by the government to France, to study their cavalry tactics. He served during the Mexican war, where he obtained the rank of Captain, and lost his left arm. Resigning his commission in 1851, he joined the French army, where he served several years. On the outbreak of the rebellion he became a Brigadier General in the Union army, and fought with distinction. He was killed at the battle of Chantilly, in 1862. 2. He received $25,000 annually during his first term, and $50,000 annually during his last, making, therefore, a total of $300,000.

THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS.

LONG ISLAND, Kan., May 29, 1880. About the year 1876 there was a stir among astronomers because some one had claimed that he had discovered that one of the satellites of Mars was revolving around its primary in less time than the planet Mars itself revolved on its axis. Can you tell me if this was disproved, or whether it was substantiated and is accepted by scientific men; and, if so, whether it is considered an overthrow of Laplace's theory, or what is called the nebular hypothesis? Is that hypothesis still considered to be the most reasonable one in accounting for the origin of the solar system and of the universe, and why? Is there any positive evidence of any satellites of either of the planets in our system revolving round their primary in an opposite direction from that of the primary on its axis? W. R. YOUNG.

Answer.-The nebular hypothesis, as propounded by Laplace and developed by him and succeeding writers, has taken precedence of all other theories of the origin of the planetary system. We can best answer Mr. Young's question by quoting Laplace himself. "However arbitrary," says he, "the system of the planets may be, there exist among them some very remarkable relations which may throw light on their origin. Considering them with attention, we are astonished to see all the planets move around the sun from west to east, and nearly in the same plane; all the satellites except those of Uranus and Neptune moving around their primaries in the same direction, and nearly in the same plane as the planets. Lastly, the sun, the planets, and those satellites. in which a motion of rotation has been observed, turn on their axes in the same direction, and nearly in the same place as their motion of revolution." To these facts we may add, the small eccentricities of the orbits of the planets; that the planets are spheroids-the polar diameter being less than the equatorialand that they rotate on principal or natural axes; that is, the axes of rotation are steady. The constitution of the solar system is such as to insure its dynamical stability, a strong proof that it has been evolved under the the action of the forces which now regulate its motions. A very able discussion of the nebular hypothesis may be found in the January number of the National Quarterly Review, if any of our readers wish to pursue the study further.

THE GRANT DELEGATES.

BLAIRSTOWN, Iowa, June 12, 1880. In your weekly issue of June 10 you speak favorably of Grant delegates for continual adherence to him, unfavorably of those who turned to Garfield. Please state wherein the superlative excellence of the Grant delegates lie, and whether, in your opinion, had all adhered to their first choice, there would have been a nominee in time for the fall elections. G. H, SMITH.

Answer.-We did not speak unfavorably of any delegates for turning to Garfield. We recognize their perfect right to do so if they wished. We do feel proud, however, of the gallant 306 who never, from the first to the last, deserted the old hero. Unquestionably the break had to

be made somewhere in order to secure nominee: and it was reasonable to suppose that that break would take place in the ranks of the candidates who had the lesser number of votes, and who virtually held the balance of power. This was exactly what took place; the result was that the Grant strength was rapidly rising, and had the Blaine men continued to vote for their candidate a few ballots longer Grant would surely have been nominated. The Blaine men saw this, and their motto being "Anything to beat Grant," they dared not run the risk any longer, so the leaders gave the signal to turn all of their votes over to Garfield, the Sherman men could not do otherwise than to follow in their wake, and thus General Grant's nomination was prevented. If Mr. Smith has the perceptive faculties we think he has he cannot fail to see where the "superlative excellence" of the Grant delegates comes in.

INTEREST ON WAR DEBT.

MACKSBURG, Iowa, June 3, 1880. What was the interest on the war debt at the close of the war, and what is the interest on same this 3d day of June, 1880? It is claimed by G. Bankers that the amount in dollars and cents is greater to-day than at any other period since the close of the war. I do not mean rate per cent, but the sum total of money paid as interest on the war debt at different dates from close of war to present date. D. A. SAWYERS. Bankers doesn't After the close

Answer.-Evidently Mr. G. know what he is talking about.

of the war the annual interest on bonds given on account of the rebellion amounted to nearly $151,000,000. It has been decreased, from the payments of maturing bonds and refunding the balance at a lower rate of interest, to $89,000,000. During this period $880,000,000 of the public debt has been paid. The total amount paid as interest on the public deb: incurred from the war of the rebellion from July 1, 1861, to June 30, 1879, inclusive, was $1,764,256,198.

