Humor, culture, observation and other good stuff from Brooklyn, New York–the real America!
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Jacob Heymann Butcher Shop. (Image by Berenice Abbott.)
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X-ray.
Xanthippe: The irascible wife of the Greek philosopher, Socrates, and the type of the scolding wife. Allowance must be made for a woman whose husband brought home company for dinner and nothing else. She mourned sincerely for him at his death.
Yard: A standard measure of 36 inches, the word being derived from the Saxon gyrd, or rod. The yard was anciently regarded as the circumference of the body, but Henry I decided it should be the length of his arm.
Yawning: Deep inspiration of breath with widely opened mouth, a natural effort for nervous relief when exhausted.
"Y-M-C-A" (Image by Cod.)
Young, Brigham: The famous Mormon leader, and the head of the Latter Day Saints of Salt Lake City. He was the Governor of the Territory, a position from which he was removed by President Buchanan, but not convicted. At his death he had seventeen wives. He was originally a house-builder’s workman in New York State, but embraced Mormonism in 1831 and became first elder, then apostle, amid finally president in 1844, in succession to Joseph Smith.
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Zenana: The portion of a dwelling in India where the female members of the family are kept, and to which strangers are not admitted.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Ewe. (Image by Don Crowley.)
Umbilicus: The navel. During pregnancy a mass of vessels called placenta or afterbirth (as it is ejected after the birth of the child), is formed on the inner surface of the womb, and conveys the mother’s blood to the child by an artery in the umbilical cord which enters the child by the navel and maintains a circulation, the venous blood returning to the mother by another blood vessel. As soon as the child is born respiration establishes itself, the umbilical cord is cut (it contains no nerves) and the navel bandaged. Children born after seven months of pregnancy are capable of life. With animals the mother usually devours the afterbirth.
Vaudeville: A form of theatrical entertainment extremely popular in the United States and Europe. Large circuits of theatres are devoted to it, and a great number of small theatres showing moving pictures give vaudeville acts also. Vaudeville originated in France and described a short play; but the word in the United States has superseded the word “variety” as a means of indicating a theatrical show composed of various features. In vaudeville, the acts, each lasting from ten to thirty minutes, but mostly twenty minutes, are of all kinds; short plays, farces, operettas, protean plays. sketches, singers, teams of comedians who dance, sing and tell jokes, sister teams, all sorts of players on musical instruments; an endless number of athletic feats, such as bicycle riding, juggling, tight rope walking, skating, and bag punching; sleight-of-hand performers; performing animals; appearances of persons temporarily notorious; all kinds of spectacular and trick dancing; lightning changes of costume, lightning pictorial and plastic artists, thought-reading, hypnotism, in fact everything of any possible interest. As a form of amusement, it is not regarded highly, and is chiefly patronized by “the general public”–those looking for amusement only.
V-Neck.
Warfare in the Air: A subject which has developed to the point of international discussion, and by many it is prophesied that the next great war will see the aeroplane fleet an important adjunct of the opposing forces. By means of these commanders of hostile armies can inform themselves of each other’s movements, and shells dropped from an aeroplane can do most effective damage; whereas it is difficult for the enemy to secure an accurate range on an aeroplane because a shot “wild” in the air gives no indication of how far it went wild as on land or water. Besides an aeroplane only 1,000 feet in the air is an inconspicuous object and can only be hit by accident. Some progress toward warfare in the air has already been made. The Germans have done considerable work in perfecting aeroplane guns, but only practical experience will show their efficacy and aviators do not at present look for great results from them. Aerial warfare is the most uncertain of all developments; and the probabilities are that the very proportions to which the subject will advance will operate to put an end to international wars altogether.
W. (Image by Eric Draper.)
Werewolf: According to an Old World superstition, a human being changed into a wolf, but preserving its original intelligence. Numerous men charged in the Middle Ages with crimes were deemed of the Werewolf category. The superstition prevailed in many parts of Europe to a comparatively recent time, and some such belief is prevalent amongst the most savage races at the present day.
Windows: Originally apertures for the admission of the wind into dwellings, began to be made of glass and used only for the admission of light in very early times. There is evidence of glass windows having been used at Pompeii, but they did not become common in England before the twelfth century. A window tax was imposed in 1695, and again at later dates for special revenue purposes. As late as 1850, the sum of over $9,000,000 was obtained from the tax. It was repealed in 1851.
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Tarantula: A large hairy kind of spider common in some parts of Italy, Southern California, Texas, and Mexico and other sub-tropical countries, and at one point thought to be poisonous and perhaps are occasionally so. Music was supposed to be the only cure for its sting, which superstition gave the Tarantula dance, an ancient Bacchanalian amusement. The Church banned it, and it was ascribed to the hateful spider.
Tattooing: The practice of pricking patterns or designs in the skin, with indelible pigments. It is in vogue among the brown and yellow races and sailors the world over. Among savages a matter of primitive taste and custom, or means of identification. It is a habit, says Lombroso, distinguishing the criminal type.
Taximeter: An ingenious contrivance by which the strictly legal fare chargeable for a cab journey is indicated. It is only recently that it has been adopted on a large scale in London and New York, although in Berlin and Paris it has been successfully working for many years. It is now in use extensively in this country both for motor cabs and ordinary cabs. It gives its name to the Taxicab, in which the number of wheel revolutions and consequently distance traveled and fare due, are automatically recorded on the dial of the taximeter, to avoid disputes.
Thugs: A secret organization of Indian fanatical assassins. They strangled their victims, and buried their bodies with a consecrated pick-axe, and set apart one-third of their plunder to the goddess Kali. These assassins were difficult to suppress, but vigorous measures ultimately, after twenty years’ effort, secured their extermination in about 1830.
