Part 4

_Answer._—Why the magnetic needle points northward is not positively determined. There are several theories but none of them explain all the phenomena of the needle. That which perplexes scientists most is that in every place the needle is subject to variations. By observations at Paris it was found that in 1681 the magnetic needle varied 2 deg. 30 min. to the west, in 1865 18 deg. 44 min. to the west. At London between 1580 and 1692 the needle varied from 10 deg. 15 min. E. to 6 deg. W. In Dakota Territory the average variation is 12 deg. 30 min. east, in Minnesota 11 deg. east, while in Montana it is 20 deg. east. S. V. Clevenger, United States Deputy Surveyor, says in a work on government surveys: “The needle does not point due north, except in a few localities, and at no place does it continue to point with a given angular distance from the north, for any stated length of time. It changes secularly, annually, diurnally, and hourly, and is further subject to fluctuations reducible to no method of tabulation. In the vicinity of iron in any shape, or magnetic sands, the needle is deflected toward the material attracting it. This perturbation is known as local attraction. The author has known the needle to vary 5 deg. in a distance of one mile, and 1 deg. 30 min. during two hours when stationed at one place.” The variation in the magnetic needle of Columbus’ compass was probably caused by some local attraction of which he knew nothing.

DISCOURAGEMENTS TO ANTARCTIC EXPLORATIONS.

PALESTINE, Ind.

Why is the north pole the object of more research than the south pole?

SUBSCRIBER.

_Answer._—Soon after the discovery of America European navigators began to search the arctic zone for a passage to Asiatic countries which would be less dangerous and circuitous than that usually traveled. Although the object of polar expeditions has changed somewhat, yet one of the reasons which actuated them influences the explorers of the present time. The nearness of this pole has rendered it of greater interest than its southern counterpart. Expeditions are fitted out more easily for the shorter voyage. Relief can be procured with less delay. Other reasons are that from the closer neighborhood of the continents, and from the action of the Gulf Stream on the one side and the Japan current on the other, and from the fact that the earth is in perihelion during the winter season of the Northern hemisphere, and in aphelion during the winter of the Southern hemisphere, the Arctic Sea is more free from ice, which in the Antarctic region is an impregnable barrier in the way of discovery.

WAGES IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa.

Give a comparison of the wages of the United States with those of England.

O. P. L.

_Answer._—The following is a comparison of the wages paid per week in Chicago and Great Britain to various artisans:

Chicago. Great Britain.

Bakers $8.00 to $12.00 $6.50 to $6.60 Blacksmiths 9.00 to 12.00 7.04 to 8.12 Bookbinders 9.00 to 20.00 6.50 to 7.83 Bricklayers 6.00 to 10.50 7.58 to 9.63 Cabinetmakers 7.00 to 15.00 7.70 to 8.48 Carpenters 7.50 to 12.00 7.33 to 8.25 Farm laborers 3.40 to 4.25 Laborers, porters, etc 5.50 to 9.00 4.50 to 5.00 Painters 6.00 to 12.00 7.25 to 8.16 Plasterers 9.00 to 15.00 7.68 to 10.13 Plumbers 12.00 to 20.00 7.13 to 8.46 Printers 12.00 to 18.00 7.52 to 7.75 Shoemakers 9.00 to 18.00 7.35 Tailors 6.00 to 18.00 5.00 to 7.30 Tinsmiths 9.00 to 12.00 6.00 to 7.30

THE BANKERS’ CLEARING HOUSE, LONDON.

DAVENPORT, Iowa.

Tell us something of the purpose of the great Clearing House of London, and the amount of business done through it.

