The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-16
QUESTIONS ANp ANsWERs.

therefor By any civil court. yet there was Just
enough simTitude TO warrant tho question In its
present form. In 1850 Robert n. McLAne of Mary
land was commissioned Minister to Mexico. As It
was imperative that he should roach his post OF duty
without loss OF time. orders were issued that tho
Brooklyn. then under command OF Capt. FaIragut.
should carry him to Vera Cruz. While the Brooklyn.
owing to some slight accident 20 her machinery was
detained on Staten Island, liquor was struggled
aboard and many sailors got drunk. A seaman
named Ritter was put in the brig for drunkenness:
while IN confinement he was so noisy and abusive
that tho ships corporal, Cooper by name. gagged
the man without orders from the oficer OF the deck.
The man died suddenly. either from apoplexy or
from the liquor he had had. H~lsmessmates.i In great
turbulence. came aft and sought TO do violence TO
Cooper. Farragut. supping In bis cabin with Mr..
McLane. heard the disturbance, seized q cutlAss
from the rack and held the drunken sailors back
until tho marine guard got the situation under con-
troll. Fsrragut notified the Coroner OF Richmond
and an inquest was held aboard until . O'Clock In tho
morning. Then the Coroner announced that the In
quest must be continued ashore and certain wit
nesses. then in tho brig. sent on. To this Farragut
objected that the public business was paramount.
and set sail for Mexico. Tho Navy Department
ordered him TO return his fTigate for tho trial. Far
raKut was so bitterly attacked by tho prosecution
thakit was almost made 70 appear that he and not
the corporal, Cooper. was oh trial. Tho COM
mandants interests wero watched by Charles
O'Conor. who expressed his pleasure In defending
so frank a man by refusing to accept a fec. Some
thing In the course OF the trial elected from Farrs-
gut the declaration. You can no more make a sailor
out OF a lsndlubber by dressing him up In sea toy
gerry and putting a commission into his pocket than
you could make a shoemaker Of him BY nlling him
with sherry cobblers."
What is the meaning of the word nonoupauve,
I am not appealing TO you until I have exhausted
all the available dictionaries. CHARLES SYKES.
The only real word which this combination Of
letters seems to resemble IL nuncupative. and
connrmati ton of this explanation may not im-
II nFnperly he heFtved fFnnn the fact thal In ThOrnRsQ
Fugitive Facts" under the heading win" the
word Is used as in this question. Tho word Is
derived from Duneupo. q good though apparently
i~nelegant Latin verb found In the phrase nuneEpdrs
heredem, 10 announce ones heir by speaking his
name. Thus a nuncupative will IL an oral dispo-
sitlon Of property. In Roman and MEDIEVAL law
such a testament was valid. But as IL Is mani
testify open to false practices. II has been abolished
in the law Of the English speaking peoples by the
statute Of Frauds 90 Car. II" c. -. At present
It is restricted very rigidly to soldiers In actual
service and 10 sailors naval or mercantile) when
serving on shipboard. The testator must know
himself to be In the article ofdeath and without time
10 make a written will, must clearly indicate that
he intends 10 make his Will and must possess tes-
tamentary capacity. In England. In this and sew
eral other States such a will extends only 10 per-
sonalty. a few States continue TO recognize the
nuncupative Wills OF civilians, but under the most
rigid restrictions.
Uhy is sugar sold In grocery stores In package.
Of S5 poundsr know II Is an old custom, but
what reason can there be for adopting a fractional
unit when one In whole figures would do lust as
The time honored 81 pound package Of sugar Is a
survival from the old confusion OF weights and
measures, a confusion which, as In this instance.
persists to the coniounding of such US would intro
duce the elegant simplicity of the metric standard.
This 35 pound bag OF sugar. ready put up In every
grocery. is the least convenient allquot part OF the
old gross orlonR ton offs 24O pounds. -Four such pack
ages weigh a stone. which Is half Of n quarter rs
/ aa,,ndaa 90 ,rhlnb tour TO q n ahA bNIudredVNatOhG
li2 pounds. and twenty hundredveight make the
long ton OF 2.2t0 pounds. In some trades stu known
as the dirty ton. Perhaps some student OF the sur.
vtval OF old trade weights can suggest a similar and
simple explanation OF the -four weights. the peck
of two gallons being Il pounds, the barrel u9s
pounds) OF IA pecks and the sack ESQ poundsl OF
20 pecks.
In the event OF the marriage OF an American
woman TO a Russian subject. does the former lose
cur laws 10 purchase real estate In territories, where
such purchase is forbidden a foreigner, And
does the same law cover mining claimsf j. h.
The question involves so many complexities that
10 would be unsafe to proceed without taking COM
petent legal advice. Imam instruction TO the United
states Minister at ST. Petersburg March Is, 1897.
the state Department declared: by our statute
an alien wife Of an American citizen shares his
citizenship. By the usual rules of continental
private international law a woman marrying an
alien shares his status. certainly during his life, but
thereafter. on widowhood. reverts 10 her original
Il STATUS uulCbb III hUhnuOh5 II buDtIl u ueT
origin and returns to that OF her late husband"
The Department has repeatedly in such cases held
tho American nationality OF an American born
woman II she Is residing IN the United States or
upon her returning TO this country II residing
abroad.
In a late issue your correspondent. W. A. Frank.
diScussinR the terms "or horse" and near horse"
observes that IN this country the driver sits on the
rish; s,ds: for the Pess on reasons as ms. ,,n Wh "a s + tnlS
sit on the left side. n. as In tins country, he turns
the driver sits on the right and turns TO the left.
He Is thus placed where he can better see how to
seem more sensible than our wsyr o, 4. II.
The reason. operating to right and left respec-
lively, Ia that the driver does not watch the other
drivers wheels. but sits where he can best see Tho
outer limit OF the road and thus avoid a capslze
into the ditch. When each vehicle IN passing
keeps 70 Its own outer limit of the road the wheels
must pass clear II the road be properly laid out.
Therefore Tn America the driver sits on the OF
aide because he keeps TO the right. and in England
the driver both keeps and sits to the left. or nigh
side.
Kindly inform me when a temperance associa-
,ion known as THE Sons Of Temperance" and
very prominent about thirty lnve or forty years
ia sxistenccf Also some facts as to It's work and
influence In the temperance cause. II. L.. r..
The order was founded In New York In 1892,
and has NE insurance, sick and funeral benent
features. II admits women as well as men. and
has a Junior branch known as Cadets OF Temper
ancc. There are four grand divisions of the order
one for North America. one for Great Britain
(Vehere 10 was introduced IN ls'5)and two in Australia.
The United States has about half OF the total mem
bership, Il is estimated that there have been
100000 embcrs on the rolls OF the order since
It's establishment. At present there arc three
subordinate bodies In Manhattan and two in Brook
Ign. Tho grand scribe for this district is c. z.
GIdersloeve. IS West Ninety second street.
Be KIND enough 20 inform me how many Ian
-taaAa ahSre are dead and ltinR. also how many