Trance: An abnormal psychical state. In waking trance the thoughts are fixed on one subject, often religion, and other perception ceases. In trance coma and death trance pulsation, respiration and vitality appear to cease, all the nature being concentrated on interior thought or vision. It can be distinguished from death only by absence of decay and may last for weeks.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Sea-sickness: Disturbance of the nerves and stomach produced by the pitching of a ship at sea, resulting in pallor, cold sweat, vomiting, exhaustion, and, in exceptional cases, in death. It varies greatly in individuals, may be either annoyance or wretchedness, and usually passes away after a few hours or days. It is constitutional, runs in families, and seems dependent on the brain’s inability to balance and accommodate itself to the new condition, communicated through the spine and the solar plexus. Those who suffer from car-sickness are sure to have it. It is nervousness, for women are more subject than men, and young children, without rigidity of nerve, rarely suffer. It is well to keep on deck, recumbent if possible, and live sparingly on shipbread while it lasts. If the patient takes to the berth, mustard plasters on the stomach, cocaine in the mouth and bromo-caffein afford relief. Shutting the eyes to avoid the sight of moving objects is sensible, and sleep is the best of all.
Seldel, Emil: A Socialist mayor of Milwaukee, distinguished as the first of his party to be elected to such an office (April, 1909). His victory was due in part to the popular discontent with the open corruption of previous administrations, and partly to the fact that other Socialist officials before him, in minor offices, had made excellent records. Nearly all the candidates with him were workingmen. He himself is a pattern-maker by trade and can show evidences of the handiwork in the public places of the city. He was born in Germany, but has long been a resident of Milwaukee.
Shakers and Euthanasia: The Kissimmee Colony of Shakers, founded 1894, near Aston, Florida, acquired notoriety, September 1911, through the giving of a “quieting medicine,” to Sister Sadie Elizabeth Sears. When questioned, the administrators of the drug said that “whatever was done, was done to alleviate her sufferings, and to make it easy for her to pass out of the body without severe pain, not to take life.” The event shocked the whole country and a wide discussion on “Euthanasia” followed. The subject was revived a short time later, when the physicians of the County Hospital, Chicago, announced that they had chloroformed a seven-year-old victim of hydrophobia. They said, “They would not kill him, but they would do nothing to prolong his life of suffering.” The child was placed under an anaesthetic; not to be permitted to come from under its influence and “was put to sleep from which he would not wake.”
Shoes: As coverings for the human foot they have been worn from the earliest times. They are referred to in the Bible and early historical records. The shoes of the Jews were made of wood, rush, linen or leather. Pythagoras directed his followers to wear shoes made from the bark of trees. The Romans were the first to set the example of costly shoes, and introduced various decorative adornments of ivory and precious stones. In the Middle Ages fashion played some fantastic tricks with shoes, and in England, about the middle of the fifteenth century, shoes with such long points were worn that they had to be tied to the knees for convenience in walking, the dandies using silver chains for the purpose. It was about 1633 when shoes of the present form were introduced, and in 1668 the buckle came into use as an ornament. These continued in vogue up to the nineteenth century, before which period shoes were not made “rights” and “lefts.”
Swimming: The art of floating upon or in the water, and of progressing therein; a very desirable accomplishment indeed, as well as a pleasant and healthful pastime.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Raccoon: A plantigrade carnivorous mammal, common to the American continent. Is about two feet long, with a bushy ringed tail, and sharp snout. Its skin is valuable. The raccoon has the peculiar habit of dipping its food in water before eating it.
Race Suicide: A term that came into popular use, referring to the view of Ex-President Roosevelt and others in regard to the willful limitation of offspring by married couples, which has been denounced as a great crime against the nation. Ex-President Roosevelt asserts that the average family should consist of four children, while others have demanded that the mother should produce, during her natural maternal period, eight children. Those who inveigh against race suicide, however, make no allowance for the necessity of limiting the human product to those who are fitted for the perpetuation of normal specimens of the race–which is the real crux of the whole question of raising the desirable citizens and so conserving the nation’s most valuable natural asset in its infant product.
Rachel: Properly Elise Rachel Félix (1820-1858), she is a celebrated French tragic actress of Jewish birth. Singing for coppers on the streets of Paris, when ten years old, she attracted attention, was educated, and became queen of the tragic stage. In character, she was neither exemplary nor amiable. Her immense popularity enabled her to dictate her own terms to managers and she used this power without scruple. Many stories are told of her greed and rapacity, nor was she ever known to make a present that she did not afterwards take back.
Rowing: A popular sport and useful art. One of its chief advantages is that it affords uniform exercise to the entire muscular system. Those who have access to a suitable boat on any safe water should cultivate it, for good oarsmanship not only affords much gratification but brings much physical benefit.
Rinks, Roller Skating: They began to be popular in 1875, and in the course of the next ten years many rinks were started all over the country, but died down after a few years, to witness a revival, more recently.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Quarantine: The detention of a ship or crew supposed to be infected with pestilence until the peril is over. Before science had ascertained periods of incubation it was made 40 days, which was unreasonably long. The period now observed in the United States is 10 to 15 days for plague, with disinfection and fumigation of all suspected goods, as fleas introduce it; for yellow fever 5 to 7 days, for cholera 5. The great immigration from Europe renders precaution especially needful in New York. Every vessel must bring a clean or foul bill from the last port’s health authorities, and outbreaks in a foreign city are known at once by cable the world over. Russia, from its proximity to Asia and the unsanitary conditions of its own population, is rigidly guarded at the German and Austrian frontiers. Venice was the first to institute quarantine in 1403; Genoa followed in 1467. Austria tried to drive back Turkish pestilences with cordons of troops. In the United States the word quarantine is also applied to the isolating and placarding of a house in which contagious disease exists, until its final disinfection. Sanitation has nearly doubled the average of human life in a century, and we cannot imagine former conditions. Quarantine overrides ordinary rules of Law. No action can be brought for delay or destruction of goods against a sanitary agent who has acted in good faith, even if he be mistaken.
Quicksand: Sand with water-worn granules, which have no friction, do not pack, and when wet resemble a liquid. A locomotive which fell into such a sand was sounded for in vain to a depth of fifty feet.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Parachute: An apparatus like an umbrella, used by aeronauts when their balloon is in danger. In recent years many descents from balloons have been made by means of parachutes for the amusement of the public, and some fatalities have attended these exhibitions.