ARK OF THE COVENANT.

CAIRO, Ill, May 24, 1880. 1. What became of the Ark of the Covenant after the destruction of the children of Israel in Jerusalem, which contained the only copy of the Bible? 2. If that was destroyed, where did we get our copy from? JESSE NEWSOME.

Answer.-1. The Ark of the Covenant was de stroyed when the temple was burned by the Babylonians, 588 years before the coming of Christ. The second temple contained no ark, as Josephus expressly testifies. In the time of Christ the existing teinple was the third; it was built by Herod, and had no Ark of the Covenant. 2. There is no evidence whatever that the only copy of the Scriptures was the one in the Ark of the Covenant. Copies were constantly made from it, and from each other. It was expressly directed that the King's copy should be made directly from the one in the ark (Deut. xviii., 18, 20); but other copies were made from one another, and the destruction of the ark left them in existence and use.

SIDEREAL HEAT.

PLOVER, Wis., May 22, 1880. How does the amount of physical heat that the earth receives from the fixed stars compare with that received from the sun? What would be the effect, if any, were the earth suddenly deprived of its sidereal heat? A READER.

Answer. Notwithstanding the distance of the stars, the heat we receive from them is, in many cases, enough to be measured: and it is likely that, if no heat came to us except from the sun, the temperature of the earth would be much

"The bill will not pass this session, and there Is no good reason to expect that it will ever become a law. We venture the assertion that its author has never believed that it would pass, and we doubt if its passage was the object he had In mind when he introduced it. Mr. Weaver is a political agitator, and a bill likely to pass would be of no use to him as a means of agitation. We do not know that he admires the part he plays in Congress, but certain it is that he must play it, or return to private life at the end of his first term." GENERAL GARFIELD AND THE CREDIT MOBILIER. BROOKLYN, Wis.. June 24, 1880. Was General Garfield in any way connected with the Credit Mobilier?" ED F. DWIGHT. Answer.-General Garfield is charged with bribery and corruption in the Credit Mobilier matter. The misstatements of fact in this case begin with the reference to the report of the Poland Committee of 1873. upon which the accusers lay great stress. They say that Garfield was convicted by the committee. The report itself (No. 77, House of Representatives, Fortysecond Congress, third session) shows that the committee convicted nobody but Oakes Ames and James Brooks, whose expulsion it recommended. The other members who were sought to be implicated were acquitted. Of Representatives Blaine, Dawes, Scofield, Ringham, Kelley, and Garfield, the report says that the "committee do not find" that "they were aware of the object of Mr. Ames, or that they had any other purpose in taking this stock," so far as any of them did take it, "than to make a profitable investment:" that "the committee have not been able to find that any of these members of Congress have been affected in their official action in consequence of their interest in Credit Mobilier stock" so far as they had any interest; that "the committee do not find" that any of them, "in contracting with Mr. Ames," so far as they did contract, "had any corrupt motive or purpose," or were "aware that Mr. Ames had any." (See report, pp. viii., 10). That is to say, the committee hold all of the members named, with the two exceptions specified, guiltless of bribery and corruption. The question is, Did Garfield agree at all to take the stock, and did he receive $329, or any other sum, as a dividend; or, rather, did he receive $329, for no other sum is mentioned? Garfield himself says that he did neither of these things. Garfield says that 'Ames said that some of the stock had been

left or was to be left in his hands to sell, and I could take the amount which Mr. Train had offered me, by paying the $1,000 and the accrued interest. He said if I was not able to pay for it then, he would hold it for me till I could pay, or until some of the dividends were payable. I told him I would consider the matter; but I would not agree to take any stock until I knew, from the examination of the charter and the conditions of the subscription, the extent to which I should become pecuniarily liable. He said he was not sure, but thought a stockholder would be liable only for the par value of his stock; that he had not the stock and papers with him, but would have them after a while.