J. BROWN.

_Answer._—The Bankers’ Clearing House, London, is the medium through which bankers collect the checks and bills in their hands against other banks. Instead of presenting these checks and bills at each bank to which they are addressed, and receiving cash and notes in payment, clearing bankers settle the whole amount delivered during the day at this establishment in Postoffice Court, Lombard street, by receiving or paying the difference in the totals for or against them by a single check on the Bank of England. Every bank in London and the country is represented by clearing bankers, and as their agents send through the Clearing House all drafts payable in the city and in the country, the amount passing through this establishment every year is enormous. The total amount for the year ending April 30, 1882, was £6,382,654,000, or nearly $32,000,000,000. The total clearings of the Bankers’ Clearing House, Chicago, in the year ending Dec. 31, 1882, amounted to $2,366,526,185. This represented only the transactions of banks doing business in Chicago. It is estimated that the new rule as to settlement applied during the past year has reduced the total clearings nearly 25 per cent below what they would have been under the old rule. London is the center of exchange for the world, and the volume of its bank clearings must necessarily be enormously greater than that of any other city. The totals of bills, checks, and drafts passed through the London Clearing House, between 1869 and 1881 inclusive, foot up £68,010,643,000, or over three hundred and forty billion dollars. The rise and fall in trade not only in England, but in large degree the world over is mirrored in the annual records of these clearings for the period mentioned. Whereas in 1869 the total clearings were but 3,626,396,000 pounds sterling, they increased each year until 1873, when they amounted to £6,070,948,000. Then, in consequence of the widespread commercial depression the total trade transactions fell off, and the London bank clearings fell to £5,936,772,000 in 1874, £5,685,793,000 in 1875, and £4,963,480,000 in 1876, the lowest point touched. Not until 1880 did the clearings rise to nearly six billions again. In 1881, for the first time, did they reach and pass the total in 1873, indicating general business prosperity throughout the world.

CHICAGO AND MILWAUKEE COMPARED.

SHOSHONE AGENCY, W. T.

How does Milwaukee compare with Chicago in the amount of grain handled in one year?

WM. H. ROME.

_Answer._—The following are the statistics of receipts and shipments at Milwaukee for 1882:

Receipts, bu. | Shipments, bu. | Wheat 7,816,471 | Wheat 1,788,479 Oats 2,581,808 | Oats 1,600,916 Barley 4,653,192 | Barley 2,927,273 Rye 491,006 | Rye 440,369 Corn 2,037,680 | Corn 1,454,144 Flour (brls) 3,340,854 | Flour, (brls) 4,248,050 —————————— | —————————— Total in bu 32,613,994 | Total in bu 27,327,405

The statistics of Chicago during the same period are:

Receipts, bu. | Shipments, bu. | Wheat 22,326,680 | Wheat 19,905,319 Oats 26,975,137 | Oats 23,975,177 Barley 2,066,636 | Barley 4,130,069 Rye 2,052,214 | Rye 1,928,874 Corn 49,224,522 | Corn 49,264,167 Flour (brls) 4,378,864 | Flour (brls) 3,995,532 —————————— | —————————— Total in bu 122,350,074 | Total in bu 117,182,590

AMERICAN AND ENGLISH SHIP-BUILDING.

VAN WERT, Ohio.

How does American ship-building compare with the ship-building of Great Britain?

J. W. NICODEMUS.

_Answer._—During the year 1880 there were constructed in the United States for ocean traffic 412 sailing vessels, having a tonnage of 53,610, and 166 steam vessels, having a tonnage of 40,617. In addition to this, for the service of the lakes and rivers, were constructed forty-eight sailing vessels, with a tonnage of 5,447 and 182 steamers, with a tonnage of 38,237. In the same period Great Britain constructed 353 sailing vessels, with a tonnage of 57,534, and 474 steamers, with a tonnage of 346,361. The total number of American vessels plying the ocean was, at that time, 17,932, with a tonnage of 2,803,923, while Great Britain boasted of 25,185 vessels and a tonnage of 6,574,513. Including the shipping upon the inland lakes and rivers, the total shipping of the United States was 21,547 vessels, having a tonnage of 3,577,816. The reason for this enormous difference between the two countries is due partly to the greater cost of labor and material in the United States; partly to many more ways of employing capital profitably in the United States than there are in other countries; partly to the subsidies paid by the British Government to encourage the establishment and maintenance of British ocean lines of transportation; partly to the vastness of the British Empire and the exemption of British vessels and British goods carried in their vessels from heavy port dues and duties in trading to British ports; and partly from the American law forbidding the granting of the American flag to vessels built in other countries, even when owned by American citizens, and forbidding the restoration of our flag to American-built vessels after they have once gone under other colors, whatever the cause. American-built vessels compare in all other respects, except cost, favorably with the same classes of British vessels, and in many particulars American builders have done much to improve all classes of sea-going craft.

CELEBRATED PAINTINGS.

RAVANNA, Mo.

What and where are some of the most celebrated paintings?

A READER.

