Part 10

From the above data we have prepared the following table showing the average number of cords consumed for domestic purposes only (stated in cords and hundredths of a cord), the average price per cord, and total consumption for each man, woman, and child in each of the States named in the above question:

Cords Value Cost per per per States. capita. cord. capita.

In Pennsylvania 1.72 $2.05 $3.52 In New York 2.22 3.32 7.37 In Illinois 1.70 2.27 4.90 In Iowa 2.45 3.57 8.75 In Kansas 2.14 3.50 7.49

According to this exhibit the effect of the marvelous coal fields of Pennsylvania and Illinois on the consumption and price of wood is very apparent and significant. The above does not include the wood converted into charcoal, of which there were 74,008,972 bushels, valued at $5,276,736, consumed in the production of iron and the precious metals in the twenty largest cities of the Union; which does not cover probably half the entire amount used in this country.

LARGEST AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES.

KEOKUK, Iowa.

What is the weight of the largest locomotive engine; and what is the number of its drive wheels?

READER.

_Answer._—This question was referred to Messrs. Burnham, Parry, Williams & Co., of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, and their reply in full is subjoined:

“Replying to your favor of the 8th inst., we may say that there has been considerable activity of late in the construction of very large locomotives, the most approved railroad practice having changed materially within the past few years with respect to the weight of the engines employed. We have recently built some very heavy locomotives for the Northern Pacific Railroad, which weigh, in working order, exclusive of the tender, about 115,000 pounds. The tenders with coal and water weigh about 65,000 pounds each, additional, making the total weight of engine and tender some ninety net tons. These engines have cylinders 20x24 inches.

The Central Pacific Railroad Company have recently built in their Sacramento shops some very heavy locomotives with four pairs of driving wheels coupled and a leading four-wheeled truck, which weigh in working order, exclusive of the tender, about 123,000 pounds. The weight of the tender, with coal and water, is about 65,000 pounds, making the total net weight of the engine and tender some ninety-three net tons. These engines have cylinders nineteen inches in diameter and thirty inches stroke, and are probably at this time the heaviest engines in use in this country.”

BUTTER PRODUCT OF A GOOD COW.

PEORIA, Ill.

1. What may be fairly regarded as the average annual butter product of a good class of dairy cows? 2. Is not $50 an exorbitant price to pay for an average cow?

YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER.

_Answer._—Of course the butter product depends on the kind of stock, the pasturage and winter feed, the care of the cattle, and the skill and industry of the butter-maker. The following statement of Mr. Wm. Guinter, of Twin Grove, Wis., shows the average annual product of butter realized by him from six cows, together with the average value of this product: “I have kept a strict account for one year of the income from six cows. I have sold 1,185 pounds of butter, and counting four pounds a week of cream and butter for family use of four persons, increases the total product to 1,393 pounds. The highest price received per pound was 38 cents, and the lowest was 16 cents, making an average of 26 cents. The whole amount realized, then, was $362.18, or $60.36 a cow. I have my cows come in fresh in the fall on account of making a better quality of butter and getting a better price. I keep them in good condition all winter: feed chopped corn and oats and all the clover hay they want. Feed about three quarts of chop twice a day to each cow. My cows are only the common grade. I have clover pastures, but never turn cattle in till the first or middle of May, so as to let it get a good start, and then the pasture will be good all summer. Some of my neighbors ask: ‘Do you think it pays?’ I do it whether it pays or not: but I think it does. You can’t expect a great yield of milk from straw and dry cornstalks. What stock you keep, keep well. It will pay.” 2. Obviously the value of a good milch cow depends somewhat on the locality. A cow is worth more in the immediate neighborhood of a good market than in a region remote from such a market. With the above average product of a good cow, in pounds, to guide one, every intelligent person can form a judgment as to whether it will be profitable for him, taking the price of butter and feed in his own market, to pay $50, or more or less, for a good cow.

VACCINATING IMMIGRANTS.

WASHINGTON, Ill.

Is it true that there are government physicians who examine all immigrants from Europe and compel them to submit to revaccination before they allow them to pass certain stations? If so, by what authority is this done?

A DOUBTER.

