The morning call., 1892-06-26
CALL QUERY COLUMN.
Origin of the Phrase That Nine
TailOrS Make q Man.
Citizenship by Birth-Insurance on Suicides.
General Buffers Mistake-soda
and Its Components.

MINI. TAII.oRs. ETA. a, City. The
historical problem that mine tailors make
a man" calls as loudly and vainly for an
answer as the question of the identity Of
the Man in the Iron Mask or of
the villain that struck Billy Patter-
son. While various explanations can
be offered, furnishing food for speeula-
ton. none can be accepted as satisfactory.
One version has if that in 1762-a story
which. it is said errs in being dated-an
orphan boy applied for aims at fashion
able tailer's shop in LondOn. Nine OF the
iourneymen clHbbed together and each con-
trjbuted a shilling with which capital the
lad started a fruitstaud. be became rich
and when he set up his carriage he painted
on the panel Nine tailors made ne
mau." But as far back as 1852 appears
variation In a publication Of the day and it
ran thus
There is proverh which has been Of Old,
And many have likewise been so told
To the discredit ol the taylOr'S trade:
Nine taylors s0e 10 make man, they said;
But for their credit III unriddie il Z ye;
a draper once feI into poyertie,
Nine taylers ioynd their purses tcgether tnen'
To set him up an0 made him man azen
A version with some slight difference IN
details reappears in Rhenish Prussia. An
other far-fetched explanation appeared IN
the British Apollo in 17O8, but it hardly
merits reproduction. There Is only one eX-
PLANTATION that seems to bear any plausi-
bilitv and is not TO The diScredt OF the
trade as the preceding versions are APP
pareDtly A toll Of a bell Is called
''teller" in rural England, from tbs verb ito
telr' or count" In some places after the
funeral 4 certain number OF bell-stTO6es are
made to denote whether the deceased was
man, woman or child. the number being
generally nine for q man, six for woman
and three for q child That nine tellers
mark a man" was readily perverted into
mine taiiors make man" is apparent to
. any one. And vet the lTOYerb Is not In
digenOus TO England. tits familiar phrase
in Prussia, the peasants Of Brittany have
saving which is the English fOTmulaT to the
very words, In Hanover II tall0rS are re-
CURED TO make the man, and in other parts
OF Germany IS is tie number, while in
Silesia il is i buu0n-makeTS and not
tailoFs. Still the jest remains standing
libel on the ay0cat0n, aud the modes Of
applying ii seem Well-nigh endless.
SoDA-D P, Stayton, Or a Soda is
the normal carbonate of sodium, and soda
ash the common name of the commercial
article. Various caTbOnates of sodium
occur in nature, either in solution Of the
water Of various alkaline lakes, OF as de-
posts at the bottoms of such as have be-
come dried up, but usually mixed with
more or less common SALT sodium sulphate
and'other saline combinations. Soda was
formerly obtained from the ashes Of yari-
Gus plants growing by tie seashore and
from the aforesaid deposits. These sources
have become of little importance since soda
began 10 be made artifcally from common
salt. ~ Saltwater is drink generally
consisting Of ordinary water. into which
carbonlc acid has been forced under
IT rarnIV contains soda
form, but the name originally applied when
sodium carbonate was contained in it has
been retained. 81 The soda powder used
IN making bread is q mbinatOn OF sodium
bicaTbonate ana taTtaTic acid, and some
times also ammonia. az The worlds sup
ply OF nitrate Of. soda is obtained from the
TainleSs district on the borders Of Chile,
where il Is found in enormous quantities.
It's chief uses are as a fertilizer and for the
production Of nitric acid and saltpeter.
BUTLER Is MIsTAKEN-T. L. B., OAK
land, Cal. General Butler is wrong in the
tootnote in his book regarding the desirue-
ton in connection with the blowing up of
the schooner Parallel in the cove on the
ocean beach, just north Of the Cliff House.
Neither was the Cliff House thrown on its
side nor any wreck crushed in ike a
card Coard." True, great column Of water
was raised in the air, and in descending
deposited strands Of rope and other debris
from the wreck on the Clubhouse porch
on the ocean side, and also elseW here on
the side Of the house nearest the scene of
tie explosion. Some Of the outh0uses were
wrecked, particularly the shed for horses,
which was beyond the Cliff House. and also
the cottages further beyond Il. The shed
was crushed In or collapsed and the fOuuda-
ton on the ocean side Of tie cottages slid
away, but the damage TO the CHf House
itself was not nything ike that described
by the general. The editor Of the O. c.
speaks Of his own knowledge gathered on
the spot within about one hour after the
explosion and Investigations continued
through tie night and half Of the following
morning
CITIZENSHIP BY BIRTH-R A. c., City
o. The child born of foreign parentage on the
sea and under the American flag may claim
federal citizenship. because by a fiction Of
Law. the vessel carrying the national flag is
construed 10 be American soil, and is under
the protection Of the sovereign government.
o. So child born in England, but whose
father IS citizen Of the United States, has
been decided TO be federal citizen by virtue
ot his fathers citizenship and under the
law Of eypstriatiOn. but there is limit TO
the right Of descent Of such citizenship. 81
Whether this last named child would have
10 be naturaliZed on coming to America
after having lived in England until over q
years of age would depend upon whether he
exercised the citizenship rights II an
Engllshman before so coming.
INSURANCE on SUICIDES - NJ. NJ. V,
City. The O. c. is neither lawyer to give
the decisions Of courts on the payment Of
insurance to suicides nor an advocate to
present a brief and authorities on one or
the other side Of the question. Some insur-
anee companies do pay upon death of
poAey-holder who has snleded. Some ex-
pTessly state so after a certain number OF
payments Others contest The Q. G. has
10 mind the case OF a suicide at tile Pacific
Union Club, in December, 1891, in. which a
New ! ork company did pay S25,OC0. %
Accident insurance companies will not pay
policies Tor he manning of oneself by rea-
son OF an attempt al suicide. 81 FTaternal
orders will not, unless compelled, pay ben
e1Its to member who has wounded himself
IN an attempt at suicide.
CAT AND NINE LIvEs-A. A. CITY. In
the expression "a cat has nine lives" the
use Of the word mine" is an example Of the
exhaustive plural. As a matter Of fact the
eat is more tenacious Of life than animals i'm
general In falling almost from any height
II always drops on its feet, and the paws
and claws are so padded that it can do so
without harm. Take the term ''cat-O'-nine-
tails and its derivation is from the super
sttion that a fogging by trinity of trini-
ties would be more sacred and more effica-
clous; so, perhaps, in ascribing nine lives 10
the feline, which among the ancients was
not without sacred character, the trinity of
trlnltles was remembered in ereditiug 1t
with charmed life.
DANDFLIoN-A. A. a, City. The leaves
OF the dandslioD. known in botany as
taraxacum dens leonis, are bitter, but when
WN HNDNnH