The times., 1899-04-02

Representatives, J. A. s
There are s57 The basis OF representa-
taiion by the census of 1890. which will
hold force until 1908. is one Congressman
for every 17s.9oi of population.
eepted, have l-eent pieeeg oAKDALE
Canada does. also Liberia. There are
several countries, too. that have copper
| coins OF the same value as our cent. but
they give them different names. as the CEN
tavo Mexico: the att. Siam. and the cente-
simo, Of the Argentine Republic.
with spaing Ey
In money already appropriated by Con-
gress, S4s2, So, ,0S3; but calculation that
includes. besides this. estimates of State
expenditures. war claims. interest on war
debt private contributions. pensions result
ing directly from this war and the loss OF
the soldiers productive labor. make it out
a billion-dollar contest
What party in France condemned Tom Pain,
70 dea;hf When did he die. and at what ageg
". A. 2.
1t was the faction of Robespierre that
! caused Paine's Imprisonment Paine had
| written vindication Of the French Revo-
luton, which made him tremendously pop
ular in France and led to his election 20
the French national convention. Then he
eourageously opposed the execution OF the
| King. advocating his banshment 10 Ameri-
ca. His escape from the guillotine was
| close. He came 10 America in 1902 ami
died in New York, in 1903. in his sixty
third year.
PLEASE tell something regarding the life and
death of Bruno. Was he 4 Christian?
MOREI IC,IIT
Early in life he was Christian, but he
rejected the orthodox doctrines of the
church, and after being imprisoned seven
| years for heresy was burned as a hereto
He was born at Nola in the kingdom OF
Naples in 154S. entered the Dominican or
der in 1868. and was burned at Rome Feb
ruay IL, 1900. He was an Independent and
| speculative thinker at a time when 1t was
/ dangerous to be so. Some OF his works
have been translated into German within
I ten years.
What arc the French spoliation claims. for
which Congress has appropriated s3.lO0,0O0s
| L. o. L.
They arose from damages done by the
French to American ships and cargoes pri-
| or TO the convention of 1901. The United
States urged these claims, putting them at
$2ooOO,000, and France made far greater
counterclaim for damages due to our fail
ure TO observe treaty obligations The
convention was. in effect n mutual sur
render. and the United States became re-
sponsible to its citizens for their claims
For the next eighty-four years the mat
ter was repeatedly before Congress, en-
gaging the flower of our stock OF statesmen
| and lawyers, but 1t was not until June L..
1888, that 1t took a decided step forward
Please give the names and titles of the rulers
OF the following countries: Afghanistan, Ba-
luchistan. Montenegro, and TripOh. q Who are
the Presidents of Argentina, Colombia. Guate-
inala, Paraguay, Peru, and Switzerland
D. c. c.
The Ameer of Afghanistan is Abdur
Rahman Khan; the Khan of Baluehistan is
Mir Mahmud; the Prince of Montenegro
is Nicholas; Tripoli is subject to Abdul
hamid II, Sultan of Turkey, whose only
| African possession 1t is. 2 The President
| of Argentina is Julio a. Roca; Colombia's
President is General Quinto Calderon:
| Manuel Estrada Cabrera is President OF
/ Guatemala; General AcevaI is President OF
Paraguay; Gen. Nicola PieroIa is in like
| Office in Peru, and Switzerland's President
! is VI. Mueller.
How far back does what is accepted as au-
theniic history extend? ,. How Tar back does
authentic Masonic history extend? NJ. y.
To the invention OF writing, and to its
replacing oral tradition. which was unre-
liable. Writing was first applied to the
temDles of the Egyptians and Rabylonians
! but just when is not known. The inyen-
ton of papyrus as writing material was
stride ahead that came later about 1000
b. c., it is believed. g Masonry is so an
cient that neither the time nor the place
OF its origin is known. Legends have it
start with the building of the Temple by
solomon. and different writer's credit Ma
sonry with widely different origins. The
present form of organization was adopted
in III. and from that date its history is
authentic. Prior to that time il was hard
iy allowable to write anything about 1t,
hence the difficulty of tracing its history.
Please give me some information about Fries
son, the date of his DEATH his inventions and
how he ranks as an inventor. RIVERSIDE.
To lis his inventions with barest men,
tiOn of each would fill this column. but
they were for the most part in two direc-
tions-to improve methods of defence in
war and to provide some substitute for
the steam engine or to diminish its waste
OF steam- His Monitor is the achievement
FOR which he is best known but at ten years
of age he designed pump to drain a mine.
and he kept hard at work till the day OF
his death, in his eighty-sixth year work
ing twelve or fourteen hours 4 day. As
early as 1929 he designed locomotive that
ran a mile in fifty-siX seconds He made
the first use of the centrifugal fan-blowsr;
was the first man TO employ a range find
er for artillery; made the first successful
application of the screw to steam naviga-
tion, and put out scores OF other bold in
ventons, some OF which were not success
full. His last years were spent in study
ing solar physics, and he left behind a solar
engine as a legacy for the time when the
worlds coal mines shall be exhausted So,
as inventor, he ranked very high in
deed. He died in New York March s.
1889, on the anniversary OF the battle be
tween the Monitor and the Merrimac The
Swedish government asked that his re-
and they were taken to Stockholm by the
L. $. ). Baltimore.
e J. A.: Consult with the highest off,
cial in the Navy Department to whom YOU
can get good letter of introduction. D.
X. w: You DO not state what country
minted your half-pennies. but we cannot
find that half-pence of any country of your
dates are listed as valuably rare. NJ F.:
Your question is too indefinite for answer.
but here is a suggestion: Fix definitely
upon some branch Of study. and then con-
suit, personally, a teacher of that branch
or get your advice as to books from good
librarian.
Eph. Enlisted men in the regular ar
my have chance for commissions. but it
is slim one. J. D. J.: January ~, 1872.
fell on Monday. as did October l. 1860
Il. T. L.: Civil service examinations are
held twice year in every State and Ter
ritory of the Union. ". O. s.: One of the