Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-31
LENGTH OF THE MILE.
1t Depends on the Kind You Are
Talking of and There Are II.
OTHER STANDARDS OF MEASURE.
What Happens if Both the President Elect
and BIS Vice Die.
INTERESTING NOTES AND QUERIES
,wRrTTKN FOR THE DIsPArcH.I

IwRrTTEN FOR THE DIsPArCH.I
A correspondent asks how many different
kinds of miles there are. 1t is no wonder
that there is some uncertainty about the
length of the mile. English-speakingc coun-
tries have four different miles-tbe ordinary
mile of $3.50 feet and the geographical or
nautical mile of 6,0S5, making a difference
of about one-seventh between the two.
Then there is the Scotch mile of 5,928 feet,
and the Irish mile of 6,72O feet; four vari-
Gus miles, every one of which is still in use.
Then almost every country has its own
standard mile. The Romans had their
mile passuum, 1000 PAGES, which
must have been about 5000 feet in length,
unless we ascribe to Cesar's legionaries
great stepping capacity. The German mile
OF to-day is "a, 31S feet in length, more than
four and half times as long as our mile.
The Dutch, the Danes and the Prussisns
enjoy a mile that is 19, 440 feet long, three
and half times the length of ours; and the
Swiss get more exercise in walking one of
their miles than we get in walking five
miles, for their mile is 9153 yards long.
while ours is only 1,76O yards. The italian
mile is only few feet longer than ours, the
Roman mile is shorter, while the Tuscan
and the Turkish miles are $50 yards longer.
The Swedish mile is 7,341 yards long, and
the Vienna post mile is 1926 yards in
length.
So here is list of IL different miles; and
besides this there are other measures Of
distance, not counting the French kilo-
meter, which is rather less than two-thirds
of mile. The .Brazilians have militia that
is 1 u times as long as our mile; the Neapol-
itan miglio is about the same length; the
Japanese ri or mile is 2H times ours; the
Russian verst is fve-eighths as long as our
mile; while the Persian standard is a
tersakh, ~ miles long, which is said to be
) equal to the parasang, SO familiar to the
readers of Xenphon's Anabasia
The league that is familiar to readers of
French and Spanish books varies just as
does the mile. In Brazil it is 8 4-5 miles
long; in France it was three miles; in Spain
it was 23a miles, and once on time in Eng
land it was 2L miles long. The only meas
ure that is about the same in every country
is the metre; and even that varies slightly,
for in France it is SO. 370-432 inches in
length, while in this country it is 49, 937-079
inches, difference to be mentioned, but
not to be considered in practice.
If the President-elect should die, who
would succeed himf II both Presidentelect
and Vice Presidentelect should die, who
would succeed them? W. s. S.
The Vice President-elect would be in
augurated az President in case the Presi-
dent-elect should die. If both President
elect and Vice President-elect should die
the question of succession would be cOmpli-
Gated. The constitution and the laws pro-
vide that the President and Vice President
shall hold Office for four years, their terms
beginning and ending on the 4th OF March.
The Presidential succession act of 1886 pro-
vides that in the event of the inability of
Both President and Vice President to act,
the Secretary of State shall become
State, as we'll as the other Cabinet
officers, is appointed to hold office until his
successor shall have qualified; so he does
not necessarily leave office on March 4, as
the President does. ct is usual for the
Cabinet officers to resign when the Presi- |
dent who appointed them goes out of office;
but it is not legally necessary for them to
do SOY. Therefore, we think that the case
contemplated in the Presidential succession
act occurs; the President and Vice-Presi-
dent, having no legal power to act after
mdfCD 4, are luCbpdclt6tcu, duu IuS OcCIcs
tary of State becomes President; and as the
laws providing for a new election were re-
pealed by the succession act, we don't see
that he remains President.
Please describe to me Australia's relation
to Great Britain; does she pay tribute; can |
she make treaties with sovereign powers; |
has sho flag of her own on her naval YES
sells? CoONEY.
The colonies of Great Britain are of three |
kinds: (a) those possessing full constitu-
tlon, with responsible government; (b) |
those in which the Legislature is partly
elective and partly controlled by the Gov
ernor; (c) those ruled directly BY the In
perial Government, which appoints both
governors and councils. All of the colonies
into which Australia is divided belong in
the first class, Western Australia having
received its constitution October 21,
1890. The five colonies pay no tribute to
Great Britain, but provide small standing
army, and a small navy; the naval officers
are detailed from the British navy, and paid
by the colonies. The colonies cannot make
treaties with foreign powers, though they
are in other respects practically independ-
ent; all their communications with other
than Great Britain must be trans
acted through the Home Office in London.
Inere is no AuSIrdlidn uaSj Uut the cOio-
nies fly the British flag, with a symbol or
difference" varying in each colony.
A German comes to this country, becomes
1 citizen, and has n son. When the son is Of
age I've goes to Germany. Can he be COM
PEELED to serve in the German armyf H.
No, certainly not. He has never been .
German, so his name does not appear on the
lists of men liable to military duty. The
reason that some naturalized citizens of this
country have been compelled to do German
military duty is that their names were on
he lists before they came to this country,
and were never marked off after service.
So when those naturalized Americans go
pack to Germany, there are their names.
put down as still owing military duty, and
,hey-or some of them-are forced into the
army.
Where did the slang expression, "tne ghost
walks" come from? &C.
The theatrical story is that certain travel
ng company in England was in bad luck,
he actors not having been paid for several
weeks A strike was organized. and at a
rehearsal of "Hamlet" wherein the manager
vas Hamlet it was carried into effect "Per-
chance twill walk again." said Hamlet of
the ghost; but the actor who played the lat
er part, forsaking Shakespeare, shouted
'No! I'm burned If the