_Answer._—The best answer to these questions is contained in the reports of the supervising inspectors of the National Board of Health, under whose authority, conferred by an act of Congress, the examination, or inspection, of immigrants entering the United States and traveling therein is conducted. The report of the Supervising Inspector of the Western District, Dr. John H. Rauch, Springfield, Ill., dated Nov. 10, 1882, shows that in this district there were 94,839 immigrants inspected between June 1 and Oct. 31, 1882, of whom 17,195, with or without their consent, were vaccinated, as the case seemed in the judgment of the assistant inspectors to call for:

Number Number Stations. inspected. vaccinated. Pitts. Ft. W. & Chi. R. R. 17,347 2,539 Lake S. & M. S. R. R. 14,011 2,285 Mich. C. R. R. 22,330 6,145 Grand Trunk R. R. 9,356 1,875 Balt. & Ohio R. R. 10,688 2,348 Indianapolis 13,746 1,635 St. Louis 7,361 368 —————— —————— Total 94,839 17,195

Cases of small-pox found on the trains by the inspectors are removed to small-pox hospitals. There were seven such cases in October, 1882, in the Western District.

BRIDGES AND RHYTHMIC VIBRATION.

ST. PAUL., Minn.

Does music weaken metallic or other bridges? If so, please explain why.

A. M. G.

_Answer._—Measured vibrations are more trying to any kind of bridges, and particularly to suspension bridges, than irregular agitation. Music alone would not strain a bridge enough to injure it materially; but a regiment of troops keeping step to music when crossing a suspension bridge would subject it to a very severe strain. Consequently it is customary to stop the music before troops reach the bridge, and let the men break step, and march more or less irregularly. The reason of all this is obvious. The structure will naturally suffer least strain when at rest. When in uniform motion the bridge acquires a momentum equal to its entire suspended weight multiplied by the velocity of the motion. It is manifest that, in the case of a heavy structure, a uniform downward vibration, be it ever so small, would develop a momentum of many tons in the direction of a breaking strain. The same disturbing forces acting irregularly, so as to counteract one another, would be far less trying to the structure.

THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR.

VANDALIA, Ill.

Please give us the principal dates in the Franco-Prussian War.

T. M. K.

_Answer._—The Franco-Prussian war was formally declared, on the part of France, July 19, 1870. The South German States, since then incorporated with Prussia and the other North German States in what is now called the German Empire, soon took sides and the Franco-Prussian war became the Franco-German war. On Sept. 1 the Emperor Napoleon surrendered his sword at Sedan. The war was protracted through the winter by the obstinate resistance of Paris, but the German army entered the city on Feb. 28, 1871, and ratifications of the preliminary treaty of peace were exchanged March 3. The severest fighting was over, and France was virtually at the mercy of Germany at the end of the first four months.

NATIONAL DEBTS OF FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN.

CHICAGO, Ill.

Which is the greater, the present national debt of France or that of Great Britain?

J. C. C.

_Answer._—The present national debt of France is considerably larger than the national debt of Great Britain. On Jan. 1, 1879, the former was £794,481,439, and it has increased since then. On March 31, 1881, the latter was £768,703,692.

THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA.

CHICAGO, Ill.

In what city is the great belfry spoken of as “the leaning tower?” When was it built; and was it purposely constructed to lean as it does?

S. L.

_Answer._—You probably refer to what is known as “the leaning tower of Pisa,” in one of the oldest and most famous cities of Italy. It is a campanile, or bell tower, commenced in 1174, by Bonannus of Pisa, and William of Innsbruck. It is cylindrical in shape, 50 feet in diameter, 179 feet high, and leans about 13 feet out of perpendicular. It is divided into eight stories, each having an exterior colonnade, or gallery. The top is reached by 330 steps. It was not purposely built to lean. The foundation settled more on one side than on the other until it reached the present inclination, which it has maintained with scarcely any perceptible increase for hundreds of years. The defect in the foundation was discovered before its completion, and the upper part of the structure was built in a manner to counteract in part the inclination; and the grand chime of bells, seven in number, of which the largest alone weighs 12,000 pounds, is mounted with reference to counteract this fault still further. This magnificent tower is justly regarded as one of the wonders of the world.

VIRGINIA STATE DEBT.

OXFORD, Iowa.

What proportion of the State debt of Virginia do the “Readjusters” intend to repudiate? What part of it was created during the late civil war? Is the State really unable to pay its creditors? Give a few of the chief features of this Virginia debt controversy.

