The San Francisco call., 1898-05-26
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONOENIS
 THE MAINE-Reader, Santa Maria, Cal The Maine was blown up on the 18th of February.
 RED CROSS SOCIETY-C. w, City. For information about the Red Cross So- ciety and how to join it, apply to the of f1cers of the society in the Claus Spreckels building, Market and Third streets
 LETTERS OF MARQUE-A. D. &. Menlo Park, Cal. A letter of marque is license or permission by the Government to private ship in time of war to seize on the ships of another state so called because the power issuing the same al- lows market or mart-that is, authoriz- ing the disposal of the captured property It is piracy for private vessel to make war without letters of marque.
 THE NAVY-YARD-E. w, City An individual who wishes to obtain work as a brickmason or carpenter at the navy yard at Mare Island must file an applica- tion with the board of labor employment on the island, where certain blanks fur nished by the recorder of the board can be ! obtained any working day. The applfca- tion must be presented in person, and the individual may be subjected to such an examination as the board may determine | upon to ascertain the fitness as to char l acter and the competency of the aplicant.
 WATER SUPPLY-M. K. T.. City. There is no record of who originated the | idea of water supply or water works. In the earliest records of civilization are ac- counts of the digging of wells and of quarrels about the possession of them. | The Pools of Solomon" near Bethlehem, l which remain now almost as perfect as | when built, were connected with a l scheme for supplying Jerusalem with i water. In Assyria and Persia, from the l earliest times water has been conveyed | to towns from great distances in open oh TRcl lc hfarr | tunnels or kanatS- In Egypt also, and l in China, gigantic works for conveying l water both for domestic and for irri- l gation have been in existence from re- mote antiquity.
 CRIMEAN WARM R. and others, | City. Without an examination of the off, | cial records of the several countries en- gagged in the Crimean war of 1854 and 1855 l it is impossible to answer the question ''How many men were engaged in the Cri- mean war; that is, how many men were furnished by the Russians, French, Sar- l dinians, the German division in the Eng l fish army, and the number of English, Irish and Scotch engaged in the war; 1 Published statistics as to the number l furnished by each nation are not only incomplete, but very unsatisfactory, as with the exception of France 1t Is not possible to prepare an aggregate. The French contingent was 309 ,26S. The losses by the allies in round numbers were: France S0,000, England 2 900, Italy 2200 and Turkey 30,000. Russian loss from all causes. 5000.
 GENERAL AND LIEUTENANT-G. F. w, City. The highest rank in the army of the United States was general. It was created for George Washington March 3. 17S9. and 1t was abolished in 1892. It was revived in 1866 for U. s. Grant. He was succeeded in that position by w T. Sher- man. On the retirement of Sherman No- | vember l. 1883, the rank again became ex- tinct. It was revived for a short time T1x-- T ] General Phil Sheridan. and since his death in that year it has been vacant
 The office of leutenant-general was first | created for Washington in 179S and was ! abolished the following year. It was re- 1 vived in 1855 for Winfield Scott. In 1864 Grant was appointed to that grade. and when he was appointed general the rank went to Sherman. In 1883 Sheridan was appointed to that rank, and 1t has not been filled since Sheridan was appointed general in 1888.
 THE ARMY-H L. H., City. Before the present war the strength of the regu- lar army of the United States was. as per reports of the 30th of June. 1897, 10 regiments of cavalry, AT officers, 6010 enlisted men: regiments of artillery, 20 officers, 3934 enlisted men; 9 regiments of infantry, sl0 officers, 12,Sn enlisted men; engineer battalion. recruiting par ties ordnance department, hospital serv-. ice Indian scouts. signal and general service 552 officers and 2o3s enlisted men;
 
 9 353 enlisted men, making grand total of 27 532 Since the war there has been added two regiments of artillery The | United States are divided into eight mili- | tary departments: The East, Missouri. California and Nevada. Dakota. Texas, the Platte, Colorado and the Columbia. The rank in the army is major-general, briga- dier- general colonel. lieutenant coIonel, major, captain mounted, captain not mounted. regimental adjutant, reg1mental uuarterrnaster first lieutenant mounted, second lieutenant not mounted, chaplain. The arms in use, if you mean small arms { for the infantry, are the Krag-Jorgensen rifles.
 TOBACCO-J. F. NJ. ,Napa Soda Springs. Cal The various methods for preparing manufactured tobaco are too numerous to ! detail in this department. After the i leaves have been dried and cured the to- bacco is made up by twi ting. pressing or cutting, and 1t assumes various forms ana i names. In the United States, as else- [ where syrup and hcorice are iargeiy used in the preparation. Smoking toDac- co is prepared from every grade ana qua ity, but usually from broken leaves, stems and inferior parts, the nnest being ] served for cigars Cayendish is made oy stripping the blades from the mia ! sprinkling them with an infusion oL to l parts and laying them in heaps t9 ISt ] inent This darkens the color Q! .t eLe l leaves. and while they are SUI, Ho.s' o -2 trTg are laid smoothly on one another o to ~. i t1i ! cakes nine inches in length ps snl W ee - ti 1 breadth. Then they are presseo nS po | erful machinery until very an incb l thick and eight or nine inches lohg. lney are laid across each other anu pLes and when pulled apart have p,Etat,S mnS az ! paarance hence the name Ist ta4l is 1 ccontinnoi,s string the thickness or quill several yards in length hs s,tiI is .ren I made Into a ball and used @ lol 5n-T,s i f,hese are but few Of the many ioIiHs- 
 1,,.. evegIasses specs; 15c- S Fourth.