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Joseph Triemens

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Title: The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing
       A Manual of Ready Reference

Author: Joseph Triemens

Release Date: December 26, 2006 [EBook #20190]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANDY CYCLOPEDIA ***




Produced by Don Kostuch

After sixty it is one-tenth of one per cent, or one chance in a thousand.


  Some hae meat and canna' eat,
  And some wad eat who want it;
  But we hae meat and we can eat,
  So let the Lord be thankit.



HINTS ON SHAVING.

Learn to shave right.

Don't shave in a hurry.

Have the water hot enough so that it won't cool too quickly.

Wash the face with soap and hot water before lathering, especially if
the beard is hard.

Have the lather very soapy--thin enough to spread easily, yet thick
enough so it won't drop. Rub well into the face with the brush, then
with the fingers. The longer you lather and the more you rub, the easier
the shave.

The hair usually grows downward. Shave with the grain, not against it.
Use a sliding motion, as well as downward.

If you get a "nick," wash with cold water. Rubbing the cut with a piece
of lump alum will stop the bleeding at once and help to heal.

Hold the razor properly. Lay it as flat as possible--the back of razor
nearly touching the skin. Have it under easy control. Don't grab it--an
easy position means an easy shave.

A poor strop will spoil the best razor ever made.

To buy a good razor and a cheap strop is pour economy.

If you prefer a swing strop, pull it as tightly as you can. Better use a
stiff strop--cushion or solid--if in doubt.

A serious mistake made by a number of self-shavers is to hold the strop
loose. This bends the invisible teeth and rounds the edge.

Strop your razor before and after shaving. This keeps the edge free from
rust.

Dip your razor in hot water before stropping and shaving. This dissolves
the accumulation in the invisible teeth.

Press as hard as you like on the back of the blade, but very lightly on
the edge.

As you reach the end of the strop, turn the razor on the back of the
blade to strop the other side, pulling toward you.

Keep rust away from your strop, and remember that a cut in the strop
will ruin your razor. Don't use a strop that is cut.



FACTS TO SETTLE ARGUMENTS

Telephone invented. 1861.

There are 2,750 languages.

Sound moves 743 miles per hour.

Hawks can fly 150 miles an hour.

Chinese invented paper, 170 B. C.

A hand, horse measure, is 4 inches.

German Empire re-established, 1871.

Storm clouds move 36 miles an hour.

The first steel pen was made in 1830.

Phonographs invented by Edison, 1877.

Light moves 187,000 miles per second.

Watches were first constructed in 1476.

First steamer crossed the Atlantic, 1819.

Rome was founded by Romulus, 752 B. C.

First musical notes used, 1338; printed, 1502.

The first Atlantic cable was operated in 1858.

The first balloon ascended from Lyons, France, 1783.

Slow rivers flow at the rate of seven-tenths of a mile per hour.

Napoleon I. crowned Emperor, 1804; died at St. Helena, 1820.

Harvard, the oldest college in the United States, was founded, 1638.

The first steam engine on this continent was brought from England, 1753.

The most extensive park is Deer Park in Denmark. It contains 4,200
acres.

Measure 209 ft. on each side and you will have a square acre, to an
inch.

Albert Durer gave the world a prophecy of future wood engraving in 1527.

The first iron ore discovered in this country was found in Virginia in
1715.

"Bravest of the Brave" was the title given to Marshal Ney at Friedland,
1807.

The highest bridge in the world, 360  ft. from the surface of the water,
is over a gorge at Constantine in Algiers.

The first volunteer fire company in the United States was at
Philadelphia, 1736.

St. Augustine, oldest city in the United States, founded by the
Spaniards, 1565.

Jamestown, Va., founded, 1607; first permanent English settlement in
America.

Books in their present form were invented by Attalus, kind of Pergamos,
198 B. C.

Robert Raikes established the first Sunday-school, at Gloucester,
England, 1781.

Oberlin College, Ohio, was the first in the United States that admitted
female students.

The first knives were used in England, and the first wheeled carriages
in France, in 1559.

The largest park in the United States is Fairmont, at Philadelphia, and
contains 2.740 acres.

The highest natural bridge in the world is at Rockbridge, Virginia,
being 200 feet high to the bottom of the arch.

The largest empire in the world is that of Great Britain, being
8,557,658 square miles, and more than a sixth part of the globe.

The first electrical signal ever transmitted between Europe and America
passed over the Field submarine cable on Aug. 5, 1858.

Paris was known as Lutetia until 1184, when the name of the great French
capital was changed to that which it has borne ever since.