"From the case, as presented, I probably should have taken the stock if I had been satisfied in regard to the extent of pecuniary liability. Thus the matter rested for some time, I think until the following year. During that interval, I understood that there were dividends due amounting to nearly three times the par value of the stock. But in the meantime I heard that the company was involved in some controversy with the Pacific Railroad, and that Mr. Ames' right to sell the stock was denied. When I next saw Mr. Ames I told him I had concluded not to take the stock. There the matter ended, so far as I was concerned, and I had no further knowledge of the company's operations until the subject began to be discussed in the newspapers last fall."

Further on in his testimony before the above committee. General Garfield testifies:

"Nothing was ever said to me by Mr. Train or Mr. Ames to indicate or imply that the Credit Mobilier was or could be in any way connected with the legislation of Congress for the Pacific Railroad or for any other purpose. Mr. Ames never gave, or offered to give, me any stock or other valuable thing as a gift. I once asked and obtained from him, and afterward repaid to him, a loan of $300. That amount is the only valuable thing I ever received from or delivered to him.

"I never owned, received, or agreed to receive any stock of the Credit Mobilier or of the Union Pacific Railroad, or any dividends or profits arising from either of them.

"Mr. Ames stated to me at the time I borrowed the $300 that if I concluded to subscribe for the Credit Mobilier stock I could allow the loan to remain until the payment on that was adjusted." The evidence given shows simply this: Garfield borrowed for his personal use $300 of Ames. On or about the same time Ames told Garfield that he had some of the Credit Mobilier stock in his hands for sale, and that said stock would be a remarkably profitable investment, urging him to take some of it. Garfield replied that he had no money to make such an investment, even though it was profitable; that Ames thereupon said he "could get ten shares ($1.000) of stock for him and hold it until he could pay for it." Garfield said he would think of it. He afterward heard that the stock was in controversy, and concluded not to have anything to do with it, and never did. He paid Ames his $300, as he himself declared before the committee. Ames now forgets, and 18 not certain, but thinks he credited Garfield with the ten shares of stock,

but never delivered the stock, and that he once paid Garfield $329 as his dividend, after deducting cost of stock and loan. The facts in the case show plainly Garfield's innocence. another place we have given Ames' double statement, where his imperfect memory, a good word for lying, is plainly shown.

GOVERNMENT OF TURKEY.

In

IVANHOE, П. Will you answer the following: What is the government of European Turkey? What authority has the Sultan? The Vizier? What of railroads and telegraph lines? 2. What is the religion of the Bulgarians?

MRS. R. M. BECKWITH. Answer.-The fundamental laws of the Empire are based on the precepts of the Koran. The will of the Sultan is absolute, in so far as it is not in opposition to the accepted faith of the Mohammedan religion, as laid down in the sacred book of the Prophet. Next to the Koran, the laws of the "Multeka," a code formed of the supposed sayings and opinions of Mahomet, and the sentences and decisions of his immediate successors, are binding upon the sovereign, as well as his subjects. Another code of laws, the "canon nomeli," formed by Sultan Solyman, the Magnificent, form a collection of decrees, issued by him and his predecessors, and is held in general obedience. but merely as an emanation of human authority. The legislative and executive authority is exercised, under the supreme direction of the Sultan, by two high dignitaries, the Grand Vizier, the head of the temporal government, and the "Sheik-ul-Islam," the head of the church. Both are appointed by the sovereign, the latter with the nominal concurrence of the "Ulema," a body comprising the clergy and chief functionaries of the law over which the Sheikul-Islam presides, although he himself exercises neither priestly nor judicial functions. Connected with the "Ulema" are the "Mufti," the interpreters of the Koran. The Ulema comprises all the great judges, theologians, and jurists, and the great teachers of literature and science who may be summoned by the Mufti. The principal civic functionaries bear the title of Beys. The Pashas are at once military and civil commanders, and commonly act as receivers of taxes. The Grand Vizier, as head of the government and representative of the sovereign, is President of the Ministerial Council, and, by virtue of his office, Minister of the Interior. There are eight ministers, namely: of War, Finance, Marine, Commerce, Public Works, Police, Justice, and Public Instruction. The whole of the Empire is divided into governments and subdivided into provinces and districts. A Governor, who is held to represent the Sultan, and is assisted by a council, is placed at the head of each gov

ernment.

