The National tribune., 1908-05-07
ANSWERS TO
CORRESPONDENTS.

Union soldiers and sailors of the late
civil and Spanish wars. as defined in
/ sections 1904 and 2305 of the Revised
Statutes, as amended by the act OF
March 1, 1901, win not be abridged.
The talk is that the soldiers will have
the first drawing. Is it so?
The act referred TO simply provides
that any entryman who served in the
United States Army, Navy or Marine
Corps during the Spanish War or the
Philippine insurrection shall have the
time during which he served deducted
from the usual time required to perfect
the title, but no patent shall be issued
until at least one year after the entry
man shall have begun his settlement
and improvements.
| j.. L. D., Atlanta, Ca, asks: Was
there ever any attempt made to kill q
President of the United States before
Lincoln?
President Andrew Jackson was shot
at in the Capitol in Washington on Jan.
90. 1885, by a house painter named
Richard Lawrence, but the President
fortunately escaped because the pistol
of the would-be assassin missed fire.
o. ]. B., San Diego, Cal, asks: Where
can 1 find out about the Bill Posters
Union?
Write to w. j. Murray, Box "A, Tap
pan. n. Y, as he is the official repre-
VI Ane NdtlDndl SAlildHCe vi
Bill Posters and Billers of America.
w. o. N, Kansas City, Mo-, asks:
How long will it take a letter to go
from New York to San Francisco?
4 According to the Official Postal Guide
the exact distance from the station in
New York City TO the station in San
Francisco is $3.50 miles, and the time
consumed in transit is 105 hours, OF
four days and nine hours.
received the most votes after Parker
lat the last Democratic National Con-
vention?
The last Democratic National Con-
vention was held in St. Louis on July Z,
1904, and on the regular ballot Judge
Alton e. Parker, of New York, received
/ 65S votes and William r. Hearst, of
New York, 204 votes. But as 667 votes
were necessary to choice, delegates
from Idaho, Nevada, West Virginia and
Delaware changed their votes to Par
ker at the close of the roll call, giving
him 67S votes, or II more than re-
quired. His nomination was then made
unanimous
]. L. M, Detroit, Mich, asks: What
is the term of enlistment in the U. S.
Navy?
The term of enlistment in the Navy
j is four years. Applicants for enlist
ment must be American citizens, able
i to read and write English, and when
enlisted must take the oath of ale
/ glance. They must first pass the physi-
cal examination prescribed in the med
ical Instructions.
i f. w. F., Baltimore, Md, asks: How
many Field Marshals are there in the
English caEmy2, ri
i There are nine, as follows: Sir Fred
erick9. Paul rHaines, Viscount Wolseley.
4 Earl q Reberts.ift the German Emperor,
i the Duke of Connaught, Sir Evelyn
Wood. Sir George White and the En-
peror of Austria.
i w. A. N, Calais, Me-, writes: Can
you tell me anything about the boat
/ Kitty Meade? My great-grandfather
was on her during the Revolution.
/ The Kitty Meade was Pennsylvania
schooner of seven guns, with a crew Of
i Is men. Her master was William Paul
and her mate Edward Oldham. The
owners We're John Wilcocks & Co., of
/ Philadelphia. This vessel is referred
/ to on page 21 of the ninth volume Of
4 Papers of the Continental Congress-"
n. p, Prospect, Ore, asks: Is there
a case on record when a torpedo-boat
destroyer ever destroyed a torpedo
boat?
During the Russian-Japanese war
there were several engagements be-
tween torpedo craft One of these oc-
CURED on March 10. 1904, and the
Russian destroyer Steregustchni, of $50
tons, was cut off from her five consorts
by a Japanese tdotjlla. of destroyers and
was sunk by, the fire of fItheir guns. Sub
tsequentIy,. on April a.. 1904, the Rus
sian destroyer, StTashni,T also of $50
tons, was sunk by Ehe gunfire of Japan
eSe destroyers.i II seems proper to say
in this connection that whatever may
have been the case in the e:Lrly days
Of this class of vessel the designation
'torpedo-boat destroyer is now a mis-
nomer Such ves.,els are, in fact, the
deep sea-going torpedo craft of the
: navy, and are what wouid be mainly
relied upon for independent offensive
Operations, and also to accompany the
battleship fleet as defense against the
lenemy's torpedo craft and for offensive
: purposes. The term torpedo craft" is
: now usually reserved for such small
, vessels as are used only in harbors, or,
at most, never very far from their base.
w. B. L., Wright p. o., " NJ, writes:
Please state whether the same rights to
compensation inure to the present man
agement of the Panama Canal for di-
yerted transcoDfinental traffic via the
ITehuantepec route now that did occa-
sion pro rata agreement for division
of Oriental rates applicable then Cs73)
under the French regime 20 Pacific
roads and their transcontinentai con-
nectioDs. A revival OF corporation in
ternstioBal usage might be in order in
the near future.
u There Is no arrangement at present
between the management OF the Pan
anna Canal and anyone for diyerting
transcontinental traffic by way of the
Tehuantepec route. We would add,
further. that the use Of the Panama
Railroad Company route is now open
10 the world, and so viii the canal be
when II is completed. so far as we
can ascertain there are no agreements
of any kind in force regarding the re-
lafions between the Tehuantepec route
and the Panama route.
M. E. s., Port Austin, Mich. asks: In
what year was John c. Fremont a can
didate for President on the Republican
/ ticket. and who ran with him for Vice
President?
In 1856 John c. Fremont and VIM
L. Dayton We're the candidates respec-
lively for Presiden, and Vice President
of the Republican Party, which ap-
peared for the first time In National
politics that year, the Wing Party hay-
ing gone out Of existence.
r. NJ. T., Lovely, Pa. asks: /. Was
Mrs, JEFF Davis. of Confederate fame,