The Commission Form of Government is becoming somewhat prevalent. It consists of a committee elected by the citizens, who have absolute control of the government, and this body is both executive and judicial.

The Judicial department consists of several courts: first, the Supreme Court, and a lower court, usually known as the Superior Court, and District or Police Courts. Ordinary cases are tried by the Police or District Courts and may be appealed to the Superior Court and even to the Supreme Court. Besides these courts there are several courts known as Probate Court, Court of Equity, etc. The Supreme Court, as a rule, deals only with questions at law, and few cases reach it which have not been appealed from the lower courts.

Grain Industry.—There was raised in the United States during last year over 3,000,000,000 bushels of Indian corn, about 730,000,000 bushels of wheat, 1,500,000,000 bushels of oats, about 224,000,000 bushels of barley, about 36,000,000 bushels of rye, and about 19,000,000 bushels of buckwheat.

Gravity.—The force of gravity, unscientifically speaking, is the influence which one body has upon another, commonly known as attraction. All material substances attempt to draw others to them, and the larger the substance, the greater its attractiveness or drawing power. The earth, being larger than anything near it, draws everything to it. A ball thrown into the air returns to the earth as soon as the force which propelled it upward is exhausted. If the ball were larger than the earth, the earth would move toward the ball, or rather each would move toward the other, but the smaller body would go the greater distance. The entire universe would, undoubtedly, come together in one solid mass if the bodies were not held apart by laws and energies, which are not yet fully understood by men. Sir Isaac Newton discovered the action of gravity, but no one knows exactly what it is.

Great American Inventions

The following list of fifteen great American inventions is taken from Killikelly's "Curious Questions":

  1. The Cotton Gin.
  2. The Planting Machine.
  3. The Grass Mower and Reaper.
  4. The Rotary Printing-Press.
  5. Steam Navigation.
  6. The Hot-Air Engine.
  7. The Sewing-Machine.
  8. The India-Rubber Industry.
  9. The Machine Manufacture of Horseshoes.
  10. The Sand-Blast for Carving.
  11. The Gauge Lathe.
  12. The Grain Elevator.
  13. Artificial Ice-Making on Large Scale.
  14. The Electric Magnet and Its Practical Application.
  15. The Telephone.

"Great Eastern."—The "Great Eastern" was, in her time, the largest vessel in the world, but would be considered small compared with the giant ocean liners of to-day. She was built in London and launched in 1858. She cost $300,000. She had a length of 680 ft., breadth of 82-1/2 ft., or 118 ft. including the paddle boxes, and a height of 58 ft. Her motive power consisted of eight engines with a total of 11,000 horse power. She was slow and unwieldy, and was not a success except for the laying of the Atlantic cable.