_Answer._—By general agreement among art critics, Michael Angelo and Raphael stand at the head of the line of master painters. Conspicuous among the great paintings of the former are “The Last Judgment,” “The Conversion of St. Paul,” and “The Crucifixion of St. Peter;” and among those of the latter, “The Dispute Concerning the Sacrament,” the “Madonna di Foligno,” and the “Madonna del Pesce, or Virgin of the Fish.” The “Last Judgment” is a large fresco painting, sixty feet high by thirty feet wide, occupying the wall opposite the entrance of the Sistine Chapel, in the Vatican Palace at Rome. Over 300 figures are represented in “the most violent attitudes and most admired disorder.” “The Conversion of St. Paul” is another large fresco painting in the Vatican. “The Crucifixion of Peter,” also in the Vatican, is one of the last from the hands of Angelo. “The Dispute Concerning the Sacrament” is a fresco representing, above, a convocation of the saints around the Almighty, the Savior, and the Virgin, enveloped in heavenly glory, while beneath the ceremony of the consecration of the sacrament is depicted. This is found in the Camera della Segnatura of the Vatican, Rome. “The Madonna di Foligno,” in the Vatican gallery, derives its name from the city of Foligno, which is represented in the back-ground. The “Madonna del Pesce,” now in the gallery at Madrid, Spain, represents the Virgin and Child enthroned, with St. Jerome on one side and on the other an archangel with the young Tobit, who carries a fish, from which circumstance the name is derived. “The Madonna di San Sisto” is considered by many critics the best of Raphael’s works. It is located in the gallery of Dresden, Germany, and represents the Madonna standing upon the clouds surrounded with glory, holding in her arms the eternal Son. Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara kneel at the sides. It was originally painted on wood, but has been transferred to canvas. The painting of “The Last Supper,” by Leonardo da Vinci, is recognized as one of the masterpieces. It was originally painted by order of the Duke of Milan on the walls of the refectory in the Dominican Convent of the Madonna delle Grazie. The picture is now in a state of decay, but several very fine copies have been made; one of them, at the Royal Academy, London, is considered almost, if not quite, as good as the original. Rubens’ paintings of the “Descent from the Cross” and “Elevation of the Cross,” at Antwerp, rank high as masterpieces. The “Adoration of the Trinity,” by Albert Durer, at Vienna, and his two pictures containing life-size figures of Peter and John, Mark and Paul, presented to the Council of Nuremberg, Germany, are also very famous. All of the above and many others, the productions of painters barely less noted, are classed as works of the great masters; and artists and amateurs are constantly going on pilgrimages to the temples and art galleries which are so favored as to enshrine them.

THE SCOTTISH POET, WM. KNOX.

HALSTEAD, Kan.

Please give a short biographical sketch of William Knox.

LINNIE REED.

_Answer._—William Knox, a Scottish poet, familiar to the readers of “Scott’s Diary,” was born at Roxburgh in 1789. Very little has been recorded concerning his life, which terminated at the comparatively early age of 36. He was very industrious, and in addition to his published volumes contributed to the _Literary Gazette_ and to various other magazines. In 1818 he published a collection of poems under the title of “The Lonely Heath,” and in the succeeding year wrote “Mariomne,” “A Visit to Dublin,” “Songs of Israel,” and “The Harp of Zion.”

THE PLANETS IN FEBRUARY.

WYANETT, Ill.

In or near what constellations are the planets at present?

C. A. H.

_Answer._—During the month of February, 1883, Mercury will be a morning star after the 10th, and will be found in Capricornus until near the end of the month, when it will enter Aquarius. Venus will also be a morning star while in Sagittarius. Mars can be observed near the sun in Capricornus; Jupiter nearly stationary between Taurus and Gemini, and Saturn nearly stationary between Aries and Taurus.

JOHN PHŒNIX.

ABINGDON, Ill.

Will you please give a short sketch of “John Phœnix,” the humorous California writer of twenty years ago.

C. SNYDER.

_Answer._—This noted humorist was an officer in the regular army. His real name was George Henry Derby. He was born in Massachusetts; was appointed to the military academy from that State, and graduated a second lieutenant of ordnance in 1846; same year was transferred to the Topographical Engineer Corps, a branch of the army since abolished. Lieutenant Derby was brevetted for gallantry at Cerro Gordo, Mexico, being wounded in the action. He was the author, over the nom de plume of John Phœnix, of “Phœnixiana” (’56), and the “Squibob Papers.” Many of his most popular productions were written while he was on the staff of the commanding general of the Military Department of the Pacific, engaged on the improvement of the harbor of San Diego, Cal., which accounts for his being referred to as a Californian writer. Captain Derby died May 15, 1861, in New York City, aged only 38.

