EVENTS OF THE MONTH Tuesday, November 9.- During the past fiscal year thirty-four railroads, it is said, have passed into the hands of the courts... Rear Admiral Rhind, U. S. Navy, and Ex-Senator Nathan Fellows Dixon are dead...The report that a native officer and thirty-five Sikhs belonging to the Kurram column had been intercepted by tribesmen in a ravine and killed is officially confirmed... The Prince of Wales's birthday was celebrated in England. Wednesday, November 10.- President McKinley received Sir Wilfrid Laurier, premier of Canada; Secretary Sherman introduced Sir Wilfrid, who was accompanied by Sir Julian Pauncefote, British Ambassador; Sir Louis Davies, and Professor Thompson, the British seal expert.... Peru seeks a reciprocity arrangement with the United States under the Dingley tariff act. The Turkish ambassador at Berlin, who left his post without leave because his salary had been unpaid for nine months and he was harassed by creditors, was dismissed by the Sultan on arriving at Constantinople. The sitting of the Austrian Reichsrath was again suspended. Thursday, November 11.- At the meeting of the British, American, and Canadian seal experts statistics were presented showing that the seal catch had been greatly reduced in the past year....The president has appointed Charles Page Bryan, of Illinois, minister to China to succeed Mr. Denby....A memorial with 64,572 signatures attached, in favor of an Anglo-American arbitration treaty, has been presented to Lord Salisbury by the arbitration alliance.... The decree granting autonomy to Cuba will be gazetted on November 23....There are 33,000 Spanish soldiers in the hospitals in Cuba. Friday, November 12.- Canada, in return for the concessions which it may make in regard to the seal question, is expected to ask for more rigid protection of its northern fisheries from American fishermen....Arrangements have been made for conferences looking to the negotiation of a reciprocity treaty between the United States and Canada... A conference of engineers and explorers has been called at St. Petersburg to discuss the feasibility of constructing an ice-breaking steamer to penetrate the Arctic seas... The proposal to impeach the Austrian ministers was rejected in the lower house of the Reichsrath; the lefts retired from the chamber. Saturday, November 13.-The Pennsylvania monuments on the battlefield of Chickamauga were dedicated.... Resistance of British claims in Africa has aroused the spirit of jingoism in France....Cecil Rhodes, ex-premier of South Africa, is seeking to defeat President Krüger for reëlection in the Transvaal....German warships were ordered to the scene of the recent outrages on missionaries in China. Sunday, November 14.- Postmaster-General Gary in his annual report, just issued, recommends the establishment of postal savings depositaries... Governor-General Blanco has modified the edict regarding the reconcentrados in Cuba, owing to the destitute condition of many of them....The new premier of New foundland will demand for that colony an equal share in any reciprocity arrangement between Canada and the United States Rich strikes have caused a rush of prospectors to the gold fields of New South Wales. Monday, November 15.-The thirteenth annual Horse Show was opened in Madison Square garden, New York; bad weather kept down the attendance and helped to make the social side of the affair less prominent than in many former years... President Low of Columbia university has withdrawn his resignation ....The statement of the gross postal receipts for last month, compared with October, 1896, at fifty of the largest postoffices, shows a net increase of $142,667, or 4.3 per cent....The Democratic Honest Money league of America has issued an address to sound-money Democrats in favor of a continuation of the contest....The relations of Japan and Russia are strained over the latter's efforts to control the Korean customs. Tuesday, November 16.- The seal experts made a unanimous report, and the diplomatic representatives reached an understanding by which they hope at a later date to bring about a settlement of all the questions....The suggestion for the establishment in Washington of a great national university is taking a more definite form, a number of representative American women having taken hold of the project....The Pope does not accept the Laurier-Greenway settle ment of the Manitoba school question. The Newfoundland ministry, headed by Sir William Whiteway, has resigned....In repulsing an attack of the tribesmen in the Maidan valley the British force used star shells, which illuminated the scene of the encounter sufficiently to enable the tribesmen to be seen.... Prof. W. H. von Riehl, the publicist and historian, died in Munich, Bavaria, aged 75. Wednesday, November 17.- The Competitor prisoners were released from prison in Havana, and will sail for New York on the steamship Yumuri....The Rev. Dr. George H. Houghton, rector of the Church of the Transfiguration ("the Little Church Around the Corner "), New York, died, aged 77....German troops seized three forts at Kiao-Chau, China, as a measure of retaliation for the killing of German missionaries.... Emperor Francis Joseph, of Austria, in receiving the Hungarian delegation, referred to the shaping of Austria's relations with Russia on an additional guaranty of peace. Thursday, November 18.