The provinces and districts are subject to inferior authorities, under the superintendency of the principal governor. All subjects, however humble their origin, are eligible to, and may fill, the highest office in the State. Birth confers no privilege, as all true believers are equals in the eye of the law. There were, at the close of 1878, 786 miles of railroad in operation in European Turkey. The length of telegraph lines on Jan. 1, 1877, was 17,950 miles, and the length of wires 31 782 miles, with

Answer.-Warren Hastings, the first Governor General of British India, was born in England in 1732. In 1750 he obtained a clerkship in Calcutta, in the service of the East India Company. A few years afterward he was selected to negotiate with the native princes, because, in addition to other qualifications, he was master of the Persian and Hindostanee languages. He served as a member of the Council of Bengal from 1761 to 1764, after which he returned to England, having realized a moderate fortune. After four years in which by his liberality hè had spent nearly all his money, he again offered his services to the Directors, and was appointed a member of the Council of Madras, and on account of his able management he was appointed in 1772 President of the Council of Bengal. One year later, by an act of Parliament, the control of all British India was given to this council, which was to consist of the President and four members. The majority of the council ruled, and for two years Sir Francis Philips, combining with two other members, controlled the government of India, against the policy of the President. Hastings, through his agent in London, presented a conditional resignation of his office in the council which was gladly accepted by the company, owing to Hastings' cruelty and ambition in respect to the Rohilla war, and Mr. Wheler was appointed to succeed him. In the meantime one of the council had died, giving him the deciding vote, He therefore denied that he had resigned, and was able to keep his office. In 1780 Hastings and Francis quarreled, and the result was that the latter challenged him to mortal combat. Francis was severely wounded. Shortly after this Hyder Ali, King of Mygore, invaded India with 90,000 men. After several victories he was defeated by the English Porto Novo. To supply the deficit the treasury occasioned by the war he resorted to these violent and unscrupulous measures which provoked his impeachment, and have left a stain on his character that even his great talents and service cannot efface. He resolved to plunder Chuyte Sing, the rich Rajah of Benares. By repeated extortions he provoked him to resist, and then pushed that resistance bv expelling him from his dominions and confiscating his revenue. The spoilation of the Begums of Oude, under circumstances of peculiar atrocity, was another crime laid to his charge. In 1785 he resigned his office and returned to England. After two sessions had been spent in preparation for his impeachment, the case was formally opened in 1788 by Burke, Fox, and others, and terminated in his acquittal in 1795. He was richly rewarded by the company, and before his death, which occurred in 1818, admitted into royal favor.

and he was again absolute.

at

in

ployed by the various nations of the earth at the present time? PRIMA.

Answer.-The punishment of death, as the penalty for murder, has prevailed from the earliest times in all parts of the world. In most nations treason or rebellion against lawful government has also been thus punished; and in England and elsewhere, down to a very recent period, the same has been true of counterfeiting, forgery, mail robbery, and several other crimes. In some of the Southern States at the present time burglary is punishable by hanging. The manner of execution varies greatly. Military criminals, in modern times, are usually shot. In civil administrations the modes most prevalent have been decapitation upon the "block," used for political criminals of rank in England: the guillotine in France; in Spanish countries the garrote; but in most countries now hanging. In Japan, for some offenses, the criminal is condemned to take his own life in the presence of officials. In China decapitation is the usual form of death for criminals, unless the crime is of the worst character, when the felon is pinioned to a cross and cut into pieces, by removing first the eyelids, then the lips, nose, cheeks, arms, legs, and afterward disemboweling and quartering.

NEW YORK MILLIONARES.

HENRY, Ill., June 15, 1880. 1. Please publish the names and respective wealth of ten of the richest men in the United States. 2. Has the bonded debt of the United States increased or decreased, and to what extent? 3. Give reason for the removal of Arthur from the New York Custom House? C. R. BENEDICT.

