The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-02
aUssrloNs AND ANsNERs.

did The BAhamas ever belong 20 or be In the tenn
Doray possession Of hs unisf Eys s:1ssi Fovs.
On tive several occasions In the Revolution the
bahamas. or at least their principal island, New
Providence. were captured by the Americans. In
March. ITO, the Meet under Commodore Tsek
Hopkins cruised to the south about. the principsp
object being to stop Lord Dunmorc's dePredatons
on American commerce In the fairway south OF
Hatteras. In this cruise Commodore Hopkins
put In At the Bahamas and found New Providence
disposed to dispute his presence. landing party
of 800 under command OF Capt Samuel Nichols
of the marines carried the fort. or this engage
ment the historian OF the Marine Corps writes:
"on this OCCASION the nrst that had ever occurred
In the regular American navy. the marines under
Capt. Nichols behaved with spirit and s,ssdiness
that have distinguished the corps from that hour
down ~ the present moment The retention
Of the new possession not being consonant with
the object OF ths>Cflise set forth in his COM
mission Commodore Hopkins soon withdrew. rs
spoil OF war he carried away eighty cannon
nfteen barrels OF gunpowder and all the stores.
As hostages he took Gov. Brown and number OF
prominent citizens. Gov Brown afterward being
given In exchange for Gen. Lord Stirling. After
this incident the Bahamas seem to have reverted
10 their former owners, the Lords PropIetors hold
ing on very loose tenure from the British Crown.
Early In ITS Capt. John p. Rathbourne In the
twelve gun ship Providence appeared on the
Bahamas and on Jan. q, New Providence second
time fell before American prowcSs. this time hut
twenty 1--WE men being required In the reduction
OF the works. In the course Of few days Capt.
Rathbourne beat on the British sloop OF war Gray
ton He In turn retired from his possession and
tho Bahamas reverted to the rule Of Its pirates and
conchs. 1t was not until 1888 that their owner
ship was definitely assigned to Great Britain
A claims that Congress; By a two-third i. vote
the Constitution Of the United States an; and make
10 ns eS an one 81 w
their action can be reviewed by the United States
~ S and by s vs ssd 'f S
would have to be amended IN accordance WIN the
'x Also Of claims is :'d n n.
Court can BY their vote declare any law made and
p sS sfs II. u r sa ySa ns GT' ns
''"'''' "A'>A 80 '"' j. II. TAYLOR.
So far concerns amendment OF the Constitu-
tion you arc both grevousy wrong. Congress
by Its wo-thirds vote can do no more than propose
the amendment, the ratification rests upon three
fourths Of the States through their Legislatures or
conventions. But why 10 not the Constitution
read' Then there would be little need for TO
claim and b to counterclam. even TO the betting
point. Then. too, Is would not conceive an idea
of such rivalry among tho divisions OF admlnlstra-
tion of the commonwealth, for he would learn
fundamentally In the exordium thatunion. JUST &c,
tranquility and the general welfare arc the prime
objects OF our Constitution. to perfect one. TO
establish another. TO Insure tho third and 10 pro-
mote the latter.
This week I received q letter from Shanghai.
China, with u two cent United States stamp on H.
Inquired about It at the branch post ONCE and the
man at the window informed me thu! the United
States had an arrangement In china whereby
you could put on a United states two cent stamp
and would GO through all r,vh' Now ny when ssn,
stamp my letters. cannot believe II possible
that away on in China they use the STAN ps OF this TINS
China have the United States stamps on kindly
Inform me whether this is fs Ma. or g not hrrz..
For some time the United States has conducted
a postal agency at Shanghai and domestic rates OF
postage apply. The same rates. that is two cent
stamp for single rate letters. &c. apply TO mail
addressed for delivery In the city OF Shanghai.
For the twenty-.wo places In China served through
the Shanghai agency Postal Union rates apply to
letters postal cards and printed matter fourth class
matter (nerchandise). however Is sent at the do
nestle rate
Can you inform me from what source the expires
sion only cock and bull story" Is derived
Its origin eludes all attempts at discovery The
antccedent probability is that It arose from some
old tale OF o cock and bull. II that be so the
underlying story has passed out beyond all recogni'
ton The French equivalent Is in the phrase eoa-d-
rdnr cock and ass: here. also. the origin Is sadly
to seek but II Is known TO have been In use earlier
than the sixteenth century. Those who think
that to every question there pertains some one
and positive answer will ind all doubts removed
BY Dr. Brewer In his Dictionary OF Phrase and
Fable" He says with full assurance that II IS
corruption Of "concocted and bully story. Hardly
a corruption, we think: II would seem susceptible OF
q more scientific explanation on Humpty Dumpty's
portmanteau theory of ngulstics.
Why does the article By universal usage In,
Guiding tn at OF THE sun. come before SUCH WORDS
eulogy and eucaly ptus' this the only exception
to the Iue Of grammar that the form OF IN In
ennite article an should be used before vowel!
j. CARTRB BEARD.
For the initial why" you have educed the only
valid reason 10 the further statement by universal
usage" Tho language Is not permitted TO exist
by grace of this or that mans treatise on grammar.
grammars and dictionaries have value only as 'hey
faithfully record the usages Of speech The Ian
guage has no exceptions. those that you ma stated
as exceptions to the rules OF grammar are only
evidence that the grammaran has not proved as
successful as Polypemon In reducing a living speech
to rigid uniformity. The usage Is to employ an
before a vowel sound: In the case you instance the
vowel is only apparent. merely an Alphabetical
character. the sound Is a consonant.
Kindly inform mo what the miners wages were at
'"s'"'" wy MINER.
The census Of 1880 the nearest to the bonanza
BOOM gives the rate Of wages paid on the Comstock
lode for each OF sixteen classes OF mine workers.
The lowest paid were oilers. who got from $3.50
TO - shift. The best wages. % TO SO, were paid
to forcmen. Carpenters. shift bosses and machin-
lists cam. next with IS TO $3.50 Miners got practi-
cs,iy uniform wages Of 81 TO N.25. Only two OF tho
sixteen classes were paid less than the minimum
ware of miners. and for nine the maximum e1-
cseded the miners maximum. STILL the miners
thought themselves we'll paid. and between shifts
supported several collateral Industries where chips
had az recognized u currency as though they were
mnted metal.
In a recent article met the expression "a couple
of young Manc unans" Az the dictionaries are
silent as TO these things hope you Will tell me
what sort OF beastles they are TOT one ukeS " oe
able to read comprehcnd'ngly. d. y. NJ
The word seems to have encountered the not
always avoidable fate OF being mutlated In com
position. 1t should read Manconian. and In that
shape II Is Ineligible although the same d,mculW
OF not finding 1t In the dictionaries obtains Man
CONAN Is the common English name for Man
chester man and Is OF the same sort as Haligonan'
the appeilaton OF a citizen OF Halifax. There Is
a long and Interesting series OF such terms which
one has to learn through experience for we know
Of no collected record.
A letter lust received from Hongkong has upon
Il stamps on which appear the following words:
"Honrkone Five Cents" there Is also stamp
unon Inc envelope reading Ten Cents" The
Ut dxra ri ale IN