- The committee on organization of the Citizens' Union of New York has decided to continue the organization as a permanent political force in the city; the enrolled membership of the Union is 32,661; the expenditures during the recent campaign were $33.472....In swearing in the guards recruits at Berlin the troops were warned by the emperor that they might be called upon to fight an enemy within the empire....Dispatches from Madrid announce the surrender of all the important insurgent chiefs in the Philippine Islands and the complete pacification of the colony. Friday, November 19.-The Government is preparing its case against the Central Pacific were railroad in anticipation of a default on January I....Commodore Dewey, president of the naval trial board, has returned to Washington from the sea trial of the Iowa, which he declares is "the best ship of her class in the world".... The Tammany Hall executive committee, on Richard Croker's motion, voted to give $20,000 to Cuba and a like amount to the poor of New York....A destructive fire occurred in the Cripplegate district of London; two acres burned over, and nearly one hundred warehouses and other buildings were destroyed; the loss is estimated at $5,000,000....Official dispatches from Peking assert that the Chinese government had taken steps to punish the murderers of the German missionaries before the German troops landed at Kiao-Chau....The Canadian cabinet agreed to the proposal of this Government for a joint commission to settle existing controversies. Saturday, November 20.- Deep snow has fallen on the mountain passes leading from Skaguay to the Klondike gold fields....The Chicago Inter Ocean has passed into the hands of a syndicate headed by Charles T. Yerkes.... The monetary commission has taken a recess until December 15, when it will again meet in Washington....Count Goluchowski, Austrian minister for foreign affairs, defended the concert of Europe in a speech to the Austro-Hungarian delegations....The German contingent of the Cretan army of occupation has sailed for the far east on the cruiser Kaiserin Augusta, to reinforce the marines occupying Kiao-Chau. Sunday, November 21.-Rapid progress is being made in the preparations for the Transmississippi and international exposition, which is to begin June 1, 1898, at Omaha, Neb....The imperial authorities in London are believed to favor the plan for settling disputes between the United States and Canada by a joint commission....The steamer Victoria has returned to Tromsoe, from Spitzbergen, without having obtained any information regarding Andrèe....A destructive fire occurred in Melbourne, Australia; nearly an entire block was burned, and the damage is estimated at $5,000,000. Monday, November 22.- It is stated that in the event of Great Britain and Canada consenting to a suspension of pelagic sealing for one year, the United States will agree to a suspension of all killing of seals for one year on the Pribilof Islands, constituting the American seal possessions in Bering Sea. Gen. Lockhart has announced the English terms of submission on the part of the Afridis and given them a week in which to accept them. Tuesday, November 23.—Secretary Lyman J. Gage delivered an address at the annual dinner of the New York Chamber of Commerce in which he urged prompt action in revising the currency system....Chairman Bynum, of the gold Democratic party, has issued an address calling attention to the sound-money victories in the recent elections....General Weyler arrived at Barcelona, Spain, and was greeted by 20,000 cheering people; he made several speeches Premier Sagasta declared that the government of Spain would in no way modify its programme of autonomy for Cuba. Wednesday, November 24.- It is announced that President McKinley and Secretary of the Treasury Gage have agreed upon a plan for currency reform, which will be set forth in the president's message to Congress....The United States consul at Woodstock, New Brunswick, reports that since the Dingley tariff went into effect trade relations between that part of Canada and the United States have been at a standstill....The national committee of the middleof-the-road Populists, which has been meeting in St. Louis, called a national convention of that party for April 6, 1898. ... The semi-official organs in Germany regard the Hayti trouble as settled, and acknowledge the “friendly attitude of the United States, which has materially assisted the settlement "... The opposing elements in the lower house of the Austrian Reichsrath fought in the chamber for about a quarter of an hour. Thursday, November 25.-Three hundred Americans had a dinner at the Hotel Cecil in London, at which Ambassador Hay was among the speakers; Ambassador White was among the speakers at the dinner of Americans in Berlin....1 The Hawaiian minister in Washington said he expected an amicable settlement of the trouble between his country and Japan at an early day....The sitting of the lower house of the Austrian Reichsrath was again closed on account of the disorderly tactics of the opposition....The flag of Austria was duly saÎuted at Mersina by Turkish guns, with all the ceremonial demanded by the government of Austria.....A letter from Georgetown, British Guiana, says that Great Britain's legal experts have found documents which fully confirm the British boundary claims. Friday, November 26.