Pedestrianism: The best and the most beneficial form of exercise. The alternate forward motion of the legs and feet procures progression, but every limb is called into play by pedestrianism, and the circulation of the blood stimulated throughout the system. Even prolonged walking in good air, beyond the tiring point, is salutary, but for the ordinary purposes and convenience of present-day life, it is not often necessary except for observation purposes. One should, however, be capable of long and quick walking, though there is no occasion to aim at emulating the speed or endurance of such pedestrians, as P.P. Murray, who walked a mile in 6 minutes, 29 2/3 seconds, at New York, October 27, 1883, or S.S. Morill, who walked 8 miles at Boston in 1 hour, 2 minutes, 8 1/2 seconds. On September 12, 1908, T.E. Hammond walked 131 miles, 800 yards in 24 hours, over the public roads in England. Captain Barclay of Ury in Britain, was the first to walk a thousand consecutive miles in a thousand consecutive hours. Daniel Weston, the veteran American pedestrian, walked from the Pacific to the Atlantic, a distance of 3.500 miles, in exactly 77 days. On October 23, 1910, Herr Hanslian was reported to have reached Zurich after a journey of 40,000 miles on foot around the world. He left Vienna seven years previously, with his wife, who had since died, and his little daughter, and proceeded to Vienna to claim a wager, which he expected to win with his walk.
Pessimism: The theory, as taught by Schopenhauer that this is the worst of all worlds, and that it is better to sleep than wake, and to die than sleep.
Pillory: An instrument of public punishment of offenders, disused in England since 1837. It consisted (essentially) of an upright plank to which two transverse planks were attached. In the upper one there was a hole for the neck and in the lower were two holes in which the hands were inserted. Unpopular offenders, like perjurers, forgers and the like were severely pelted with eggs, mud, etc.; but for those with whom the people sided, the pillory was a slight punishment.
Prison: A place of confinement for criminals, debtors, or political suspects. Lack of means and organization made imprisonment a difficult matter is early ages, and they were generally outlawed, banished, enslaved or put to death. The Greek mode was to deny them use of water and fire in their own land. The early Germans proclaimed them wolves, giving every man the right to plunder, injure or kill them. As castles developed in the Middle Ages, their dungeons became terrible places of detention and were used without form of law. The English, in the eighteenth century, inflicted death for stealing bread, or a yard of linen, or a few turnips, as there was no provision for imprisonment. Branding, flogging and the stocks were also generally in use. The country prisons, huddling together debtors and criminals, became dens of jail- and putrid-fever. The Russian system, combined with its Siberian exile, is still the disgrace of Europe. All other civilized countries have made diligent efforts toward combining justice and reformation; the most important objects being to build sanitary prisons, to provide entirely separate criminal systems for children and lads, with every possible effort toward reformation. The expense to the state is less important than the reformatory effect of teaching a trade.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Ocelot: Usually called the leopard cat, is common in the more southern parts of the United States, in Mexico and Brazil. It is about four feet in length, including tail, and of a gray or tawny color, and spotted. It is very destructive to weaker animals, but does not devour them, contenting itself with sucking their blood.
Octopus: The Devil Fish, a marine cephalopod, differing from squid and cuttle-fish in having eight instead of ten arms, extending from the hideous, one-eyed head.
Optical Illusions: These are frequently occasioned by a disordered condition of the nervous system. They are indicative of brain disturbance. Also optical illusions occur in delirium, caused by alcoholic excesses, fever, or injury. They are the outward sign of inward mischief, which needs very serious attention. Morbid affections of this kind have received much attention by specialists in our day, and much more enlightened methods of treatment are employed now than formerly.
Ostracism: A right exercised by the Athenians of banishing for a time any citizen whose services, rank or wealth appeared to be dangerous to the general good.
Otis, James: (1724-1783) An American Revolutionary patriot, famous for his oratory, and especially celebrated for his speech at Boston, in 1761, in opposition to the so-called “Writs of Assistance.” He was waylaid by Tories and a blow on his head destroyed his reason. He was killed by a stroke of lightning.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Naturalization: The process by which an alien acquires citizenship. A naturalized citizen in the United States has all the rights except that he cannot become president or vice-president. By the law of 1906, every alien, on his arrival in the United States is registered, and certificate of registration given him in case he should desire to apply for citizenship. No less than two nor more than seven years after filing this declaration the alien must make petition to a competent court, rehearsing these facts, stating that he is not an anarchist, and that he wishes to be naturalized. He must have two credible witnesses, citizens themselves, who confirm his statement, assert that he has been a resident of the United States for five years and of the state for one, and that he is of good moral character. The petitioner must be able to speak English unless he is naturally dumb, or has a homestead entry on public land. Foreign Africans can be naturalized but not Chinese.
New Surgery: This promises remarkable achievements in the future–even “sight to the blind” and “new life to the heart.” An enumeration of some of the feats already accomplished include: insanity cured, due to neuralgic pain by trephining the skull and taking out the “fifth” nerve; criminals restored to normal life by relieving a certain pressure on the brain: “new” bones formed by transplanting dead or living bones to living bodies; whole joints removed and others put in new places; kidneys transplanted from one animal to another; skin transplanted from the body of one person to another; skin removed from dead or living bodies kept “alive” in the laboratory by chemical means and made to grow; broken backs mended, skulls repaired with bones from some other parts of the body, new faces made, dead nerves supplemented with nerves of animals, useless lungs, kidneys, spleens and stomachs removed; injured hearts, livers and other organs stitched; paralysis and brain failure cured by draining the spine or brain, brittle arteries reinforced with gold wire. By means of electric bulbs and mirrors the interior of the throat and lungs is examined. The New Surgery also provides measures for the amelioration not only of the individual condition, as in the removal of the tonsils and the appendix to prevent serious dangers, but also for the actual betterment of the race itself by the prevention through simple surgical means, of the production of offspring by criminals, as well as by others, who might transmit hereditary physical or other defects. The Rentoul operation for severing the tube conveying the seminal fluid of the male, one that involves merely nominal risk, has been adopted in regard to criminals in this country as, for instance, in Connecticut, and might be adopted by those who, afflicted with hereditary troubles, yet also appreciate the dire effects of tainted heredity upon the race generally. Real relief would come by the instruction of children, in family and school, in the nature of the human body, and the terrible results of vice.
