New York to Arthur's Round Table. The officers of the | Number of Miles by Water from order are the Prelate, the Chancellor, the Register, the Garter King of Arms, and the Usher of the Black Rod. Amsterdam.. Bermuda 3,510 Kingston 660 Lima.. 11,574 Liverpool. 310 London.. 1,640 11,310 3,210 3,375 Canton. 13,900 New Orleans.. 2,045 903 Cape Horn. 785 262 1,385 Columbia River... 15,965 Quebec. 1,400 5,140 Rio Janeiro. 3,840 840 Constantinople. 1,354 Dublin... 1,430 Gibraltar 507 Halifax.. 900 Hamburg. 3,225 Round the Globe.... 25,000 3,300 Sandwich Islands... 15,300 612 San Francisco.. 3,775 St. Petersburg.. 1,420 Valparaiso..... 3,210 Washington... Patents Issued Since 1852. PATENTS AND CERTIFICATES OF REGISTRATION ISSUED Atchison, Kan.. 261 Havana.. 1,368 Atlanta, Ga.... 404 Havre.... 1,121 Auburn, N. Y. Augusta, Me.. Augusta, Ga.. 887 Milledgeville, Ga..... 1,100 Aurora, Ill. Baltimore, Md.. Bangor, Me.... Bath, Me.... 382 Montpelier, Vt.. 454 Baton Rouge, La. 1,320 Nashua, N. H. Patents Designs sues Reis 275 Belfast, Me.. 424 Nashville, Tenn.. 1,085 Bellefontaine, Ohio.. Binghamton, N. Y... 215 New Bedford, Mass.. 181 Blackstone, Mass. Bloomington, Ill Boston, Mass. Bristol, R. I.. Cambridge, Mass.. Bucyrus, Ohio.. Camden, N. J..... 236 New Haven, Conn.. Carson City, Nevada. 2,800 Chambersburg, Pa... 246 Pittsburg, Pa.... 890 109 20 80 99 64 237 1896 21,867 1,445 61 1897 22,098 1,631 65 91 874 344 Charlestown, Mass... 235 Providence, R. I.... Chattanooga, Tenn.. 980 Quincy, Ill.... 193 1,176 Chicago, In....... 911 Racine, Wis... 976 Chillicothe, Ohio. 645 Raleigh, N. C... 669 Cincinnati, Ohio.. Circleville, Ohio.. Cleveland, Ohio. Columbia, S. C.. Columbus, Ohio. Concord, N. H.. 308 Roxbury, Mass.. Covington, Ky. Cumberland, Md.. 356 a Registration of labels practically ceased May 27, 1891, under decision of United States Supreme Court in Higgins et al. v. Keuffel et al. (55 O. G., 1139). 6 32 Prints. c 16 Prints. d 35 Prints. NOTE. The number of patents granted prior to the commencement of this series of numbering (July 28, 1836) was 9957. The whole number of original patents, in386 cluding designs, issued up to Dec. 31, 1898, was 646,785. 264 1,980 Salem, Mass.... Stonington, Conn. Des Moines, Iowa.... 228 Tonawanda, N. Y. 822 Wilmington, N. C... 974 138 828 143 The reduction of the human 1,384 body to ashes by fire was a very early and 1,084 widespread usage of antiquity. The early Aryans, as opposed to the non-Aryan aborigines of India, Greeks, Romans, Slavs, Celts, and Germans, burned their dead; therefore crema182 tion may be regarded as the universal custom 142 of the Indo-European races. The graves of 1,062 North Europe, throughout the "bronze age,' contain only jars of ashes. The advocates of 486 disposing of the dead by cremation are at the 302 present time numerous, their principal argu210 ments in favor of it being of a sanitary nature. 1,190 912 According to the method which is most fa742 vored by modern cremationists, the body is 58 placed in an oblong brick or iron-cased cham148 ber, underneath which is a furnace. The air of the chamber is raised to a very high tempera230 ture before the body is put in, and a stream of heated hydro-carbon from a gasometer is then 604 admitted, which on contact with the intenselyheated air within immediately bursts into flame. 463 237 1,542 522 116 192 The chamber is, of course, so constructed as sor Hayden, and upon his representations an neither to admit draughts of air from without, nor to permit the escape of gas from within. The noxious gases which are evolved in the beginning of the combustion process are passed through a flue into a second furnace, where they are entirely consumed. By this process a body weighing 144 pounds can be reduced in about fifty minutes to not more than four pounds of lime-dust. In the cremation of each body about 200 pounds of fuel are used. No. Brick Required to Construct any Building. (Reckoning 7 Brick to each superficial foot.) Superficial Feet of Wall. Number of Bricks to Thickness of 4inch. 8 inch. 12 inch. 16 inch. 20 inch. 24 inch 150 750 45 135 315 450 act was passed by Congress, and approved March 1, 1872, by which what is now known as the Yellowstone National Park was "reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale, and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasure-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." This great park contains the most striking of all the mountains, gorges, falls, rivers, and lakes in the whole Yellowstone region. The mountain ranges and are always covered with snow. The banks rise to the height of from 10,000 to 12,000 feet, of the Yellowstone river abound with ravines and canyons, which are carved out of the heart of the mountains through the hardest rocks. The most remarkable of these is the canyon of Tower Creek and Column Mountain, which is 90 about ten miles in length, and is so deep and 180 gloomy that it is called "The Devil's Den." 225 The Grand Canyon, which begins where Tower 270 Creek ends, is twenty miles in length, is im360 passable throughout, and is inaccessible at the 405 water's edge except at a few points, and its 900 depth is so profound that no sound ever reaches 1,350 the ear from the bottom. The Park contains 2,250 a great multitude of hot springs of sulphur, 3,150 sulphate of copper, alum, etc. There are at 3,600 least 50 geysers that throw columns of water to 4,050 the height of from 50 to 200 feet, and the falls 4,500 6,000 7,500 9,000 of this wonderland are considered marvelous. 