Answer.-1. Probably no city outside of London and Paris in the world can show as much private wealth as the city of New York. Her chief millionares are John Jacob Astor and William H. Vanderbilt. The former's fortune at present, real estate value, is estimated

at $100,000,000, while that of the latter is still larger, just how much we are unable to say. Jay Gould, notwithstanding his crash a decade since, is probably worth $25,000,000. Edward H. Green represents another great railroad fortune, estimated at $20,000,000. Henry Hilton can be safely put down at $20,000,000. To these may be added James Keene and Rufus Hatch, also Flood and Mackay, of San Francisco, all of whom rank high among the millions. 2. It has decreased since the close of the war $880,000,000; besides, we have now about $200,000,000 in the Treasury, and at the close of the war we only had $88,218,055. 3. There was no good reason for his removal. The President fancied that Arthur was opposed to the adininistration in certain reforms in the New York Custom House, which Arthur considered he had already covered, and so removed him. It is a debatable question whether the President was right in his course or not.

JEAN LAFITTE-CRIMSON INK. OSWEGO CENTER, N. Y., June 10, 1880. 1. Who was Jean Lafitte? Was he ever confined as a prisoner in England? Please give a short biographical sketch of his life if your space permits. 3. Give receipt for making crimson ink.

C. MONROE SABIN. Answer.-1. Jean Lafitte, a notorious privateer, was born about 1780, and became about 1813 the leader of a band of pirates who established themselves in Grande Terre, in Barataria Bay, in the Gulf of Mexico. In 1814, he was of

fered a large sum of money and a commission in the navy on condition of his assisting the British in their attack on New Orleans. He refused their proposals, and offered his serv ices to defend Louisiana on condition of pardon to himself and followers, which offer was accepted. The time and circumstances of his death are unknown. The adventures of Lafitte have formed the subject for several tales and romances. 2. Triturate 1 gram of pure carmine with 15 grams of acetate of ammonia solution, and an equal quantity of distilled water in a porcelain mortar, and, after allowing the whole to stand for some time, add a few drops of pure white sugar sirup.

GENERAL GARFIELD'S SPEECH.

WARSAW, Neb., June 15, 1880. Please tell us how Mr. Garfield can explain that part of his speech where he says, "The coming fight is our Thermopylæ. We are standing upon a narrow isthmus. If our Spartan hosts are united we can withstand all the Greeks that the Xerxes of Democracy can bring against us?" I thought Xerxes was the leader of the Persians. J.JOHNATON.

Answer.-Xerxes was the leader of the Persians, and he was joined in his invasion of Greece by many Greeks, who fought as traitors against their own country. Indeed, it was an exiled king of Sparta who, animated by resentment, first urged the Persian King to invade Sparta. The Greek states were divided, the one against the other, and the only ones which were united against Persia were Sparta, Athens, Ægina, Megara, Platea, and Thespiæ. The national league expressed indeed the principles of Greek unity, but Greece was far from being united. Wherever democracy had enemies, Persia had friends. With this knowledge the meaning of General Garfield at once becomes clear. The interpretation is this: If the Republicans, who so zealously support their respective candidates for the nominee of the Republican convention, will unite on the choice of the convention, whoever it may be, with an earnest heart and good will, they will be successful, notwithstanding that many who formerly belonged to the Republican party had gone over to the Democracy.

"TALKING FOR BUNCOMBE. " OMAHA, Iowa, June 12, 1880. What is the origin of the saying, "Talking for bun combe?" W.P. Answer.-Buncombe is the name of a county in the western part of North Carolina. The phrase "talking for buncombe," often heard among politicians, was first used by a member of Congress from this district. During a long speech which he made, several members, who had not patience to listen, retired from the hall. He then told the remaining members that they also might go too, for he should speak some time, and he was "only talking for Buncombe.'

VERMIN ON HOGS.

CHICAGO, Ill., June 15, 1880. Are lice on hogs injurious to them? If so, what is a preventive or cure? AN OLD SUBSCRIBER.

Answer.-These disgusting parasites abound on ill-fed and half-sick hogs. Their presence is nearly always a sign that the animal is out of condition. It is not sufficient, therefore, to destroy them with an insecticide; if the cure is expected to be permanent, the animal must be kept clean, well fed, and supported with tonics, such as sulphate of iron, if occasion demand it. As a safe and efficient ointment to kill lice, use Scotch snuff, rubbed up with lard. Kerosene is also

very destructive to lice, and may be freely sponged over the animal.

OPHIR.

