The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-03-30

What is &hs area of the German em. pire at present compared with that of fifty years aso7 What recent aoquisi- tiors of territory has # made, if any2
 Fifty years ago there was no Ger man empire The Germany Of 1865. then called the German federation, con sisted of Austria, Prussia, four or five small Kingdoms and about thirty duch- les, grand duchies ana principalit1es. The largest single unit in the confed- eracy was Austria, though Prussia, with a smaller area, had a larger pop ,ulation- The more important of the other states were Bavaria, Saxony. Hanover. Wurttemberg and Baden, and following these were the duchfes and principa dties, several of which had less, than ten square miles of territory. The GermaA empire dates from the Fran co-Prussian war and the chancellor ship of Btsmarck--that is, from 1871- and consists of twenty-five states, with Prussia at the head. Austria having been eliminated in 1S66 ''the Seven WeeiB' waE." By the war Of 1S7O-1 Germany acquired Alsace Lorraine. with an area of $500 square miles. The area of the empire when 1t was created was 2OS,7sO square miles. 1t is now i 1,236. 600 square miles, includ- ing the original area and 1,137 .82O square miles of colonies and prOtec- torateA acquired since the war of 1870. In fact an these possessions were ac- quired since 1884.
 H6W did Confederate states cur rency compare with United States cur Pency in relative gold vaIue7
 Late in 1864 a gold dollar equaIed $27 to S28 Confederate paper money. Bloqr was SSb0 a barrel. cofnneaI S55 a busiael, bacon $1Q to $1l pound, coffee SIP and sugar $S.50 to SIP a pound. A gold dollar was worth $2.45 in United States greenbacks.
 Can you give the origin of. All Foois' day. April l. and how it came te be universally recognized tE1roushout the Christian hafions7
 As with most of the folk festivals of our European ancestors, it appears to be a pagan feast christened because impossible ot ex t1rpation. The choice of this particular day on the calendar for this 5oyance is by no means for tuitous- Until years quite recent the beginning of the year was set at March 25- After the year had been officially dated from Jan. l the old New Years remained for long time in use. This accounts for the frequent employment Of a double dated year in January, February and most of March. which so frequently occurs in the form Feb p, 1722-23. April l is the octave of the New Years of March 25. Therefore il was celebrated as the windup of the holiday Activity. son1e French au- l thor1tieg assign the introduction of
 April fool their Poisson dsAvril, to l 1564, when Charles K made the change of the years beginning to Jan. l. There is no record of the ob- servance earlier than about three cen tur1es ago.
 What is tlte difference between cum cotton and nitrogiycerinR Also by whom i were both diseovereds and when, and which is che greater sxplosive3
 Nitroglycer1n was discovered in 1s4o l by Ascanio Sobrero and guncotton by T. J. Pelouze In 1888. They are differ. ents but each contains properties neces- sary in the manufacture Of the other
 We could not give space to printing the method of manufacture and the in gradients that enter into their making. but you will find both, fully explained in any encyclopaedia
 Gold to the amount Of E2,ooo, 900 was car-marzed for Argentina account