F. G. A.

_Answer._—The whole of the Virginia State debt was contracted before the war, for railroads, canals, turnpikes, and public buildings, including penal and charitable institutions. Of course any debts made in aid of the rebellion were wiped out by section 4 of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States. On Jan. 1, 1861, the State owed $33,248,141.63. On Jan. 1, 1870, owing to non-payment of interest during the intervening ten years, the debt had accumulated to $45,660,348. The constitutions of Virginia and West Virginia (the latter of which had been constructed out of Virginia during the war) both provided for an equitable apportionment of this joint indebtedness; but the two States have never agreed on a division. In March, 1871, the State of Virginia passed an act to set aside one-third of the debt to West Virginia, which contained about one-fifth of the population and one-third of the territory of the original State and a trifling proportion of the public improvements for which the debt was created, and to give the bondholders new bonds payable in thirty-four years with 6 per cent interest annually, and certificates promising that the payment of the remaining one-third would be provided for in accordance with such settlement as should thereafter be made with West Virginia. This left as the debt of the present State of Virginia $29,614,793 (report of Second Auditor, 1881). The State’s creditors hastened to exchange old evidences of indebtedness for the new bonds, which went forward rapidly until about two-thirds of the whole were refunded, when, a majority of Readjusters having been elected to the Legislature, the process of refunding was stopped. The old bonds left outstanding by this sudden change of policy constitute what is known as the “Peeler debt.” The interest coupons on the new bonds were “receivable for taxes and all dues and demands against the State,” and have been honored, but the interest on the Peeler debt has been paid only in part. In 1879 the creditors proposed the exchange of the bonds then outstanding for new bonds bearing 3 per cent interest for ten years, 4 per cent for twenty years, and 5 per cent for ten years, making an average of 4 per cent. The total principal of the debt at this time was $29,367,958.06. Accordingly the “McCulloch bill” was passed, binding the State to this settlement: and bonds to the amount of $8,000,000 were issued under this law. Senator Johnston, in an article in the _North American Review_ setting forth the above facts, claims that, had the law been faithfully executed, the surplus revenue of 1879, after paying interest on all the State’s indebtedness and all State expenses of the government and the public schools, would have been more than $400,000, which would have gone to pay off so much of the principal.

Senator Riddleberger, in his reply to Mr. Johnston, in the _North American Review_ for April, 1882, declares that instead of there being any surplus in the State Treasury at the close of 1879, the Readjusters found, on their accession to power, Jan. 1, 1880, “a great mass of the proposed McCulloch tax-receivable certificates ready for issue. They were forced to borrow money to run the government. Half a million of money, due by defaulting treasurers, was uncollected and unsued for. Over $1,500,000 had been diverted from the schools. The charitable institutions of the State were on the verge of bankruptcy.” Nevertheless, the boast of the Virginia press, that the mining, manufacturing, and agricultural resources of the State are developing more rapidly than before the war, is generally believed to be true; the crops of the six principal cereals and potatoes, tobacco, and hay in 1881 amounted to $44,280,690, and the live stock to $33,538,877; the taxable value of property, real and personal, even at the low assessment prevailing, is given at $308,455,135: facts which lead the world to believe that Virginia is perfectly able to pay her debt. Taking the total debt under the McCulloch bill at what Senator Mahone placed it at the time of the passage of the bill, the annual interest would have amounted to not quite $990,000, which, added to $565,000 for public schools and arrearages, and $765,000 for current expenses of the State Government, would make but $2,320,000. That same year the net revenue, if faithfully collected, would have amounted to $2,606,425.36, so that there would have been a remainder of $286,500 to apply as a sinking fund. Since then the Riddleberger bill has become a law, and the debt has been scaled down to about $20,000,000, instead of about $33,000,000, which is nearly what it would be had the McCulloch law been carried out. As there is no provision for the payment of the $15,239,370 set over to West Virginia, and which the latter repudiates on the ground that she has offsets to all her proportion of the original debt, it appears that the total loss to the State’s creditors, adding the accrued interest on the latter amount, is over $36,000,000, or fully 80 per cent of the amount conceded by the act of 1871 to be the total sum then due them.

POINTS OF A GOOD SHOT-GUN.

FOURCHE, D. T.

What are the essentials of a good shot-gun? Name several prime quality guns.

H. M. EASTMAN.

_Answer._—The following, in the opinion of skilled manufacturers and practiced sportsmen of this city, are essentials of a first-class shot-gun. The barrel should be of laminated or Damascus steel or stub-twist (the former being generally preferred), and full choke or modified choke bore. A taper bore is also highly esteemed. Length of barrel, 28 to 32 inches; bore, 10 to 12 gauge. The gun should be a breech-loader, with rebounding lock and extension rib. Pistol grip, patent fore-end are points insisted on by some, although they are hardly to be classed as essentials. The front action or bar lock is a feature of many of the best guns. Among English guns the Greener and Scott stand very high; among Belgian, Charles Daly; among American, Parker, Colt, Remington, Nichols & Lefevre, and Baker; and in the Northwest, the Abby gun, manufactured in this city, is a favorite. Good English guns range from $350 to $400. Good American guns with English barrels may be had at prices ranging from $200 to $300.