PLAINFIELD, Ill., June 15. Where was the city or country of Ophir, mentioned in I Kings, ixth chapter, 28th verse, situated? It speaks of having brought 450 talents from there. This gold is mentioned quite a number of times in the Old Testament; was this gold like our gold? D. O. DOCKENDORF. Answer.-Ophir was an ancient country, celebrated for its gold, and is several times. mentioned in the Scriptures. Its position has not been ascertained, and Arabia, India, and Africa are contended for by different authorities. Josephus considers Malacca to be Ophir, and Sir Emerson Tennett supports this view. Purchas says Ceylon. But the discoveries made in 1868, of gold deposits on the western coast of Africa, and the remains of ancient workings, give additional force to the ideas entertained by many that this was the locality of Ophir. Gold has been and always will be the same substance.

THE BULLDOZERS.

OKALOOSA, La., June 8, 1880. Will you state the present condition of the Congressional election laws? What are the provisions in regard to supervisors, marshals, etc., since the changes lately made by the Democrats? Jos. BREWSTER.

Answer.-The President vetoing the marshal's bill left the laws exactly as they were before, except that the Domocrats have refused to appropriate any money to defray the expenses of the United States marshals, hoping by so doing to force them to cease their supervision and power at the polls, and thus allow the Democrats to bulldoze and intimidate honest Republican voters as much as they please in the South.

ALL NATIONS HAVE A GOD. BARREVILLE, Ill., June 13, 1880. Is there any class of people (or nation) on the globe that is without some form of religion or worship. S. S. SHEPARD.

Answer-It is generally held that none of the uncivilized tribes are so low down in the scale of humanity as not to have some sort of religion or superstition. It has been claimed that certain tribes in Australia and Africa were without any conception of a ruling spirit or religion, but this has been contradicted. We do not believe any tribe or nation exists without some sort of religion.

EARLY COLLEGES.

AGENCY CITY, Iowa, June 20, 1880. 1. What were the names of the first ten colleges in the United States? 2. Did most of the early statesmen and patriots graduate there? N. W. M.

Answer.-1. We give below the first ten colleges and universities organized in the United States and the dates of the same: Harvard, 1636: William and Mary, 1693; Yale, 1700; Princeton, 1748; University of Pennsylvania, 1749: Columbia, 1754: Brown, 1765; Dartmouth, 1770; Rutgers, 1771; Hampden-Sidney, 1775. They are all among the leading colleges of today. 2. A large proportion of them did.

"FANNY FERN.'

STATE CENTER, Iowa, June 20, 1880. 1. What is the age of General Grant? 2. Will you give a short sketch of Fanny Fern? C. O. HOLBY.

Answer.-1. 58. 2. Sarah Payson Parton was the wife of James Parton, an able and popular writer, and sister of N. P. Willis, the poet, was born in Portland, Me., in 1811. She published, under the pseudonym of "Fanny Fern": "Fern Leaves," "Little Ferns," "Ruth Hall," "The Play-day Book," "Fresh Leaves," and "Rose

Clark," which obtained great popularity in this country, and were republished in England.

BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES.

HINGHAM, Wis., June 16, 1880. How are the bills of the Bank of England secured? Are they secured by government bonds, after the manner of our national banks? F. A. BALCH.

Answer.-The Bank of England now issues $70,000,000 of notes, not under the denomination of $25, against that amount of securities set apart for the purpose; besides this, it may issue bank notes against an equal amount of gold and silver held in reserve, as regulated by law. A system of issuing credits redeemable in specie on presentation was adopted by the bank in the early part of its career, which has descended to the United States, but was abandoned in 1844 as disastrous.

FASTEST RUNNING AND RAILROAD TIME. SILVER LAKE, Kan., June 15, 1880. 1. Was there ever a railroad train that run over fift successive miles at the rate of a mile a minute? What is the fastest running horse time on record, n less than a mile? C. W. EDSON.

Answer.-1. Engine No. 10 and W H Vander. bilt's special palace car, Engineer Isaac Deyeit, made 118 miles in 120 minutes on the Canada Southern Railway, from St. Thomas to Victoria, Ont. This included an eight minutes stoppage for water and at a crossing, hence the running was done for the whole distance in 112 minutes. Welland to Victoria, a distance of seventeen miles, was made in 142 minutes. 2. Fastest mile ever run made by Ten Broeck at Louisville, Ky., May 24, 1877. Time. 1:3934. Age 5 years, carrying 110 pounds, against time.