- The report that Canada would refuse consent to a suspension of pelagic sealing caused much disappointment among officials in Washington....Police protected the president of the lower house of the Austrian Reichsrath from violence and ejected eleven disorderly members of the opposition....Reports come from the West African coast of a conflict between French and British forces in the hinterland of Lagos.... Germany has made demands upon China in connection with the murder of German missionaries. Saturday, November 27.-President McKinley promised to send a special message to Congress in behalf of the Pan-American Exposition to be held on the Niagara River in 1899....The Canadian government, in declining the proposal of the United States to suspend pelagic sealing, says that such action can be taken only by the British Parliament. . . . An official forecast says that the German government's naval bill will provide for sixty-nine new warships, to be built in the next seven years....In connection with German naval operations against the Chinese, and the possible seizure of territory, Emperor William is reported as saying: "We must forestall England.” Sunday, November 28.-According to Republican computation a comparison of the first four months under the Dingley act with the corresponding period under the Wilson act shows that the Government's receipts were over $7,000,000 greater under the present tariff law Two steamers arrived at Seattle from Alaska, bringing $130,000 in drafts and gold dust; twenty-five returning gold-seekers, who left Dawson the middle of October, declared that the food shortage at that time almost amounted to a famine....The members of the Badeni ministry tendered their resignations to the emperor of Austria, and they were accepted; Baron Gautsch, a member of the retiring ministry, was asked to form a new cabinet; the news becoming public, a number of riotous demonstrations in the streets of Vienna ended. Monday, November 29.-The gale which swept the English coasts was one of the worst in recent years; many lives were lost and a large number of vessels have foundered....Baron Von Halleben, the recently appointed German ambassador, presented his credentials to President McKinley, qualifying as the diplomatic representative at Washington....The estimate of the armor factory board of the cost of the proposed armor plant for the Government is $3,700,000 As soon as the new cabinet is formed in Austria Baron Gautch will enter into negotiations with the leaders of the Germans and Czechs to bring about a modification of the ordinances making the Czech language coördinate with the German. Tuesday, November 30.—The cabinet considered the subject of sending relief to the people in the Klondike....Secretary of the Treasury Gage estimates the deficit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898, at not more than $25,000,000....Dr. Henry Dresler, emeritus professor of Latin and Greek in Columbia University, died in New York....Emperor William opened the last session of the present Reichstag; the increase of the navy occupied the principal place in the speech from the throne....An imperial ukase, issued in Russia, orders the coinage and issue of five-rouble gold pieces, equal in value to one-third of the imperial, which weighs 12.902 grammes, .900 fine. Wednesday, December 1.- -Justice Field's retirement from the United States Supreme Court took effect; Justice Harlan becomes the senior associate....The gold output of the Cripple Creek, Colorado district, in November, was $1,258,600, the largest for one month in the history of the camp....The demand of the United States for an indemnity from the Turkish government for the pillage of American missions at Kharput, Marash, and Haskonj, Armenia, has been received. The Porte denies any responsibility for the pillaging on the ground that the government acted under stress of unavoidable circumstances....There was a renewal of rioting in Prague; the windows in a number of buildings were broken, and German shops were plundered....In the Italian Chamber the minister of finance showed a surplus of 34,000,000 lire for the financial year of 1896-97. Thursday, December 2.- Mrs. Nancy Allison McKinley, mother of the President, was stricken with paralysis at her home at Canton, Ohio. President McKinley left Washington for Canton....Representative Dingley, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, says currency legislation cannot be expected from the free-silver majority in the Senate....The emperor of China has declared that he would rather forfeit his crown than agree to the conditions demanded by Germany as redress for the murder of two German missionaries and destruction of mission property....The Cuban insurgents have captured the village of Guisa; the garrison surrendered after losing ninety soldiers killed and wounded; the insurgents secured a quantity of supplies. Friday, December 3.-Commissioner of Internal Revenue Forman anticipates an increase of $8,300,000 in internal revenue receipts in the current fiscal year....Marshal Blanco proposes to employ white and negro guerrillas against the Cubans, replying to the rebel tactics with similar warfare....The British forces in India have inflicted severe punishment upon the rebellious tribesmen....The German navy department has ordered more reinforcements to China.... Prague continues under military control, and business is being resumed. Saturday, December 4.