New York City: The greatest city of America and the second greatest of the world. It was founded by the Dutch on Manhattan Island (1613) with a few trading huts. Regular colonization began in 1622. New Amsterdam, as it was called, passed into English hands and became New York (1664), but the Dutch policy of patroonships, or large land holdings with tenant farmers, kept town and colony behind New England and Pennsylvania, until after the Revolution, when the genius of Hamilton, the Clintons, Morris and Livingston laid the foundation for its unparalleled prosperity. Its peculiarity of narrowness and immense length, of crowded population and high land values, developed by unbounded wealth and the possibilities of modern steel construction, have produced on Manhattan Island a new architecture, with towering office buildings and palatial apartment houses, ten to fifty stories high. They darken the densely crowded streets, but have a strange and startling effect of grandeur. Cathedrals and pyramids dwindle at their side. Nowhere is the terrible force of modern civilization so impressed on the daily unconscious thought of man by his inherent necessities. It is a gorgeous, crashing, magic city, robbed of weirdness and grotesqueness by the skill of a modern school of architects, whose variety in design, color and decoration, added to modern resources in building-stone, tinted brick and concrete, never wearies the eye and produces a skyline of impressive splendor. The communications and transportation of the thronging myriads are effected by every device of subway, elevated roads, electric and cable lines; organized ability and achievement, aided by the acquired good sense and good nature of a people accustomed from childhood to its imperial wonders.
Nose: The organ of smell, so placed above the mouth that the odor of whatever is placed therein must be immediately perceived.
Nostalgia: A longing for the old home and friends which in sensitive natures produces melancholia and even death. It appears to be most frequent among mountaineers, including the Swiss, Trolese, Norwegians and Dalmatians.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Marriage: In law, a civil contract establishing the status of a man and a woman united in lawful wedlock; the relation of husband and wife. In its ethical sense, it is, in all Christian countries, a mutual compact, based on regard and affection, to live together as husband and wife, until death. Its purpose is to perpetuate the family and the race, to preserve moral and social purity, and to properly rear the young. The marriageable age is especially regulated by statute in the various States; under the common law it is 14 years in the male, and 12 in the female.
Mixed Races: The subject of mixed races is intimately connected with the study of both ethnology and atavism. It involves a consideration of the phenomena attendant upon the sexual union of individuals belonging to different varieties of the human race. Two phases of mixing of races are particularly interesting to North Americans, the result of the mixing of white and negro blood, and the amalgamation of various white races, belonging to every strata of society, from the descendants of generations of oppressed peasants, to scions of high nobility in what has been termed the “American Melting Pot.” The mingling of European nations seems to produce a strong and thoughtful race, combining the finest elements of those who are, from the struggle to emigrate, the best physical specimens of their people, and now the United States is increasing the difficulty of admission, thus aiding the natural principle of selection. The result of amalgamation among more distant races, as exemplified in the population of Central and Southern America and the Eurasians of India, have not commended themselves to the American mind, and there is a strong opposition to the admission of Chinese and Japanese, the finest of non-Caucasian races.
Morgue: Originally a prison court for the identification of prisoners in France, then applied to a building on the Seine behind the cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, where the bodies of the drowned and other unknown dead are exposed for identification and police inspection. This practice is now usual in all large cities. The period of exposure is usually 72 hours, and the unidentified bodies are then buried by the city or given to anatomists. To avoid morbid curiosity, only adults with an interest in identification are admitted, and a careful record is preserved of physical appearance and peculiarities.
Moving Pictures: About 1903 the stock of films in existence had gradually become sufficiently numerous to enable the establishment of small theaters with frequent changes of views. They became very popular and by 1905 had driven the traveling exhibitors of moving pictures practically out of business. There are now upwards of 10,000 such theaters in the United States alone, and they are proportionately numerous all over the civilized world. Receipts of such theaters range from $200 to $5,000 weekly according to size and location. Over fifty reels (lengths of 1,000 feet) are now produced weekly so that one person could spend two or three hours daily and never see a repeated picture. The business of the ordinary theater has been seriously affected, and the lower class of melodramas has been entirely eliminated. Moving pictures are of course liable to great abuse, as vulgar and vicious films have sensational interest, but the manufacturers have voluntarily submitted their products to a respectable censorship, and they have become the best, cheapest and most instructive amusement. In its far-reaching effects, the invention of moving pictures is one of the greatest in the history of science.
Murder: The crime of killing a human being with malice aforethought; an idiot is irresponsible; an infant under fourteen goes to the reformatory. Killing in hot-blooded quarrel without premeditation is manslaughter, punishable with imprisonment, not death; and killing in self-defense, or when a house is broken into at night is justifiable. But if a man shoots at one and kills another, or kills, even in self-defense, when caught in burglary, it is murder. Intoxication is not an excuse, nor provocation, when it does not give absolute necessity of self-defense. Most American states punish murder by death, but a mawkishness of juries, and the technicalities of evidence and specialist arguments for insanity of criminals often defeat justice. European practice is stricter.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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(Image by Lenore Edman.)
Liberal: A political term meaning, where used, those who take advanced views, and welcome changes that promise betterment in public affairs, in contradistinction to the Conservative who usually favors letting well enough alone.
Lincoln, Abraham: The great president of the United States during the Civil War. He was the son of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, born in Hardin County, Kentucky, of English-Quaker stock, and passed his youth amid the then rough frontier environment of the middle west, where anti-slavery sentiment prevailed. His early education was self-acquired, mostly by voracious reading; and his first business training was secured while serving as a clerk in a general store, where, by fair dealing, he earned the nickname of “Honest Abe.” In 1846 he was elected to Congress and in 1860 was nominated for the Presidency. In 1861 Lincoln was elected after a spirited campaign. He came to office at a time when the country was torn with the anti-slavery agitation, when the Civil War, long impending, was breaking out, and throughout the four year struggle he stood, often alone, firmly contending for the abolition of slavery and the preservation of the Union, strong in the faith that ultimately the nation would emerge from the period of stress and strain, greater and more prosperous than ever. He brought the country successfully out if its travail, and by the weight of the burden, “Honest Abe,” became the “Man of Sorrows.” For the service to the nation he paid with his life; he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, while witnessing a play in the box at Ford’s Theatre, Washington D.C., on the night of April 14, 1865, one month after his second inauguration. In personal appearance, Lincoln was very tall with legs out of all proportion to his body. He stood 6 feet, 4 inches in height and weighed about 180 lbs. When he sat, he usually crossed his legs or rested them on the arm of his chair; standing, he stooped slightly, and had the general appearance of a consumptive. His facial expression stamped him a man of long cherished sorrow, yet his sense of humor was exceptionally keen and he possessed a never-failing fund of witty stories. As an orator he is conceded one of the greatest America ever produced.