ORIGIN OF THE WHIG PARTY.

DURAND, Ill.

Why is J. Quincy Adams classed with the Whig Presidents when the Whig party was not organized until 1836.

E. S. CAPRON.

_Answer._—The National Republicans, to whom J. Quincy Adams belonged, dropped that name and took the name of Whigs in 1832. Adams, who was one of the Whig leaders from the first, is usually classed as the first of the Whig Presidents, because the National policy he represented and maintained when President was substantially the policy advocated by the Whigs of 1832. In 1834 there was a State convention held in New York City, which gave organized form to the Whig party in that State, and this organization became National in 1836, when Wm. H. Harrison was first nominated by the Whigs for the Presidency. A still higher degree of organization was effected at the first delegate National convention of the Whig party, held in Harrisburg, Pa., Dec. 4, 1839, when Harrison was nominated for the great campaign of 1840, in which he was elected.

EARLY AMERICAN COINAGE.

DES MOINES, Iowa.

Name the earliest American coins.

E. WILSON.

_Answer._—The earliest coinage that can be called American, in the sense of Anglo-American, was ordered by the original Virginia Company, only five years after the founding of Jamestown. The coin were minted at Somers Islands, now known as the Bermudas. For a long while the standard currency of Virginia was tobacco, as in many of the early settlements of the Northwest it was beaver skins, and other pelts reckoned as worth such a fraction of a beaver skin or so many beaver skins. The accounts of the fur traders and pioneers in their dealings with the Indians were kept in beaver skins instead of coin until some years after the opening of this century, and in some parts of the Dominion of Canada they are still kept so. In 1645 the Assembly of the Virginia Colony, after a preamble reciting that, “It had maturely weighed and considered how advantageous a quoine would be to this colony, and the great wants and miseries which do daily happen unto it by the sole dependency upon tobacco,” provided for the issue of copper coins of the denominations of twopence, threepence, sixpence, and ninepence; but this law was never carried into effect, so the first colonial coinage of this country was that struck off by Massachusetts under the order of the General Court of that colony, passed May 27, 1652, creating a “mint howse” at Boston, and providing for the mintage of “12 pence, 6 pence, and 3 pence pieces, which shall be for forme flatt, and stamped on the one side with N. E., and on the other side with XIId., VId., and IIId., according to the value of each peece.” In 1662, from this same mint appeared the famous “pine tree shillings,” which were two-penny pieces. This mint was maintained for thirty-four years. In the reign of William and Mary copper coins were struck in England for New England and Carolina. Lord Baltimore had silver shillings, sixpences, and fourpences made in England to supply the demands of his province of Maryland. Vermont and Connecticut established mints in 1785 for the issue of copper coin. New Jersey followed a year later. But Congress had the establishment of a mint for the confederated States under advisement, and in this same year agreed upon a plan submitted by Thomas Jefferson, and the act went into operation on a small scale in 1787. After the adoption of the Constitution of the United States in 1789 all the State mints were closed, as the Constitution specifically places the sole power of coining money in the Federal Government.

DIFFERENCE OF TIME.

CHICAGO, Ill.

What is the difference of time between Chicago and the principal cities of the world?

E. A. JORDAN.

_Answer._—The difference in time between Chicago and Washington is 42 minutes. Keeping this in mind, the reader can easily determine the difference of time between Chicago and other cities named in the following table, which shows the difference of time between Washington City and some of the chief cities of the globe, as calculated at the United States Naval Observatory, Washington:

_Time Table._

At 12 o’clock noon, Saturday, at Washington it is—

12:12 p. m. Saturday at New York, U. S. 12:24 p. m. Saturday at Boston, U. S. 4:31 p. m. Saturday at Lisbon, Portugal 4:55 p. m. Saturday at Edinburgh, Scotland. 5:07 p. m. Saturday at London, England. 5:17 p. m. Saturday at Paris, France. 5:58 p. m. Saturday at Rome, Italy. 6:02 p. m. Saturday at Berlin, Prussia. 6:14 p. m. Saturday at Vienna, Austria. 6:22 p. m. Saturday at Cape Town, Africa. 7:04 p. m. Saturday at Constantinople. 11:01 p. m. Saturday at Calcutta, India. 12:54 a. m. Sunday at Pekin, China. 2:48 a. m. Sunday at Melbourne, Australia. 4:51 a. m. Sunday at Auckland, New Zealand. 8:58 a. m. Saturday at San Francisco, U. S. 9:40 a. m. Saturday at Salt Lake, U. S. 11:08 a. m. Saturday at New Orleans, U. S. 11:18 a. m. Saturday at Chicago, U. S. 12 noon Saturday at Lima, Peru.

VALUE OF RARE AMERICAN COINS.

DES MOINES, Iowa.

Is it true that coin collectors sometimes pay as high as $12 for a single American silver dollar? If so, why?

E. WILSON.

_Answer._—It is true that United States silver dollars of certain issues command very high premiums. The silver dollar of 1794, on which the image of Liberty has flowing hair, is quoted at $12.50; the “flying eagle dollars” of 1838 and 1839 are quoted at $15 each; so are the dollars of 1851 and 1852 with “Liberty seated;” so is that of 1858, with the same figure; while the excessively rare silver dollars of 1804 are quoted at $200 each. The half-dollar of 1796, with a filleted head and fifteen stars, commands $15; and that of the next year, with sixteen stars, commands $16. The value depends entirely on the rarity of these coins, since while the dollar of 1804 is quoted at $200, the “spread-eagle dollar” of 1803 is worth but $1.25. The fifteen and sixteen-star dollars belong to the period when it was the law that an additional stripe should be added to the United States flag whenever a new State was admitted. In the mintage they undertook to add a star for each State, but the flag was restored to the established rule of thirteen stripes, and the Goddess of Liberty on the dollars was relieved of the burden of carrying a star for each new State.

THE VISIBLE ZONES OF THE SUN.

BUSHNELL, Ill.

Which zone of the sun is presented to our view, the polar or equatorial?

G. W. PORTER.

_Answer._—The sun’s equator is almost coincident with the plane of the ecliptic, the inclination being only about seven degrees, in consequence of which the equatorial zone of the sun is continually presented to the view of terrestrial observers, and they may see every part of the sun’s surface in the course of each year.

BUTTERINE.

GIRARD, Ill.

What are the ingredients used in the manufacture of butterine?

A SUBSCRIBER.

_Answer._—This substitute for butter is made from tallow or lard, as the chief component, with cocoanut, olive, and palm oils to give it the necessary flavor and consistency; salt and a little annatto for coloring. If this recipe were always followed and the compound called by its right name it would not be objectionable; but manufacturers do not hesitate to add other ingredients that are unwholesome and injurious, and palm the stuff off for butter.

FINENESS OF UNITED STATES COIN.

MOUNMOUTH, Ill.

What are the proportions of pure metal in the coins of the United States?

READER.

_Answer._—The gold coins are nine-tenths fine; the silver coins, nine-tenths fine; the copper-nickel coins, such as the 5-cent piece and 3-cent piece, are one-fourth nickel and three-fourths copper; the bronze coins are 95 per cent copper and 5 per cent tin and zinc. The alloy in the gold coins is silver and copper; in the silver coins, copper.

NATIONAL DESCENT OF THE PRESIDENTS.

HARTLEY, Iowa.

Please give the parentage of each of the Presidents of the United States.

W. WILLIAMS.

_Answer._—The parents of Washington and Adams were of English origin; those of Jefferson, Welsh; those of Madison, Monroe, and J. Q. Adams, English; those of Jackson, Scotch-Irish; of Van Buren, Dutch; of Harrison and Tyler, English; of Polk, Scotch-Irish; of Taylor, Fillmore, and Pierce, English; of Buchanan, Irish; of Lincoln, English; of Johnson, probably English; of Grant, English; of Hayes, Scotch; of Garfield, English, though his mother was of Huguenot descent; of Arthur, Irish. It seems hardly worth while to give the names of parents on both sides, as few of our readers care particularly for the names of grandfathers and grandmothers of great men unless such ancestors were something more than ordinary.

THE ORDER OF DUMAS’ WORKS.

CHICAGO, Ill.