Democratic Sentinel, Volume 4, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 January 1881 — BITS OF INFORMATION. [ARTICLE]

BITS OF INFORMATION.

The fiddle is spoken of as early as I 1200 A. D., in the legendary life of St. j Christopher. Chamois skin* are not derived from the chamois, os many people suppose, but are the flesh side of sheepskins. The skins are soaked in lime-water, and in a solution of sulphuric acid ; fish oil is poured over them, and they are carefully washed in a solution of potash. In 1789, when the Federal Government was organized, heads of departments received $3,500 per annum salary. The principal Secretaries who formed Washington’s first Cabinet were : Of State, Thomas Jefferson ; of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton ; of War, Gen. Knox; Attorney General, Edmond Randolph. The heaviest loss inflicted upon the American arms in any battle of the Revolutionary war was at the battle of Long Island—2,ooo in killed, wounded and prisoners. But’ 10,000 Americans were engaged, an 1 the lioss was only 20 per cent. At the Battle of Hubbardton, Vt., 700 patriots engaged 1,200 British troops, and 324 were killed or wounded —nearly 50 per cent. At Guilford Court House, Gen. Greene lost 1,200 out of 4,400—a loss of 30 per cent. Yellow bananas come from Jamaica I and Aspinwall, and the red bananas from Cuba. The yellow bananas sell the best because they grow more to the bunch. A bunch of yellow bananas averages about ten dozen, and sometimes they average as high as twelve dozen, while the ied bananas seldom run over five dozen. The bunches are sold at about the same price, so the retailers can afford to sell the yellow ones for less and still make a better profit than they can on the red ones. The flavor of tlie banana depends greatly on the soil iq which it is raised. The English guinea -was so called because the gold of which it was first made was brought from Guinea by an African trading company. Originally it was intended that the guinea should be worth 20 shillings, but, owing to a number of errors in calculating the proportion of the value of gold and silver, it never circulated at that value. Sir Isaac Newton fixed the true value of the guinea, in relation to silver, at 20 shillings 8 pence, and, by his advice, the crown proclaimed that in future it should be current at 21 shillings. The hanging gardens of Babylon consisted of an artificial mountain 400 feet on each side, rising by successive terraces to a height which overtopped the Avails of the city. The terraces themselves were formed of a succession of piers, the tops of which were covered by flat stones sixteen feet long and four feet wide. Upon these were spread beds of matting, then a thick layer of bitumen covered with thick sheets of lead. Upon this solid pavement earth was heaped, some of the piers being hollow, so as to afford depth for the roots of 'the tallest trees.. Water was drawn from the river to irrigate these gardens, which thus presented to. the eye the appearance of a mountain covered in verdure. The day upon which any historical event referring to the Christian era happened may be determined by the following rule : 1. Subtract 1 from the date and divide the remainder by 400. 2. Point off the centuries from the resulting remainder and divide the odd years by 4. 3. Multiply the resulting quotient by 5 and to the product add the remainder. 4. From the sum subtract twice the number of centuries pointed off and divide the remainder by 7. 5. Add the resulting remainder to the day of the year upon which t the event happened and divide the sum by 7. 6. To the last resulting remainder add 1. Then will the sum be the number of the day of the week required. When the first quotient is zero, or when it is 1 and the centuries pointed off 3, unless there be a remainder, to avoid negative results, add 27 to the date instead of subtracting 1 from it.