The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1898-08-21
NOTES AND QUERIES.

NOTES AND QUERIES.
L. T. R.-our warships use in their
boilers fresh water obtained from sea
wafer by condensation. Ignoranee-The
pattiesnip Texas engines are of 5000
horsepower McA.-The number of de-
grees between any point of the Fahren-
heit scale and 80 degrees. if divided by
l0 will give the corresponding degree of
centgrade- /. H-Four cards should he
dealt singIy in casino.
When did the Ladrone Islands come under
spanish ruler What was their population then?
Were there any schools or uublic institutions
then? If so, have they been abolished?
AsF
The Spaniards obtained possession of
the Ladrones or Mariana Islands in 1868
There were no schools or public institu-
tons there then; there are practically
none now. The population In 1868 is es-
timated to have been about $4,000. 1t is
now about 5000, at the outside.
Was Mary Phillipse, of New York, George Wash
1ngton.s first sweetheart, and did she marry his
rival, Roger Morris? ENQUIRER
Ii is said that she was his sweetheart,
but his papers prove THAI, however
much he may have been impressed by
her, he never proposed to her. She mar
ried Roger Morris, who was never Wash
ington's rival The Morrises were ex-
PEELED from the country during the Rev
olution, Mrs. Morris being one OF three
women attained for treason. and went
to England. where Mr. Morris died in
1854, and Mrs. Morris in 1884.
What is the cause of big-head in horses? What
physical changes occur TO make the head swell?
SUBSCRIBER.
Big-head is known technically as Osteo-
porosis. 1t is disease OF the bone,
which attacks all classes and both sexes
of horses. What causes it is not known;
some "deDravity' of the blood The
bones become porous. so that tendons
and hgaments get no attachment and
the skin becomes loose and fabby.
american books on Urinary surgery.
even the Government Horse Book" say
little or nothing about the disease
What is the lifting power of the lightest gas
per square foot! 2. What material is used in
balloons? g. How long will a balloon when in
Hated remain in the air? A. What do the an
breyiatiOns or and 10 ~ uear - -.
cloth? n r
The Hgbtest gas is hydrogen. which
weighs about Ills as much as air. so. the
oreticaly at least, 1t will lift about four
teen times its own weight in air 2 The
best material is silk; as that is expensive
alpaca is used 3. There can be no set
time; it viii remain in the air until so
much gas has escaped that it falls Of its
own weight. Prof. Wise once Travelled
more than Ito miles in his balloon
from St. Louis. 1. They mean in theory
at all events, that the cloth weighs eight
Or ten ounces to the yard.
What &c he Ia,,
piosiye cotton. and smokeiess powder2
Gun cotton is ordinary cotton, washed.
dried and then stepped in a mixture of
one part of nitric acid and three parts of
sulphuric acid. and again washed and
dried. 1T looks like ordinary cotton Ex-
ploslve cotton seems to be the same as
gun cotton; at least, that name expresses |
the characteristics of gun cotton, and we
ma nothing else that is called by that /
name. Smokeless powder is not really
powder. 1t is an explosive made accord (
ing TO various formulas, in each of which /
nitric acid plays principal part. In its
usual form ii is a stick, looking like the
lead of an ordinary pencil. 1t is made in
long sticks and broken 10 the proper
length.
BY what route does the cable go from Cane I
Haiuen to the United States and where does IL
iandf 2 How many cables are there from the I
united states to Europe, and from what places /
do they start and land? 3. Is there any cable
from the United States across the Pacific Oceau2
:. Mhefe does the cable from Galveston go to?
D. DID the United States assist in constructing
any OF the ocean cables, and does she now own .
any interest IN them? g. BY what route does the /
cable go from Cuba to Spain? II. G.
According to recent map the cable .
from Cape Haitien goes to New York d. .
rect There are eleven cables TO Eu- +
rope, though not all of them are in use
Two run from this country to ST Pierre (
Miquelon, and thence to Brest. France:
two run to Lands End, Cornwall. and
seven to Valencia on the coast of Ire
land. 3. There is not 4. To Tampico and
ITO Goazacoalcos. Mexico. 5. No 6. 1t
goes from Cuba 10 Jamaica. thence 10
Halifax, and thence by one of the regu-
lar cables to Europe and to Spain.
How did the following countries get their
names: England, Russia, France, Spain. japan.
Hungary R. IL W
England is Angle-land, the country of
the Angles. Russia is believed to come
from the Swedish Ruots-, In its turn cor
rupted from Rothmenn, seafarers. France
is the country of Franks, or free men.
Spain is modern English for the Latin
Hispania, derived perhaps from a Phoeni-
clan word Sapan or Span, denoting an
abundance of martens or rabbits. Japan
is corrupted form of Marco Polo's Cipan-
go, Itself coming from the Chinese Shi-
the sunrise kingdom China is
a corruption of the Chinese Tsin. Italy
comes from the Latin Italia. de-
rived from the Greek Vitalia
Turkey is so called because of the
who form the ruling minor
ity in the country. Germany comes from
the Latin GeTmania. which. perhaps.
comes from the Gaelic 'gafrmean. one
who cries out; the reference is to the war
cry or to the strange sounds of the Teu-
tonic language. Hungary is the land of
the Huns.
Were persons charged with witchcraft in the
United States ever tried convicted and executed
by law? How many died under this charge?
Who was Cotton Mather, and what part did he
take in the crusade? Why are the Jews blamed
for the eruciiNion OF Christ, when in fact it
was done by the Roman soldiers at the instance
OF the Roman government? D.
There has been no case of wftchcraft (
in the United States that the law took /
hold Of. but in the colony of Massa-
chusetts in 1882 broke out the crusade /
against witheraft and lasted until twen-
~ persons had been executed This was /
the famous Salem witchcraft" excite /
ment. The law was followed in ali that /
was done: it was the English law passed /
in the time of James I, quoted as 1 James /
l, chapter II, which was not repeated until /
1876. Cotton Mather was a distinguished /
clergyman of Massachusetts. who believ-
ed thoroughly in witchcraft and urged on 1
the crusade with all his influence. 2 /
You have not read your Bible very care