The longest tunnel in the world is St. Gothard, on the line of the
railroad between Lucerne and Milan, being 9-1/2 miles in length.

Burnt brick were known to have been used in building the Tower of Babel.
They were introduced into England by the Romans.

The loftiest active volcano is Popocatapetl. It is 17,784 feet high, and
has a crater three miles in circumference and 1,000 feet deep.

The largest insurance company in the world is the Mutual Life of New
York City, having cash and real estate assets of over $350,000,000.

The Latin tongue became obsolete about 580.

The value of a ton of pure gold is $602,799.21.

First authentic use of organs, 755; in England, 951.

Ether was first used for surgical purposes in 1844.

Ignatius Loyola founded the order of Jesuits, 1541.

The first newspaper advertisement appeared in 1652.

Benjamin Franklin used the first lightning rods, 1752.

Glass windows (colored) were used in the 8th century.

The largest desert is Sahara, in Northern Africa. Its length is 3,000
miles and breadth 900 miles, having an area of 2,000,000 square miles.

The most remarkable echo known is that in the castle of Simonetta, two
miles from Milan. It repeats the echo of a pistol shot sixty times.

The first deaf and dumb asylum was founded in England, by Thomas
Braidwood, 1760; and the first in the United States was at Hartford,
1817.

The largest diamond in the world is the Braganza, being a part of the
Portugese jewels. It weighs 1,880 carats. It was found in Brazil in
1741.

The "Valley of Death," in the island of Java, is simply the crater of an
extinct volcano, filled with carbonic acid gas. It is half a mile in
circumference.

The grade of titles in Great Britain stands in the following order from
the highest: A Prince, Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Baron, Baronet,
Knight.

The city of Amsterdam, Holland, is built upon piles driven into the
ground. It is intersected by numerous canals, crossed by nearly three
hundred bridges.

Coal was used as fuel in England as early as 852, and in 1234 the first
charter to dig it was granted by Henry III. to the inhabitants of
Newcastle-on-Tyne.

The present national colors of the United States were not adopted by
Congress until 1777. The flag was first used by Washington at Cambridge,
January 1, 1776.

Tobacco was discovered in San Domingo in 1496; afterwards by the
Spaniards in Yucatan in 1520. It was Introduced into France in 1560, and
into England in 1583.

Kerosene was first used for illuminating in 1826.

Cork is the bark taken from a species of the oak tree.

National banks first established in the United States, 1816.

Introduction of homoeopathy into the United States, 1825.

Egyptian pottery is the oldest known; dates from 2,000 B. C.

Authentic history of China commenced 3.000 years B. C.

The largest free territorial government is the United States.

The Chaldeans were the first people who worked in metals.

Spectacles were invented by an Italian in the 13th century.

Soap was first manufactured in England in the 16th century.

Julius Caesar invaded Britain, 55 B. C.; assassinated, 44 B. C.

Medicine was introduced into Rome from Greece, 200 B. C.

First electric telegraph, Paddington to Brayton, England, 1835.

First photographs produced in England, 1802; perfected, 1841.

First life insurance, in London, 1772; in America, Philadelphia. 1812.

Slavery in the United States was begun at Jamestown, Va. in 1619.

The highest denomination of legal-tender notes in the United States is
$10,000.

Postage stamps first came into use in England in the year 1840; in the
United States, in 1847.

The highest range of mountains are the Himalayas, the mean elevation
being from 16,000 to 18,000 feet.

The term "Almighty Dollar" originated with Washington Irving, as a
satire on the American love for gain.

The largest inland sea is the Caspian, between Europe and Asia, being
700 miles long and 270 miles wide.

A span is ten and seven-eighths inches.

First watches made in Nuremberg, 1476.

Pianoforte invented in Italy about 1710.

The value of a ton of silver is $37,704.84.

French and Indian War in America, 1754.

A hurricane moves eighty miles per hour.

Coaches were first used in England in 1569.

The first horse railroad was built in 1826-7.

Electricity moves 288,000 miles per second.

Modern needles first came into use in 1545.

The average human life is thirty-three years.

French Revolution, 1789; Reign of Terror, 1793.

$1,000,000 gold coin weighs 3,685.8 lb. avoirdupois.

Mormons arrived at Salt Lake Valley, Utah, July 24, 1847.

The largest cavern in the world is the Mammoth Cave, Kentucky.

Experiments in electric lighting, by Thomas A. Edison, 1878-80.

Daguerre and Nieper invented the process of daguerreotype, 1839.

First American library founded at Harvard College, Cambridge, 1638.

First cotton raised in the United States was in Virginia, in 1621; first
exported, 1747.

