Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-09-25
NOTES AND QUERIES.
The Difficulties Encountered in
Putting Up Large Telescopes.
HENRY GEORGE IN A NUTSHELL
Origin Of the Custom Of Breaking Bot tie
Of Wine at Q Launch.
THE ALLIANCE sUB-TREAsURY PLAN

come to THE DISPATCH Office recently
with what arc believed to .be the correct
answers:
L Why do not astronomers turn their
attention to the moon instead of to Mars, as
the former is SO much nearer to us? 2. Why
can we not construct a telescope with FIVE
foot. or even a ten-foot object glass7 8. Why
do exploring expeditions seek the north
pole rather than the south pole? j.. P.
First-Because of the very nearness OF
the moon. For years the moon has been
studied by astronomers of all classes; the
moons face never changes as whole; she
presents always the same side to u.s. so that
she is, comparatively speaking, well known
to astronomers. But Mars is nearer to US
now than it has been since the largest and
best telescopes were brought into use, so
that it is natural that astronomers should
leave the moon alone for time to study
Mars Besides, the moon is dead world,
there is no doubt of that; while everything
yet seen indicates that Mars may contain
living beings. So far as astronomers can
see Mars has an atmosphere like ours, and
so may possibly contain living persons such
as We are. Naturally, therefore, astron-
omers use their new powers on Mars rather
than on the moon.
second-The Lick telescope is the largest
In existence; its object glass is 36 inches in
diameter. It took years to get the glass, to
cast it, to shape it, to determine the neces-
sary length of the telescope. etc Every
increase in the diameter of the disc in
creases out of proportion the difficulty in
completing it. The contractors for the glass
for the Lick telescope made 20 attempts be-
fore they obtained a perfect piece of glass;
and after that had been obtained, it had to
be polished, and q minutes over-polishing
in any one spot might have necessitated a
new rough disc. The larger the telescope,
too, the greater the cost.
Third-Because, like the moon, the Ant
arctic regions are dead To be sure, the origi-
nal Arctic explorations were in the North,
in the endeavor to find q northwest passage;
but the Antarctic has not been neglected
entirely. It does not offer to the explorer
| such chances as do the northern regions;
but of late attention has been directed
| toward the South, and Baron Nordensk-
| jold intends to explore the Antarctic much
as he explored the Arctic regions One
| drawback to Antarctic exploration hitherto
has been the fact that the Southern Hemi-
sphere has been less civilized than the
Northern, so that Northern explorers had
to travel farther to reach their unknown
lands, and had no nearby base of supplies
1t seems to mo that the single tax plan OF
raising all money tor public use by taxing
land would be unjust to the farmer; am I
right? j. +. Il.
Without going into the single tax theory
very deeply, it is enough to say that MI.
George, the originator of the theory, in
tends that land in cities, more valuable
than land in the country, shall pay Its share
of the taxes; and that taxes shall be ad-
justed SO that no person will care to own
more land than he actually needs If Mr.
Georges theory could be carried out, prob
ably there would be no injustice toward the
farmer.
What fs the origin and significance of
breaking bottle of wine over the bow of a
ship when it is launchedf S. G.
It is q compound relic, originating partly
in q survival of the ancient pagan libation
to the gods, and partly in the Christian
idea of baptism. For thousands of years
the launching of a vessel has been accom-
panied with sacrifices of some kind, to
propitiate the gods of the deep; probably
the present baptism of vessel was devised
by the carly Christians, priests, who seldom
required their followers to give up pagan
custom harmless in itself, but twisted its
meaning around to agree with the rules of
Christianity so that 1t might still be main
tanned with the sanction of the church. So,
instead of a sacrifice to the gods, we find a
baptism of the vessel, a commendation of it
to the care of God. The use of wine orig
inally called out no reprobation, as it does
now; wine was not looked upon In the old
days with the horror that it is now-in
some places; so there was nothing improper
in baptizing a vessel with wine. An in |
stance of similar torsion of meaning is St.
Valentines day-originally the Roman
feast of Lupercalia, but turned by the early |
Christians into feast in honor of a martyr, |
when the old customs Of the Lupercalia |
were continued with the sanction OF the |
church.
First-Is there now, or has there ever |
been, q sub-treasury system as proposed BY |
the Farmers Alliance and Peoples party |
other governments; if SO, when, where and |
with what results?
Seconds any government in possession |
OF all the railroads within its boundaries; if |
So where and with what resultsf
Third-Did the British Government ever |
grant land loans to any OF the American COL |
onies. as is proposed by the Farmers Alli-
ance; if SO. when and with what resultsf
1NoUIsrrIvE JACK.
First-Never as proposed by the Alliance
and the Peoples party. The nearest thing
to 1t has been and is the Credit Foncier In
France and other countries-a company
chartered by government, under govern.
mental supervision, to lend money on farm
mortgages The system started in 1850 in
Silesia and hourished in Germany for go |
years; in 1852 the French took it up. These
banks-for banks they were really-were
very successful; they were run to make
money, of course, just az building associa-
tions are run. Various gambling additions
brought some Of the Credits Fonciers into
disrepute; but the gambling was q side
show, not part of the elementary system
Of the bank.
Second-In no civilized country do all the
railroads belong to the State; even in Russia
private companies own large share of the
lines 1t is found that the management of
State railroads is not SO good, as rule, as
that of private companies; the road beds
are not SO good, the rolling stock is worse,
and the trains slower and less regular
Third-Not to the American colonies; in
1916, however, "Exchequer bills" were
authorized to be issued in Great Britain
and Ireland, to promote the Improvement
of land, etc not to enable the occupiers to
realize on their crops, however. The plan
was successful
To whom is Justly given the honor Of dis
covering the American continent?
PEDAGoGuE.
Probably to the Norsemen. History in
dicates that monks from ireland discovered
Iceland about 725 A. D.; that Norsemen
discovered the country in $50, and settled