- President McKinley took leave of his dying mother at Canton and left for Washington....The Nicaragua canal commission sailed from New York on the gunboat "Newport "....There was an exciting debate on the Dreyfus case in the French Chamber of Deputies, after which a vote of confidence in the government was passed; Count Esterhazy is to be court-martialed....A British expedition left Bombay for the island of Mombasa, off the coast of Zanzibar....The Hungarian premier will introduce bills in the Hungarian Diet maintaining the status quo in Austria-Hungary. The Italian cabinet has resigned....The definite treaty of peace between Turkey and Greece was signed. Sunday, December 5.-It was officially announced in Washington that Governor Griggs of New Jersey had accepted the office of attorney-general, to succeed Mr. McKenna... Prince Hohenlohe, German imperial chancellor, has refused to recommend that the emperor declare Captain Dreyfus innocent of the charges made against him....Admiral Von Steinect, commander-in-chief of the Austro-Hungarian navy, died in Vienna. Monday, December 6.- The first regular session of the 55th Congress met in Washington; a message of unusual length was received from the President. The House adjourned out of respect to the memories of Senator George, of Mississippi, and Representative Wright, of Massachusetts, who had died during the recess... Comment in the financial community on the President's message was most favorable....Two German cruisers arrived at Port au Prince and delivered an ultimatum to the Haytian government, giving it eight hours to pay the Lueder indemnity....The debate on the naval bill began in the Reichstag....To a deputation from the Parliament Emperor William spoke strongly of his determination to increase Germany's efficiency as a naval power... King Humbert has intrusted the Marquis di Rudini with the task of forming a new ministry....The campaign of Sir William Lockhart against the rebel tribesmen in India will be suspended until spring. Tuesday, December 7.-The President's mother still lingers and the President has returned to Canton.... Further rioting in Bohemia is suppressed by the troops....A special session of the Illinois state legislature is called for today....The Anglo-Egyptian expedition occupies Metemmeh on the Nile. INQUIRIES ANSWERED W ILL the editor of SELF CULTURE kindly name a few of the more noted winter health resorts on the continent that would be favorable to an invalid? Is there not some book that indicates these resorts and gives some account of them? There are several works published in which such information is given as is sought by our correspondent; any librarian or bookseller will indicate what they are. Among these, perhaps the most inexpensive and handy is Appleton's "American Winter Resorts" (price 50 cents). We would, however, specially commend the perusal of an intelligently written article on the subject of "Winter Health Resorts," which appeared in a recent issue (that of Nov. 27th) of the "Medical Record" (Wm. Woods and Co., Publishers: E. 10th St., New York), price 10 cents. In the article, the writer descants on the advantage of an ocean voyage to those who suffer from insomnia or other nervous disorder and to persons predisposed to consumption or who may be in the incipient stages of it. The tonic effect is very helpful to such, for every breath at sea, as he rightly says, is brand new, and when exhaled "it never hovers around to taint the next inspiration, but is wafted away and speedily transformed into the pure elements of the atmosphere." Not everyone, of course, can profit by an ocean voyage, and in winter the discomforts are apt to nullify all the advantages. To those who are not good sailors and have not the endurance for a long sea voyage, the writer commends the Bermudas, which can be reached within forty-eight hours from New York; he also instances Jamaica, and Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, as congenial winter resorts. The mean winter temperature of Nassau is about 70° F. A physician, writing in another health article in the issue referred to of the "Medical Record," cites the Bahama Islands as being specially beneficial to those suffering from acute or semi-acute affections of the lungs; from nervous afflictions, especially those of a diabetic character; from rheumatism in all its chronic or semi-chronic conditions; as well as to those who suffer from stomach troubles, from nervous prostration, or are in a run-down condition. Thomas, St. Kitts, and Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, are also cited as favorable resorts. St. Of inland resorts, the Carolinas are indicated as offering many healthful and salubrious regions for invalids, the chief of which are Ashe ville, N. C., and Aiken, and Summerville, S.C. Savannah, Ga., is another delightful winter resort, and Augusta and Thomasville, Ga., in the Pine Belt, are highly spoken of. Florida presents a combination of influences conducive to healthfulness, and the seeker after pleasant winter resorts is referred to Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Tampa, and the resorts on the Indian River, and the upper St. John. The Hot Springs of Arkansas, San Antonio in Texas, and the Italian climate of southern California complete the list, with mention of Monterey, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Los Angelos, and San Diego. In these resorts, pure air and sunshine are, as a rule, plentifully to be had, and these are the prerequisites of health, and are indispensable for restoring it, when from any cause it has become impaired. Please inform me who first quoted the line: "The pen is mightier than the sword;" also kindly explain the