The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-05-24

which you can judge your batch; 1t is the
statement of creditable observer OF a cap
tive bird. and 10 the effect that it con-
sumed eighteen pounds of meat one day.
and had good appetite the next day.
Is camphor produced prohtabiy in this
country?-F.
No, is, we think, an accurate answer;
certainly it has not been proved that COM
mercial production is practicable The tree
is comparatively hardy and requires little
care, but in some foreign countries where
ii seems to thrive finely, it produces but
very little gum.
To settle dispute. will you name the
chief fur-bearing animals of this conti-
nent?-Two.
Taking ''this continent as North Amer
lea. they are: beaver. mink. skunk, badger.
raccoon, rabbit. Squirrel. muskrat, sable,
ermine. fisher. lynx. weasel, foxes and
bears of several kinds, seal, sea otter.
musk-ox and wolves.
Why are May and the month Of May
considered unlucky. especially for mar
riages?-Mrs- L.
This was an old Roman superstition, due
TO the occurrence In May of the festivals
of the goddess of chastity and of the
feasts OF the dead. The marriage of Mary
Queen OF Scots to Boutwell, on May II used
to be cited as proof of its truth.
In what year did the American rover
Ten Eyck win the British trophy, the
Diamond SOULS? 2 Who has succeeded
him7 8. Did they beat his time?-A. p. B.
In 1897. 2 For the next two years it was
held by B. II. Howell. then in succession
came z. g. Hemmerde, C. v. Fox, and f.
s. Kelly. 8. Howell did so in 1898. making
eight minutes and twenty-nine seconds
the record to Ten Eycks eight minutes
and thirty-five seconds.
What are the chief products of Paraguay?
2. What of its climate and size of its popu-
lation?-H. ID. w.
The main crops are rice, tobacco coffee,
oranges. sugar cane and nanioc. It's for
ests furnish dyewoods, India rubber. tam
ming stuffs, timber and yerbamate para
quay tea-planD. Stock-raising is the chief
industry. 2 The climate Is favorable, the
yearly average of the Thermometer about
70 degrees. It's population is some 100000.
=
What was accomplished by the so-called
ArSdHQ lOT ramps -. -.
More complete combustion of the oil,
which at the time of Argand's invention,
late in the eighteenth century, was of sorts
that smoked in all other forms of lamps.
1t is said. too, that Argand's lamp was not
satisfactory until his brother discovered by
accident that chimney created draught,
steadied the flame and resulted in much
more light
An Indian arrowhead in my possession is
black, extremely fine and glass-like of tex
ture: can you suggest what kind of stone
Ii is ?-Bert.
Probably it is obsidian, an acid volcanic
glass. which was much used by primitive
savages for all forms of cutting tools be-
cause it breaks readily into sharp-edged
pieces. Thus in New Mexico a deposit
of obsidian came to be called by the early
inhabitants the hill of knives.
How large kailstones occur? g Do they
have a kernel of some substance that is
neither ice nor snow?-W. j. F.
AS large as two pounds. 2. Large ones
have a nucleus, such foreign matter as a
bit of gravel or larger substance swept
upward by strong winds; or the center may
be composed of snow, in which a. gas, be-
lieved to be oxygen or air. is held at high
pressure. One scientist estimates the press
ure upon this confined gas at so atmos-
pheres.
When and where did Martin Van Buren,
die? 2. Will you inform me of his life
after he retired from the presidency?-E. T..
At Undertook, N. Y, July "a. 1862. 2.
He was Democratic candidate for the pres
idency in 1910. and carried but seven States,
with 60 electoral votes out of 294. In 1874
he failed of the nomination, though favored
by majority of the delegates. because of
his opposition to the proposed annexation
of Texas. In 1913 a faction of the Demo-
cratic party known as Free Soilers he CIV
ing assent to their anti-slavery platform
planks, nominated him and victory for the
Wing candidate resulted. He then retired
to his estate at Undertook, spending there
the rest of his life, but for a trip to Europe
in 1853 and 1854.
I want some information as to the COM
parative life. of different sorts of stone
used in buildings; can you give it? 2. Also
an explanation of the causes of the stone s
deteriorating?- IN.
The life OF a kind of stone will vary much
with different climates. These figures,
from the census of 1890, are for New York
city: Coarse brownstone lasts five to ten
years; fine Illuminated brownstone, twenty
to fifty; compact brownstone, 100 to 200;
limestone, coarse and fine. respectively,
twenty to forty and thirty to forty; mar
bles, forty to 100; granite. seventy-five to
200: Nova Scotia sandstone, seventy-five to
200. 2. One cause is the contraction and
expansion due to changes of temperature.
Another is the expansion caused by freez-
ing of the water contained in the rock. A
third is the action of chemicals in air and
rain.