2,250 4,500 6,750 9,000 11,250 13,500 The altitude of the entire Park is 6,000 feet or 3,000 6,000 9,000 12,000 15,000 18,000 3,750 7,500 11,250 15,000 18,750 22,500 more above the sea level. 4,500 9,000 13,500 18,000 22,500 27,000 5,250 10,500 15,750 21,000 26,250 31,500 6,000 12,000 18,000 24,000 30,000 36.000 6,750 13,500 20,250 27,000 33,750 40,500 7,500 15,000 22,500 30,000 37,500 45,000 1. 7 15 23 30 38 2 15 30 3 4 900 1,125 Watches of the Night. The Jews, like Yellowstone Park is situated, the the Greeks and Romans, says the Rev. Dr. greater part, in Wyoming, the remainder partly William Smith in his Bible Dictionary," in Montana and partly in Idaho, and comprises divided the night into watches instead of hours, 3,575 square miles. The adaptability of this each watch representing the period for which section of the country to the purposes of a sentinels or pickets remained on duty. The national park was first brought prominently proper Jewish reckoning recognized only three before the public by a company of surveyors such watches, entitled the first or "beginning who visited the region in the year 1869. In of the watches " (Lamentations ii, 19), the 1870 and 1871 the territory was again ex- middle watch (Judges vii, 19), and the mornplored by scientific expeditions, and the re- ing watch (Exodus xiv, 24; Í Samuel xi, 11). ports of the first visitors were confirmed. The These would last, respectively, from sunset to expedition of 1871 was headed by Profes- ten o'clock P. M., from ten o'clock P. M. to two o'clock A. M., and from two o'clock A. M. 1ing the lower part of the face black. The to sunrise. After the establishment of the mourning color among the Romans under the Roman supremacy. the number of the watches republic was black or dark blue for both sexes, was increased to four, which were described but during the empire the women wore white. either according to their numerical order, as in In Europe and America the color is black; in the case of the fourth watch " (Matthew xiv, Turkey, it is violet ; in China, white; in Egypt, 25), or by the terms "even,' "midnight," yellow; in Ethiopia, brown. It is customary cockcrowing," and "morning" (Mark xiii, for the courts in all European countries to go 35). These terminated, respectively, at nine into mourning on the occasion of the death of o'clock P. M., midnight, three o'clock A. M., a member of a royal family. The custom of and six o'clock A. M. draping buildings on the death of a great man or a hero of national reputation has always prevailed in the United States. 66 Natural Gas. The earliest use of natural gas of which there is any record is in China, where for centuries it has been conveyed from fissures in salt-mines to the surface through hollow bamboos and used for burning purposes. There are also places in Asia, near the Caspian Sea, where it is seen to issue from the earth, and a similar phenomenon is to be seen in the Szalatna salt-mine in Hungary. The first discovery of natural gas made in America was in the neighborhood of Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New York, early in this century. In 1821 a small well was bored in the village and the gas was conducted through pipes to the houses and used for illuminating purposes, and, on the occasion of Lafayette's visit in 1824, it is said that the village was illuminated with this gas. Although this discovery was widely known it did not lead to any further experiments, either in the neighborhood or in other places, till fully twenty years after. In the early part of the present century it was found that the wells which were bored for salt in the Kanawha Valley yielded large quantities of gas, but it was not utilized as fuel until 1841. In 1865, a well which was sunk for petroleum at West Bloomfield, New York, struck a flow of natural gas. An effort was made to utilize this, and it was carried in a wooden main to the city of Rochester, a distance of twenty-four miles, in 1870, for the purpose of illuminating the city, but the experiment was a failure. In 1873, a well in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, was so arranged that the gas could be separated from the water with which it was discharged, and conveyed through pipes to several mills in that vicinity, where it was extensively used for manufacturing purposes for the first time. From that date to the present day the use of natural gas, both for fuel and illuminating, has increased very rapidly, it having been discovered in other parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. Walkyries.