The record-union., 1893-02-18


money enough to buy twenty-five good
works Of fiction. of which 1 am a lover.
l have made list after list and cannot de-
eide between my conflicting desires, but
l want to put fifty books of the best tic-
ton into my library permanently. I'm
derstand, have Thackeray, Dickens, Scott
and Reade, complete sets, now. Will the
RECORD UNION ballot for fifty for me?
HoUsEKEEPER, Sacramento.
Certainly, if it will assist you. But our
ballot represents personal preference
purely, of course. Hawthorne's "Scarlet
Letter." John Halifax Gentleman"
adam Bede, +" Very Hard Cash." "Ze-
nobia," "Mr. Isaacs," Irving's "Sketch
Book" ''Tom Brown at Oxford" )" 'The
Coming Race; ''Lothair," House Of
tie Seven Gables. 1.-The Hoosier School
MASTER" Tales of the Grotesque and
Arabesque'' (Poe), "The Yemassee"
(Simms), Ten Thousand a Year " John
Ingleseant," ""Annie," :" "Rudder Granze,"
Natures Serial Story" Jane Eyre"
LA Jennesse," Les Miserables,"
"Logan" Neal, 1.-THE Last of the Mohi-
cans, "The Leavenworth Case" Hav-
ing named you these twenty-five, we are
prepared to say that we could name
twenty-five others which would be still
better list, to our taste, and then another
still. The fact is that ii you wish to select
twenty-five works upon which critics
agree as to their place in the ranks, you
will never select, and hence, regardless Of
critical lists, we name twenty-five which
will be well worthy place on your
shelves and which represent wide variety.
EDS. RECoRD-UNIo Can you tell me
if there was any romance in the life of
Beethoven related to his composition,
Adelaide ?" Y.
Nothing that we can find. Beethoven
i'm Iowa with CaUpral Jia
attach ment to Countess Julia Guicciardi
was not manifest for three years after he
wrote "Adelaide," which appeared in
1897. Neither Schnider, Moscheles, Dor
ing, Graene or Nohl refer to any romance
in connection with the piece. Beethoven
in August, 1900. wrote to AIattlusin, the
poet, the author of the words to "Adc-
laide," inclosing the music and eXcusng
himself for not sending it long before,
and added: And, indeed, even now l
send you the Adelaide with some tim
idity. You yourself know what changes
few years produce in an artist who is
constantly progressing. My
most fervent wish will be realized if you
are not altogether dissatisfied with the
music to your heavenly Adelaide"
EDS. RECORD UNION: Will you please
tell me what is the best system of pho
biography now in use? Do you think the
L uIndlli VI ~ SbtlII lS Vic DtSl anu u ulch-
est? What is the difference in the num-
Der of characters used in the Graham and
Purnam? What do the reporters use for
their system? G. s., Sacramento.
The standard system and the one most
generally in use by tirst-class reporters
is "Graham's Standard Photography"
We cannot undertake to explain the diff
ference between systems in this column.
1t is a task wholly out of the question.
no ~ NPifpDnn11 instead nf
Purnam?
EDS. RECoRD-uNIoN: Please inform
me through your paper as follows:
l. What was the size of the largest tree
in California ever sawed into lumber:
where and when done, and was the lum-
Der used for any special building?
?. Where is the largest grapevine in
California, and what is its size?
Elk GROVE.
l. Have not the data, but assume that it
can be had in Humboldt County.
2 We believe it is near Santa Barbara.
Have not data as to its greatest diameter,
but it covered at one time very large
area of ground.
EDS. RECORD UNION: To settle an
argument will you kindly answer the
! following: Two combined harvesters are
! cutting on a section, one Just hehind
the other. each having twenty-foot cut;
A claims gain OF twenty feet at each
corner every round; B claims they will
cut the same after the first round.
S. s., Norman, Cal.
What reason can B advance to disprove
AS claim. Suppose there was but one
round to cut; there would be gain of
twenty feet, would there not? Each
round is independent and to be treated
as if there were no others.
EDS. RECoRD-UNIoN: I have a collec-
ton of over 200 answers of people to this
question, "What is the secret of sue
cess?" VIII the Bureau kindly give me
its answer for my index rerum?
BEGINNER, Sacramento.
Certainly. Definite purpose, constancy
! to it and attention to details.
| EDS. RECORD UNION: I find the word
4Ed9ology in medical magazine. What
does it mean? BREWSTER, Sacramento.
It is a coined word by Dr. Elliott from
| the Greek, meaning the science of gener-
ative life.
EDS. RECoRD-UNIoN: Has there been
any scientific explanation why the hair
is sometimes red? DELos, Sacramento.
/ Yes, it has often been stated that the
/ phenomenon of red hair is caused by SUI
! perabundance of iron in the blood. 1t is
| supposed for that reason to signify
great vitality, elasticity and buoyancy OF
4 manner in the ruddy haired-people.
| Likewise that this excess of iron predis-
! poses to freckles, as the red-haired gener-
ally have a very white and sensitive
skin.
| EDS. REcoRD-UNIoN: Please to inform
me through your information column
what county in Ohio Mount Comfort
| Township is in and ObliOe an
OLD SUBSCRIBER, Placerville.
A long and painful search through the
| thousands of Ohio townships listed in the
minor civil division in the United States
| Census fails to reveal any Mount Comfort