Literature, American: It may be well to admit at the outset that America has never produced a world writer. The nearest approach to it, in poetry in Longfellow and, in prose, Emerson.
Lottery: A game of hazard in which prizes are drawn by lot. Lotteries are said to have been first employed by the Genoese government for the purpose of increasing its revenue. The first lottery in England seems to have been in the year of 1569 and the profits went to the repair of rivers and harbors. They were long tolerated both in England and the United States, though from 1830 onward until they were abolished there was an ever-growing sentiment against them. The most notorious ever was the Louisiana lottery at New Orleans. It went out of existence in 1890.
Love-apple: An old name for the tomato.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Kidnapping: The stealing or abduction or carrying off forcibly of any human being whether man, or woman or child, but in common use the term applies to the stealing of a child, as abduction specifically refers to the carrying off of a maid. It was the practice formerly for gypsies and traveling mountebanks to steal young children and initiate them in their arts, and the tradition that they do so still persists.
Kissing Bug: An insect that stings people upon the lips causing swelling and great suffering. The kissing bugs are about an inch in length, dark brown, with wings of a light red color. They fly with great rapidity and are all seldom seen in places where there is a bright light. In stinging they give warning by making a sharp shrill sound. By dodging one may escape the bug.
Know Nothing: The colloquial name of the political party, the so called American Party, in the United States before the Civil War, organized for the purpose of withholding naturalization and the privilege of the franchise from foreigners. It lasted only a short time but was the cause of considerable disorder.
Knuckle-Duster: A formidable apparatus contrived for the purpose of protecting the knuckles and to add force to their use. It is frequently employed by garrotters and other lawless ruffians.
Kuatau: A Japanese method of restoring the apparently lifeless, by concussive or mechanical means. Kuatasu is homeopathic in principle–the concussion of one vital spot renders one unconscious, that of another spot quickly restores the sufferer. It is affected by a stimulation of the accelerator nerves that quickens the heart action and which is best attained by concussing over the region of the seventh cervical vertebra.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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I represent the letter "J," Mavis.
Japanese Question: An important issue in the Pacific States and Western Canada, caused by the anti-Oriental feeling of the population of these regions, especially expressed (1906), when the Board of Education of San Francisco barred Japanese pupils from the public schools for whites; and having received its culmination in the disturbances of 1907, during which a number of Japanese eating-houses and shops were wrecked and pillaged. The question became so acute that President Roosevelt sent Secretary of the Navy Metcalf to investigate the situation, the result being a presidential message to Congress, and long negotiations with Japan concerning the exclusion of Japanese laborers. This culminated in the treaty of 1911 with Japan, according to which no Japanese subjects may be excluded from the United States for other than reasons applying to every nation, while the Government of the Mikado promises not to give passports to Japanese of the laboring class.
Joe-Miller: An old jest, a stale joke; derived from Joe or Joseph Miller, a comic actor of the early part of the eighteenth century. His name was attached to a jest-book which was published in 1739, the year after his death, and which became very popular.
John Bull: A humorous impersonation of the English people, conceived of as well fed, good natured, honest hearted, justice loving, and plain spoken.
Jugglers: A term now almost synonymous with conjurer was formerly applied to the professional musicians who accompanied the wandering poets, the Troubadours and the Trouveres of France. These musicians soon came to be employed by kings and princes as minstrels. The professions gradually lost respectability. The Romans had their wonder-workers but the greatest of all jugglers are the Hindu, the famous “basket” trick and the trick of causing almost instant vegetation, the seed being planted, and the tree growing to maturity, budding, blossoming and coming to fruit under the eye of the spectator, are peculiar to the Hindus. Reginald Scot, a juggler and conjurer of 1854 enumerates the trick of his day. They are much the same as now, except for the additions and improvements modern mechanism and science have made. Conus and Boseo were clever conjurers of the eighteenth century. To Robert Houdin (1805-1871) belongs the credit for devising and introducing some very ingenious apparatus including the drum that beat itself, and the chest that was light or heavy at command. He understood, it would seem, the application of electro-magnetism. The modern conjurers, like Hartz and Hermann, aim generally at producing their effects with the minimum of accessories and apparatus.
Jumpers: Religious sects or bodies who make jumping or dancing a part of their ceremony of worship. Certain Methodists of Wales, some Irvingites, the Shakers of America, and a Russian sect have adopted the practice of some extent.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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(Image by Glenn Fleishman.)
Ice Stove: A device shown to be practical by Dr. Alexander Graham Bell to furnish cool air for households, etc. Into a large box 200 pounds of ice are fed twice every week. Air pipes lead from the ice box and convey the chilled air to where it is needed, the flow being regulated by an electric fan.
Iconoclasts: Originally, an Eastern sect of the eighth and ninth centuries, whose object was to prevent the worship of, and to destroy, images used in religious rites. The term has been applied in modern times to enemies of religious beliefs generally.
Inebriety, Board of: Created September, 1911, in New York City, to undertake a reform of dealing with drink victims, the first of the kind ever created. Its method consists of “moral suasion” and providing proper environment, instead of inflicting punitive measures. A distinction is made between between first and second offenders–the former being put on probation, the latter being sent to a farm. The cost to the city will be $875,000 annually, with $200,000 for maintenance.
Infant Schools: Pestalozzi was the first teacher of modern times who systematized infant instruction, and in the early part of the present century his system, improved and developed by alter writers, reached its culmination. Infant schools were established throughout Europe, but were abandoned after a few years, as they were found to do more injury than good. In 1837, Frederick Froebel introduced a new method of infant training called the Kindergarten (children’s garden).