— The name "Walkyries "is derived from the old Norse val, which signifies a heap of slaughtered men, and kjora, to choose. In the Scandinavian mythology the Walkyries, also called battle-maidens, shieldmaidens, and wish-maidens, are beautiful young women, who, adorned with golden ornaments, ride through the air in brilliant armor, order battles and distribute the death-lots according to Odin's command. Fertilizing dewdrops on the ground from the manes of their horses, light streams from the points of their lances, and a flickering brightness announce their arrival in the battle. They rejoice the glazing eye of the hero with their charming glances, and lead him to Walhalla, where they act as his cup-bearers. Some of the Walkyries spring from elves and other superhuman beings; some, also, are the daughters of princes. They ride generally in companies of three, or of three times three, or four times three, and have the gift of changing themselves into swans. Whoever deprives a Walkyrie of her swan-robe gets her into his power. Mourning Customs.- From the earliest times the manner of expressing grief at death has differed in different countries. The Hebrew period of mourning was usually seven days; but in some instances, as at the death of Moses and Aaron, it was extended to thirty days. The mourners tore their clothing, cut off the hair and beard, strewed ashes on their heads, and cast themselves on the ground, weeping and smiting their breasts. The Greeks mourned thirty days, except in Sparta, where the mourning period was limited to ten days, and wore coarse black garments, cut off their hair, and secluded themselves from the public gaze. In the event of the death of a great general, the whole army cut off their hair, and also the manes of their horses. The Roman mourning period lasted only a few days; but if the death was that of some great ruler or general, all business was stopped, and the forum and the schools were closed. Among the Fiji Islanders the women are required to burn their bodies on the death of a chief, and in the Associated Press was organized about Sandwich Islands the people go into mourning thirty years ago by the following New York by knocking out the front teeth and by paint-city papers: Herald, Tribune, World, Times, Sun, Evening Express, and Journal of Commerce, for the purpose of facilitating the collection of news. The general agent of the Association is located in New York, and associate agents in Chicago, Washington, Cincin-plete circle may also be sometimes seen in the nati, and other news centers. There is also a complete reportorial staff, and the news collected is used not only by the syndicate of papers, but is transmitted by telegraph to others in almost every city in the country who have secured the privilege by purchase. only be visible to a spectator on the top of a very high and narrow mountain peak, which would elevate his plane much above that of the sun's rays without cutting off their light. A comrainbow formed by the sunlight on the spray arising from cataracts. The lunar rainbow, which is a comparatively rare but very beautiful phenomenon, differs from the solar simply in the source and intensity of the light by which it is produced; and, as in all cases of feeble light, the distinction of the colors is very difficult. In fact, except under the most favorable circumstances, the lunar rainbows rarely show colors at all, giving a pale, ghostly gleam of apparently white or yellow light. Names and Dimensions of Various Sizes of Paper. Octavo Note.. FOLDED. 6 x 8 7 Billet Note.... Letter. 10 121 x 16 Hills in an Acre of Ground. 40 feet apart....... 27 hills 8 feet apart.. 35 30 25 35 66 6 680 hills 66 1.210 5 66 312 66 3 All Fools' Day.— The origin of the custom of April fooling cannot be traced with any degree of certainty. In the literature of the last century there are found many references to it, and yet beyond that it is scarcely possible to go. One suggestion is that the custom of playing tricks on the first day of April was derived from some ancient pagan custom, such as the Huli festival among the Hindoos, or the Roman Feast of the Fools. One fact, however, we do know, and that is that the practice prevails in many countries, under various names, which would seem to indicate that it dates away back to the early history of the race. Rainbow.