The San Francisco call., 1901-10-31
SOME ANSWERS
TO QUERIES BY
CALL READERS

CALL READERS
RICE-W., City. Rice thrown after a
bride is a relic of the ''panis farreus' in
the most honorable form of marriage
called "confarreatio."
ONION CULTURE-A. o. A, Saratoga,
] Cal Under the most improved method
of cultivation it is claimed that 1000 BUSH
| els of onions can be grown to an acre OF
I ground.
/ OLD PEOPLES HOME-H-, Oroville,
/ Cal. The Crocker Old Peoples Home is
located in San Francisco. corner OF Pierce
/ and Pine streets. For admission therein
address the superintendent.
SIN EATERS-S-, City "Sin Eaters
| was a name applied to individuals hired
/ in ancient times to take upon themselves
+ the sins of the deceased, that the soul
might be delivered from purgatory.
BACK NUMBERSLJ. s., City. The cost
+ of back numbers of The Call is 10 cents
/ for n copy one month old, increasing
cents per month for the preceding three
/ months, then increasing 10 cents per
month after that.
! OLD-TIME timer. City.
| The oId-time International Hotel in
Z.
words which formed the basis Of the chal-
lenge to mortal combat by Judge Terry
was opened April, 1854, by Peck & Fisher.
| POLICEMAN NICHOLsoN-sub
er. City. 1t was on the morning of Feb
ruary is, 1884, that John Nicholson, a
member of the San Francisco police force.
was stabbed to death by burglar he had
caught in the act on Pacific street, near
Jones.
TRAINING sHIP-E, Stockton. Cal. A
man who has reached the age of % cannot
be placed on board of a United States
training ship Having attained his ma
jority he is a free agent and could not De
placed in the United States navy against
his will.
HIGH SCHOOL-C., Sutter Creek, Cal.
A boy who has graduated from a gram
mar school in California may enter high
school. In San Francisco there is the
Lowell High School on Sutter street. near
Cough and the Polytechnic High School,
corner of Bush and Stockton streets
ANARCHIsM AND SOCIALISM,. s..
East Oakland, Cal. The difference be-
tween anarchism and socialism is that
the former favors the abolition of all
forms of government and the latter ad-
vOcates community of property so that
each shall have an equal share and favors
| the abolition of rank. Anarchists and So
cialists are anarchists and socialists the
world over.
| SEPARATE PROPERTY-Homest
/ City. Not knowing all the circumstances
/ that led UP to your wife declaring a home
| stead on certain property it is impossible
to give a positive answer to the question
asked. but generally the wife has no right
/ to declare a homestead on the separate
property of the husband, no more than
/ the husband has on the separate property
/ of the wife.
+ THE OLD CLIFF HOUSE-OId-timer
/ City Captain James G. Foster was in
1860 member OF the firm of Foster, Pat
ten & Tcrrey, owners Of the Interna-
t1ondl Hotel, on the north side of Jack
/ son street, between Montgomery and
/ Kearny- On June 1, 1863. Captain Foster
| took lease Of the old Cliff House and
continued in charge until January l, 1884.
| DOGS ON BRIDGE-J s. Yerba Buena
/ Island, Cal The reason that dogs are
/ not allowed to cross the Niagara Falls
/ suspension bridge unless carried is that
tney are nuisance on bridge and those
IN charge of the bridge have a right to
suppress a nuisance. A dog crossing a
1 bridge, ad lib, is an irresponsible creature
and not controllable. Being such. a dog
/ might be the cause of an accident that
! might result seriously. 1t is to prevent -
accidents from such a cause that dogs
/ are barred.
UNCLE sAM'-H. L.. City. Uncle
Sam as the representative of the United
States has no other name During the
! last days of the Revolution there was a
! contractor named Samuel Wilson. who
received the stores for the army and navy
! OF the United States and when such were
sent to him they bore the letters ''U. s"
nj fa6
meaning of those letters and an individual
/ responded that as the goods all came TO
Sam Wilson they stood for Uncle
I Sam In that way Uncle Sam was applied
to the United States
TATTOO MARKs-Ex-sai1or Citv To-
too marks on the human body are deem
seated, as has been proved by an investf-
cation made at Mount washington IIoc
pltal, Baltimore, some years ago An in
dlvld1dl who died there shortly before
his death. willed his body after death to
surgeons in the hospital for the beneht
of science. One of the surgeons, curious
to learn the depth of tattooing. experi
mented on the arm and found that the
design of what on the surface of the arm
was coat OF arms was marked through
/ the flesh as far as the bone The1e was
also discovered the trace of the figure on
the bone, but it did not penetrate the
/ bOny structure.
THROWING SHOES-W., City. The
custom Of throwing one or more old shoes
| after the bride and groom either when
/ they go to the church or when they start
/ on their wedding tour is so old that the
memory of man stretches not back to the
beginning. Some think it represents an
assault and is a lingering trace of the
| custom among savage nations of carry
/ ing away the bride by violence Others
think 1t is relic of the ancient law of
| exchange or purchase and that it former
( ly implied the surrender by the parents
! OF all dominion or authority over the
| daughter This was a Jewish custom:
thus in Deuteronomy XIV: 5-10 we find
that the widow refused by the surviving
brother asserted her independence by
] .lOOSing his shnas,,- ..r,la l.. -