Insanity: Disordered or defective reason, arising from heredity, malformation of the skull, imprudence, intemperance, or sudden shock. It is classed as Melancholia, with or without delusions and excitement; Mania, often accompanied by frenzy; Ecstasy or religious excitement; Stupor, dullness, dementia; Degeneration of brain and nerve, with weakened moral sense, impulsive and unreasonable action, and hysteria; Weakness of brain caused by generative excess, syphilis, alcohol and old age, Constitutional Imbecility and idiocy. Insanity, in some of its forms, is the most agonizing of maladies, and cause the greatest distress to the family. It is relieved slowly, if at all, by wholesome food, cleanliness, sleep, mental and physical occupation, moderate exercise and wholesome amusement. The total annual cost of caring the insane in the United States is in the neighborhood of $50,000,000 per year. Insanity rates for various industrial occupations show that the rate per cent for shipwrights was 5.8, watchmakers 8.9, builders 7.7, tailors 11, bootmakers 10.5, bakers 6.8, tobacconists 6.0, brewers 6.1, inn-keepers 19.1. Brokers, agents, etc., have a rate of 12.4, bankers 9.3. commercial travelers 15.5, and warehousemen 17.1. Railroad men suffer much less from insanity than seamen. Their rate is 6.9, that of seamen 16.0. General laborers have the high rate of 39.1.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Hallucinations: Morbid conditions of the mind in which an object is perceived which is not presented to the senses. They are either persistent, as in some forms of insanity, or occasional. Almost every one has had the experience of hearing one’s name called, for instance, when there was no sound. Their occurrence is often the result of anxiety or overwork.
Hats: Head coverings, distinguished from caps by the brim. The manufacture of fur and beaver hats was an important one in the colonies and early United States. The high silk hat was invented in Florence, 150 years ago. The United States manufactures $27, 811, 187 of hats annually, chiefly felt, wool and straw.
Hospitals: The name is derived from the medieval “hospitia,” or places, where lepers and other sufferers from pestiferous maladies were received. To-day hospitals have been devoted to every kind of disease or injury; and in some countries no part of public benefaction is better organized; in France especially such provisions being made that no patient is ever refused admission, there being no charges or formality of any kind. In the United States hospitals are either private or of a semi-public nature, the latter being endowed by funds supplied by state or municipality, subsequent needs being covered by subscriptions in exchange for so-called free beds. In recent years, the art of building and installing hospitals has made great progress, modern institutions combining absolute sanitation with those pleasant surroundings and comforts which contribute so much to convalescence in the patient.
Hygiene: The science of health, also called sanitary science. Personal hygiene consists in the care of the body, bathing, diet, care of teeth, hair, nails, etc., public hygiene in preventative measures for promotion of health of communities by cleanliness of streets, removal or destruction for breeding places of infection, drainage, pure air and good water supply. Moral hygiene includes those measures taken to secure the moral well-being of communities–includes purity of life, the suppression and regulation of vice and crime, in elevation of the world-standard of people at large, cure and prevention of diseases that arise from an evil life. Individual hygiene or sexual purity is one of the most important subjects and should be more thoroughly taught and inculcated into the minds of the youth, and judicious means taken to promote its practice for the general human welfare.
Hysteria: A morbid condition indicated by flatulency and the feeling of a lump or ball in the throat causing a sense of choking or suffocation. Involuntary laughing and crying precede the hysterical fit, in which the patient tosses about violently, and is liable to self-injury. A fit of hysteria often ends in the sufferer going off into stupor or coma , and sometimes this state is reached without preliminary signs. Hysteria is a curious ailment to deal with, being a nervous affection which feeds upon itself, and simulates many diseases. It is always best to exhibit no sympathy with the patient., who is generally a female, but to throw cold water upon her face, apply ammonia to her nostrils, and administer anti-spasmodics.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Gangrene: Instant mortification, a term applied to the death of tissues, following disease of the part, which becomes black and void of sensation. Amputation beyond the seat of mischief is nearly always essential.
Giants: The greatest known giants of the nineteenth century were a Finlander, 112 inches tall; an Australian, 103 inches, a Kalmuck and an Irishman, each 100. The greatest racial averages are the Scotch of Galloway, 71 inch; Scotch, 69.5 inch; Patagonian, Cheyennes, Fulahs, Sikh, 69 inch.
Gloves: An article of luxury in warm countries, of necessity, in protection of the hand, for laborers and drivers in the far north. They are universal among Eskimos, and were used by the cave-men. They were an article of magnificence in the Middle Ages. Gloves are made of kid or lamb-skin (hard to distinguish); doeskin, dogskin, buckskin. The nineteen pieces of a good glove are sewed by machine. Cutting is difficult, and descends in families. Out of 409 manufacturers in the United States 166 center around Gloversville, N.Y., where the trade was introduced by Sir Wm. Johnson, 1760.
Golf: A golf field or links is a tract of flat or rolling turf of 3 to 5 miles. There are 18 holes, 4 1/2 inches in diameter, at distances of 100 to 500 yards, each surrounded by a smooth putting green, 60 ft. square. Each player has a putting ball, and an assortment of of beech or hickory golf-sticks, often shod with iron. The competitors play in turn until one drives his ball in the first hole. Then they all begin again for the second, and the one who makes most holes wins. President Taft says: “If men over fifty, who are in need of something and do not know what, will organize a golf-club and chase balls around 6,000 yards every afternoon, they will grow a great deal more contented with life.”
Gypsies: A wandering Hindu tribe, as can be proved by their language, who roamed into Eastern Europe with the Tartars in the fourteenth century, and have remained a rambling, tinkering, horse-trading and shoeing, poaching, fortune-telling race in every land. The French called them Bohemians, the English, The Egyptians or Gypsies.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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(Image by Mgregoro.)
Fairies: Supernatural beings, generally diminutive in size, a belief in whom is one of the most popular forms of superstition. It is confined to modern Europe (and of course America) and the character of the fairies depends upon the country they inhabit, thus the English fairies are simple and comely, the Scandinavian are harsh and often traitorous. According to the Irish as well as Scottish fairy lore, the elves, though in the main harmless or at most mischief loving, have the bad reputation of stealing away little children from their cradles and leaving a changeling in their place who never thrives.
Fire Alarm: A system of telegraphic wires connecting a central office with convenient signal boxes in every neighborhood. The keys are held by the police or a neighboring house-holder, but sometimes the boxes open freely and are trusted to the public. The circuit is closed by a crank or hook. An automatic alarm in a building operates whenever influenced by heat.
Flagellants: A fanatical sect which sprang into notice at Pérouse in the thirteenth century during a time of plague. They held processions and flogged themselves as they walked naked about the streets until they bled. They declared that sins could not be remitted without such practices. The sect continued down to the sixteenth century, in spite of their being declared heretics by Pope Clement VI, and ninety of them were burnt at the stake.