First sugar-cane cultivated in the United States, near New Orleans,
1751; first sugar-mill, 1758.

First telegraph in operation in America was between Washington and
Baltimore, May 27, 1844.

The largest university is Oxford, in England. It consists of twenty-one
colleges and five halls.

The first illumination with gas was in Cornwall, Eng., 1792; in the
United States, at Boston, 1822.

Printing was known in China in the 6th century; introduced into England
about 1474; America, 1516.

The great wall of China, built 200 B. C. is 1,250 miles in length, 20
feet high, and 25 feet thick at the base.

Glass mirrors first made by Venetians in the 13th century. Polished
metal was used before that time.

Meerschaum means "froth of the sea." It is white and soft when dug from
the earth, but soon hardens.

In round numbers, the weight of $1,000,000 in standard gold coin is
1-3/4 tons; standard silver coin, 26-3/4 tons; subsidiary silver coin,
25 tons; minor coin, 5-cent nickel, 100 tons.

The highest monument in the world is the Washington monument, being 555
feet. The highest structure of any kind is the Eiffel Tower, Paris,
finished in 1889, and 989 feet high.

There has been no irregularity in the recurrence of leap year every four
years since 1800, except in 1900, which was a common year, although it
came fourth after the preceding leap year.

It is claimed that crows, eagles, ravens and swans live to be 100 years
old; herons, 59, parrots, 60; pelicans and geese, 50; skylarks, 30;
sparrow hawks, 40; peacocks, canaries and cranes, 24.

The greatest cataract in the world is Niagara, the height of the
American falls being 165 feet. The highest fall of water in the world is
that of the Yosemite in California, being 2,550 feet.

The most ancient catacombs are those of the Theban kings, begun 4,000
years ago. The catacombs of Rome contain the remains of about 6,000,000
human beings; those of Paris, 3,000,000.

The first English newspaper was the English Mercury, issued in the reign
of Queen Elizabeth, and was issued in the shape of a pamphlet. The
Gazette of Venice was the original model of the modern newspaper.

The Great Eastern, at one time the greatest steamer afloat, and twice as
long as any other vessel at the time of her launching, in 1858, was 692
feet in length and 118 feet in breadth. She was too large to be handled
profitably with the motive power then available, but proved
indispensable in the laying of the Atlantic cable. She was broken up and
sold as junk, although the Isherwood system, on which she was built, has
since been revived, and is now successfully employed in shipbuilding.

The seven sages flourished in Greece in the 6th century B. C. They were
renowned for their maxims of life, and as the authors of the mottoes
inscribed in the Delphian Temple. Their names are: Solon, Chilo,
Pittacus, Bias, Periander, Cleobolus, and Thales.

A "monkey wrench" is not so named because it is a handy thing to monkey
with, or for any kindred reason. "Monkey" is not its name at all, but
"Moncky." Charles Moncky, the inventor of it, sold his patent for
$2,000, and invested the money in a house in Williamsburgh, Kings
County, N. Y.

The "Seven Wonders of the World" are seven most remarkable objects of
the ancient world. They are: The Pyramids of Egypt, Pharos of
Alexandria, Walls and Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Temple of Diana at
Ephesus, the Statue of the Olympian Jupiter, Mausoleum of Artemisia, and
Colossus of Rhodes.

In 1775 there were only twenty-seven newspapers published in the United
States. Ten years later, in 1785, there were seven published in the
English language in Philadelphia alone, of which one was a daily. The
oldest newspaper published in Philadelphia at the time of the Federal
convention was the Pennsylvania Gazette, established by Samuel Keimer,
in 1728. The second newspaper in point of age was the Pennsylvania
Journal, established in 1742 by William Bradford, whose uncle, Andrew
Bradford, established the first newspaper in Pennsylvania, the American
Weekly Mercury, in 1719. Next in age, but the first in importance, was
the Pennsylvania Packet, established by John Dunlap, in 1771. In 1784 it
became a daily, being the first daily newspaper printed on this
continent.

"Liberty," Bartholdi's statue, presented to the United States by the
French people in 1885, is the largest statue ever built. Its conception
is due to the great French sculptor whose name it bears. It is said to
be a likeness of his mother. Eight years of time were consumed in the
construction of this gigantic brazen image. Its weight is 440,000
pounds, of which 146,000 pounds are copper, the remainder iron and
steel. The major part of the iron and steel was used in constructing the
skeleton frame work for the inside. The mammoth electric light held in
the hands of the giantess is 305 feet above tide-water. The height of
the figure is 152-1/2 feet; the pedestal 91 feet, and the foundation 52
feet and 10 inches. Forty persons can find standing-room within the
mighty head, which is 14-1/2 feet in diameter. A six-foot man standing
on the lower lip could hardly reach the eyes. The index finger is 8 feet
in length and the nose 3-3/4 feet. The Colossus of Rhodes was a pigmy
compared with this latter-day wonder.

