Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-11-27
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Answers to the Questions Pro.
pounded by Curious Readers.
NUMEROUS ELECTION PROBLEMS.
Law Against Betting on the Result Prac.
tically bead Letter.
INFORMATION ANCIENT AND MODERN

question suggested evidently by the
death of the Duke OF Marlborough is this:
| Was the title Prince of the Holy Roman
Empire conferred on the Duke of Marlbor-
ough by the Popef II not. what is meant
by the Holy Roman Empire' G. W. W.
No; it was conferred on the first Duke of
Marlborough, great British General, who
| died in 1922. He was Commander in Chief
Of the forces of the British, Dutch and Aus
trians in various wars against the French
and BavarianA On August q 17O4, he de-
feated the latter at Blenheim I'm German,
Blindbeim or Plintheim); the battle was
decisive, Bavaria became province of the
German Empire, and the Emperor Leopold
created the Duke Prince of the En- pire,
a hereditary title, giving him the Princi-
pality of Mindelheim. The Duke who is
just dead acquired the title by inheritance.
As to the "Holy Roman Empire" this
was the title bestowed by the Pope upon the
| dominions of Otto the Great, King of
the East Franks, in 962 A. D. The Eastern
Empire had its capital in Constantinople,
and its religion was that of the Greek
Church. The titular capitol of the Western
Empire was Rome, while this empire pro-
fessed the faith of the Roman Church.
From the time ot Otto there-was q line of
German kings, who assumed the title and
rights of Roman emperors, and were ac-
knowledged by the Church as the heads of
the Christian community. The Eastern
Empire fell in 1853, when the Turks cap
tured Constantinople. The Western EN-
pire consisted then of Germany and North
ern Italy; and the emperor of the Holy Ro-
man Empire was chosen by the electors, GER
tain sovereign princes of the empire. Gen.
orally he was a son of the late emperor, but
the electors went through the form of elect
ing him The last emperor of the Holy
Roman Empire was Francis IL, King of
Hungary and Bohemia, Archduke of Aus
tria, who became emperor in 1892, on the
death of his brother, Leopold IL On Au-
gust II, 1904, he assumed the title of EN-
peror of Austria, and on August 6, 1906,
gave up the title of Emperor OF Germany;
and then the Holy Roman Empire ceased
to exist.
What is the origin of the different sur
names when we are all descended from
Noah? T.P.D.
Surnames were made necessary by the in
creasing number of people on the earth.
At first it suficed to call men Shem, Ham,
Japheth, then some distinguishing name
was needed. At first a man was called ''son
of so-and-so," and from this custom we get
such names in English as Jameson, john
son, Thompson, and In Norman-English
such,as Fitzherbert, meaning son of Her.
bertr in Irish, O'Neal, meaning Meals
grandson; in Irish and Scotch, Mcdonnell,
Macdonald, son of Donnel or Donald; in
Welsh, Price, Prichard, contractions of Ap
Rice, Ap Richard, meaning Richards
son. Then nicknames were assumed
as surnames, as Brown, White; or .
L L. e 4.
Smith. Men were called by the names of
their towns or countries, or of places to
which they had travelled; as Peter, the
Roman, or Peter Romayne, an Englishman
who lived in Norfolk 600 years ago, who
was called so because he had been to Rome.
The Irish had no surnames in common use
until 1865, when law was passed compell-
ing them to assume names; and the German
Hebrews were compelled to assume surnames
not those of Christians. This accounts for
the names of so many Hebrews being those
of ratural objects-Morgenstern meaning
morning star, etc. The Romans had sur
names; so, too, did the Greeks to some e1-
tent.
Who was Billy Patterson, and why was
there such a to-do when he was struck?
CHnDs.
According to the various stories, Billy
Patterson was Baltimore merchant, .
Richmond bully, New Jersey Senator, a
Pennsylvania Judge, Boston bank presi-
dent, Philadelphia fireman. New York
"Bowery boy" New York volunteer fire.
man, a medical student and Boston tough.
II he was Baltimore merchant, he was as
saulted by Georgian, whom he could never
identity; in his will he left 81 900 to be
spent in discovering his assailant The as
sailant- is said to have been George w.
Tillerton, of Franklin, Ga" IT he was
Richmond bully, his assailant was DIR.
Alban Smith Payne, at present of Mark
ham, Fauquier county, Va, and the assault
occurred In May, 1852, in defending an old
gentlem n from Patterson's attack. If
Patterson was medical student, he died
while being hazed at college; and the man
that struck him isn't known. II he is any
one of the other seven person, his assailant
is not vet known; and the great American
question, "Who Struck Billy Patterson" is
still unanswered.
What classes of Government employees
come under the civil service act9 Do not
all except those elected by the people come
under lit N. N.
at Washington, in the Department of Labor,
in the customs districts wherein there are
more than so employees, in the postofhces
having more than so employees, in the rail-
road mail service and in the Indian school
service. There are about "a, 0e0 places in
these departments and bureaus In the
Washington departments messengers, labor
ers, workmen and watchmen are not under
the act; persons appointed by the President,
bv. and with the consent of the Senate, are
not included within its provisions. In the
customs services all clerical places with sal
aries OF 5000 and over are within the act; in
the postal service all places above the grade
of laborer are within it, while in the Indian
service all physicians, teachers, matrons
and superintendents are subject to the act.
Will dry peas kill cattle, If the cattle run
at large in tne pea field night and day. and
have access to water every u hours9 II so,
how do the peas cause death? r. E. B.
Peas will kill cattle. The reason is, that
the cattle eat them and then drink water
The peas swell and distend the stomachs of
the animals until they burst. There is
nothing in the peas themselves; it is the
swelling produced by the water. Dry corn
acts IN the same way. 1t has been sug-
gested by competent agricultural authorl-
ties that the famous-or infamous-loco-
weed, which is variety of the pea family,
may cause the death OF animals which eat 1t
in the same way; there is nothing harmful
in the weed itself.
Docs betting OH an election disfranchise
voter? PENNsYLVANIAN.
In almost every State, if not in every
State, betting on al election distranchises
voter for that election. The law is a dead
letter, however. The object OF the law is to