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NOTES AND QUERIES.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
A Vareity of Information on a Wide
Variety of Topics - Replies to Inquires
from All Parts of
the Country - Their
Questons.
Please give a full account of Alsace and
Lorraine, by whom named, and what do the
states from their earliest occupancy of the two
states from their earliest occupancy is desired.
J. A. HELMAN, Emmittsburg, Md.

Alsace had a dense population of Celts a
century or more before the Christian era.
The Ill and its tributaries are the principal
streams besides the Rhine. Eighteen centuries
ago it began to be filled with Germanic
settlers, who were called Ill-Sassen,
i. e. dwellers on the Ill, and
hence the orgin of the name. After the defeat
of the Alemanni, near Zulpich, in 498,
Alsace became known under Frankish rulers
as the duchy of Alsatia. In the ninth
century it was part of Lothaire's empire, and
in 904 was annexed to Germany by Henry the
Fowler, and although claimed as a Frankish
possession, remained for several centuries in
the possession of Germany. A revolt of
the Alsatian peasantry, the most violent
outbreak during the religious conflicts
of the sixteenth century, was quelled
on May 17, 1525, by the sanguinar victory
achieved by Duke Anthony III, over
the peasants. Part of Alsace was alloted
to France by the treaty of Westphalia, in
1648. Strasburg was seized by Louis XIV in
1681, and the whole country came under
French authority by the treaty of Ryswick,
in 1697, with the exception of Montbeliard
and Mulhausen, which were acquired by
France subsequently. German was the
language of the masses, while the speech and
modes of life of the upper classes were
French.

The inabitants of Lorraine are mostly Germans,
but only in a small part, part is
the Vosges and Metz, has the German
language maintained itself. This part is,
therefore, called German Lorraine. Under
the Roman emperors this country formed a
part of the province of Belgica Prima.
It was conquered by Clovis, and on the division
of the Frankish kingdom under his sons,
belonged to Austrasia. When the empire of
Charlemagne had been repeatedly divided
among his descendants, the division of kingdom
of Lothaire, son of the Emperor Lothaire
I, received the name of Lothars Ryk in low
Ferman, or Lothart Regnum in Latin, from
which arose the name Lotharingia in medieval
Latin, and hence the name. After his death,
in 869, Lorraine was divided between France
and Germany, but subsequently the whole
of it was attached to the latter empire. It
was partially ruled by France and Germany
until 1766, when it was fully annexed to
the former country. By the treaty of May
10, 1871, portions of Asace-Lorraine were
ceded to Germany by France, and this new
German country is known as Elsass-Lothringen.
It has not been annexed to any particuar
German state, but it is a Reichsland
(Imperial land) immediately subject to the
Emperor. It is divided into three districts,
Eber-Elsass. Unter-Eslass and Lothringen.
"Olsass" means "the country of the Sassen
(settlers) on the Ill.

Kindly tell me what the picture in The
American counting room, "A Petition to the
Doge," represents, and give a short history of
the Ducal Palace in Venice. HTIMS M.W.

The petitioner is craving some boon-perhaps
asking for the life of release of a condemned
prisoner. It was the only way of
gaining the attention of the doge. "Doge"
was the title of the elective chief magistrate
who held the office (termed dogate) for life.
The first of them in Venice, Paolucclo Anapeste,
was called to the dignity in 697, when
Venice had scarcely risen to the importance
of a city, and he and his successors ruled it as
sovereigns with nearly absolute power. When
the state grew mightier, both on land and sea,
through commerce and conquests, the nobles
continually strove to check the power and
influence of their elective head, and the government
became more and more republican, until the
dogate became a magistracy, and finally a
mere title. One of the most noted of the
doges was Sebastiano Ziani (1173), who introduced
the custom of marrying the sea
(Adriatic) by throwing a ring into its waters,
on Ascension Day. The office was destroyed
with the state, in 1797 by the French under
Bonaparte. Lodovico Manin, elected in 1788,
was the seventy-third and last doge.

Will you kindly inform me why Bethel
street, from Fairmount avenue to Fayette
street, is not being paid and the ordinance
for grading and paving has been signed by
the Mayor? INQUIRE.

The City Commisioner is now making the
prelimmary arrangements to establish the
grade of the street, and is now advertising for
that purpose.

In the stamp flirtation, what might be the
sentiment of a stamp in the right-hand corner
at the top of envelope, being place across
the corner upside down? A lady was the receiver.
LETTER-WRITER, Hagerstown, Md.

the "code" does not, specify any such arrangement.
If it has any meaning, it is that
of an earnest request for a reply. such a nosition
is frequently the result of carelessness.
Look underneath the stamp for message.

(a.) In addressing a young lady, should you
say "Yes, miss" or "Yes, ma'am"? (b.) Is it
correct to address a young unmarried lady as
"Yes, miss"? MRS. G. M. T., Macon, Mo.
(a.) The former expression is the correct
one. (b.) Certainly. Our English word "miss"
is the nearest approach we have to the French
"mademoselle", which means an unmarried
lady, a single woman, a girl.

Will you please give me a short history of
Charlotte Bronte? SHANE-NA-LAWN.