The largest and grandest temple of worship in the world is St. Peter's
Cathedral at Rome. It stands on the site of Nero's circus, in the
northwest part of the city, and is built in form of a Latin cross. The
total length of the interior is 612-1/2 English feet; transept, 446-1/2
feet; height of nave, 152-1/2 feet; diameter of cupola, 193 feet; height
of dome from pavement to top of cross, 448 feet. The great bell alone,
without the hammer or clapper, weighs 18,600 pounds, or over 9-1/4 tons.
The foundation was laid in 1450 A. D. Forty-three Popes lived and died
during the time the work was in progress. It was dedicated in the year
1826, but not entirely finished until the year 1880. The cost, in round
numbers, is set down at $70,000,000.

The great pyramid of Cheops is the largest structure of any kind ever
erected by the hand of man. Its original dimensions at the base were 764
feet square, and its perpendicular height in the highest point 488 feet;
it covers four acres, one rood and twenty-two perches of ground and has
been estimated by an eminent English architect to have cost not less
than 30,000,000 pounds, which in United States currency would be about
$145,200,000. Internal evidence proves that the great pyramid was begun
about the year 2170 B. c., about the time of the birth of Abraham. It is
estimated that about 5,000,000 tons of hewn stone were used in its
construction, and the evidence points to the fact that these stones were
brought a distance of about 700 miles from quarries in Arabia.

The largest body of fresh water in the world is Lake Superior. It is 400
miles long and 180 miles wide; its circumference, including the winding
of its various bays, has been estimated at 1,800 miles. Its area in
square miles is 32,000, which is greater than the whole of New England,
leaving out Maine. The greatest depth of this inland sea is 200 fathoms,
or 1,200 feet. Its average depth is about 160 fathoms. It is 636 feet
above the sea level.

The corner stone of the Washington monument, the highest in the United
States, and until 1889 the highest structure in the world, was laid July
4, 1848. Robert E. Winthrop, then Speaker of the House, delivered the
oration. Work progressed steadily for about six years, until the funds
of the monumental society became exhausted. At that time the monument
was about 175 feet high. From 1854 until 1879 nothing to speak of was
done on the building. In the year last above named Congress voted an
appropriation of $200,000 to complete the work. From that time forward
work progressed at a rapid rate until December 6th, 1884, when the
aluminum apex was set at 555 feet 5-1/2 inches from the foundation and
the work declared finished. The foundation is 146-1/2 feet square;
number of stones used above the 130-foot level, 19,163; total weight
stone used in work, 81,120 tons.

The largest State in our grand republic is Texas, which contains 274,350
square miles, capable of sustaining 20,000,000 people, and then it would
not be more crowded than Scotland is at present. It has been estimated
that the entire population of the globe could be seated upon chairs
within the boundary of Texas and each have four feet of elbow room.

The Mississippi River, from the source of the Missouri to the Eads
jetties, is the longest river in the world. It is 4,300 miles in length
and drains an area of 1,726,000 square miles. The Amazon, which is
without doubt the widest river in the world, including the Beni, is
4,000 miles in length and drains 2,330,000 square miles of territory.



THE SINGLE TAX.

This idea was first formulated by Mr. Henry George in 1879, and has
grown steadily in favor. Single-tax men assert as a fundamental
principle that all men are equally entitled to the use of the earth;
therefore, no one should be allowed to hold valuable land without paying
to the community the value of the privilege. They hold that this is the
only rightful source of public revenue, and they would therefore abolish
all taxation--local, state and national--except a tax upon the rental
value of land exclusive of its improvements, the revenue thus raised to
be divided among local, state and general governments, as the revenue
from certain direct taxes is now divided between local and state
governments.

The single tax would not fall on all land, but only on valuable land,
and on that in proportion to its value. It would thus be a tax, not on
use or improvements, but on ownership of land, taking what would
otherwise go to the landlord as owner.

In accordance with the principle that all men are equally entitled to
the use of the earth, they would solve the transportation problem by
public ownership and control of all highways, including the roadbeds of
railroads, leaving their use equally free to all.

