The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-01-11
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

food to be had. with the prices. which
are Invariably expressed In shillines and
pcrc'e. As we had our own decimal
monetary system. can you explain this?
When was boy in the late sos a quar-
ter was known as two shillings. rs cents
as six shiilings. &C. but I have never
seen any American coinage Of shilling.
Incidentally, the paper contains an ad-
vcrtisement Of the New York and Harlem
Railroad which states that train will
start for White Plains at 80 A. NJ
daily from tho City Hall. and that there
will he another at p. N. az the weather
is fine" j. ON.
Money at that time and for q consider
able number Of years following was coll
loquiaily reckoned in shiliings. a persisting
memory of Colonial days. Moneys Of &C.
count were stated In dollars and decimal
divisions and coins were minted In &C.
cordance with the law. but in affairs Of
household commerce. the morning chat
fering with the butcher and tho baker and
the grocer. above all With the pedler
crying his wares. the sentement Of prices
in shllings was common custom. The
colloauial shilling varied geographically.
the YORK; shilling OF eight to the dollar
be.ng the cheapest. The reason for this
lay in the fact that the Colonial bill Of
credit was quoted at $3.50 to the pound
sterling and one-twentieth OF that value
is loi. cents A shilling OF 1871, cents
was IN the reckoning Of Pennsylvania
New Jersey. Delaware and Maryland A
shilling of six to the dollar. or l6 90
cents. was reckoned in New England. Wiz
ginia. kentucky. Tennessee. Indiana. ILL.,
nois. Missouri. Mississippi Florida and
Alabama In Georgia and South Caro-
lima the shilling was close to sterling par
II 81 cents. or four and eight pence TO
the dollar.
Kindly inform me as to the value OF
violin having this inscription "Antonius
tiieronimi fill Anatus nepos fecit in
tremun,n 40. 1865" j. II. MCC.
II seems 10 lie time once more to point
out that the label within the fiddle does
not make the violin OF price. These labels
Of famous makers. Amati in this case.
may he printed by any Job printer to
the order of any violin maker At one
time they may have been intended to
deceive. hut the device has been known
50 long that all hope o, practising the
liumbug for profit must long since have
departed. and the labels remain In use as
an innocent custom OF the trade in tho
very cheapest flddles. II In known that
the false labels were in general use
century and a half ago The value Of
~ violin Is individual: many OF the most
undouhtcd antiquity are as valueless as
those fresh from the factory and sold for
almost nothing in the toy shops A violin
has personality OF its own. each fibre
of the wood attuned to melody by years
Of music. the very glue and varnish, all
these things contribute to the perfect in
strum.nt. The great artists of violin
making gave ripe thought and experience
20 their work and their product rates high
IN accordance with their deserts. The
errors in the text of the Label concerning
which the inquiry is made show its in
hercnt falsity---in particular the use of
the form Cr.monen quite clearly evidences
the fact that the fabrication was made
by some German printer.
What is the origin OF the cravat and
whence is the name derived? | have heard
that IL was named after the Croats. but
| cannot see how that appears.
b. r. LEONARD.
An alternative. In fact the Original.
nam, OF the Croat people was Khorvat.
which brings the derivation OF cravat
much better into view. These light in
fantry IN the great wars OF the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries were a pie
turcsque array OF inercenarios 4 dis
tinctivc mark Of their uniform was n
ueckcloth, which was part OF the
national costume IL may have been worn
for warmth. 1t may have been intended
to serV" as bandage in case OF wounds.
students Of the etioloSy Of costume being
divided on this point. The latter ex-
PLANTATION COMFORTS with the rational ex-
PLANTATION OF the aiguillates OF certain
soldiers, an ornament at present. but the
conventional survival OF an extra cord
which might supply the place of reins
/ lost in the heat OF combat. Be that as II
may, the cravat was unknown as an
/ article OF dress until Louis XIV. in 1865.
| Introduced into the French army the regi-
ment made famous as the Royal Cravat,
/ armed and uniformed after the style OF
! the Croat mercenaries The King at once
adopted for his own wear the distinctive
II tx ornament of the new regiment and
its popularity was immediate and lasting.
! In what year did the first epidemic
, of cholera visit New York and when the
! second? need the information to es-
! tablish the date OF my birth. as to which
! my mother told me l was born November
! > in 1s47 or ls4S or the fall In which the
| second epidemic of cholera occurred.
| have applied TO the Department of Health.
but they have no record of my
| BIRTH j. l.. X
The first cholera epidemic was In 1892
the second was in 1S49. The first case
in the second epidemic broke out IN the
| Five Points on May II. The public
schools were used for hospitals. 1901 pa
TENTS were treated In this improvised
quarters and 1,02l died It was estiWated
that the total death list was 5000. At
that time there were no Official records
! OF vital statistics and II Is practically i'm
possible 10 procure certificates OF births.
marriages and deaths before the middle
! SOS, except through church records. and
these were not kept with any marked
accuracy.