The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-03-26
HOUSTON POST LETTER BOX.

main object II TO supply out-of-the-way facts
and curious Information. Questions OF per-
sonal interest only will not be answered. No
business or personal addresses will be given.
All correspondence should be addressed 10 The
Letter Box. care Houston Post. owing TO the
large number OF questions received answers
can not always be siveu promptiya
What is sheelah's day and how did I orig
lnatef K.o.B.
The clearcst revelation OF the name Is con-
tanned In william s. walsh's "curiosities OF
Popular Customs" In which he uses this Lam
! ruagc The Irish celebrate the 18th Of March.
! the day after st. Patricks. under the name
Who shvrlah was Is uncertain. Some assert
that she was Patrck's wife, others that abe
was rAtyiclts mother, but ''all asree." save
iIon,. that her immortal memory Is to be
maintained by rotations Of whisky. The
shamrock worn on ST. PatrlcN's day should
te worn also on sheclahs cay ard on TIE
latter nirht be drowned Ia the last glass.
Yet it frequently happens that the shamrock
Is aooded in the last glass of ST. patrick's
day, and another last glass. or two or more
on the same Night delugcs the over-sadden
trefen This is not quite correct. but Il Is
enieayored to be remedied the next morning
by the display Of trSah shamrock. which
| is tlNtNtN NJ nlEnt III AoUOt VI GitVthu NitA
equal icvotedness. .
What is the origin OF tho EXPRESSION, "butn,
/ their ships behind them2f When and under
what circumstances was " usedP ANN.
Tho act Of burning ones ships dates from
ancient times. Agathocles. tyrant of SYRIA
crse. whose expedition against Carthage. $40.
sol b c.. gave rise to the expression ito carry
the war into Africa" destroyed the ships
which had conveyed his army thlther Julian,
tae apostate. fired his magazines and 100 YES
scs on the Tigrls whence he began his march
against Sapor king OF Persia. sea A. D. Rob
ert Ginscard burned his feet and baggage and
tnen defeated the Greek emperor Aloxlus, at
| DIrazxo, A, u. 1854 and Cortez gave pro-
verbal character TO similar action on the
coast OF Mexico in 1919. Marat, voting for the
death Of Louis XVI said; "Abordes d'hior
tansune lie nouvelle, n faut bruler mainte-
nnnt 10 vaisseau qui nous a conduts." Ciand-
cd yesterday on strange coast, we must now
burr the vessel which brought us.)
l. DO NIL OF the cvllised nations OF the world
pension their soldiersg ., When and whore did
the custom orignatcy w,
J. All OF the civilized nations of the world
have some form Of reward or pension for their
soldiers and sailors. aud nearly all have es-
tatlshed homes 20 which the veterans who
have no family ties may retire during their
latter days. However, no country Is or ever
mas been as generous with its pensions the
United States. 2, The history OF regular pen
sious dates back no more than 200 years. Tho
FIRST form was that OF the time of Louis XIV,
wien the veteran French soldiers were given
licenses to beg on the highways As they Mad
the exclusive privilege. they managed 10 make
4 paying business OF 1t. II was not long he
fore the custom was abolished Louis XIV es-
tablishng an old soldiers home In 1870. where
Accommodations were given the veterans equal
to anything offered them to this day
Flow long has vaccination for smallpox been
| IN use? C.D.N.
Previous to the Introduction OF vaccination.
sn'alipox virus was introduced into the system
b. incubation. This plan had been resortod
to by Eastern nations from an early period
in tho history Of the disease, II was extern
sively practced In Turkey In the early pa .
Of the eighteenth century. when. through the
letters OF Lady Mary wortley Moutagu, 1t he.
came known and adopted in England. Ed
ward Jenner, m English surgeon, made the
discovery OF vaccination With the virus, apu
the FIRST vaccination upon n human subject
was made IN 1916, Two varieties OF vaccine
are used--the bovine, obtained from tho he ter.
huu tue tIoul NcblNltb On luc nu~
RAN subject
Is there any difference between the Spanish
and Mexican language?
Hockey Subscriber.
The language generally used IN Mexico is
tho Spanish. Before the spapiards d scovred
the country in the sixteenth century, however,
the Aztecs naturally had their own language,
This language still exists in some parts OF
| ~ MIN otbn AIa-
lects. 1t can hardly be said that there Is
Mexican language at this time. and even In
ancient Mcsico there were various indepcnd.
cnt languages. rather than one universal
tongue.
TO decide bet, please let us know where
is the center Of the United states. JifH
The center Of the area Of the United States.
excluding Alaska. is in Northern Kansas. In
approximate latitude 80 degrees and o. min
utes and approximate longitude 9s degrees
SO minutes The center OF population In 1890
was 30 degrees lib minutes north latitude. IS
degrees 229 minutes Sest longitude. 20 miles
grees 32.9 minutes west longitude. 20 miles
east Of Columbus. Ind. Tho center OF popu-
laton was therefore about u OF degrees
south and more than 10 degrees eass of the
center OF area.
Kindly give the meaning and authorship OF
the phrase; "rhe king ia dead! Long live
the kingl' AO.S.
Bartlett thus explains the origin OF this
phrase: "The death Of Louix XIV OF France
was announced by the captain OF the bcdy-
guard from the window OF the state apartment.
Rsisng hts trunchcon above bis head, he
broke Il In the CENTER and. throwing tho
pieces among the crowd, exclaimed In a loud
voice. lie roi est mort Then, taking an
otter stan, he nourished It IN the air as he
shouted. "vive lie roir
! Can you tell me the origin OF the term
81 elbow Bellies" applied to our enemies
10 the Philippines? II might be OF interest 70
the public TO know that the Mexleans In .hc
Texas revolution were also known by that
name. See letter OF Hon, George X. Tueion
- Hon Arson Jones, dated June IS, l8i2, page
is9. Arson Jones "Republic of Texas.
Ingham s. Roberts.
The name is applied to many Asiatie races
| but The Post does not know of any special
sic nifcanee attached thereto.
Is II a fact as Is said In the case among
others Of the burning OF the negro at Pars.
several years since. that the human heart
, can not be burned TO destructlonY Subs.
: Il may be superstition. but It IS GER
/, tainly not fact. There are several crema-