The single-tax system would, they claim, dispense with a horde of
tax-gatherers, simplify government, and greatly reduce its cost; give us
with all the world that absolute free trade which now exists between the
States of the Union: abolish all taxes on private issues of money; take
the weight of taxation from agricultural districts, where land has
little or no value apart from improvements, and put it upon valuable
land, such as city lots and mineral deposits. It would call upon men to
contribute for public expenses in proportion to the natural
opportunities they monopolize, and make it unprofitable for speculators
to hold land unused or only partly used, thus opening to labor unlimited
fields of employment, solving the labor problem and abolishing
involuntary poverty.



THE MYSTERIES OF HYPNOTISM.

A Compend of the General Claims Made by Professional Hypnotists.

Animal magnetism is the nerve-force of all human and animal bodies, and
is common to every person in a greater or less degree. It may be
transmitted from one person to another. The transmitting force is the
concentrated effort of will-power, which sends the magnetic current
through the nerves of the operator to the different parts of the body of
his subject. It may be transmitted by and through the eyes, as well as
the finger tips, and the application of the whole open hands, to
different regions of the body of the subject, as well as to the mind.
The effect of this force upon the subject will depend very much upon the
health, mental capacity and general character of the operator. Its
action in general should be soothing and quieting upon the nervous
system; stimulating to the circulation of the blood, the brain and other
vital organs of the body of the subject. It is the use and application
of this power or force that constitutes hypnotism.

Magnetism is a quality that inheres in every human being, and it may be
cultivated like any other physical or mental force of which men and
women are constituted. From the intelligent operator using it to
overcome disease, a patient experiences a soothing influence that causes
a relaxation of the muscles, followed by a pleasant, drowsy feeling
which soon terminates in refreshing sleep. On waking, the patient feels
rested; all his troubles have vanished from consciousness and he is as
if he had a new lease of life.

In the true hypnotic condition, when a patient voluntarily submits to
the operator, any attempt to make suggestions against the interests of
the patient can invariably be frustrated by the patient.
Self-preservation is the first law of nature, and some of the best known
operators who have recorded their experiments assert that suggestions
not in accord with the best interest of the patient could not be carried
out. No one was ever induced to commit any crime under hypnosis, that
could not have been induced to do the same thing much easier without
hypnosis.

The hypnotic state is a condition of mind that extends from a
comparatively wakeful state, with slight drowsiness, to complete
somnambulism, no two subjects, as a rule, ever presenting the same
characteristics.

The operator, to be successful, must have control of his own mind, be in
perfect health and have the ability to keep his mind concentrated upon
the object he desires to accomplish with his subject.



HOW TO CARE FOR A PIANO.
By William H. Damon

The most important thing in the preservation of a piano is to avoid
atmospheric changes and extremes and sudden changes of temperature.
Where the summer condition of the atmosphere is damp all precautions
possible should be taken to avoid an entirely dry condition in winter,
such as that given by steam or furnace heat. In all cases should the air
in the home contain moisture enough to permit a heavy frost on the
windows in zero weather. The absence of frost under such conditions is
positive proof of an entirely dry atmosphere, and this is a piano's most
dangerous enemy, causing the sounding board to crack, shrinking up the
bridges, and consequently putting the piano seriously out of tune, also
causing an undue dryness in all the action parts and often a loosening
of the glue joints, thus producing clicks and rattles. To obviate this
difficulty is by no means an easy task and will require considerable
attention. Permit all the fresh air possible during winter, being
careful to keep the piano out of cold drafts, as this will cause a
sudden contraction of the varnish and cause it to check or crack. Plants
in the room are desirable and vessels of water of any kind will be of
assistance. The most potent means of avoiding extreme dryness is to
place a single-loaf bread-pan half full of water in the lower part of
the piano, taking out the lower panel and placing it on either side of
the pedals inside. This should be refilled about once a month during
artificial heat, care being taken to remove the vessel as soon as the
heat is discontinued in the spring. In cases where stove heat is used
these precautions are not necessary.

The action of a piano, like any other delicate piece of machinery,
should be carefully examined, and, if necessary, adjusted each time it
is tuned. The hammers need occasional and careful attention to preserve
original tone quality and elasticity. Never allow the piano to be beaten
or played hard upon. This is ruinous to both the action and tuning. When
not in use the music rack and top should be closed to exclude dust. The
keyboard need never be closed, as the ivory needs both light and
ventilation and will eventually turn yellow unless left open.