Flying Machines: Heavier than air. The invention of the flying machine for so many centuries the goal of succesive inventors, marks an epoch of human progress, inspiring and conclusive. The spectacle of men venturing into the skies beyond the range of vision, of darting through space at terrific speeds; lifting over mountains with the ease of the eagle and crossing seas in veritable flocks, are triumphs which stir the emotions and inspire new ambitions in the entire race. But the triumphs of to-day have been won only after centuries of endeavors. As early as 400 B.C., Archtyas, an early philosopher of Tarenium is said to have devised a wooden bird. Leonardo da Vinci, the famous artist (1452-1519) built what was probably a successful gilder, and Henson, in England in the early forties, constructed an “Aerial Steam Carriage” remarkably like the dirigible of Count Zeppelin. Numberless inventors continued working on the problem, and finally the experiments and scientific work of Prof. Langley, Sir Hiram S. Maxim, Otto Lilienthal, Clement Ader, Octave Chanute and others proved that flight was at hand.
Friday: The sixth day of the week, named after Friggs, with wife of Odin. It is the Mohammedan Sabbath, and is a general fast day of the Roman Catholic Church. According to popular superstition, Friday was an unlucky day, and even now there is a general disinclination amongst old-fashioned seafarers to set forth on a voyage on a Friday.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Ear-ring: A very ancient form of personal adornment worn by both sexes in Oriental nations. In Anglo-Saxon times ear-rings were worn in Britain, but from the tenth to the fifteenth century were out of fashion. In Elizabethan days they were revived, and have since continued to be used, more or less. In early Victorian days they were common, then they fell out of fashion again; but there has been a revival of them to some extent in recent years.
Edison, Thomas Alva: One of the greatest inventors of our age. His mother was Scotch, his father Dutch; his education was acquired mostly by persistent reading. He early developed a passion for chemistry, and being then a newsboy on the Grand Trunk Railroad, established his first laboratory in an empty car. He became an expert telegraph operator and finally an inventor with an experiment station at Menlo Park and a laboratory at Orange, New Jersey. His inventions are all of practical utility, and number something over 700. Among the most important are the phonograph, electric fire-alarm, megaphone, the kinescope, vitascope and incandescent electric lamp. His latest achievement is the storage battery for the propulsion of street cars and auto-vehicles.
Education: The word implies eliciting the highest ability of the individual; aiming to make the best and not the worst of him, this is the highest duty and ambition of family and State. It is entirely different from memorizing or instruction. Plato said, “Good education is that which gives to the body and the soul all the perfection of which they are capable.” The Greek had no printing and few books, but he knew his notes, sang national noble hymns in inspired chorus; men and women danced gracefully, proudly, in honor of gods and heroes. Eyes were trained by the most perfect forms and colors of art; only beauty was allowed in the presence of a pregnant woman. Every child knew the resounding majesty of Homer, the lyric praise of noble ancestors, the tragedies which told the duty of man, and the destiny and hope of mankind; he heard the philosophy which spoke of the dignity of the soul. The great study of the Roman was oratory and law; the power of swaying the minds and will and lives of others, of advancing the destiny of eternal Rome. Modern education prepares for healthful and happy life, respect of God and man; the greatest good of the greatest number. It teaches self-denial, forethought, duty, loyalty, devotion, temperance, the laws of the seen and the unseen, the possibilities of the race. It develops health, mirth, song, strength, temperance, self-reliance, filial, parental and social obligation. It teaches the practical, finds the most natural and useful sphere of life, and should prepare hand, eye, thought for a life of usefulness.
Evil-eye: A faculty attributed by the superstitious and ignorant to certain persons, the cross-eyed particularly, who inflict injury or bring ill-luck, it is believed, to those they look upon. The sign of the cross with the fingers is supposed to ward it off.
Exhilarating gas: Laughing gas.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Dancing: In a general way, dancing may be defined as the expression of inward feelings by means of rhythmical movement of the body, especially of the lower limbs, usually accompanied by music. It may be said to be almost as old as humanity, prevailing among savages as well as among the most highly civilized nations. It was originally a constituent of religious rites. Among the Romans, dancing at a private entertainment was restricted to professional dancers, and this is still the custom in the East. With us it is a favorite form of entertainment, especially among young people. It is doubtless liable to abuse but not more so than other forms of social intercourse.
Drowning: Life often exists after apparent death, and no efforts toward resuscitation should be neglected. Turn the body on the face, life the stomach and gently shake water from the mouth; or roll on a barrel. Lay on the back, gently draw the tongue forward. Imitate breathing by lifting the lower ribs every few seconds, while raising and lowering the arms. Repeat this for hours. Rub hands. Apply hot water bags or bricks to stomach and feet and between thighs. If symptoms of life appear lay in a warm bed with plenty of air. Give teaspoons of brandy, and allow repose.
Drunkenness: In law drunkenness cannot be pleaded to avoid a contract. Coke held that the drunkard had invited the devil which possessed him, and was responsible for its consequences. In criminal law it is no justification for battery, trespass or defamation; if burglary is charged it may be shown that the premises were entered without intent to steal.
Ducking-Stool: The name of an old English instrument of punishment, consisting of a chair suspended by a pole over a sheet of water. It was used for “common-scolds,” the virago being tied in the chair and dipped in the water.
Dwarfs: These deformed creatures were mentioned in Libya by Herodotus and were discovered by Du Chailu (1858), and Stanley (1888). They are small, wild, shy, cunning, hunted by stronger races into the deepest forests, living almost like animals, as the wreckage of a prehistoric race in arrested development, The Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert are also stunted. The dwarf races are found in the Andaman Islands, Malacca, and the Philippines, where the United States government is trying to develop them. Abnormal dwarfs among well formed nations exhibit a defect in the development of the bones, such as is found in rickets. Giants are slow and stupid, dwarfs sensitive, suspicious, jealous, shrewd and observant. A dwarf 21 inches high, 25 years of age, was presented to Henrietta of France in a pie, and this was the height of Francis Flynn at 16; the woman, Hilamy Agyba of Sinai is 15 inches high.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Capital Punishment: The legal infliction of death for crime. In early ages, for want of public organization, it was conducted as a bloodfeud by the family wronged, and could be compounded, under the Saxons, by regulated payments. In later Europe, with organized states, but with lack of prisons and police and dread of violence, it was very common, being the penalty for petty thefts. It is now practically inflicted only for murder, and the sentimentality of American juries with an exaggerated exactness in rules of evidence, has made it much rarer than in England. There is a tendency in Southern Europe to change all capital punishment into life imprisonment, but much stricter and more hopeless than in the United States. Death is inflicted by hanging, electrocution, the guillotine or garrote, and no longer in public.
