The National tribune., 1908-01-16
ANSWERSOTO
CORRESPONDENTS.


?. Where did lit start from? 8. Wha,
is the western terminus?
| /. The first grading was done in the
| Autumn of 1864, .the first rail was laid
in July. 1861 and the last spike was
driven at Promohotory Point, Utah
where it metf the Central Pacific, on
| May 10, 1863. . The eastern starting
point of the Jiniors Pacific is at Omaha
Neb.. and it extends 10 Ogden, Utah
where it connects with the Central Pa
cific Railroad, now part of the Southern
| Pacific system, now called the Ogden
route. 8. Ogden, Utah.
| A. F. d., Detroit, Mich, writes: ]
have a $50 Confederate note with q
picture on it showing three colored men
in field, two of whom are hoeing the
ground. Can you tell me whether it
| has any value?
The note you describe is catalogued
as selling for 81.
| ID. c. E., Creston, Iowa, asks: Can
you give me the date of the perform
ance given in New York City as a bene-
fit to Lester Wallack?
| The famous performance of Ham
let" by the leading players of America,
| in honor of Lester Wallack in which
Edwin Booth played Hamlet; Nine.
Modjeska. Ophelia; Joseph Jefferson,
the First Gravedigger, and Lawrence
Barrett, the Ghost, was given on Mon
day evening, May 81. 1883, at the Met
ropolitan Opera House, New York, un-
| der the direction of Augustin DAILY and
A. NJ. Palmer.
A. M. p, London, KY, writes: In a
recent issue of The National Tribune
you described new animal called the
| "zebula" Is it the same as a cattalo;
and, if not, what is cattaio?
A cattalo is the animal obtained by
crossing the buffalo with domestic cat
tie, and it is credited with possessing
the best qualities of both parents.
A. S. B.. Walden, N. Y, asks: What
is the meaning of the Transformation
of gems" which lately read was don.
in raris?
Certain gems, such as rubies and
sapphires, consist of the mineral corun-
dum colored by small quantities of for
eign oxides. Thus, for instance, the
blue sapphire probably owes its color
TO the addition of a small amount of
cobalt oxide. A French chemist, while
recently experimenting with radium,
found it possible to change the colors:
thus sapphire when treated with radium
turns green, and the ruby passes thru
violet, blue and green to yellow. This
is the sO-caled transformation of gems
obtained by radiO-activity. AS vet it
nection it may be interesting to men
ton that Synthetic" rubies and sap
phires possess the peculiar property of
being artificial and yet mineralogically
genuine. They consist of small speci-
mems of the true gems fused into a
larger single one in an electric furnace
#. X. b., New Iberia, La, asks: How
long was PiusxIX. the Pope?
Pho Mono died 'on Feb. Z, 1878, aged
Sc, after a pontifical reign of over 81
years. the only. Pope who surpassed the
traditional 20 years of st. Peter, tho
his successor. Leo XIII, resigned from
1878 to 1903, which is rs years.
w. B. G., Eufa1a, Ala, asks: Do sta
-tistics show that divorces are persist
emily on the increase?
According to some information on
this subject, collected few years ago,
We find that the number OF absolute
divorces granted in New York in 1895
was 202; in Chicago, LAS; in Phila-
delphia, 364, and in Boston, 269. In
nine years there was decided increase.
for the figures for 1904 are as follows:
New York. 843; Chicago, 1850; PhiIa-
delphia. GA, and Boston, 512.
J. c. K, North Vernon, Ind, asks:
What salary does the Mayor of New
York get, and what does the Mayor of
London, England, receive?
The Mayor of New York receives a
salary of $4,000 a year. while the Lord
Mayor of London has an annual salary
of 10000 pounds. or $4,000.
H. P. D., Fremont, O., asks: Who is
our Minister to the Court of Russia?
The American ambassador to Rus
sla Is now John Wallace Riddle, born
in Philadelphia in 1864. who was grad
faI nf
the Diplomatic Service as Secretary to-
the u. S. Legation to Turkey in 1893,
since when he has served variOusly, be-
coming in 1905 Minister to Roumania
and Servia, whence he was transferred
to Russia.
H. r. NJ, Chicago, Ill, asks: What
is standard time?
For convenience the railroads of the
United States have divided the country
into four sections, each of which differs
in time from the one east of it by one
hour. and they are known respectively
as Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pa
cific. The originator of standard time
in this country was Samuel p. Langley
long the Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington. d. c., who
in 1863 furnished the Pennsylvania
Railroad in Pittsburg with the exact
time, and it was BY that railroad dis
tributed by telegraph from their Pitts
burg headquarters Tt is distinguished
from actual or sun time, and is now in
almost general use thruout the United
States.
W. S. B., Baltimore, Md, asks: Who
is Henry Reuterdahf, who has been ex-
posing the weaknesses of the United
States Navy?
He Is an artist who was born in Swe-
do in a
spondent during the War with Spain.
contributing to many magazines, He
Is now with Admiral Evans's fleet on
its way to the Pacific.
S. G.. Jr., Cleveland. O., asks: How
many electoral votes did President Nc.
Kinley receive in 1896, and how many
in 1900?
He received 271 in 1896 and 2s2 in
1900.
c. r.. West Carrolton, O.. asks: 1.
What value has silver dollar of 1SO4?
2. In a recent issue of your paper you
speak of the different positions and
duties of Government employees. Are
these positions obtained thru Civil Ser
vice examinations or in what way?,y
1. There is no premium, SO far as
we know, on any of the dollars of recent
years. From time to time newspaper
stories about the great value of the
dollar of 1894 are circulated, but the
that coin. Some good authorities, how
.l.s~- lot ,l.II-