The case demands careful treatment to preserve its beauty and polish,
Never use anything other than a soft piece of cotton cloth or cheese
cloth to dust it with. Never wipe it with a dry chamois skin or silk
cloth. Silk is not as soft as cotton and will scratch. A dry chamois
skin picks up the dust and grit and gradually scours off the fine
finish. In dusting never use a feather duster, nor rub the piano hard
with anything. The dust should be whipped off, and not rubbed into the
varnish. If the piano is dingy, smoky or dirty looking, it should be
washed carefully with lukewarm water with a little ammonia in it to
soften it. Never use soap. Use nothing but a small, soft sponge and a
chamois skin. Wipe over a small part at a time with the sponge,
following quickly with the wet chamois skin wrung out of the same water.
This will dry it immediately and leave it as beautiful and clean as new.
Never use patent polishes. If your piano needs polishing employ a
competent polisher to give it a hand-rubbing friction polish.



The highest mountain on the globe is not, as is generally supposed, Mt.
Everest, that honor belonging to a lofty peak named Mt. Hercules on the
Isle of Papua, New Guinea, discovered by Capt. Lawson in 1881, According
to Lawson, this monster is 32,763 feet in height, being 3,781 feet
higher than Mt. Everest, which is only 29,002 feet above the level of
the Indian Ocean.

[Transcriber's Note: The highest point in New Guinea is Puncak Jaya
(Mount Carstensz or the Carstensz Pyramid), at 16,023 feet.]



SALT-RISING BREAD.

The real formula for making salt-rising bread, as set down by the
daughter of Governor Stubbs, of Kansas, and by him communicated to
Theodore Roosevelt, is as follows, according to the "Saturday Evening
Post":

"On the night before you contemplate this masterpiece of baking take
half a cupful of corn meal and a pinch each of salt and sugar. Scald
this with new milk heated to the boiling point and mix to the thickness
of mush. This can be made in a cup. Wrap in a clean cloth and put in a
warm place overnight.

"In the morning, when all is ready, take a one-gallon stone jar and into
this put one scant cupful of new milk. Add a level teaspoonful of salt
and one of sugar. Scald this with three cupfuls of water heated to the
boiling point. Reduce to a temperature of one hundred and eight degrees
with cold water, using a milk thermometer to enable you to get exactly
the right temperature. Then add flour and mix to a good batter; after
the batter is made, mix in your starter that was made the night before.
Cover the stone jar with a plate and put the jar in a large kettle of
water and keep this water at a temperature of one hundred and eight
degrees until the sponge rises. It should rise at least an inch and a
half. When it has raised mix to a stiff dough, make into loaves and put
into pans. Do not let the heat get out of the dough while working.
Grease the loaves well on top and set your bread where it will be warm
and rise. After the loaves rise bake in a medium oven for one hour and
ten minutes. When you take the loaves from the oven wrap them in a
bread-cloth."



A CURE FOR LOVE.

Take twelve ounces of dislike, one pound of resolution, two grains of
common sense, two ounces of experience, a large sprig of time, and three
quarts of cooling water of consideration. Set them over a gentle fire of
love, sweeten it with sugar of forgetfulness, skim it with the spoon of
melancholy, put it in the bottom of your heart, cork it with the cork of
clean conscience. Let it remain and you will quickly find ease and be
restored to your senses again.

These things can be had of the apothecary at the house of Understanding
next door to Reason, on Prudent street.



DOING BUSINESS WITH A BANK

In opening your account with a bank it is proper that you should first
be introduced to the cashier, or some other official. If you are engaged
in business, that officer will inquire as to your particular business or
calling, your address, etc., and unless he is already satisfied on this
point, he may make inquiries as to your business standing. This being
satisfactory, he will hand you a passbook, and some deposit tickets,
whereupon you make your first deposit, entering the amount on the
ticket. You will then be asked to write your signature in a book
provided for that purpose, or upon a card to be filed away for
reference.


The Signature.

This signature should be just as you intend to use it in all your
dealings with the bank. If, for instance, your name is John Henry Smith,
you may write it J. H. Smith, J. Henry Smith. John H. Smith or John
Henry Smith, but whatever form you adopt should be used all the time.
Once having adopted the form, it should be maintained in exactly that
way. The only excuse for variation from your usual signature is when
presenting checks or other paper made payable to you. In that case,
supposing you had adopted the form J. Henry Smith for your regular
signature, and the check is made payable to John H. Smith, you should
first write on the back of that check "John H. Smith," and immediately
under this you should place your regular signature.


Depositing Money.

When making a deposit, always use the deposit ticket provided by the
bank, filling it out yourself in ink. From this ticket, which is first
checked up by the receiving teller, the amount of your deposit is placed
to your credit. Do not ask the teller to fill our your deposit ticket.
No doubt he would be glad to accommodate you, but to do so would violate
a rule which protects both the bank and the depositor, Deposit tickets
are preserved by the bank, and often serve to correct mistakes.


