The morning call., 1891-10-25
THE CALLS
QUERY COLUMN.
Derivation Of the PaWnDrOkGr's Well
Known SIGN.
Where Was Bryant's Oregon River !-Eusking
Bees in the Backwoods -Burials in Gene
teries-C Coloring of Red Herrings.

OREGON RIvER-C. K, City. There is
no Oregon River. 1t is not apparent what
stream of water was referred to as the
Oregon River by Bryant in his "Thana-
topsis." The name was first given to an
imaginary river in the West, and Jonathan
Carver, an American traveller. mentioned ii
in 1868 and first used it on a map In 1913,
though it is claimed. for some reason un-
known to the @. c., that he evidently con-
founded the stream with the Missouri.
Yet again. the Columbia River in Oregon is
not unknown as the Oregon as shown in
the folio wing from the British Encyclopedia:
The Oregon (or Columbia) is formed by
the union of two streams rising in the
Rocky Mountains, one in British Columbia,
the other in Idaho. The ebb and
flow of the tide are perceptble for Il hundred
miles from the mouth OF the Oregon and
the river is navigabe for that distance"
In 1892 Captain Robert Gray OF Boston left
in the Columbia, said to belong to General
Washington of the American States" as
one old chronicle put 1t, to explore the
Russian-American territory, and he dis
covered the river and named it after his
vessel.
HUsKING BEEs-E: K, Fruitvale. CAL
In the days gone by, when agricultural i'm
pements were not in general use, and when
the time and occasions for social amenities
were rare and few, husking bees were pop
uIar and established institutions among the
farmers of the East and West. On such oc-
casIonS the farmers and their wives, but the
young people especially, gathered from far
and near. The fortunate farmer thus Wis
tied had the store of corn brought in from
the field during the day huSked in one night
by his visitors, and the latter were always
rewarded by feast OF good things TO eat,
followed by a dance, the occasion being
one of good cheer and jOyfulness, with not a
little Oye-maklng for the younger. In this
manner the rounds of tine neighb0rS would
be made. and such Shncking and dancing
almost always took place in the barn. Web
ster defines the Americansm "bee" TO mean
an assemblage of persons to engage in
united labor for the benefit of an individual
or family, and thus there were quilting and
raising bees.
PAwNBRoKER's SIGN-B. g., San Jose.
Cal. Iu the reign of Emperor Constantine
the Great was first struck at Byzantlum
(ConstantinOple) coin of pure gold called
byzant, bezant, besant or byzantine.
These coins. or the gold circles representing
them, for they sometimes bore no impress
sion, were introduced in Europe by the
Crusaders and became current from the
time of the ninth century, and owing TO the
ASSOCIATION OIL Ilt com Will Tue tTuSdutS IL
was the one with which the higher class of
soldiers that bore the cross were paid. 1t
thus acquired a sort of sacred character, ac-
counting for its frequency on heraldic
shields Three byzants became the badge
Of the Medci family and were thence
adopted as the national arms of Lombardy.
! The L1mbards became the first bankers or
profess siOnal money-lenders in England, and
| hence the three byzants or balls now en-
! ployed as the sign for pawnbroker.
| RED HERRINGs-M. H., City. The fa-
| nous red herriugs of Yarmouth are salted
| for fourteen days If they are to be made into
"red well-cured or high-dried herrings. :"
after which they are washed and hung in
wood smoke for another fortnight. The
| fish are strung on thin sticks, TWENTY-FIVE to
a stick, for the smoking process, oak blllets
| being generally the fuel because giving a
| high color to the fish though oak timber is
| also used to produce another color to suit
! the fancies of particular foreign markets.
| In the curing the process continues OF alter
nately drying and dripping, two days OF fire.
| burning being followed by one of dripping.
! 1t is, OF course. the smoke which gives the
| fish its bronzed color.
BURIAI.s IN CEMErERIEs-G. L. W. S.
| and j. D., City. o. The interment OF
bodies in cemeteries within corpO rate limits
| can be stopped by proper enactment of the
| constituted authorities. (2) Having pur-
| chased burial plat in a cemetery, If the
| association is compelled to remove its ceme-
| terry your plat cannot be taken from you
| without compensation in kind or In value.
| The fact that all platS III a cemetery asSO-
citation have been sold does not mean also
| that interments must cease also in plats
sold and held, whether there have been
burials in that particular plat or not.
| Nh
| % The statement that There is a free
| Great Britain " must be taken with a grain
of allowance. 1t is no more true than it is
of every city and town in the United States.
! (2) Nor is the great Public Library of Bos-
tor, Mass, the largest in the world, though
it is the largest IN this country, with the ex.
ceptiOn of the library of Congress. (3)
Americans are great readers OF books and
newspapers-perhaps more so than any
other nation.
SHORTHAND WRITING-J. D. T., West
Oakland. Cal. o. There are half dozen OF
more methods of shorthand writing. (2) The
most popular in America are Marsh's, Ora
hams, Munson's and Ben Pltman's, but they
are all notifications OF Pltman's system.
| ~ 1t Is no easy matter to master any Of the
methods and tnen make practical use oil
that knowledge. There are teachers oi
shorthand and to them apply for methods
| Of instruction.
BY THE COLD STORAGE PRocEss-W
N. H., Healdsburg, Cal. The well-preserved
California Muscat grapes which Won saw in
the markets East in the month of April
were undoubtedly preserved by the cold
| storage process. You live in q grape coun
| try; ask your neighbOrs about the best
methods of preserving grapes fresh. The
| q. G.. is not a recipe column.
NATURALIZATION OF A MINOR. Nee,
City. u An alien minor must have resided
in this country three years before arriving
at the age Of q, and after residence of five
| years, including the three of minority, may
be admitted as a citizen. (2l He takes out
| his naturalization papers without having
made the declaration of intention.
! UNCLE SANS NAvY-C. B. A. City a
The United States has not ready for action
any war vessel classed first-class in the
sense that term is employed to designate
the heavy and large llne-of-battle ships In
foreign navies. (2l All its vessels in the
new navy are efficient in their classes
though not fully manned.
STATESMEN OF THE CENTURY-R. j. W.,
City. The Q. C. will not pretend to decide
who is the greatest statesman of the century.
| You may make your choice of the folio wing
named at hazard Talleyrand, Bismarck,
Gladstone, Beaconsfed, Palmerstou, Pitt,
Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton. Clay, Cal
houn, Seward.
PRESIDENTIAL SUCCEssIoN-C K, City
In case of the death of the President and
| the Vice-President, the Secretary of State
would be the first member of the Cabinet in
a given order to act as President until the
disability is removed or a President elected
COLLECTION OF DEBTS. P. E., Mo
destu, Cal. If the person who is indebted
to you but has left for foreign parts has
any property in this State you may bring
suit and attach that property; if he has not
you may whistle for your money