Chewing gum: A tough flavored gum, used for taste and nervous relief in the United States.
Child Sanitation: The larger cities of the United States are now following the German system of regular free medical and dental inspection and treatment of school children, followed, where necessary, by visits at home. Careful attention to imperfect eyes, prescription of glasses, and removal of adenoids, have great influence in the development of future citizens. Free parks and playgrounds are introduced wherever possible; the school and school-grounds employed out of hours and in vacation time, for voluntary classes; amusements and calisthenics, singing, dancing, and games are taught, and a system of school teams and friendly competition fostered. Roof-gardens, amusement piers, free-baths, and excursions are beneficial in crowded neighborhoods.
Clitoris: A small muscular organ, the most sensitive part of the genitals of the female mammal, very much subject to a diseased condition caused by malpractices.
Colic: A spasmodic and painful affection of the bowels, more especially of the colon, known to exist in several forms–the nervous, hysteric, bilious, hepatic, etc. A considerable accumulation of wind, neglected constipation and also the contrary, the action of powerful purgatives, also exposure to cold, are some of the causes of colic. The paroxysmal pain is often relieved by pressure or massage over the pained part, usually in the region of the navel. When flatulence is accountable for colic, it is often relieved by warm water injections. Narcotics and anodynes should never be used without the order of a physician as they often do more harm than good.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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(Image by Gonzalo Rivero.)
Baseball: A glorified and systematized development of the old English game of “rounders,” now recognized in the United States as a distinctively national pastime. It is played spectacularly by highly-paid professional experts as well as by skilled amateurs, with a hard leather-covered ball of lightly twisted yarn, over a rubber core, and a rounded wooden bat or club not exceeding 42 inches long or 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Nine men constitute each side: one team takes the field and the others go to bat in rotation. The pitcher of the outside delivers the ball to the selected striker of the inside, who endeavors to hit it so as to elude the fielders and run around the bases without being caught or put out. Occasionally the hit may result in a “home run,” i.e., a round of the bases without being put out; usually the strikes are one, two, but sometimes three “base hits.” As each safe hit is made those on the bases run to the next and so on until one run is scored by the third baseman reaching the “plate.” Should the batsman miss three balls from the pitcher and the third ball be caught by the catcher, the striker is out. Upon three men being put out by catching or touching with the ball when off the bases, the fielding side go in; and after nine innings have been completed the side having registered most runs is declared to have won. The catcher stands behind the striker, to catch and throw to the basemen in the field the balls pitched to the striker. All the fielding side need to be good throwers, swift runners, and sure at a catch. The game is governed by very elaborate rules, and the umpire’s position is very responsible. Baseball is played upon level expanses of turf not less than 500 feet by 350 feet.
Beard: The hair on a man’s face. Little is found among Africans, Chinese and Eskimos. It is heavy with the Europeans and the Semitic races. The Egyptians shaved the whole body, the Greeks and later Romans the whole face, and this was the European custom of the eighteenth century.
Bicycle: A two-wheeled machine (successor to the velocipede of large wheel) which about 1870 came into vogue. It then consisted of one high wheel, driven by the pedals, and a small connecting wheel, behind. In its present form, with two wheels of even circumference, pneumatic tires, and effective gearing, it is a much more manageable affair, and obtained for a while a very wide adoption by all classes, young and old, male and female. The motor-bicycle is the latest form of this two-wheeled road machine.
Birth-mark: A discoloration, like the so-called “port wine stain,” on the skin of a human being. It sometimes disfigures the whole countenance. It is usually a case of enlarged blood vessels and is attributed popularly to some ungratified longing on the part of the mother of the sufferer during her pregnancy.
Black Hand: A secret organization of Italians, Sicilians and Neapolitans mainly, so-called from the emblem used by it in making its demands. Has been active in New York City and wherever there is a large Italian element, giving much trouble to the detective force. The assassination of Giuseppe Petrosino, a New York City detective in Italy, was laid at its door. The better class of Italians in this country have organized to pull it down.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
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Tags: Giuseppe Petrosino
Abduction: A term for the forcible carrying off of a woman, either against her own will or the right of her legal protector. It is an offense severely punished as a felony. The abduction of an unmarried girl under sixteen is punishable as a misdemeanor even when there has been no intent of detention against the will of her parents or guardian.
Abortion: The expulsion of a fœtus from the womb before it is capable of life. Prior to the sixth month of pregnancy it is called miscarriage. It is hereditary and may be prevented, by repose, good regimen and the avoidance of constipation. If intentional it is a statutory offense and if the woman dies it is felony. In domestic animals it may be avoided by isolation, proper food and level stalls.
Alcoholism: The symptoms of alcohol poisoning. In acute alcohol-poisoning the victim’s face becomes flushed, his hands shaky, his speech rapid and incoherent, his control of his limbs uncertain and finally his entire nervous system becomes paralyzed so that he falls into a coma from which he cannot be moved. Others instead of becoming conscious grow frantic and try to injure those about them, and thus, especially after a long debauch, the most frightful crimes are committed.
Astrology: The science of discovering the past and determining the future by the movement of the stars. It was the science of sciences in olden times, but today has only a small number of adepts, besides the always numerous number of persons easily victimized by charlatans claiming to be able to read the “past, present and future.”
Automobile: The name generally applied to a self-propelled vehicle which carries its own fuel. The pleasure of moving at great speed and for great distances has made automobiles a permanent feature in modern life, thought and action, though law has not been able to control the abuse of this new force. They are coming more and more into employment for commercial purposes, and their great cleanliness in the streets is a sanitary advantage. In time they will diminish the loneliness and hardship of life upon the farm.
•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.
"Aeroplane."
•Taken from the 1917 World Almanac.
"The applicant's bald spot is not less than three inches in diameter."
•Taken from the 1916 World Almanac and Encyclopedia.