How to Avoid Mistakes.

Consider for a moment the vast aggregate of bank transactions, and you
will see that perfect system on the part of the banks and bank officials
is required to insure accuracy and avoid mistakes. Sometimes the
requirements of the banks may seem arbitrary and troublesome, but
reflection will show that they safeguard the depositor as well as the
bank. The simple rules here laid down will enable anyone who has
business with a bank to do so with the least trouble and with absolute
safety.


How to Make Out a Check.

Checks are the most satisfactory and most convenient method of paying a
debt or making any ordinary remittance. The stub of your check book will
furnish a permanent memorandum, and when the check is canceled and
returned to you by the bank, it is an indisputable evidence that the
debt has been paid, or that the remittance has been made. The making of
a check is a simple matter, but even the best business men make mistakes
sometimes which are as difficult to remedy as they are easy to avoid.
The hints here given and the facsimiles of checks printed in
illustration will repay careful study.


A Check Properly Drawn. The name and amount are against
the left side of their fields.


The first facsimile shows a check properly made. It will be seen, in the
first place, that this check is written very plainly, and that there is
no room for the insertion of extra figures or words. The writing of the
amount commences as nearly as possible to the extreme left of the check.
The figures are written close together and there is no space between the
first figure and the dollar mark.

All erasures in checks should be avoided. If you have made a mistake,
tear a blank check from the back of your check book and use that in
place of the one spoiled.

Some business men allow their clerks to fill out checks on the
typewriter. This is ill-advised for two reasons: First, it is much
easier to alter a typewritten check than one filled in with a pen; in
the second place, a teller, in passing on the genuineness of a check,
takes into consideration the character of the handwriting in the body of
the check as well as in the signature. The typewritten characters offer
no clue to individuality.

Never mail a check drawn to "Bearer." Remember that if your check is
made payable to "Bearer" or to "John Smith or Bearer" it may be cashed
by anybody who happens to have it. Unless it is for a large amount the
paying teller of your bank will look only to see whether your signature
is correct, and, that being right, the bank cannot be held responsible
if the check should have come into the wrong hands.

A check drawn to order can be cashed only when the person to whose order
it has been drawn has indorsed it by writing his or her name on the back
and the bank will be responsible for the correctness of the indorsement.

If you make your check payable say, to William Armstrong or order,
nobody but William Armstrong, or some one to whom he indorses the check,
can collect the amount, and if through fraud or otherwise some one not
entitled to it gets the money which the check calls for, the
responsibility is not yours, but the bank's. It is for that reason that
bankers and business men use such great care in accepting checks.


A Check Carelessly Drawn. The text and numbers for the
amount is in the center of their fields, leaving of space for extra
text.


The Same Check "Raised". The amount has been changed from
One Hundred/100.00 to Eighty-One Hundred/$8100.00.


For the same reason you should never accept a check from anybody whom
you do not know as responsible, and you should not be surprised or
angered if some one else should hesitate to take a check from you.

Checks or drafts received by you should be deposited as soon as
possible. Should you receive a check for a considerable amount and have
no convenient bank account, you should go to the bank on which the check
is drawn and have the cashier certify it by stamping "Accepted" or
"Certified" across the face over his signature. That formality makes the
paper as good as money so long as the bank accepting it is solvent.

It sometimes happens that a check drawn in good faith by a responsible
party is withheld so long by the person receiving it that there is no
money to the account when the check is finally presented.


Paying Notes and Acceptances.

Make your notes and accepted drafts payable at the bank where you do
business. Whether it or other banks hold them for collection, they will
be presented to your bank when due.

Pay your notes, etc., on the day they fall due, and early in the day if
convenient, or leave a check for the amount with your bank on the day
before your paper matures. Banks will not pay notes or drafts without
instructions.

Keep a careful record of the days of maturity of all your paper. Banks
usually notify all payers a few days beforehand when their paper
matures, but this is only courtesy on their part and not an obligation.


Exchange.

"Exchange" means funds in other cities made available by bankers' drafts
on such places. These drafts afford the safest and cheapest means for
remitting money. Drafts on New York are worth their face value
practically all over the United States in settlement of accounts.


Collections.

A draft is sometimes the most convenient form for collecting an account.
The prevalence of the custom is due to the fact that most men will wait
to be asked to pay a debt. If a draft is a time draft it is accepted by
the person on whom it is drawn by writing his name and date across the
face. This makes it practically a note, to be paid at maturity.

Notes or drafts that you desire to have collected for you by your bank
should be left at the bank several days before they are due, so as to
give ample time to notify the payers.


Borrowing.

