The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-07-12

IHE CALLS Query Column Is conducted with
erai Interest.
Catch questions will not receive any attention.
No opinion will be given IN this column regard
ing the reliability or character OF any person or
hfms In this city or elsewhere.
Questions, answers 10 which are In the nature
OF an advertisement. will not be answered.
Every inquiry must have The true and full
name OF the sender, as we'll as the correct resi-
oehce. Any inquiry that has not the cor
rect name anu address OF the sender will
be treated as II 1t was not signed, and the
writer need not expect an snswer.
FRENCH SPoIIATIoN CLAIMs-H. J. a.,
East Oakland. Cal. The bill to provide for
the ascertainment of claims of American
citizens for spoliations committed by the
French prior to July 81, 1901, was taken up
In the Senate on December 9, 1884, on JAN
uary IA, 1885, passed. and on the Goth ap-
proved by the President. The bill provided
that all citizens of the United States, or
their representatives, having valid claims
TO indemnity upon the French Government
| lor acts committed prior to the ratification
! OF the convention concluded on the Both of
september, 1900, may petition to the Court
| Oh claims within two years from the pas
| Sageo1 the q. t; authorized the organization of
tne court to examine and determine the val
| ldlty ana amount of all the claims included
I within the description named in the enact
| Ing clause together with their present own
| ership, aud, il by assignee, the date of the
assignment and the consideration paid; de-
| ciared that all suitable testimony on oath or
animation, and all other proper evidence,
| historic and documentary, be received; pro-
| Vided that notice OF all petitions be served
| on The Attorney-General, VINO is authorized
| 10 examine witnesses. TO have access to all
| testimony taken, to be heard by the court,
| and to resist all claims by all proper legal
uelenses; declared 1t the duty of the Secre-
| tary OF State to procure through tue Ameri-
| can Minister at Paris all evidence
| ana documents relating to the claims
as can be obtained from abroad which
| with like evidence aud documents on file in
the Department Of State. or which may be
| Med, may be used by both sides; enacted
that on the first Monday Of December of
| each year the court report to Congress fer
final action the facts found by 1t and its
| conclusions in all cases which it has dis
posed of and not previously reported, such
nndlng and report to be taken merely as
advisory to the law and facts found, and
not to conclude either the claimant or the
United States; all claims not finally pre-
scented to the court within two years are
forever barred and nothing in the act COM
united the United States to the payment Of
any such claims. On March "a, 1891, the
first payment out of the Treasury was made
on such reported claim to Leonard Myers of
Philadelphia. The first draft was for S13, 500,
issued to Mrs. Mary Ann Buchanan for
losses ON the ship Friendship.
MAKING LEATHER-J. P. A., City. The
process Of making leather is such a COM
mon one, though there may De various
patents for Improvement in the tanning, and
the opportunities afforded in this city so
numerous to witness the operation, that
your query is too much like begging the
question. Briefly stated, leather is es7
tiatlV tho akin of animal en- oh oil
altered by the vegetable principle called
tanuin as to arrest the proneness to decom-
pose. The skins Of all animals used in the
production of leather consist chiefly of gela-
tine, substance which easily enters into
chemical combination with the fannie acid
fcund in the bark OF most trees, forming an
lnsoluble tanno-gelatin. And this is
the whole theory of tanning or
converting the skins of animals in
to leather, the tannin giving the
skin its peculiar odor aud color, as the birch
bark used in making Russia leather gives 1t
its aromatic odor. Again. in ttswing the pro-
cess of dressing and preparing skins in white,
antlseptic materials are used to preserve
from decay, by which operation no chemical
change is effected in the gelatine. The first
process is careful washing. next dressing
with lime, then removing the hair or wool,
and lastly sleeping them in some one or
more OF the various mixtures which are used
in this method for converting skins into
leather. Another kind of dressing is by
treating the skin with oil alter proper clean
ing with lime, the oil being rubbed aud
worked into the skin, displacing all the
water aud uniting with the material, render
ing its texture peculiarly soft 4 nd spongy.
NEWSPAPER CoRREsPoNDENTs-J FL.
f., Stockton. Cal ~ Men are employed by
newspapers TO travel and write letters de.
scriptive of their travels (2) What such
correspondents get for their services de-
ponds upon number of contingencies, as
follows: Their reputation as writers their
ability; the service they are sent on, and
other things. beginners" are not en-
ployed in such capacity. 81 If person
desires 10 engage in such correspondence
he might select field of labor. or not-he
might tr ayel at rand0m-and if he got hold
OF anything bright, newsy, cossipy, inter
esting or instructive, he could send it to
some leading paper with the understanding
that if used it is to be paid for. Write your
story Just as If you were telling the cir
cumstance 10 friend in ordinary CONVEX
sation write on only one side of your sheet
of paper; never make use of abbreyiations,
foreign language or short lands" Isl, aud
IL your copy gets safely through the hands
OF the city editor, the managing editor, the
editor-in-ciief, the intelligent compositor
and the proof-reader, and manages to APP
pear in the published edition sufficiently
Ineligible to convey your ideas to the
reader, you may thank your stars, and go
on your way rejoicing in the hope that after
you have reached elissful old age you can
m axe enough money to hold body and soul
together until you die, when your friends Or
the public officers, through the sheer ne.
cessities of the case, Will have to bury you.
RIFLES. PRoJECTILEs AND PENETRAr-
ING FORCE. J. c.. City. You might as
we'll have asked, What is the flight of
bird?" There are different kinds of rifles
and smooth-bore guns, and the penetrating
force depends altogether upon the kind
of rifle used, the kind of powder
used and the kind of projectile fired
from the gun. Under ordinary circum-
stances the same kind of powder-Mam-
moths used in a 6-inch, S-inch and 15-nch
gun. The initial velocity of this kind Of
powder is from 1900 to 1000 feet per second.
he quickest powder is used in the navy
If the same weight of sporting powder were
used for charge. the weight of metal be-
ing the same, the gun would he burst into
fragments. A conica projectile has greater
penetrating power than round ball, all
other things being equal. However, your
question is ambiguous. and to answer it in
THE MILKY WAY-J. P. A., City. The
milky way is the name given to a portion
OF the heavens, aud owes its peculiar and
milky appearance to the blended light of
myriads of stars, too minute TO be indivdu-
ally recognized by the naked eye, yet dis
cernible by telescopes of moderate powers
Alpha Centauri is the nearest of the fixed
stars in the constellation. According to the
Greek poets Juno is said TO have split her
milk in the heavens after sucking Mercury
or Hercules. The ancents called this part
OF the heavens via lactea-the milky way or
road.
SOLDIERS OF THE LEGION. P. A.
City. Soldiers of the Legion were the in
fantry men. The legion was a corps of
soldiers in the Roman armies, first formed
by Romulus. about $50 b. c., when il con-
sisted OF 5000 foot and 800 horse. A legion
was divided into ten cohorts and every CO.
hort into six centuries, with standard
guarded by ten men. The French Army
was divided into legions subsequent to the
reign of Francis |.