of Saragossa, The 68

Man of Destiny, The 57

Martha Washington 125

Meaning of the phrase “By hook or by crook” 158

Meaning of the phrase “By Jingo” 113

Meaning of the phrase “Fitting to a T” 129

Metals valued at over one thousand dollars a pound 173

Mill-boy of the Slashes, The 43

Mistress of the World, The 35

Modern Athens, The 106

Mollusk that swims by fins on the side of its neck 2

Money of North American Indians 42

Most deadly epidemic ever known 31

Most famous heroine of antiquity 98

Most useful conquest ever made by man 52

Most useful tree in the world 73

Mother Goose 60

Mother of Cities, The 9

Mourning colors of various nations 34

N

Name of the penitent thief 50

National emblematic flower of China and Japan 139

National hymn composed in a single night 32

Nearest approach made to the North Pole 77

Newspaper called “The Thunderer” 57

Newton of Antiquity, The 172

Nimrod of the Bible, The 75

Nine Worthies, The 41

Northeast Passage discovered 156

Northwest Passage discovered 26

Number of languages 29

Number of people brought over in the “Mayflower” 76

O

Oath of office administered to Washington 35

O Grab Me Act, The 61

Old Bullion 13

Oldest President 90

Oldest street in New England 155

Old Hickory 42

Old Nick 113

Old Public Functionary 94

Old Scratch 135

Only bird that can see an object with both eyes at once 6

Only canonized saint of American birth 74

Only monarchy on the Western Continent 96

Order of the Garter 39

Origin of “April Fool” 128

Origin of “Before one could say Jack Robinson” 69

Origin of “bigot” 164

Origin of “bogus” 112

Origin of “Brother Jonathan” 36

Origin of “catch-penny” 58

Origin of “getting into a scrape” 129

Origin of “halcyon days” 50

Origin of “honeymoon” 43

Origin of “humbug” 108

Origin of “I acknowledge the corn” 18

Origin of “Johnnies” 176

Origin of “Lynch Law” 67

Origin of “Mugwump” 177

Origin of “Old Harry” 106

Origin of “pin-money” 56

Origin of “printer’s devil” 44

Origin of “quiz” 68

Origin of “sardonic smile” 166

Origin of “Simon Pure” 154

Origin of “tariff” 57

Origin of tarring and feathering 112

Origin of Thanksgiving Day 114

Origin of “That’s a feather in your cap” 161

Origin of the barber’s pole 126

Origin of the minute and second 15

Origin of the names of the days of the week 48

Origin of the names of the months 47

Origin of the names of the oceans 143

Origin of “The three R’s” 16

Origin of the word “Mississippi” 61

Origin of “To catch a Tartar” 154

Origin of “To haul over the coals” 155

Origin of “To have a bone to pick with one” 157

Origin of “To row up Salt River” 145

Origin of “To speak for Buncombe” 120

Origin of “To throw dust in one’s eye” 157

Origin of Uncle Sam 16

Origin of “Whig” and “Tory” 106

Origin of $ 156

P

Palace containing five hundred rooms 52

Parents of Columbus 100

Parthenopean Republic, The 47

Patriot Preacher of the Revolution, The 24

Peeping Tom of Coventry 132

Petrified City, The 161

Philosopher who thought the sun was a huge fiery stone 175

Physiologist who thought man should live a century 29

Pine-Tree State, The 15

Pocahontas’ real name 35

Poet noted for his thinness 92

Poet’s death caused by his bald head 26

Porkopolis 148

Postal cards 78

Pouter pigeon 92

Prairie State, The 135

President buried at the expense of his friends 121

Presidential administration compared to a parenthesis 137

Presidential election in which three States did not vote 34

Presidents born in Virginia 96

President twice married to the same lady 121

President who never attended school 79

President who worked on a ferry-boat 78

President who wrote his own epitaph 87

Prince of Destruction, The 151

Proper name of Columbus 100

Punishment of bachelors at Sparta 71

Putnam and the wolf 78

Q

Quaker Poet, The 171

Queen of Hearts, The 152

Queen of Tears, The 33

R

Railroad City, The 124

Rail-splitter, The 69

Rare Ben 113

Red Prince, The 123

Religious sect that depend on prayer 51

Remarkable Esquimaux stratagem 20

Roundheads, The 153

S

Sacred writings of the Buddhists 83

Sacred writings of the Chinese 83

Sacred writings of the Hindoos 85

Sacred writings of the Japanese 86

Sacred writings of the Mohammedans 86

Sacred writings of the Persians 85

Sacred writings of the Scandinavians 84

Sage Brush State, The 124

Sage of Monticello, The 170

Sailor king, The 176

Samian letter, The 177

Scourge of God, The 158

Sect believing in one hundred and thirty-six hells 82

Seed supposed to confer invisibility 10

Seven against Thebes, The 169

Seven Bibles of the world, The 86

Seven Champions of Christendom, The 45

Seven Sleepers, The 44