- A rainbow can only be seen when the spectator stands between it and the sun; its center must always be directly oppo-20 site the sun, moving with the sun's motion, 15 falling if the sun is rising, and rising if the sun is declining. A rainbow occurs when the sun or moon, not too far above the horizon, throws its beams upon a sheet of falling rain- At end of First Year comes the.. drops on the opposite side of the heavens. Thus, a ray of light from the sun strikes a raindrop obliquely; part of it is reflected at the surface of the drop; the rest, passing into the drop, is refracted; on the other side of the drop part of the ray passes through, and the rest is again reflected; on passing from the drop on the same side that it entered, a second refraction occurs. These successive reflections and refractions separate the ray of white light into its component colored rays, and as the angles of incidence and emergence vary for each color, the eye of a spectator perceives them as distinct bands. Now, every drop in the sheet of falling water which has equal obliquity to the spectator's eye will send to it rays of the same color. But the only drops which can fulfill these conditions of like obliquity of reflected rays are those which define the base of a cone whose apex is the eye, and the center of whose base is in a right line passing through the sun and the eye of the spectator. At or near sunset, when the sun and the observer are in the same horizontal plane, the bow will be seen to form a complete semicircle; when the sun is higher in the sky, a smaller arch is seen; the entire circle could Paper Table for Printers' and Pub- air. If they return home they are then taken lishers' Use.-Showing the quantity of to greater distances, progressively increased paper required for printing 1,000 copies (including 56 extra copies to allow for wastage), of any usual size book, from 8vo down to 32mo. If the quantity required is not found in the table, double or treble some suitable number of pages or quantity of paper. Carrier Pigeons. That pigeons have been used for a great many years for the transmission of messages is well known, but with what nation the custom originated it is impossible to discover. The Romans used the birds for this purpose, they were in use among the Asiatics, and we have the assertion of the poet Tasso for believing that they were employed during the siege of Jerusalem in 1099; and it is a historical fact that they were used during the crusade of St. Louis, in 1250. Their most remarkable use in modern times was during the siege of Paris, in 1870. In Turkey they have been more generally used than in any other country, and it is said that there the art of training them is carried to its highest perfection. Pigeons intended for this use are taken, when they have acquired full strength of wing, in a covered basket to a distance of about half a mile from their home, and then set at liberty and thrown into the from forty to fifty miles. When the bird is able to accomplish this flight he may be trusted to fly any distance, overland, within the limits of physical power. It is the general plan to keep the birds in a dark room for some hours before they are used. They are then fed sparingly, but are given all the water they can drink. The paper on which the message is written is tied around the upper part of the bird's leg, or to one of the large feathers of the tail, so as not to impede its flight. The feet are washed in vinegar to keep them from getting too dry, so that the bird will not be tempted to descend to water and thus possibly ruin the message. The rate of flight is from twenty to thirty miles an hour, though the bird has been known to pass over great distances much more rapidly. When thrown up in the air, the pigeon at first flies round and round, as though for the purpose of sighting some landmark that it knows. When this is discovered, it flies toward it, and thence onward to its home. Emancipation in Great Britain.The system of slavery was abolished throughout all the British Colonies by act of Parliament in 1833, when a bill was passed which gave freedom to all classes and indemnified their owners with an award of £20,000,000. According to this act, slavery was to cease on August 1, 1834, but the slaves were to continue with their former owners as apprentices for a certain period. This apprenticeship, however, did not work satisfactorily to either side, and complete emancipation took place in 1838. In 1787 the subject of the suppression of the slave trade was agitated in London and received the support of Mr. Pitt, the Prime Minister, and William Wilberforce, a member of Parliament, and in 1791 a bill forbidding the further importation of slaves was offered by Wilberforce in Parliament, but was not passed. The conquest of the Dutch colonies in America by the British led to such an increase in the British slave-trade that in 1805 the traffic was forbidden in the conquered colonies; and in 1806 the friends of emancipation gained still another step by the passage of an act forbidding British subjects to engage in the trade, and the following year a general abolition bill making all slave-trade illegal after January 1, 1808, was adopted by Parliament. This, however, did not have the desired effect, as British subjects still continued the trade under the flags of other nations. So, in 1811, it was made a felony, punishable with imprisonment at hard labor or transportation; and subsequent laws made it piracy, to be |