mean-. ing of the phrase "to out-herod Herod." Oblige also by informing me if, by continuing my subscription to SELF CULTURE, it entitles me to membership in the Home University League. The line "the penis mightier than the sword" occurs first in Bulwer-Lytton's play of "Richelieu," Act II., Sc. 2. The phrase "out-herods Herod" is Shakespeare's. See his "Hamlet," Act III., Sc. 2. It occurs in his instruction to players on the stage, not to tear a passion to tatters, and not to overdo the simulated character of "a termagant," or even a Nero or Herod. The phrase is a common one in modern literature, as in the expression "to out-Darwin Darwin,”—meaning thereby that a writer on Evolution may carry Darwin's hypothesis, to account for the origin of life, farther than Darwin himself intended it. No! subscription merely to SELF CULTURE does not carry with it the privileges of the Home University League. In an article on Discovery Day and Independence Day," in your issue for August, 1895, SELF CULTURE states that "if Columbus had not discovered the American continent, the Cabots would have discovered it." Such, in my view, is not the case, as Cabot ridiculed Columbus's idea at the English Court, and it was not until the latter had made two successful voyages that Cabot set out on his expedition. Had it not been for Columbus, America would probably not, at that early era, have been discovered. Your advocacy of Columbus, against the claims of other early discoverers, does credit to your sympathy with the man and his struggles, but is hardly consistent with historical facts or legitimate deductions from them. What is said in SELF CULTURE in the article you refer to, though, perhaps, a little lacking in appreciation of the great Genoese sailor, is a fair presentation of the circumstances, and reasonably makes a case for Cabot, rather than for Columbus, as the discoverer of the North American Continent. Columbus, we know, did not set out to discover America, but to seek a western passage to the East Indies; and when he and Cabot did stumble upon outlying portions of the Western Continent, both had at first the idea that they had reached the dominions of the Grand Cham of China. It is idle to refute the idea that if Columbus had not discovered the New World, Cabot would have discovered it; while it is still more idle to say that if neither had made their voyages, the Continent would have remained long a terra incognita. It is true, that every great discovery excites expectation of others like it; yet towards the close of the fifteenth century, with the invention of the mariner's compass and the spirit of maritime adventure then abroad, discovery was in the air. The Cabots and the English Court were more likely to be better informed as to what lay to the unknown Westward than were Columbus and the Courts of Portugal and Spain, since the geographical position of the British Islands, and intercourse with Norse navigators who had for centuries made voyages to the New World, were favorable to enlightenment on the subject. Hence the voyages of the Cabots must have been made under more assured conditions than were those of Columbus, while they established England's claims to territorial sovereignty on this continent, by right of discovery,-a claim far beyond that which Columbus, or Spain for him, would have been justified in making. Will you kindly publish, in your excellent magazine, a list of Wedding Anniversaries, and indicate the nature of the presents (wooden, china, silver, etc.) that are suitable to each? You will find such questions, with much else of a like kind, answered in an exceedingly valuable and instructive volume (price $1.50) issued by the publishers of this magazine, The Werner Company, Akron, O. From it ("Manual of Use ful Information") we extract the following for you: The society titles of wedding anniversaries are: Ist cotton; 2nd paper; 3rd leather; 5th wooden; 7th woollen; 10th tin; 12th silk and fine linen; 15th crystal; 20th china; 25th silver; 30th pearl; 40th ruby; 50th golden; 60th diamond. Will SELF CULTURE favor an interested reader by giving, in an early issue, the full text of Tennyson's "Crossing the Bar"? Here is the Laureate's Poem:"Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, "But such a tide as moving seems asleep, "Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark. "For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face Please explain in an early issue of SELF CULTURE on what principle curved balls are thrown in playing base ball. The matter has been discussed among a number of my friends who are players, but some of them scout the idea that there is a scientific principle involved; others hold that there is, but do not know what the principle is. Curve-pitching, as practiced in modern base ball playing, is a scientific fact, the practice of which preceded the discovery of its principle. For a long time after its existence was familiar to every ball player and spectator of the game, there were men who proclaimed the impossibility of there being any law that governed the motion, and who declared it to be simply an optical delusion." It has, however, been practically demonstrated in a way that leaves no room for doubt, and a scientific explanation has been found for it. In the "Scientific American," of August 28, 1886, will be found a very explicit demonstration of the theory of the The demonstration is, however, accompanied with figures of a ball moving through curve. |