The morning call., 1893-04-30
THEQUERY COLUMN
A Word About the First
Book of Poems.
THE OLD MAN ELOQUENT.
Value of Gold in a Twenty Dollar
Piece-The Alaska Boundary-A
Question of Etiquette.

question OF Etiquette.
THE FIRST Book OF PoEMs-'I have not
been able TO fiad anything that would throw
any light on tie first novel published in San
Francisco" said Colonel A. S. Hubbard.
the courteous and obligng secretary of the
California Historical Society, to the Query
editor few days since, but ! have here
the first volume of poems ever published in
This city. That is. ] am satisfied that no
other book oi poems was earlier offered to the
public. Undoubtedly number of poems
were published in tie periodicals of the
times, but I am convinced that this is the
FIRST collection issued in book form" He
then produced n book Of 123 pages, on the
iy-leat Of which is written in pencil. ITO
Miss L II. Kelsey, from her friend. the
author On the title-page is printed the
following: "Idealina and Other Poems.
BY Harry CULLEN, San Francisco. Pub
l'shed by Cooke. Kenny & Co.. Montgomery
street, corner Merchant. 1855" Harry
CULLEN was Colonel 4. J. c. Kewen, a
pioneer Of 1919, writer identified with the
Identified with the politics of the
early days. lie was the father of
Petrie hewen. The publication of Ideal
ina, which occupies the post of
utNUI IN tuG DOCK ABOVE alluded to, and
which was dedicated to the late Judge
Delos Lake, WAS, as the author declares in
his preface, THE product 0 { boyhood fancy"
ii was frequently used against him when he
was candidate for the United States Sen
ale. II was many times asserted that his
WAS an 'ldealina" campaign. This was car
RED on 10 such degree that Colonel kewen
announced that he would challenge 10 NOR
tai combat any man who tWItted him about
his poem. Among the many who took de-
81 INrh q NAL Il 1,r,s,r
'ldealln8' was the late George Penn john
ston, one Of the bright literary men of early
days. On one occasion Colonel Kewen and
johnston met, and 1t was understood Thar
Johnston would bury "Idealna" and never
mention The Dem in the authors presence.
Not long after that Johnston was in the
Bank Exchange. the then fashionable re-
sort Tor those who patrOniZed sample-rOOms,
when Colonel hewen entered. As soon as
Johnston saw him, he exclaimed, Here
comes the man who wrote 'Idealina.'"
Colonel kewen tlared up IN a moment, and
was about 10 give Johnston a piece of his
mind; but before he could do so Johnston,
not IN the least disturbed, added, as he
tapped himself on the breast, and here is
the unfortunate man who read it."
ELECTRICTTY-J. A M, City. Electricity,
which Of late years has become such
powerful agent. is difficult to define. r.
O'COnnor Sloane, AN, EN-. ana Ph.D.,
reference entitled The Standard Electrical
Dictionary" published last year. says: at
is impossible in the existing state of human
knowledge to give a satisfactory explana-
ton of electricity" Another writer says:
at is the name used in connection with an
extensive and important class OF phenomena
and usually denoting either the unknown
cause OF the phenomena or the science that
treats of them" The name of the phios0-
pher who first observed that amber when
rubbed possesses the power of attracting
and repelling light bodies has not been
handed down for the benefit Of this genera
ton Tnales OF Miletus, n Greek, son Of
ENamyus, and CleObulne, who lived GO
J4j 3. c., and was universally recognized as
the founder of Greek geometry as
tr0n0mT and philosophy, refers in
his writings to the fact that amber,
when rubbed, attracts light and dry
bodies. such as straw and dry leaves This
was the only thing that the ancients knew
Of electricity or Of It's force. TheophTastus,
native Of ETesus, in Lesbos, the successor
OF aristotle IN the peripatetic school, who
was bern some time between 373-36S
3. c., and the elder Piiny. the naturalist
born in Como and who lived 1919 a. D.,
also mention strange power that attracts
o very light articles. The science of electri-
city dates properly from the year 1900, when
Gilbert of Colchester published book en-
titled "De Arte Magnetica," in which he
gave last Of articles that have the proper
ties OF amber to attract and Tepel, and pre-
scented speculatiOns on magnetic and cleo
tric forces. he was the inventor Of the
word electricity" which he derived from
10 the Greek word "electroD," amber. Otto
Won Guerieke, burgomaster Of Magde5uTg,
in his Work, "EXperimenta Nova Magde-
burg!ca, 1872" describes among his other
Inventions the first electric machine ever
made. which consisted of globe of sulphur
TUNED by a handle and rubbed with cloth
pressed against it by hand.
DEER, FREsHwATER FIsH-Subscriber.
City. The laws of California as amended
by the Legislature which adjourned a short
tine since declare that:
Every psrson who in the State of California,
shall. within the Two years next Except from
September TO october 10 IN each yeap alter
Tie passage Of this act, hunt, pursue, take, Kill
or destroy any female deer, antelope. elk, noun
. tain sheep or buck, shall be guilty OF a misde
neanOr Every person who shall at any time
hunt, pursue take Kill or destroy any spotted
fawn shall be guilty Of a mlsdemeanor
Every person who shall buy, sell, offer ex-
pose i0r sale, transport or carry. or have In his
Possession any deer or deerskln, shall be guilty
Of misdemeanor.
The clause last quoted refers to the time
when it shall ba unlawful to kill deer. q
The general law is that it is unlawful to
take trout between the first of November
and the first Of April of each year.
In Siskiyou County trout may be
caught at all times of the year,
while in Santa Clara. Santa Cruz. San
Mateo, Monterey. Alameda. Marin. Placer
and Nevada counties it is unlawful to take
trout between the 1st Of April and 18th of
October.
"OLD PAP" FLOUR, BRIDGE, PREsI-
DENTS. bride OF THE SEA"-Subscriber.
City. % General George Fl. Thomas
was the general who, during the civil
war. was known as "Old Pap" 81 Mime
apolis is the city in the United States that
produces the greatest amount of -four. 81
The largest bridge in the United States is
the Brooklyn bridge across the East River.
~ The three men who were Presidents of
the United States who died on the Fourth
Of July were: John Adams and Thomas
Jefferson, who died July 4. 1926, and James
Monroe, who died July 4, 1851. ~ Venice
is called the bride of the Sea-" SO called
from the custom or ancient ceremony Of
the DOge marrying the city to the Adrl-
attic by annually throwing ring into 1t, at
The same time pronouncing these words:
I'VE wed thee, y sea, IN token OF perpetual
Domination"
A TwENTY-DoLLAR PIECE. H.. City.
It does not matter what the value Of gold is
per ounce when delivered at the minis of
the United States. All gold is made 900
fine and the value OF this per grain is .03S76
In every twenty-dollar piece there are SIG
grains of 900 fine gold. so that the intrinsic
value oil gold in double eagle is S20.00016
In other words twenty-dollar piece fL)m
the minis of the United States contains.
exclusive of the alloy used to harden the
coin, gold Of the value Of $50 and fraction.
The copper alloy used for the purpose of
hardening coin is worth 2 cents per ounce
and the value OF such alloy in twenty-dol-
lar piece is so small that it cannot be stated
IN hgures that any but master at figures
would understand.
EXTRACTING ORE.-"Cino," Fish Rock,
Mendocino County, Cal. The dry process
used for extracting precious metals from
rock is one by which the rock is pulyerzed
and the product blown through sleeves in
such a manner that gold for instance is
forced against mercury in receptacles. The
mercury catches the metal aud then it is
recovered by the ordinary methods. In the