WEALTH OF THE UNITED STATES PER CAPITA.

WOODLAWN, Mo.

Please give the wealth of each State, together with the wealth per capita.

READER.

_Answer._—The following statistics represent the amount of taxable property, real and personal in each State and Territory, and also the amount per capita.

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 York 2,651,940,000 521.74 New Jersey 572,518,361 506.06 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 160,162,439 170.39 Texas 320,364,515 201.26 Arkansas 86,409,364 176.71 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 532,795,801 245.72 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 11,363,406 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

THE OLDEST HISTORIANS.

FOURCHE, D. T.

Were there historians before Berosus, Manetho, and Herodotus, whose works have come down to us in Greek, Latin, or other European languages?

H. M. EASTMAN.

_Answer._—Herodotus is the oldest of the Greek historians. He was born 484 B. C. He is generally recognized as the father of history. Berosus was an educated priest of Babylon, who lived about 260 B. C., and wrote in Greek three books of Babylonian-Chaldean history, the materials for which he declares he found in the ancient archives of Babylon. Manetho was an Egyptian historian, of the priestly order, who lived in the reign of Ptolemy Soter, in the beginning of the third century B. C. He, too, obtained the materials for his works from the temple records at his command, from which he wrote two works, one on the religion and the other on the history of Egypt. Only fragments of the writings of Berosus and Manetho remain—preserved in the works of Josephus, Eusebius, and other later writers. There are historical records on the ancient monuments of Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria which date back to earlier days, but except the historical books of the Old Testament, beginning with those of Moses (who was born 1738 B. C.), and some of the writings of Confucius (born 551 B. C.), there is nothing antedating the writings of Herodotus that is regarded as history.

FORMS OF LEAD CRYSTALS.

BURLINGAME, Kan.

Why is east and west lead ore always in cubes, while it is not always so with lead found in north and south lodes?

C. A. DAMON.

_Answer._—The primitive form of galena, or sulphate of lead, crystals is the cube. Whenever left free to crystallize, subject to no extraneous force or pressure, this ore takes that form. At cross veins it takes modified forms, the angles and edges of the cubes being replaced by faces, so as in many cases to form octahedral crystals. Now just why lead seems to have been more free to take its simple primitive form when crystallizing in east and west veins or lodes than in veins running in other directions is still largely a matter of theory or conjecture. Some theorists think that the north and south magnetic currents, to which the polarity of the magnetic needle is attributed, have something to do with this phenomenon, but a great many other wise people think nobody knows.

NATIONS OF THE GLOBE.

SILVER LAKE, Ind.

How many nations are there on the globe? Has each of them a flag?

J. F. CLYMER.

_Answer._—The following is a full list of the nations of the world, each of which has its own distinctive national colors or flag: The United States of America, Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, San Salvador, Costa Rica, the United States of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chili, Argentine Confederation, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Venezuela, Hayti, and San Domingo, which are all the independent nationalities of North and South America and the West India Islands; Great Britain and her dependencies in both hemispheres, France and her dependencies in Asia, Africa, and Oceanica, the German Empire, Austro-Hungary, Russia, Italy, Spain and her dependencies in both hemispheres; Portugal and her dependencies in Asia and Africa, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands and her dependencies in both hemispheres, Denmark and her colonial possessions, Sweden and Norway, Greece, Roumania, Servia, Montenegro, Turkey or the Ottoman Empire, Andorra, San Marino, and Monaco; the only independent States of Africa (except those wholly savage), Liberia, Orange River Free State, Transvaal Republic, Morocco, and Abyssinia; the only independent nationalities of all Asia—Persia, Burmah, Afghanistan, Beloochistan, Siam, China, and Japan; finally the Sandwich Islands. This makes a total of fifty-seven nations universally recognized and diplomatically treated as such, although several of them, like Afghanistan and Burmah, are little more than nominally independent, and two of them—Monaco, with an area of only 5¾ square miles, or less than a Congressional township in this country, and a population less than 6,000, and San Marino, with an area of barely 23-8/10 square miles and less than 8,000 inhabitants—are so insignificant in comparison with their great neighbors that it seems a mockery of the name to call them nations. Indian tribes, Esquimaux, tribes of Africa, Asia, and Australia, although taken into treaty relations as independent or quasi independent peoples, are never correctly spoken of as nations in the sense in which the term is used in international law.

ENTERING LAND IN DAKOTA.

HUSTON, D. T.