The San Francisco call., 1909-04-22
Answers to Queries

EXPATRIATIoN-M NJ Sonderberg Ger
many l resided in San Francisco. where 1
ber, 1906, left for Germany and have lived here
ever since. but Ii has always been my tnten-
tIon to return to Sap Francisco. Have l lost
my American citizenship?
The law relative to expatriation
says: when any naturalized citizen
shall have resided for two years in
the foreign state from which he came,
or five years in ony other foreign state
1t shall be presumed that he has
ceased to be an American citizen and
the place of his general abode shall
be deemed his place of residence dur
Ing such years. Provided. however,
that such presumption may be over
come on the presentation of satisfac-
tory evidence to diplomatic or con-
sular officer of the United States, un-
der such rules and regulations as the
department of state may prescribe; and
provided also. that no American citi-
zen shall be allowed to expatriate HIM
helf when this country is at war"
FOOLS DAY-Subscriber Mare Island, ana
A. B. c., City. What is the origin of all FOOLS
day on April /?
This question has often been asked.
but it Is impossible to give a thor
oughly satisfactory reply. In the lit
erature of the last two centuries there
are found many references to the day,
but beyond that it is impossible to go.
The antiquarians appear to be unable
to trace the origin of the custom of
April fooling. One suggestion is to
the following effect: 1t is supposed
that the custom of playing tricks on
the 1st of April was derived from some
pagan custom, such as the Hull festival
among the Hindus or the Roman fes-
tival of fools. The practice prevails
In many countries and this might in
dicate that the custom dates away
back to the early history of the race.
CLARA STREET. C. c.. City. What is
the proper name of a street which starts at
the west line of Rltch street. between Folsom
and and Harrison, running west to Sixth? Is it
Clara or Clary?
Before the big fire of 1sOe-that
street had dual name-Clary and
Clara. Way back In the fifties when
the small streets south of Market were
named, women's names were used to
designate them. such as Minna, Jessie.
Clementina and so on. and the street
you ask about was called Clara. In
latter years, so the story goes. a
painter was told to paint street corner
signs and when it came to Clara, he
painted one "Clary' and being too
tired to make the change 'Iet it go at
that. and it went up on one of the
corners.
POPULATION OF THE EARTIr-E L. R.,
Berkeley, Cal. 1t has been asserted that the
entire population OF the earth could be accom-
odated in the state of Texas by placing nine
people on every acre in the state. Is this so?
What is the population of the earth? What is
the area of the state of Texas in square miles?
The population of the earth is esti-
mated at 1,522.7a0. 900. The gross area
in square miles Of the state of Texas
is 265,7S0. There are $40 acres to the
square mile.
INCoRP0REFIoN-S. E. A., Red BIuff. Cal
Tell me where can procure a book OF informa-
tion on the subject of Incorporating a small
commercial company in California?
The best book that this department
can refer you to is the codes of the
state, which will give you the law on
the subject.
PEARL HARBoR-H. D.. city. what is the
United States government doing at Pearl harbor
Hawaiian Islands, at this time?
At last accounts the government was
dredging the harbor so as to make it
naval base and repair station
THREE DATEs-A. s., Cupertino. Cal. On
fall: May g, 1884, November .. Isss. and ussTs sep
tember s. 1Sa4
Respectively. Thursday. Sunday and
Saturday.
ST. GAUDEN COINS Subscriber. City. where
can ascertain how many St Gauden coins were
minted?
Address letter of inquiry to the
director of the United States mint.
AMBASSADORS-A. X. Belmont. Cal. Dia
President Taft remove any ambassador between
the date of the inauguration and 20 days there
after?
He did not.
ANTI-CHINEsE-F. G. B., City. When was
the anti Chinfse convention held in California
At sacramento. March 10. 1886.