The San Francisco call., 1910-03-20
Answers to Queries
Herbert Kaufman


BRooMs Phyllis HeaIdsburg. The house
against the high price of brooms. What is the
cause of the raise In the price:
Scarcity of broom corn used in the
manufacture.
JUsTIcE-H. G. M., Burlingame. Was there
ever chief justice of the supreme court OF
No.
OLD TIME sTEAMERs-A A. P, Oakland,
What steamers were on the route between san
Francisco and Panama in 1863!
The Golden City, Constitution, Mon
tana and Colorado.
WRITING Reader. Vallejo. What is the his
tory of writing?
Pictures are supposed to be the first
attempts az writing. The most ancient
remains of writing are upon hard sub
stances such as stones and metals used
by the ancients for edicts and matters
of public notoriety. Athletes or Here's
is said to have written history of the
Egyptians, and to have been the au-
thor of hieroglyphics, Pip B. c. Writ
ing is said to have been taught to the
Latins by Europa, daughter of Agenor.
king of Phoenicia, 1894 B. G. The
commandments were written on two
tablets of stone 1491 B. c.
yIsALIA- Subscriber. City. When and how
did the Visalia railroad pass to the Southern
BY purchase. June II. 1897.
TANNING FURS-R. B.. La Grande. What
is the process for tanning fur skins?
The following is given as an excel
lent plan for tanning any kind Of skin
with the fur on. After cutting off
the useless parts. soften the skin by
soaking, remove the fatty matter from
the inside and soak it in warm water
for an hour. Next, mix equal parts of
borax, saltpeter and glauber salts (sul-
phate of Soda, in the proportion of
about half an ounce of each. for each
skin, with sufficient water to make
thin paste; spread this with brush
over the inside of the skin, applying
more on the thicker parts than on the
thinner; double the skin together,
flesh side inwards, and place it in
cool place. After standing "a hours
wash the skin clean and apply, in the
one ounce of salsoda,, half an ounce of
borax and two ounces of hard white
soap melted slowly together without
being allowed to boil; fold together
again and put away in a warm place
for "a hours. After this, dissolve four
ounces of alum eight ounces of salt
and two ounces of salaratus In suffi-
Clclll not Idlll WdtGI W SdluAdlC tlC
skin; when cool enough not to scald
the hands soak the skin it it for II
hours; then ring out and hang up to
dry. When dry repeat this soaking
and drying two or three times, till
the skin is sufficiently soft. Lastly,
smooth the inside with fine sandpaper
and pumice stone.
GEOGRAPHIC WILT CITY What is an
Geographic will under the laws Of California and
how is such viii proved?
Section 1877 of the civil code says:
"An Geographic will is one that is en-
tirely written, dated and signed by the
hand of the testator himself. 1t is sub
ject to no other form and may be made
in or out of the state and need not be
witnessed" Section 1909 of the code
of civil procedure says that "an olo-
graphic will may be proved in the
same manner that other private writ
ings are proved"
TIME roR FILING-R B., Belevedere Is
there limit to the time in which will
must be hled?
In California the person who has the
custody of a will must present the
same to the superior court within 80
days after receiving notice of the death
QUOTATIONS. H. NJ. Portland Ore. Give
name of author and poem in which appears:
While stands the coliseum. Rome shall stand,
When falls the coliseum, Rome shall fall
And when Rome falls-the world.
This is from "childe Harold" by By
ron, canto iv, stanza las.
CHINESE APPLE-Subscriber. Los Gatos.
What is the Chinese crabapple''?
It is native of China, grows on
small tree, is very ornamental when in
flower The flowers are of bright
rose color The fruit is irregularly
round, about the size of cherry. yell
low and fit to be eaten. like the medlar,
only when in a state of incipient decay.
ADoBE-Subscriber, City. What were the old
adobe houses in San Francisco: that is, of what
material were they built and how were they
built?
The old buildings that were erected
in the Mission by the Indians under
direction of the padres were built of
unburned brick. They were made of
loamy earth containing about two
thirds fine sand and one-third clayey
dust. This was mixed with water and
then pressed into moIds of the required
size. These were taken from the molds,
placed on edge on the ground and left
became hard. compact squares, without
tar and at the completion of every two
feet of the structure there was an in
terval of one week for drying. The
interior of the walls were mud plas-
tered before the roof timbers were put