This English novelist, who wrote under the
pseudonym of "Curre Bell." was born at
Thornton, in Yorkshite, on April 21, 1816,
Her father, Patrick Bronte (orignally
Prunt)y, was an eccentric man, and became
curate of Haworth, Yorkshire, in
1830. Losing her mother in 1821, Charlotte
was sent to a boarding school, where
her health was impaireg by impure air
and [all?] wholesome food. She then taught
school until in 1842, when she and her
sister Emiy went to Brussels to learn
French. In 1846, with her sisters Emily and
Anne, she published a volume entitled
"Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell."
She then wrote the wonderfully dramatic
novel of "Jane Eyre," followed by "Shirley,"
"Vilette, and "The Professor." In 1854 she
married her father's assistat, Mr. Nichols,
and died the next year.
Will you be kind enough to inform me
whether or not a buck deer sheds his horns
once a year? W. H. SHEARER

Some species of the deer do so, and others
do not. The hart (buck) of the red deer sheds
his antlers in the spring, and then retires to
an unfrequented part of the grove or forest,
while his new horns are growing, a full set
appearing by august. The American elk,
common in the Northwestern states, has tall,
branching horns, sometimes six feet high,
which ae shed every Februaury or March.
The name is properly applied only to animals
with deciduous horns.

(a.) What kind of coal is the best to use in a
latrobe or other stove in a sitting room?
(b.) What is the Susquehanna coal mostly
used for, and what kind of coal is it? (c.)
What are the prices of the different kinds of
coal in Batimore? LOUDOUN.

(a.) A hard Susquehanna or white ash of
No. 2 or No. 3. There is such a variety of
this grade of stove that it is impossible to answer
your question accurately, unless we
know its size, the draught of the chimney,
etc. The maker of the stove could readily
tell you. (b) For heatiing purposes or for
cooking where there is a good draft. (c.) The
prices vary for the different grades from
$5.75 to $9. To obtain a shedule of prices
address E. Stabler, Jr. & Co., or some other
leading coal dealer of this city.

Can you tell me who is the author of the
story called "Cadet Days at West Point,"
and where the story can be bought, or be had?
A. K. R.

We know of no work by that title. There
is a "Manuel of Information about the Military
Academy." written by Lieut. Ed. S. Farron,
and the "West Point Scrap Book" of
legends, stories, songs, etc., by C. E. Wood, a
large volume, sold for $5.00.

Will you furnish me with an opinion as to
the origin of the marks, resembling plants, on
the enclosed stone, which was taken from a
well ten or fifteen feet deep>
GEOLOGIST, Hagerstown, Md.

The stone is a species of slate found beneath
the Potsdam sandstone, and the fern-like
impressions are dendrite coverings. Another
stone was rested upon or against it, and
the constant expansion and contraction of
the soil has caused these two pieces of stone
to rub against each other and thus form the
"plant marks." Dendrite is the name applied
to a peculiar mineral containing internally,
or having it surface covered wit filamentary
forms resembling moss, ferns, trees,
etc. The moss, agate and mocha stone are
examples.

Wha was the probable costume of St. Paul
at the time of his conversion?
ARTIST, Washington, D. C.

The Syrian-Hebrew dress was that of a
loose gown, reaching nearly to the ankles,
with scarf-belt, a cloak or heavy mantle
would about the body and thrown over the
shoulder, trimmed or tasseled, a turban, skull
cap or conical-shaped fez, and sandals. a
variation of the dress was a sleeveness coat
reaching to the knees, and one long under-garment,
partly cloak and partly a robe or
dress, These were in parti-colors or bright
figured raiment. You know of the Tyrian
purple, naturally. With this were worn soft
leather or skin shoes, or elastic nature, low
cut and braided. You are referred to the
illustrated German work by Dr. Carl Rohrback.

Is there a drama or play bearing the title of
"Damon and Pythias, "and if so, who is the
author? Reference to an encyclopoedia does
not give me the desired information.
NUISANCE, Cumberland, Md.

Yes, there is a play in five acts, bearing the
title, written by John Banim and arranged as
it was acted by Edwin Forrest.

A receives a United States pension and owew
B a debt. Can B attach the pension? If not .
what course must B purse to ger the money?
INTERESTED

A man marries a woman and they buy a
small property, the deed being made in the
wife's name. One hundred dollars is paid
down, and the balance is secured by mortgage.
At the end of eight years they separate, and
are childless. The mortgage remains unpaid,
excepting the interest and taxes, which they
have paid jointly. The house was furnished
by the wife with money earned previous to
their marriage. If the holder of the mortgage
is willing, can the wife hold this property and
prevent the husband from selling it and her
household goods?
W. W. S. T., Cecil country, Md.
Yes

Where does the article cork come from, and
what is it? J. STEVENS.

It is the outer bark of the evergreen oak,
quercus suber. It is not the true bark or
skin of the tree through which the sap circulates,
but a spongy layer of cellular tissue
formed outside it. After a few years this
outer covering falls off. In Spain and Portugal,
the great cork-growing countries, this
process is anticipated, for the bark is removed
every six or eight years, the trees continuing
to yield good crops for 100 to 150 years.
'Corks, as stoppers, were used in the days of
Cato - 201 B. C. "Lighter than Cork" is an
Horatian simile. The peculiar cork stoppers
for champagne bottles were invented \by a
Benedictine monk, name Perignon, at the
Abbey of Hautvilliers, about A. D. 1670. The
name is derived from cortex, the bark of a
tree.

Will you kindly inform we what day of the
week July 28, 1835, fell on? E. E. E.
It came on Tuesday.

Note. - Among the lists of fast runnng by
railroad trains is that of the flying trip of Baltimore
and Philadelphia journalists from Philadelphia
to Cape May by special train, eighty-two
miles in eight-three minutes, on April
22, 1882.

Please give me the name or address of some
agent of official of the Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals.

SUBSCRIBER, Havre-de-Grace, Md.
Address Mr. Charles Montaque of this city.