Banks are always willing to loan their funds to responsible persons
within reasonable limits. That is what they exist for. There is, of
course, a limit to the amount a bank may loan, even on the best known
security, but the customer of the bank is entitled to and will receive
the first consideration.

The customer should not hesitate, when occasion requires, to offer to
the bank for discount such paper as may come into his hands in the
course of business, if, in his opinion, the paper is good. At the same
time he should not be offended if his bank refuses to take it even
without giving reasons.


Indorsing Checks, Etc.

When depositing checks, drafts, etc., see that they are dated properly
and that the written amounts and figures correspond. The proper way to
indorse a check or draft--this also applies to notes and other
negotiable paper--is to write your name upon the back about one inch
from the top. The proper end may be determined in this way: As you read
the check, holding one end in each hand, draw the right hand toward you,
and turn the check over. The end which is then farthest from you is the
top. If, however, the check, draft or note has already been indorsed by
another person, you should write your name directly under the other
indorsement, even if that is on the wrong end. If your own name on the
face of the check, draft or note is misspelled, or has the wrong
initials, but if the paper is clearly intended for you, you should first
write your name as it appears on the face, and under it your regular
signature. You should indorse every check you deposit, even though it be
payable to bearer.


Mistakes in Banking.

Mr. Samuel Woods, a member of the American Institute of Bank Clerks,
recently contributed to Munsey's Magazine an interesting article on the
subject of "Mistakes in Banking." From this we are permitted by the
courtesy of the publishers of Munsey's to reproduce two of the
facsimiles shown.

One wrong word, or figure, or letter--the right thing in the wrong way
or the wrong place--the scratch of an eraser or the alteration of a
word--or any one of these things, in the making or cashing of a check,
is liable to become as expensive as a racing automobile.

The paying teller of a bank, says Mr. Woods, must keep his eyes open for
new dangers as well as old ones. The cleverest crooks in the country are
pitting their brains against his. After he has learned the proper guard
for all the well-known tricks and forgeries it is still possible that an
entirely new combination may leave him minus cash and plus experience.

But it is not the unique and novel swindle that is most dangerous,
either to a bank or an individual. It is the simple, ordinary mistake or
the time-worn trick that makes continuous trouble. Apparently, every new
generation contains a number of dishonest people who lay the same traps,
and a number of careless people who fall into these traps in the same
old way.


Check-Raising Made Easy.

One of the first lessons, for instance, that a depositor should learn
before he is qualified to own a check-book is to commence writing the
amount as near as possible to the extreme left of the check. Those who
forget this are often reminded of it in a costly way. Some one "raises"
their checks by writing another figure in front of the proper amount.
"Five hundred" might be "raised" to "twenty-five hundred" in this way,
even by an unskilled forger.

The highest court has recently decided that a bank cannot be held
responsible, when it pays a "raised" check, if the maker of the check
failed in the first place to write it out correctly. The treasurer of
the Bath Electric Company, of Bath, Maine, had written a check for one
hundred dollars, which was raised to eighty-one hundred dollars and
cashed. The court held that the company, and not the bank, should lose
the eight thousand dollars, because of the "gross carelessness" in
drawing up the check. Facsimiles showing the check as originally written
and as it looked when paid are here reproduced.


Altered Words and Figures.

The altered check is the bane of the paying teller's profession, and it
is the general practice in conservative banks to accept no checks or
other paper which shows signs of erasure or alteration in either words
or figures.



THE NAMES OF THE STATES.

Alabama--Indian; meaning "Here we rest."

Arkansas"--Kansas," the Indian name for "smoky water," with the French
prefix "arc," bow or bend in the principal river.

California--Caliente Fornala, Spanish for "hot furnace," in allusion to
the climate.

Colorado--Spanish; meaning "colored," from the red color of the Colorado
river.

Connecticut--Indian; meaning "long river."

Delaware--Named in honor of Lord De La Ware.

Florida--Named by Ponce de Leon, who discovered it in 1512, on Easter
Day, the Spanish Pascua de Flores, or "Feast of Flowers."

Georgia--In honor of George II. of England.

Illinois--From the Indian "illini," men, and the French suffix "ois,"
together signifying "tribe of men."

Indiana--Indian land. Iowa--Indian; meaning "beautiful land.'"

Kansas--Indian; meaning "smoky water."

Kentucky--Indian for "at the head of the river," or "the dark and bloody
ground."

Louisiana--In honor of Louis XIV. of France.

Maine--From the province of Maine, in France.

Maryland--In honor of Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I. of England.

Massachusetts--The place of the great hills (the blue hills southwest of
Boston).